Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-03
flied with five. ten and twenty-dollar bills.
| which are to be expended by him in pur-
/ chasing eQuipment

flied with nve. ten and twenty dollar bills.
which are to be expended by him in pur-
chasing equipment.
Bequest From q Forgotten Student.
Several other new buildings will be
erected. Amherst has just received wind
fall. About the FIRST of last May President
Harris received notice from Edward w.
Sheldon. president Of the United States
Trust Company. IS Wall street. New York.
that Amherst was the residuary legatee Of
the late Edward w. Currier OF the class Of
rs. who had recently died at his residence.
- West 9th street, In that city. and
everybody began to ask. Who was Edward
w. Currier?" Even old Doc Hitchcock
did not remember him. Although his name
appeared In the catalogue. with the address
given, not one member of the faculty was
able to recall his appearance or remember
anything about him. An investigation soon
disclosed the fact that he entered college
in 1852. during the administration of Presi-
dent Stearns, and his classmates remember
him as quiet. retiring character. who
never did anything to bring himself into
not member of any Of the fraternities. and
made very little impression. Upon gradu-
alton he entered the firm of Currer & Ives.
printers and photographers, in the American
Tract Society building on Nassau street.
New York, and. In course of time sue
ceeded his father at the head Of the busi-
ness. So far as anybody knows. he never
visited Amherst; at least he never made
himself known II he did. but when he made
his Will several years ago he bequeathed
small amounts to q number OF relatives.
employees and servants. and gave the bal
ance Of his estate. which amounts to about
100000. to Amherst. The windfall will be
somewhere near $JOO.OOO. and President
Harris tells me that 1t will be used to
build a dormitory and to increase the num-
Der OF Instructors. The salaries of all the
professors were increased six years ago
from $4,000 to 5000 year. which is equiv
alent to 5000 in cities like New York Bos-
ton or Chicago. The salaries Of associates
were increased from 600 to 5000 a year.
and the trustees hope to raise the entire
pay roll again In a few years.
Union and Commons Needed
President Harris says that the greatest
need OF Amherst Is a Union and Com
mons.' a general clubhouse and refectory
for the students. who now take their meals
in boarding houses and at restaurants
about the town. Such building can be
erected at a cost Of about 100000. and he
hopes to obtain the. funds shortly.
I'VE want another dormitory and another
recitation building very badly said Presi-
dent Harris. and we hope to get them in
a year or two"
Not long ago John L. Kemmerer Of Scran-
ton. Pa: c. D. Norton Of Chicago. and
other members Of the class Of '93 raised a
fund to pay the expense of bringing to
Amherst the commission which laid out
plan for the improvement Of Washington
q few years ago. in order that they might
devise similar plan for utilizing the great
natural beauties of the campus at Amherst.
This commission consists of Daniel II. Burn
ham Of Chicago. Charles F. McKim Of New
York. architects: Fred Law Olmstead of
Boston. landscape gardener. and Augustus
st. Gaudens the sculptor. of Cornish. N. II.
Tho,,
of the Typography laid out a beautiful de-
sign for the location of future buildings
and for the improvement Of the campus.
The design Is shown upon a bird's-eye re-
lief plan on exhibition in Walker Hall. and
has been greatly admired by all the alumni
and visitors who have seen 1t. 1t contem-
plates the addition to tne campus Of the
fields that lie along Its northern boundary,
and the trustees are buying every piece of
land as fast as it comes into the
market.
Gifts Of the Pratt Family.
At the alumni dinner President Harris
that Charles NJ Pratt. 10. Of
New York city had decided to build skat-
ing rink for the use of the students. and
would endow it with a sufficient sum to
provide for its maintenance and to furnish
the Ice The Pratt family have been the
most generous givers. particularly to the
athletic department. Tney are from BrOOk-
Ign. Six brothers have graduated. and
now their sons are starting in. They are
all members of the Alpha Delta Phi Fra
ternity. With the exception of two or
three years Amherst has not been without
at least one member Of the Pratt family
for the last third of a century.
The Pratt family built the gymnasium
and the natatorium: they presented the base
ball and athletic fields and gave all the
equipment. with an endowment fund suf-
flcfent to maintain them and to pay the
salaries OF the head Of the department and
other instructors in physical culture and
hygiene. The Pratt Field is one OF the
most beautiful athletic grounds have ever
seen-thirteen acres OF level turf overlook
ing the Connecticut valley and almost en-
tirely surrounded by groves and gardens.
1t Is provided with a quarter-mile track. a
bas ball diamond. foot ball grounds. tennis
courts. a grand stand that seats 800 people.
with shower baths. dressing rooms and
storerooms beneath. George D. Pratt Of '93.
Herbert Pratt of '95 and John T. Pratt of
90. brothers. also gave the college a hos
pital which Is called the Pratt Health
Cottage" with an endowment sufficient for
It's maintenance.