The Purple and GoldTHE JOURNAL OF CHI PSI FRATERNITY

Summer 2006

Annual Report of the AlphasCentennial Remembrance of

the 1906 Fire at Cornell’s Alpha Psi LodgeP&G

2 From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold

Volume 124, Number 3, © 2006 by Chi Psi Fraternityand The Chi Psi Educational Trust, 147 Maple RowBoulevard, Suite 200, Hendersonville, TN 37075615-763-2520 • Please address comments, content or inquiries to the address above or to: p&g@chipsi.org

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Purple and Gold,147 Maple Row Blvd, Suite 200, Hendersonville, TN 37075.

The Purple and Gold is an educational journal published by TheChi Psi Educational Trust and Chi Psi Fraternity, distributed

free of charge to members of Chi Psi and their families.

Nothing herein may be reproduced in whole or in partwithout the written permission of the Chi Psi Executive

Director. The Purple and Gold is designed withQuarkXPress, using New Baskerville, Gill Sans and Comic Sans fonts, printed by the Watkins

Printing Company, Columbus, Ohio.

From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold 3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:The Cornell Fire story is nearly as familiar to Chi Psis as that offounder Philip Spencer and hishanging at sea. Against a starkbackdrop of horror were manyindividual acts of heroism, whichepitomize the spirit of brother-hood that those men embodied.That 26 young men should havemet a test so severe with so muchcoolness and instinctive self-sacrifice should strengthen ourfaith in human nature and thebonds of Chi Psi. One hundredyears have not dimmed that memory for Chi Psi, and its lessons seem as fresh and relevanttoday as a century ago . . . . Page 4

On the very day that the Lodgeburned to the ground, a campaign to construct a new home was begun . . . . . . . Page 14

On 6 and 7 December 2006,Brothers across the country gathered to remember thoseBrothers and firefighters who died -- by sharing a moment ofsilence at dinner, reading the story by candlelight, taking lunchto local fire firefighters as a thanks for all they did for theircommunities, and with the Ithacafire department marking the centenary of the event . . . Page 15

The Purpleand GoldThe Journal of

Chi Psi Fraternity

FROM SUMMER 2006 • VOLUME 124 • # 3

Cornell Fire – Page 4

Alpha Reports – Page 14

Remembrance – Page 15

P&G

Rebuilding– Page 14

Chi Psi is a founding member of the FEA (FraternityExecutives Association), the NIC (the North-AmericanInterfraternity Conference), and the CFEA (CollegeFraternity Editors Association) and is a member of theFIPG (Fraternal Information & Programming Group).

Publisher: Sam Bessey, ΗΔ’97Editor: Bill Hattendorf, ΑΔ’69, Σ’82Other Contributors: Kyle Moen, Ι’02,

Preston Humphries, Β’03, Brad Beskin, Σ’05

Left: Originally the Fiske-McGrawmansion in Ithaca, it became hometo Chi Psi at Cornell, the grandest

fraternity house in America.

Front Cover: In the early morninghours of 7 December 1906, a fast-

moving fire claimed the lives of fourBrothers and three volunteer fire-fighters in Ithaca, New York. For

the centennial of that horrific event,the cover of this issue was printed in

two different versions, with each ofthe images at right printed on halfthe covers. For this reprint, the topcover shown here is on the front ofthe issue, and the bottom design is

printed on the reverse.

Centennial Remembrance4 From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold

The parents of William Nichols gave this exquisite stained glass window for the new Lodge of Alpha Psi.At right: South view of the Alpha Psi Lodge before the Fire.

The Cornell Fire

I n 1906, a fire completely destroyed the Lodge of Alpha Psi and caused thedeath of four Brothers and three volunteer firefighters. Against the stark backdrop of horror were outlined many individual acts of heroism, which epitomize the spirit of brotherhood that those men embodied. At the time,

the fire transfixed the imagination and was a source of sorrow for all Chi Psis, theentire Cornell community, and the nation at large. The fire became the subject ofmany articles, the most notable of which appeared in McClure’s Magazine, then thenation’s leading monthly.

