Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/222

 192 A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Secretary's enthusiasm. In January, 1892, as has been related elsewhere, Mr. Gates visited Chicago, to look over the ground for himself. Having spent ten days in a rigid examination, he spoke as follows in his report on students : Eighty-four students are now on the ground at Morgan Park, practically uninvited, studying under an association of tutors, made up entirely of Semi- nary students, anticipating the opening of the Academy. There are now enrolled in the Divinity School at Morgan Park one hundred and ninety-two men. Dr. Northrup tells me he has over fifty new applications for next year from college graduates alone University undergraduate department. Over six hundred men hailing from thirty-seven states have reported themselves as purposing to come, while three hundred and sixty-nine more have sent in their names as possible students. New names are coming in at the rate of sixty to ninety per month University graduate department. Ninety-three men have reported, of whom about forty hail from east of the Alleghanies, New England, etc. More are daily reporting. Mr. Gates's conclusion was that the problem of the University was not how to get students, but how to provide for them. He estimated that there would be one hundred students in the graduate departments, and urged Mr. Rockefeller to provide an income of ten thousand dollars a year for graduate fellowships. This was done and added immensely to the attractive power of those depart- ments, and applications for fellowships began to multiply. Indeed student inquiries began, in February, 1892, to multiply in bewilder- ing fashion. On February 28 the Secretary wrote, "The letters from students increase. There have been twenty today, more than were ever before received in one day." At this time the authorities found thrust upon them a most embarrassing question. How were the students to be housed? On March 4 the secretary wrote, "Inquiries are now coming in for rooms, prices of rooms, cheap rooms, and we have no answer to make." But these were questions that had to be answered. They would not down. The neighborhood of the University was at the time sparsely settled. It was impossible to allow several hundred men and women students to appear on October i only to learn that there was no place in which they could live. Indeed, without the assurance that there would be places to receive them they were