Trapped in Widener's Bowels, Scholars Dial Matchlit SOS

The fall term was well under way Wednesday night when two hapless students found themselves locked inside Widener Library's murky vastness. A graduate student, and an undergraduate found all gates and doors bolted a few minutes after the 5:30 p.m. closing time.

A workman repairing the circulation dock told the incarcerates that the man with the keys had "gone away." He added, with a grin, that he wouldn't be back for "an hour and a half."

After a full hour of hallooing down empty corridors and stacks, the despairing undergraduate dialed KI 7-7600 by the light of a match. Within seconds after the man at the other end heard their tale, warning gongs inside Widener began to clang.

Shortly thereafter the two errant scholars were hustled out into the Yard, with an invitation never to return.