Widener Gate-man Finds College Life More Subdued Than it Was 40 Years Ago--Regrets Passing of Horse-car Horseplay

"Times are quiet in Harvard Square compared to what they used to be," said John the gate-man as he reminisced to a CRIMSON reporter in the small porter's lodge behind Widener Library.

"When I came here 42 years ago, things were different. The first Monday of the year was 'Bloody Monday'. The upper classmen went after the Freshmen, tore their clothes, kicked their hats around, and spread the pieces in the Square. Then I can remember a bon-fire in the Yard made from a collection of gates which had been removed from neighborhood hinges.

"But the horse-dars provided the most excitement. When several men were feeling good they would jump on a car and drive in towards Boston. They might push the conductor off the car, or else just take care of him inside. Sometimes they would get off at Central Square and drive back. No, they did not turn, the car around. They just boarded one coming-the other way.

"I used to take care of the four furnaces in Massachusetts hall when there was only one room on the first floor. A half-hour before examination time, students would come in there and open all the windows. I kept the furnaces going full tilt to keep the building warm, but with the windows open it would get cold as a barn. Then when the professor came in, the students would complain the building was not heated enough, and was too cold for an examination. Generally they were excused and the exam postponed to another day."