One hundred years have not dimmed that memory for Chi Psi, and the eventssurrounding that tragedy reveal so much presence of mind that the story and its lessons seem as fresh and relevant today as they were a century ago.

Alpha Psi Fire at Cornell From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold 5

6 From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold Centennial Remembrance

Large trees, formal hedges and flower beds surroundedthe splendid mansion. On its completion it was consid-ered one of the most beautiful residences ever construct-ed in America. At present prices it would have cost tensof millions of dollars.

Miss McGraw married Cornell Professor WillardFiske on 14 July 1880 in Berlin and returned to Ithacaan invalid, arriving in early September 1880. She neverentered the mansion alive but was driven past it in herdying days and announced her approval. She died on 30September 1880, and the funeral services were held inthe reception hall of her intended home. The buildingwas not occupied until it was put up for auction and pur-chased by the McGraw estate and then sold to EdmundG. Wyckoff, Psi 1895, in 1896 for $46,000. On the nightof 14 November 1896, the Alpha formally moved fromits home downtown with a reception in its new home.

Chi Psi had unquestionably the most magnificentfraternity house in America for ten years, until itsdestruction in 1906. Heavily paneled in woodwork, thefirst floor included a central reception hall, surroundedby a library with a six-foot-wide fireplace, a formal recep-tion room, a dining room seating forty, card rooms, alarge art gallery, pantry, kitchen, and sleeping quartersfor domestic help downstairs. The second and thirdfloors were divided into studies, bedrooms, and dormito-ries. The attic was left bare.

At the time of the fire, seven Brothers slept on thesecond floor, fourteen on the third floor, while five hadbeds in the attic. The other five members of the Alphalived in the Chi Psi cottage at the corner of McGrawPlace and University, and in a nearby boarding house.

History: The Mansion ennie McGraw, was the only daughter of JohnMcGraw of Ithaca, a lumber baron and businessassociate of Ezra Cornell. Wishing to reestablishher home in Ithaca, in 1879 she directed William

H. Miller, a Cornell architect “too busy to graduate,” todesign a truly “great house” in the style of a Frenchchateau on seven acres of magnificent land adjacent tothe Cornell campus on the west. The site commanded aview reaching twenty-five miles northerly over CayugaLake and an equal distance southerly through the valleylying between the so-called East and West Hills. MorrisBishop in A History of Cornell called it “a great pile ofGothic, with donjon keeps, turrets and barbizons cun-ningly adapted to modern uses.” Miller was the designerof the Cornell Library and its beautiful tower, BoardmanHall, and the President’s Mansion, first occupied byAndrew D. White.

The McGraw mansion was constructed by Campbelland Richardson, well-known Ithaca contractors. Thestructure was of Indiana sandstone of excellent texture.The central foyer was semi-circular and extended to aheight of two stories. An ornately carved balcony gaveaccess to the sleeping apartments grouped around it.The woodwork was imported from Italy and fitted inplace by the best cabinet makers in this country. Stone-cutters from Rome and Venice were brought to Ithaca tocarve the special faces and gargoyles located inside andoutside the mansion. A large tower on the Southeast sidegave the building a distinctly medieval appearance.

The grounds were elegant and beautifully kept.

Inside the Alpha Psi Lodge before the fire.The former Fiske-McGraw mansion was designed in the style of a French chateau. Described as “a great pile of Gothic, with donjon keeps, turrets and barbizons.” The drawing room, above at right, featured a Venetian mantle.

J

Life at Cornell in 1906

W illiam Holmes Nichols, Psi ’07, was one ofthe delegates from Cornell who attendedthe April National Convention in April inDetroit (as noted in the Spring 2006 issue of

the P&G about the recovery of that Convention photo).He served as Alpha Editor that Fall of 1906, and hewrote to the Purple and Gold about Lodge and campus:

“Ten years ago, Alpha Psi entered the new Lodge. It was thought by many at that time that we would beunable to keep up the Lodge in a proper manner, that itwas too great an undertaking for a fraternity. Time hasproven the wisdom of those loyal alumni who obtainedthe Lodge for us then, and Alpha Psi stands better inevery way now than ever in her history.

