HARVARD OF FORMER DAYS PORTRAYED BY SCRAPBOOK

A most interesting gift in the form of a scrap-book has recently been received by Widener Library from Charles C. Read '64. In this volume he kept a record of his undergraduate days by clippings from the Boston Evening Transcript, programs, official notices, invitations and other mementos. Many crew regatta programs are pasted throughout the scrap-book. One is of particular interest as it tells of the race in which crimson was first taken as the Harvard color. In another place a long clipping from the Transcript tells of the visit to this country of "Albert of Belgium," now King Albert, and of the "chaste reception" accorded him by the University.

Perhaps one of the most curious accounts in the book is a long article on the "Burial of Mr. Football" in the year 1861, when the annual Sophomore-Freshman rush was forbidden by the Faculty. An excerpt from the account is printed: "Dearly Beloved: We have met together upon this mournful occasion to perform the sad office over one whose long and honored life was put to an end in a sudden and violent manner. Last year at this very time, this very place, our poor friend's round, jovial appearance (slightly swollen, perhaps), and the elasticity of his movements, gave promise of many years more to be added to a long life, which even then eclipsed that of the oldest graduate."