THE GYMNASIUM APPARATUS.

NOTWITHSTANDING reports to the contrary, work in the Gymnasium is progressing. The netting in the Nine's practice-room has been put in place, and the base-ball men practise there every day. The bowling-alleys would have been opened for use after the Thanksgiving recess, but the men charged with their preparation did not do their work well, and portions of it must be altered before the alleys can be used. The straight smooth alleys and the handsome scoring-slates offer an agreeable contrast to the irregular uneven alleys and unsightly blackboards of the old Gymnasium.

On the main floor the system of ladders is in position at one end, and above the central hall is the iron framework which is to support all such apparatus as flying trapese, swinging rings, etc. All this is to be so arranged that at a moment's notice it can be swung up out of the way, leaving the centre of the hall entirely clear. There are to be parallel bars of all varieties, - of the ordinary sort, high parallels, ascending bars, bars up which one can walk like a step-ladder, and one pair which can be adjusted in whatever way the user wishes. There will be no machines for general development, such as those of Dr. Winship and others; but from thirty to fifty machines intended to develop the different parts of the body, in order that no one man may take possession of a machine and monopolize it, as was too frequently the case in the past. There will be a new style of adjustable pulling weight. In principle it is the same as the old pulling weight, but in the details of construction it is vastly superior. Wooden pulleys on steel shafts have been substituted for the old iron pulleys, and the cowhide has been replaced by Manila rope. The weights are placed in a stout wooden box, which is guided in its rise and fall by steel rods. When not in use this box rests on a rubber pad preventing the disagreeable jerk and jar which invariably ensued when the weight was allowed to descend a little too far. The weights can be put in or removed from this box at the pleasure of the one using it. This renders it possible for any man to use any of the machines, and again effectually stop monopoly. The boxes for clothing are roomy and fastened by padlocks.

In the galleries the running and walking track, twenty-six laps to the mile, is already used by the Nine. Some of the rowing-machines are also in position. They can be used for double sculls as well as for a crew, and by a new improvement the danger of soiling the clothes with the grease on the sliding seats has been entirely removed.

Any member of the University will be allowed to use these machines except during the practice time of a crew. Dr. Sargent is also endeavoring to adapt a new rowing-machine, and if he is successful, a number of them will be added to those intended for the use of the crews.

The Gymnasium will probably not be opened until after Christmas, as it is considered undesirable that it be used before it is entirely completed, and consequently students will not be admitted while the workmen are yet in the building.