“The attendance at the university is the largest sincethe foundation, the enrollment of regular students being3,200. Two new buildings were opened for use this Fall…During the summer, the landscape gardening of the

campus has been considerably altered. New walks havebeen made, and old roads cut out. The quadrangle, inparticular, has been considerably improved.

“Nineteen men returned for rush on September 15.Six men had been pledged last year, and five more weretaken this fall, and Brother Lyall Decker, Nu’08, has affiliated with us, making a total membership of thirty-one, all but one of whom live in the Lodge and cottage.

“It is early in the year to show many college honors,but those now held by members of the Alpha include:two members of Quill and Dagger, the senior honor society; member of Dunstan, the sophomore honor society; editor-in-chief of the 1907 Senior Class Book;editor-in-chief and assistant business manager of theWidow; assistant manager of the Musical Clubs; Varsityfull-back and substitute half-back of the football team;captain Junior football team; members of tennis, base-ball, track, and crew teams; members of the Masque,Musical Clubs, the Cornellian Board, and various classclubs, societies and committees.”

From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold 7Alpha Psi Fire at Cornell

At Left: Psi FreshmenDelegation – Greele firstin line, Pope ninth in line;

Left: James McCutcheon’09, On Percy Field – Sub-Fullback on Varsity;

Right: Alpha Psi inOctober 1906 – Schmuckfirst row, 2nd from right;Greele and McCutcheon,

standing row, 3rd and 4th from right.

8 From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold

The Fire

A t about 3:40 A.M., several witnesses noticedflames coming out of the windows and put infire alarms. The fire apparatus was almost anhour in arriving due to the slippery condition

of the streets. When the firemen finally arrived, theyfound the building completely engulfed in flames on allsides. Their efforts to extinguish the blaze were ham-pered by high winds and an inadequate water supply.

The Brothers on the second floor escaped withoutserious injuries. Their peril was far less than that forthose on the floors above, and only one of them wasseverely injured, Ray R. Powers, Psi ’07, from Atlanta,Georgia. He was sleeping in a room with three other sen-iors – George R. Sailor ’07, Walter C. Dyer ’07, andJoseph Bowes ’07 – and was the first to awaken. Bowes inhis account said that Powers, as soon as he was out ofbed, shouted for the others to follow him.

Powers sustained severe burns attempting to escapedown the hall, but he returned to the room and saw histhree roommates to safety. He escaped himself by slidingdown a rope, then started to place a ladder on anotherside of the house, but found that he was unable to holdit. From the accounts of others, it seems that while allthis was transpiring, Powers’ skin was hanging from hisface and from the tips of his fingers in strips, and his

Cause of the Fire

T hursday evening, 6 December 1906, was bitterlycold and blustery, with temperatures near zeroand a forty-mile-an-hour snow-bearing windgusting off Cayuga Lake. When Werner S.

Goetz, Psi ’09, returned to the Lodge at 11:30 P.M. fromhis first assignment as night editor of the Cornell Sun, henoticed a slight odor of varnish, but paid no attention toit as the floor had been waxed during the day. Thehouse seemed quiet, and he proceeded to his room onthe third floor. Several Brothers came in later, smelledthe paint, but did not investigate.

Under orders from Mrs. Fiske, the architect hadincluded a wooden elevator shaft in the center of thebuilding, but no cage had been installed. Openings on the second and third floor had been lathed and plastered over, but on the first floor the door to the shaft was used for the storage of housekeeping materials,including the oils and wax used for polishing the floors.There was no automatic fire alarm system in the building, nor were there any outside fire escapes. Thefire apparently started by spontaneous combustion inthis elevator shaft and quickly roared to the roof. Withthe outside wind and the natural chimney effect of thisshaft, the fire set off a conflagration almost instantly on all floors, including the attic.

The Lodge was completely engulfed in flame by the time firefighters had arrived. Efforts to extinguish the blaze were hampered by high winds and an inadequate water supply.

Centennial Remembrance

From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold 9

entire forearm had been peeled bare. Without assistancehe walked to the Phi Kappa Psi house nearby. When thephysicians came to him, he told them to leave him andto help someone else who was more severely hurt.

