Cleaning Europe, Gandhi's Death, and Locked Lectures

Every week, The Crimson publishes a selection of articles that were printed in our pages in years past.

November 29, 1918: Sanitary Engineers Needed for War Recovery

The war is over, and reconstruction in the recovered French territory has already begun. In the way of sanitation, water supplies and sewage disposal plants are already being put in order, cities are being cleaned, and the general processes of rehabilitation are said to be under way. Naturally this burden is falling upon the Engineer Corps of the army which in peace times has been in the habit of engaging in non-military enterprises, but the officers of the Sanitary Corps have been working with the engineers. It is not likely that the personnel of the Sanitary Corps will be increased; on the contrary, it will be decreased. Consequently, the special courses in sanitary engineering which were being organized in the School of Public Health of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will not be given and the courses in War Bacteriology now being given will not be repeated. Students who have been hoping to enter the Sanitary Corps and who doubtless are disappointed at not having this opportunity should not forget that the great profession of public health administration, with its many branches, is open to them and that there is no more honorable or useful work in the world than that of promoting human health and welfare.

November 28, 1923: Gandhi Will Go Down in History as 'Great Soul'

The following article on the life of Gandhi, the leader of the recent popular uprisings in India, was written for the Crimson by Mr. R. V. Gogate, an Indian who is now a student in the Graduate School of Education at the University. He is a native of the Indore State in Central India, and during his life in India was intimately acquainted with Gandhi.

"It is an exclusive trait of the human mind to be appreciative of anything that is transcendental whether that thing belongs to the physical, moral, or intellectual world. All normally developed human beings are as a rule fascinated by the presence of the true, the good, and the beautiful irrespective of race, caste, or any such man-made differentiation.Shri Krishna of the prehistoric India, Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Confucius, Mohammed, Zoroaster,—all these through the avenue of religion appeared before the human race and helped the human mind to evolve many of its rich potentialities of faith, righteousness, and spirituality. Personalities such as Ashoka, Charlemagne, Peter the Great, Napoleon, Mazzini, Shiwaji, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and others rose to eminence and power through sincere and farsighted service to their fellow men in organizing programs of human cpursuit of happiness in the worldly sense. He Attained World-Wide Attention. There has appeared on the scene, in our days, a man who is attracting just such attention of the entire civilized world. He is Mahatma Gandhi of India. He is a man who has tried and is still trying an experiment in the field of politics; the sanctifying of politics by the inception of moral and spiritual laws. Mr. Gandhi says that all that is immoral, unholy, and unjust in the life of an individual is equally so if it is found in the life of a nation."

November 29, 1947: Fire Dep. May Raid Classes Locked to Tardy Students

Raids by the Cambridge Fire Department were threatened yesterday if professors continued their locked-door policy as discipline for tardy students.

Deputy Chief Caldwell of the Lincoln Square Fire Station opposite Memorial Hall declared that it was illegal to lock the doors of lecture rooms unless the exits are equipped with panic-bars.

"The Chief himself might make an inspection during one of the lectures if the violations continue," Caldwell asserted.

Students last night named Charles H. Taylor '21, Henry Lea Professor of Medieval History, and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History, as the worst offenders. A quick investigation of New Lecture Hall, where Taylor's course, History 1, is given showed no panic-bars are provided. Many students, especially of History 1, were willing to agree that New Lecture Hall was one of the worst fire-traps in Cambridge.

Most felt that although the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge are noble and desirable endeavors, to say the least, they nevertheless could be just as easily fulfilled with the exits uncluttered by locked doors. The consensus of opinion seemed to be that safety and education were not incompatible.

"If this thing happens again, just call Trowbridge 0125 and ask for me," said the deputy chief last night.

November 26, 1963: Kennedy and Harvard: A Complicated Tie

John F. Kennedy '40 made his last visit to Harvard as a football fan. Taking a balmy Staurday afternoon off from politicking and official business, the President attended the first half of the Oct. 19 Harvard-Columbia football game.

He looked tan and relaxed; apparently he enjoyed himself although he did not express much emotion. Kennedy stood up to cheer only once as the teams moved up and down the field, scoring only three points apiece. Most of the time the President smoked a small cigar, chewed on his sunglasses, and chatted with aides Dave Powers and Larry O'Brien.

After watching the half-time show—in which both bonds razzed him lightly—Kennedy left Harvard for the last time to visit the grave of his son Patrick in a Brookline Cemetery.

Compiled by Samuel Y. Weinstock.