The subject of fire-protection has been so often brought to the notice of the college, that it seems almost a waste of words to write further upon it. In the light of recent events, however, we are again led to call the attention of the undergraduates who have rooms in the yard to the danger in which they are placed and to the means which are at hand for meeting any emergencies which may arise. It would of course be useless to ask for any better appliances for extinguishing fire or for saving life, and we must therefore turn our attention now to the apparatus which is at hand, and consider how it might be put into effective action in case of sudden need.

We all have an indefinite idea of the location of the ladders, and doubtless one or two might be put into position in time enough to save a few men from a burning dormitory, but in all sudden alarms there is of necessity a great deal of excitement and confusion, and "what is everybody's business is nobody's business." Now a trained and efficient life-saving service might be organized if the men of each building should select some one to take command of their body in case of fire, and on an alarm, should assemble at the place where the nearest ladders are stowed and stand ready to get them out if required. The men might be occasionally trained in handling and raising the ladders, and if each man had his station assigned him and knew the duty he was expected to perform, we might reasonably feel that a fair amount of safety was secured.

It is sheer folly to wait for disaster to come and then trust to luck to extricate ourselves from the danger, when by a little exertion on our part we can make ourselves comparatively secure. Afire once started in any of the older buildings would increase with frightful rapidity, and it would be only by the most prompt and well-directed effort that loss of life could be averted. It seems as if the Athletic Association might take the initiative, and organize companies for practice with the apparatus, for some one must be first in a movement like this, and an organization so powerful as the H. A. A. would be able to put the project on a firm footing at once.

On account of the near approach of the examination time, we wish to again refer to a customary violation of rules which we have already mention in a former issue. Playing on a musical instrument out of hours, or other than very sparingly in hours, is, when examinations are at hand, a most annoying disturbance to those at work. Unfortunately there is no law by which it is prohibited then, and the college is consequently thrown entirely on the mercy of those possessing such instruments. We trust that all those who play will see the necessity of both care and forbearance in their practicing, since everyone is then engaged in perhaps the hardest work of the year, and anything which renders study more arduous must be most unjust to those at work.