In another room on the second floor, Werner S.Goetz ’09 and Clarence R. Andrews ’08 were planning toexit by means of blankets tied together. Andrews madehis escape and Goetz was to follow. The blankets gaveway, however, leaving Goetz on the window ledge com-

pletely enveloped in smoke.“We cried for him to come down the same way as I,”

Andrews stated, “but he yelled back that the blanketshad fallen, and so we yelled to him to jump into theblanket we were holding.”

It was impossible for Goetz to see exactly where theblanket was. All he was able to distinguish was a group of fellows in a close knot directly below him. “He did not dare to jump for fear of landing on one of us,”

said Andrews, “so he jumped close to the building, and barely touchedthe blanket. He struck pretty muchon his hip.”

Events were now happening swift-ly. While Goetz and Andrews wereescaping, six freshmen sleeping in thenorth dormitory had been forced byflames out their window onto a smallbalcony. From the window to theground was a sheer drop of forty feet.

It remained for William W.Matchneer ’10 to lead the way on aperilous passage on a stone courserunning along the building at thislevel, having a projection of aboutthree inches. At this stage the northwind, which had done so much to fanthe blaze and impede the rescueefforts, supplied enough pressure toallow the men to crawl along theledge in darkness, a distance of sometwenty feet, to a water spout leadingto a porch roof and from there to the ground.The ruins of the north side of the Lodge. Notice that even with the intense heat of the fire burning for

twenty-fourhours, the water from the fire hoses quickly turned to icicles.

Alpha Psi Fire at Cornell

The west side of the Lodge, before and after the Fire.

10 From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold Centennial Remembrance

On the fourth floor attic of the Lodge was a largeunfinished room, which five of the men – Gustav J.Requardt ’09, Clarence J. Pope ’10, Herman A. Uihlein’08, Frederick W. Grelle ’10, and Horace S. Decamp ’09– occupied as a dormitory. They were aroused from theirslumbers by the roar of the fire in the narrow hallwayand stairs leading to the fourth floor. Weeks before theyhad talked about what routes they might take in case ofa fire, and the conversation was still fresh in their mindsthis night. All the men in the attic, with one exception,ascended one by one a small ladder, which led through atrap door in the roof and then followed their separateroutes of escape. Grelle apparently had been partiallyovercome by the smoke in the attic, and as he pausednear a skylight, the roof was seen to collapse and he wasimmediately engulfed in the inferno below.

When C.J. Pope ’10, a freshman from East Orange,New Jersey, became aware of the fire, he burst throughthe door to the attic. Smoke overcame him, and he felldown a short flight of stairs leading from the attic doorto the third floor. The fall and the heat of the flamesovercame him, and by the time he reached the thirdfloor balcony entrance he was in a half-dazed condition.

In a room off the balcony, James McCutcheon ’09and Harry M. Curry ’09 – both sophomores fromPittsburgh – were sleeping. On reaching the balcony,Pope immediately discovered the predicament ofMcCutcheon and Curry. It happened that just the daybefore, the Lodge had been equipped with double win-dows. The opening from this particular room was byFrench doors, very narrow and con-taining exceptionally heavy plate glass.These doors were made to open outward and could not be opened byreason of the heavy storm sash justinstalled. This was their only means ofescape, and the flames had justburned through the door leading tothe hallway. It was, therefore, just amatter of a few moments before thetwo would perish. With fists clenchedPope smashed through the glass win-dow and door, badly cutting his wrists,but he succeeded in cutting a hole bigenough for Curry. While he was beingpulled through the hole, Curry struckhis head on a stone railing and wasknocked unconscious. However, Popesucceeded in extricating him and laidhim, stunned, on the balcony.

McCutcheon did not follow. Popepeered into the room and saw him

James H. McCutcheon ’09, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaFrederick W. Grelle ’10, East Orange, New Jersey

lurching in the opposite direction, toward the door.Pope repeatedly attempted to crawl into the room, butthe atmosphere was suffocating and the skin on his armsand legs was being shredded by the jagged edges of thewindow. “That last time I tried to reach McCutcheon,”wrote Pope, “I succeeded in reaching him, and locking my arms around him, I tried to drag him to the opening.”

