Skehen Finds Harvard Men Different From Those of 40 Years Ago--Vehicles and Bracers Have Changed for Worse

"Harvard men may be smarter but they certainly aren't any wiser", was the opinion of John Skehen, yard man and gate-keeper for nearly half a century, as he reminisced, on the University undergraduates of 40 years ago. "They cut up more but they don't enjoy it half as much as the boys back in the eighties".

Skehen removed his short clay pipe and gazed reflectively out of the window of his little cabin under Widener gate. "Take St. Patrick's day for instance. I've seen it pouring on Harvard Square and three hundred students out parading in the rain, soaked outside and in. They would stop every block or so to brace up their spirits, and keep on marching. If they stopped for the kind of bracers they get today, no one would ever finish the parade."

Another proof of the ineptitude of the modern collegiate, in Mr. Skehen's opinion, is his inordinate desire for automobiles. "In those days", he said, "a man never thought of keeping a horse and buggy unless his father owned at least six railroads. Today they will mortgage all their school books for a second hand fivver.

"All in all", he concluded, "the old place has certainly changed. When I first started work at Harvard the Elm trees were so thick in the yard you couldn't make the grass grow, and the students used to take their girls walking in there. Now, I hear, they take an automobile and drive out to Revere Beach."