Page 9 - 1911 November - To Dragma

8 TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA 0 MIC RON PI

and Tehama Counties, worth millions of dollars; 3,575 acres i n
vines, the largest acreage of any single vineyard in the world;
85,400 acres in other lands.

Buildings were first built as they were needed and the laying of
the corner stone took place on Leland's birthday, May fourteenth,
1887. Building went on until the inner and outer quadrangles
were completed and the machine shops. Thus at the end of the
Stone Age were the monuments such as the arch, the Unique
Church and the smoke stack which stood out i n view above the
wonderfully cut stonework. The stonework alone on all the build-
ings including the church and the dormitories amounted to eight
millions.

Although the earthquake of 1906 was a great shock, it was not
the only one that Stanford University received. The first shock
came in 1893 when the U . S. Government laid claim to the Stanford
Estate. From the richest university in the world it was likely to
become the poorest. But by Mrs. Stanford's efforts the case was
put through the U . S. Circuit Court in June 1895; the Circuit
Court of Appeals in October of the same year and the U . S.
Supreme Court March 1896. A l l decided i n favor of the university.
For six years the funds of the university were tied up and it was
only by the personal sacrifices on the part of Mrs. Stanford, that
kept the university from closing its doors. She did what Queen
Isabella only offered to do. She sold her jewels and whatever else
could be converted into ready money, and cut down household
expenses to pay the salaries of the professors. A feeling of real
gratitude and affection toward Mrs. Stanford sprang up when the
faculty and students realized that the founding of the university
was no millionaire's caprice but a sincere and lofty purpose. The
university was nearly completed and in a prosperous state of affairs
when the big earthquake of 1906 came along.

The new library, one of the finest buildings of its kind in the
World, which was nearly completed, was demolished except for the
great dome in its steel supports. The gymnasium which was just
completed was wrecked completely. Both these buildings were of
the general type of the state capital buildings. The triumphal
arch and the church were wrecked leaving intact the arcaded quad-
rangles in the Spanish mission style. The total loss was about
three millions. Stanford is now very much hampered for resources,
as only $500,000 per year of the entire income can be used for
university purposes. While the total endowment is estimated now