Wetmore, W. R.
On the above name night I went to bed a little before 10 o clock;
had been in bed, perhaps an hour when the students commenced throwing fire
balls in the campus, as they had done a few nights before; got up and went to
the window; had not been there long before they scattered off towards the
buildings on account of a signal's being given, as I thought, of the approach
of some of the Faculty. On their reassembling again near the belfry some of
them said in a tone of voice not at all calculated to alarm any one
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that the belfry was on fire. They were on the western
side of it. There were perhaps 20 of them. On seeing some sparks fall from the
top of the belfry I thought one of their balls had lodged there and was falling
of by pieces. They continued to say in the same tone of voice that the belfry
was on fire an at the same time to hurrah for
Fremont
and some of the other candidates. I saw no more signs
of fire and upon their becoming more quiet thought that all danger to the
belfry, if any there had been, was over, and went to bed again. I heard no more
of the belfry and no more noise in the campus until a little before 2 o clock
when a
Mr. Ashe
one of the occupants of the room adjoining mine came
to my door and
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woke me with the intelligence that
the belfry was burning. I got up immediately and found that the lot of it was
wrapped in flames and that it was passed being saved.