Freshmen Botch Riot; Cops Calm Yardlings

The Yardlings tried to riot in the Yard last night, but they muffed it.

Rumors of the coming "Save the Sycamores" riot to stop the Metropolitain District Commission from heartlessly bulldozing down the trees along Memorial Drive seemed to have sparked the abortive attempt. An article in The Yardling by some budding Mao Tse-tung on riotstarting tactics was also considered a contributing factor.

By 10:30 the Harvard Police riot lights were blinking outside the Yard, and by 10:45 the last whimpering Freshman had retreated. Firecrackers exploded sporadically, and Thayer Hall residents who had been chased from their dormitory by a fire alarm broke into strains of "We Shall Overcome."

But the Freshmen couldn't pull it off alone. They'll have to wait for a warmer night, a gentler breeze, and the first faint echoes of "Save the Sycamores" being chanted to the rhythm of ten thousand tramping feet before they are iniated to the great Harvard tradition.