The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-10-09
HARVARD YVES GONE.


~,4s... Than a Century. ~. IL
What Boston Commons and its elms
are to Boston people, the Harvard yard
and its ivy are to Harvard men, and
when at very infrequent intervals any
thing happens to the yard and the ivy
/ the outcry from old grads" is as loud
| and long as is the storm of rernon-
STRANGE that periodically arises over the
lconduct of the Common. But now the
Harvard yard has met with loss as ir-
tsparable as that to the Common when
| the fine row Of elirs bordering upon
fremont street had to fall before the
iburrowing of the subway. Two of the
finest walls Of ivy IN the yard have
been torn down and cut off at the roots,
and the brick walls. that used to be COW
cred with mass of green leaves spark
Hing brightly In the sun from early
spring until late In the fall, are bare.
The destruction of this Ivy, which used
| to cover the south wall of Massachu-
Isett Hall from foutdationi to the roof,
and the east wall OF Harvard Hall from
the ground to the very peak of the
ridgepole, was not malicious, but was
brought about by force Of circum-
stances. .-s3 &c.,. s3s34s+ = S
Except for the destruction of some Of
the buildings themselves, or the cutting
down of some, of the trees, nothing
could make such g. change in the ap-
pearance of that part of the yard as the
removal of the ivy from Massachusetts,
land Harvard.
Massachusetts Is the Oldest building
in the yard and some of the stalks of
the ivy where 1t has been cut off near
the ground. two or three inches in d.
ameter, show that It was not long after
lf72o, when the building was erected,
that the ivy first began its climb
Doubtless many of the plants were
lsturdy young growths when General
Washington took command of the Col
|onial troops at the nearby famous elm,
(since named after the father of his
Ecountry. Other plants were likely the
forgotten memorials of distant classes
whose ivy orations meant something
beyond the delivery of a Howery and
supposedly witty Grafton within San
|ders theater. The ivy on Massachu-
sets. was not as conspicuous by any
means as that on Harvard Hall, from
the very fact that it did not face the
yard.
The bank of English ivy on the end of
Harvard Hall was about the most no.
|ticeable thing in that part Of the yard.
Just inside the Johnston gate it was
thanked by old Hollis Hall on the one
side and by Massachusetts Hall on the
other. Its roots were as deep and its
vine ais heavy as that ON Massachusetts,
although Harvard Hall Is some forty
five years yunger than the one across
the way.
When the ivy was removed a few
days ago it was found that the wall was
simply plastered with the accumulated
dust of years. In some places the layer
of dirt was from two to three inches
thick and baked as solid as plaster.
With the removal of the vines this dirt
had to be scraped away, allowing the
red bricks to come to light after be-
|ing covered up for perhaps a hundred
years,
The cause of the removal of these two
fine banks Of ivy goes back to last VIM
ter. After more than a century of
weathering New England winters, with
ering in the late fall, only to spring up
brightly in the early spring, and to
reach full bloom by class day and COM
the sturdy old vines had to
give way last winter. In the spring,
Just when the buds were getting ready
to burst through their winter covering,
there came an unusually warm spell of
weather.
Notwithstanding their experience of
years, the old vines made a mistake at
last and let the tender young shoots UNI
cover themselves. Then there came a
prolonged season of cold, raw weather,
and the vine was winter-killed. When
spring really came the ivy only came
out in spots, and it was apparent that
the vines were dying. They were care
fully nursed through the summer by
the Harvard forester and everything
was done to enliven them, but it was of
no avail, so few days ago the vines
were sawed off near the roots and the
walls cleaned.
OF course the ivy will start again, but
It will be many generations before the
seniors will have their class day graced
by as fine natural decorations on Har-
ward and Massachusetts, as those that
have graced the class: days of '0S and
previous classes.-Boston Evening
Transcript.