tion of the distance the street is entirely included by the University grounds. To cover the cost of paving this portion the Legislature of 1903 appropriated $8,974. Another portion of the street. abuts on one side only of the University grounds; the proportionate cost of the improvement of this portion was made a lien on the property of the State. This improvement is of great advantage to the University. Drop-Testing Apparatus.-The Master Car Builders' Association has deposited at the University during the past year the droptesting machine designed by its committee for the standard tests of car couplers as required by the association. The apparatus is of large dimensions, rising to the height of fifty-four feet, and has been installed in the rear of the engineering laboratories. It is to be used in the routine work of the association which will be of great value to our students, and is also available for general research in the hands of our instructors. Timber-Testing Machines.-The United States Department of Agriculture has also deposited in our testing laboratories, for use in connection with the timber-testing station, three valuable machines, as follows: One Riehle Torsion Machine. One Impact Testing Machine. Class Gifts. The graduating class of 1903 appropriated $600 for the erection upon the campus of a suitable drinking fountain. This was installed in June, 1904. It is a massive cut stone shaft ornamented on each face with carved lion's heads, with four outlets for running water. The gift is much appreciated by the student body. The graduating class in Pharmacy contributed $100 to finishing and decorating the department reading room of the Pharmacy Building. The students of the short winter course in Agriculture gave $30 toward the purchase of books for the Agricultural Library. Miscellaneous. Many contributions to the various departments have been received in the form of materials or apparatus, some of the more important of which are as follows: To the School of Electrical Engineering— A large amount of electrical conduit of various sizes from the Sprague Electric Company of New York. Two thousand feet of solid and stranded electrical conductors of various sizes from the American Steel and Wire Company of Chicago. Five hundred feet of circular loom from the American Cir cular Loom Company, Chelsea, Mass. One 25-ampere switchboard ammeter and one 150-volt switchboard voltmeter from Fort Wayne Electric Works. One 25-ampere 125-volt Duncan recording wattmeter from Duncan Electric Manufacturing Company, LaFayette. One 2 H.-P. 110-volt direct-current motor and 'one H.-P. 60-cycle alternating-current induction motor from the Emerson Electric Manufacturing Company, St. Louis. The department is also indebted to the same company for the loan of fourteen alternating current and direct current motors for experimental purposes. To the Hobart Electric Manufacturing Company of Troy, Ohio, for the loan of one 5 H.-P. motor and special apparatus. To the Lexington, Ky., Street Railway Company for use of its station and equipment for experimental purposes, and To the Gould Storage Battery Company for loans of instruments and assistance in the same connection. The Experiment Station Has received a large number of periodicals gratis, and from the following manufacturers, fertilizing materials for use in field testing: The German Kali Works, New York; Armour and Company, Chicago; E. Rauh & Sons, Indianapolis; Read Phosphate Company, Nashville, Tenn. The Civil Engineering Department— Has received numerous prints and drawings of engineering works from various sources, of especial value being a series of drawings and specifications for the Pennsylvania Railroad terminal facilities on Manhattan Island. The Agricultural Department Has received sets of herd books from the American Clydesdale Association, and current volumes issued by the Hereford, Holstein and other associations; also a collection of forty specimens of animal parasites and pathological specimens from Mr. Hans Duden, of Indianapolis. The Dairy Laboratory has received the following supplies: Butter color from Heller & Mertz, New York, and Commercial culture from O. Douglass Co., Boston, Washing powder from J. B. Ford & Co., Wyandotte, A four-bottle milk tester from D. H. Burrell Co., Little Butter worker from Palm & Son, of Ohio. Butter packages from Gem Fibre Package Company. One separator each from the National Separator Co., Two separators each from the DeLaval Separator Co. MEMORIAL BUILDING. It has been proposed to erect at the University a memorial building in honor of those who lost their lives in the railway disaster of October 31, 1903. The proposal has met with unanimous approval from all sides and has been formally authorized by the Board of Trustees, whose committee, consisting of Hon. W. V. Stuart, Hon. Charles Major and President Stone, has charge of the enterprise. The general plan adopted contemplates a building of monumental character, suitable as a memorial, and which shall also serve the highest interests of the students in a marked and characteristic way. Those whom the building is designed to commemorate were young men, students or alumni, representing the student body in an athletic capacity. One feature of the memorial building may therefore appropriately have relation to the physical and athletic needs of the students of the University. In addition, such a monument may well recognize other conditions and needs of student life and provide a center for the many social and general activities of the student body. It is proposed, therefore, to make of this memorial building a kind of students' union, providing proper apparatus for physical exercise, bathing, recreation, meeting places for student organizations and for social functions of the University. A building as above conceived would not only be appropriate. as a memorial, but would satisfy one of the greatest needs in the life of the University. With reference to this need I quote the following from my last report, only adding that the conditions there mentioned are not changing for the better: The hundreds of students enrolled in the University for the most part live in private houses in the vicinity of the institution. Large numbers of them are forced to consider very carefully all items of expenditure, and must be content with modest accommodations which offer the minimum of physical or social privileges. Even those who can afford to pay for the best quarters are restricted by the lack of any considerable number of rooms with modern conveniences. These conditions compel the greater number of our students to a method of living which is far below the proper physical standard, and which can not but have a harmful effect upon health and character. There must also be taken into account the social conditions of student life. While the University duties inevitably claim a large share of the student's time and effort, and no one can afford to spend any considerable portion of his time in conventional social functions, yet there is a legitimate kind of association and recreation among students which is most helpful and upbuilding, and for which there is at present no opportunity in the University or the city. Few students have personal acquaintances in LaFayette homes and, for the greater number, when studies and tasks are completed, the inevitable desire for recreation and relaxation can only be met by a visit to some other student's room or to some public resort, the influence of which in either case can rarely be what is most desired or most needed by the student. The gymnasium provided by the University is unworthy of the name. A building which it is impossible to warm or ventilate in cold weather; with the most limited equipment of bath and dressing rooms, it is but sparingly used by the students and is entirely inadequate for the needs of the few who use it. Practically, therefore, the greater number of our students are without proper facilities for exercise, bathing, or rational social intercourse and recreation. Under these conditions the environment of these hundreds of students is lacking in some of the elements most essential to their highest development. The most urgent need of Purdue University at this time is some provision for meeting these natural requirements of her students. The courses of study are severe and exacting. The student must apply himself for many hours daily at the desk or in the laboratory; his hours of relaxation are short, and to meet these unusual conditions provisions should be made. What would not be needed in home life becomes imperative under these new conditions. Regular and systematic exercise, available at times when his schedule permits; healthful and sanitary physical conditions of living, and opportunity for relaxation in vigorous but innocent ways, the student must have in order to maintain his body and mind in a healthy and efficient condition. To meet this there should be on the campus and as part of the University equipment, a commodious, well furnished, modern gymnasium, with abundant provision for every student for exercise and for bathing, and all should be in charge of a competent instructor. In the same building should be recreation and reading rooms where the students could meet during their free hours for intercourse and association. The various University organizations would find their proper meeting places here, and the entire building would prove convenient and suitable for formal social functions in which the whole University could take part. Such a building as this would minister to the physical and social needs of student life as Eliza Fowler Hall now serves its moral and intellectual needs, and would, I am convinced, exert a deeper and better influence upon it than any other provision which the University could make. This memorial building will be most properly provided by the members and friends of the University who shared in her loss. A subscription to this end has been inaugurated and has made gratifying progress during the year. Particularly pleasing is the fact |