Page   9                                                                  [Jan. 1885.]  HOUSE—No. 17.

To his  Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Council:

The last year has been, in many ways, a successful year to the college. The standard of scholarship has been raised, the course of study has been extended, buildings and grounds have been improved, new buildings have been erected, an excellent class of young men has been in attendance, and good health, good cheer and a determination to accomplish good results, have characterized those in charge of the practical work of the several departments, the students and the faculty.

BUILDINGS:
 
The appropriation of $6,000, made by the last legislature for the repair and improvement of North College and “other buildings of the college,” was very timely, and, under the direction of the building committee of the trustees, O. B. Hadwen, Esq., of Worcester, J. H. Demond, Esq., of Northampton, President Greenough, and Hon. Daniel Needham of Groton, the money has been carefully expended. Throughout the first three stories, with the exception of two rooms previously repaired, one occupied by the Christian Union, the other by ODD of the literary societies of the college, the entire wood-work has been removed, and new wood-work substituted. This, well finished and covered with oil and shellac, has a very neat 00 and cheerful appearance. In the fourth story, the rooms were most thoroughly repaired and painted, with the exception of three rooms previously fitted up. New floors have been put down throughout the building wherever needed. Twelve new windows have been added, thus securing ample light to all the rooms in the first three stories. The original treatment of the roof rendered it impracticable to add windows to the inner rooms of the upper story; but the position of these rooms makes additional light less needful than for those in the lower stories. Two rooms on the first floor of this building have been arranged for the present as library rooms. The roof of the boarding-hall has been shingled and the rear annex covered with tin. The dining-room has been reconstructed, and other improvements have been made in the building and in the drainage. We have also provided a much needed barn for the botanic department. The appropriation made to complete the house to be occupied by the president has been expended for that purpose, and the house is now occupied by him.

The library and chapel building, for the erection of which twenty-five thousand dollars was appropriated, is in a fair way to be completed on or before the first of July next. The walls are for the most part finished, and the roof is being put on. To make provision for what is required in this building, and to build of stone or brick according to the act making the appropriation, and still to keep within the limits of the appropriation, we have found a difficult task. After several meetings of the building committee, the architect and contractors, a contract for the erection of the building was made with John Beston of Amherst, a builder of large experience and excellent reputation. Stephen C. Earle, of Worcester, is the architect. While we expect to be able to put up the main part of the building and complete it, within the appropriation, we find ourselves obliged to omit most of the towers With our present means we shall be compelled to finish the tower with a roof after it reaches a sufficient height to form an entrance. The group of college buildings, as well as this building, requires this tower. No one visiting the grounds will be satisfied with this library and chapel building in the imperfect state in which we are DOW obliged to leave it. The design of the architect should be carried out, that we may have a place for the college bell and for the college clock. The evident determination of one of the classes now in college to provide an excellent clock, if the tower is now built, and the fact that the building can now be perfected at less expense than hereafter, are important arguments for finishing the building as designed. We could not make the building smaller and have it suffice for the purposes intended; hence our effort to keep within the appropriation and secure the rooms needed, though unable to perfect the building. An appropriation will be needed at an early day to furnish this building, and to do what is needful to perfect the building according to its plan. As soon as it is furnished with shelving and cases, our library and our more valuable geological and other specimens will be transferred to it. This building is of granite, from the Pelham quarry, belonging to the college. On the sixth of last November the corner-stone was laid. His Excellency Gov. Rohinson, ex-officio President of the Board of Trustees, being unable to fulfill his intention to be present, Hon. J. S. Grinnell, of Greenfield, presided. The reasons for erecting the building were briefly outlined by President Greenough. He referred to the action of the alumni at their annual meeting in 1883, when measures were taken to provide a better library for the college, —to the request of the Board of Control for the use of the present chapel-room for a laboratory for the Massachusetts Experiment Station, —and to the evident needs of the college for all that is to be secured in the building.

Herbert Myrick, of Springfield, of the class of ‘82, spoke in behalf of the library committee of the alumni. Ex-President Stockbridge spoke of the progress and the aims of the college. Arthur A. Brigham, of the class of ‘78, and S. C. Damon, of the class of ‘82, also made pertinent addresses respecting the value and the prospects of the college. O. B. Hadwen, Esq., of Worcester, gave a detailed account of the plan of the building. Hon. C. L. Flint, of Boston, for a time president of the college, outlined its early history. The closing exercises were the singing of an original hymn by the audience, led by the college choir, prayer by the Rev. Samuel Snelling, rector of Grace Church in Amherst, the putting of the corner-stone in place by the presidents of the several classes now in college, and the benediction by the rector.