7200 Swarm Into Lamont On First Day

The men who went to sleep in the futuristic chairs at Lamont yesterday were the exceptions; most of the multitude that wandered around the different "levels" and peered over the balconies was too busy being amazed or baffled even to sit down.

Lamont Librarian Philip J. McNiff estimated the crowd at 7,500. Of these, perhaps 1,000 actually used the facilities of the building, the rest just ogled.

Confusion Lacking

The expected mass confusion to which the librarians were resigned failed to materialize, said McNiff, because few men got around to doing anything. Sneaking around corners and up stairs, and fingering the woodwork in small groups, they had no time or inclination to ask questions or take out books.

Among the people who managed to make themselves at home, the individual study stalls were much the most popular, and it wasn't all the challenge of the "tip proof" chairs. The studious ones appeared to be quite at case despite the architectural and human distractions. Only in the typing booths were the original library plans thwarted--they were crowded but few of the users had their typewriters with them.

Futuristic Attractions

Just plain spectators ran into a barrel of minor complications. Some groups, with visions of perpetual motion machines and gadgets, devoted their energies to tracking down the Mechanical Room, only to come finally on a sort of boiler room packed with air-conditioning machinery.

Under the most severe misapprehension was an unidentified sightseeing freshman who tried to leave the Farnsworth Room through a full-length pane of glass. The glass, apparently designed with this in mind, withstood the shock, but the freshman suffered assorted head bruises and a bloody nose.