Page 48 - TheGoldBug1939-40

PAGE FOUR The Gold Bug, Western Maryland College, Westminster, Md., March 21, 1940 Our W. M. C. Prints Of The Hill In Its Younger Days Archives Yield Commencement In Forerunners Of Alumni Hall Present Scenes Minus The Searches by inquiring report- Classical Influence ers through the archives of the two college publications have yielded a number of views of Western Maryland as it once Even back in the days when was or was intended to be. Alumni Hall had stood out by Presented on this page are Main street for scarcely a dec- the forerunners of some of the ade; when the graduating class- most prominent see n e sand es of thirty-five looked forlorn buildings on the Hill. and lost on the vast, new stage; Changed customs, increased when classically-minded alumni enrollment, larger endowments, had not yet begun to bequeath and the very years themselves stained-glass muses as back- brought about Lewis Hall in the stage memorials; yes, even when place of Old Yingling, McDaniel the faculty rather than the stu- without the bridge, and the re- dents wore mustaches, those moval of the arch to the foot of' same two cherubs presided over the Hill. all investitures and commence- Commencements and investi- ments. Can you find the spright- tures, however, have remained ly babes in the picture? the same. "For Of All Sad Words Of Tongue Or Pen The Saddest Are These: 'It Might Have Been l '" 'Twas a great dream he had-this architect of the Greater Western Maryland. He saw a wide and beautiful road of learning leading to this institution. On the left of this highway he imagined that Baker Chapel and the library were left as memorials of the ancient Western Maryland. But then he to the right visioned a quadrangle of woman's buildings in the canter, white porticos marked the entrance of impressive administration buildings; in the corner appeared the quadrangle of men's buildings. Gone were Smith and Ward and Hering and McKinstry Halls. No white painted brick stretched out in grotesque figures marred the landscape of the red brick designed vision buildings. 'Twas a great dream the architect had-But alas! 'Twas a dream and nothing more. Dawn Of New Era Moves Gates' Of Learning Farther Down The Hill The two or three box-like cars parked by the wall were actually new, and Mc- Daniel Hall was nearly so, and the Queen of the Campus. She has had since to share her crown with Blanche Ward as prosperity dawned on the college. The line of seniors stretched longer and longer on its way to investiture. The two or three cars multiplied, traffic increased, and the old arch in all its grandeur was definite- ly not designed for the tin and rubber contraption that roared beneath it. The arch was moved to where foot travelers alone could appreciate it, and the road was left wide and open to the products of tha machine age of the present. Traditional Western Maryland Weather Forecast By Visionary Architect You guessed it on the second try! This is the architect's plan for McDaniel Hall, the spacious new dormitory which was to bring the long-suffering co-eds of the early twenties out of the drafty cubicles of Hering Hail. If you had been a freshman in 1922, you might have proudly sent home a post card bearing a picture of this magnificent building, so dazzlingly encrusted with pillars and chimneys and porticos, and that fine, bridge-like porte-cochere. It is unfortunate that the far-seeing architect's plan for the archway was never followed. Just think how today on rainy nights it could relieve the congestion in McDaniel reception hall! Forerunner Of Lewis Hall Unique Combination Of Kaleidoscopic Variety Relic of an age of mad conglomeration in architecture, old Yingling Hall was the pride of the science department in the late nineteenth century. Even in those days an attempt was made to combine the beautiful with the practical. Now glance at the classic pillars ornamenting the entrance. There's also the crescent shaped win- dow over the massive doors. The observatory tower, which is di- rectly above, has the appearance of a water towel' attached to a barn. Adding the wide tops to the chimneys made more complete the monumental bearing of the architect's creation. The English half timber style is surpassed, for here three types of building material are used. In keeping with the motif of variety windows had to be of different sizes.