New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-12-06

Of the additions made within the last few
years to the buildings and equipment of Har-
ward University, the stadium has attracted
perhaps as much attention as anything else.
Erected on the old baseball diamond on Sol
d.ers' Field, it is a striking Illustration of the
possibilities of steel and concrete construction
There is not to be a bit of wood in the great
structure when it is completed. Work upon 1t
has now been temporarily suspended for the
winter although it was so far completed as to
We used for the recent football games with Yale.
Built on classic lines, the Harvard stadium
will be when completed the finest structure de-
voted to outdoor sports to be found anywhere
In this country, if not in the world.
In general construction the stadium is shaped
ike huge letter u and it stands with the
open space toward the Charles River. The field
Enclosed is about $50 yards long and 100 yards
wide arording ample space for a football grid
iron and running track
The first tier of seats is raised about seven
feet above the ground, and a nine foot wall
separates the stadium proper from the football
field thirty feet away. When the stadium is
completed there will be 4,SG0 concrete seats on
the steel Orders supporting them above the
ground Each Of these seats is built eight feet
three inches in length. and it is said that if laid
out on the ground end to end they would ex-
tend a distance of over seven miles. One foot
and FIVE inches is allowed for each person, and
at this rate the seating capacity of the struct-
ure is 21,300.
The stadium is calculated to bring JOY to the
heart OF the heaviest man. If the builders are
to be believed, it simply cannot break down
To prove it, every part of the great structure
has been submitted to most rigid tests and has
come through them all without sign Of weak
ening. IN some of the tests a weight Of more
than two tons has been applied directly at the
centre of an eight foot concrete seat, and it has
stood the strain In experiment made to de-
tcrmine what weight would break OF the
seats. seven tons was required. Each Of the
eight foot seats will accommodate about six per
sons the total weight of whom is estimated at
not more than 1000 pounds. 1t is safe to say
that DO pounds will be the greatest weight
ever placed at any point a seat, and archi-
tects and builders are firm in the belief that the
stadium will stand any test of weight to which
If may be subjected.
Though the stadium is such an enormous
structure, and despite the fact that it is yet
incomplete. the two football games played in
its Enclosure this season have demonstrated that
it will be when completed all that was hoped
fer it. Notwithstanding its great size, it is an
admirable place from which to view an athletic
event, and especially a football game. As there
are 10 corners in its construction, every seat
csmmands a clear view Of the whole field.
feature Of the structure is the mezzaniue
floor promenade, under the seats and directly
behind them. This floor, which is built into the
structure and extends around the entire stretch
of the great u is lighted by windows pierced
through the walls around the entire distance
Still another feature Of the stadium is a prom
<nade above the very topmost row of seats.
1nia. like the mezzanine floor, twenty feet be-
0x, extends around the entire loop" of the
stadium It is 16 feet inches wide like the
KExxanine floor, and in the completed structure