Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-06-08
MAIN BUILDING AT NorEE D NME.

pOrtant work could not have been placed in more competent hands. Father SOrin was priest of tho congregation If the Holy Cross. a missionary and Clnca- tiunal Socir;y founded in France late in the eighteenth century. of which sta tiOn Was established in the diocese of Vincenncs in lS4O or thcrcahout. When Father Surin and his associates. late ill November, lS42, first looked upon the site of the future college, n headquarters for all the missions of what are now northern Indiana and southern Michigan had already been established at St. Mary'S of the Lake.
 But despite this preliminary work the task before them was not an easy one To establish an institution of tho higher learning is not hghtS0mc labor even now, aud then it Was vastly moro diff cult
 The story of tho slow upbuilding of the present splendid university is most absorbing, but hero it can only be indi- cated, not told. The young college had no endowment. aside from tho fee sim pie in the beautiful tract upon which it was situated and as yct this yielded no
 
 was the tuition fees of the few students. The devoted priests and teachers that made up its faculty were obliged to put | up with almost imlmnCrahlc privations. and it was not until IS44 that it was | possible to hold regular commencement exercises. It was in that year that the name was changed from St. Marv'S of the Lake to the present title. It was in that year also the legislature of Indiana conferred upon it d regular charter as q university.
 Since that ycur the University of | Notre Dame has progressed steadily. In 1879 it suffered what was at the time believed to be d most serious reverse for, on April 23 of that year. five of the university's chief buildings wero wiped out by fire, and with them invaluable libraries and a great collection of s1ien- tific apparatus and relics But this fire did for Notre Dame what the Chicago fire did for the wonderful city on Lake Michigan. It marked the beginning of a more vigorous growth and a wider de velopment. It was almost like new birth. By the following september so rapidly had the reCuperative powers of the institution worked, the magnificent central building which forms the nu- cleus of the present NOtre Dame had arisen on tho April ashes, and the usual entrance of students took place.
 Every year during the 26 that have elapsed since then new buildings havo been put up. and when it was decided to hold a golden jubilee of the institu- | I I hN f,1 lowing it was seen that the guests of tho university would be bidden to q celebration amid cluster of handsome and magnificent structures, almost like town ill extent and far exceeding the promise given half century ago by the few small buildings then standing.
 Of the beauties of NOtre Dame, both natural and man made, columns might be written without eXhausting the sub | ject- The university stands on an emi hence in the midst of wide eXpanse of landscape. heightened by the silver sheen of the St. Joseph river and the lake from which the institution took its first name and rendered additionally charming by sylvan stretches alternating with culti. vated fields. Tho buildings are said tC be the most valuable owned by any col. lege west of the Appalachian chain. They include, besides the main build ing. a chapel, which is really magnif. icent church of beautiful architectural design and rich in treasures of religious art, an academy of music, science hall institute of technology, etc. The course of study is very comprehensive, the fac ulty is made up of exceptionally able men, and the scientific apparatus and Ii brary of 70, GOO volumes are of the best The library is now domiciled in the main building, but will soon have ( home of its own. The university now has 62 instructors and 625 students.