At this point, Pope apparently lost consciousness, “Ionly remember being about to strike the porch. First myfeet, then my knees struck, and I do not remember any-thing else until I got almost to the Phi Kappa Psi house.”He had succeeded in dragging McCutcheon to the window, but in the struggle to pull him out, had fallenbackward over the balcony rail, striking a glancing blowon the side of the west porch roof, then falling to thestone terrace surrounding the tower.

Almost at the instant Pope fell, Curry began torevive, and he succeeded in locating McCutcheon justinside the window, and, after several attempts, barelymanaged to drag him out onto the balcony.

The picture which Curry made as he emerged thelast time from the burning room, dragging McCutcheonafter him, made a deep impression on the crowd below.Practically all the statements refer to it, and the variousaccounts taken all together depict the boy clad only in a nightgown, standing above the unconscious form of his roommate and calling frantically for help. The only light came from the blaze of the fire; every few seconds rolling clouds of smoke shut Curry from view.

From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold 11Alpha Psi Fire at Cornell

Nichols was not in sight, and within the short time sinceSchmuck had left the window, a matter of five or six seconds, smoke in volumes was pouring from the window, and flames were already licking their way alongthe upper casement. Schmuck immediately crawled back to the window and began a vain search for Nichols.Nichols, evidently stupefied, or, misunderstandingSchmuck’s directions, had apparently opened the doorinto the hall. The blast of flames undoubtedly envelopedhim in an instant. Schmuck stuck to his post, huntingthe room thoroughly in an agonizing endeavor to locatehis roommate. Though burned almost beyond recogni-tion, Schmuck continued searching until in desperateagony he rushed to the window and jumped.

Requardt, traveling from the attic across the mainroof, had not at this point reached the ground himself.He described the scene from his vantage point:

While standing on the little platform I saw DuckerSchmuck break the glass and pull out the woodwork of hissecond floor window, pajamas aflame, and prepare tojump out. He landed in a bush which had been trimmedthat fall and the bayonet effect of the branches tore theflesh off his back from the neck down. He was crazed withburns and did not heed my call to jump. I reached theground and ran to him but he had already picked himselfup, and he and I then walked down to the Phi Kappa PsiHouse, a short distance away. I saw to it that medical helpwas available, but it was difficult to keep him in bed. Hismind was on his pain and also his failure to rescue hisroommate. It was truly awesome to see him walk to the

full-length mirror and survey his burnsand his torn back and say, “My God, it’simpossible to live like this!”

There was but one ambulanceavailable to remove the injured mento the college infirmary. It was, there-fore, slow business. Powers, unable toendure his pain any longer, walkedthere. Schmuck, unable to lie downduring the ride, was held in anupright position to relieve him as faras possible of the pain of the weightof his body. After a physician hadexamined the injured, the lives ofSchmuck, Pope, and McCutcheonwere despaired of. Schmuck diedabout nine o’clock the next morning,McCutcheon a little later. Pope, afterweeks of suffering from his burns andfall, recovered. Curry and Powerswere also in the infirmary for weeks,

William Holmes Nichols ’07, Chicago, Illinois Oliver LeRoy Schmuck ’07, Hanover, Pennsylvania

Meanwhile the driving snow continued.Curry was signalling frantically for help, and some of

the members of Alpha Delta Phi promptly responded bybringing a ladder. Half a dozen collegians lined upalong the ladder and McCutcheon, apparently lifeless,was passed down. It was grim business, for McCutcheonwas a heavy man and a member of the football squad.“He was unconscious and naked, bleeding profusely,”wrote one young man who helped lift the body down.McCutcheon was gently carried to the Phi Kappa PsiHouse, where he died five hours later without regainingconsciousness.

The building was burning so intensely, and the seriesof events transpired so rapidly, that the crowd was nearlyhysterical when they saw a young man leap out of thelurid smoke to the ground, his nightclothes on fire. It was Oliver Leroy “Ducker” Schmuck ’07, a senior fromHanover, Pennsylvania. He roomed with William HolmesNichols ’07, another senior from Chicago, in a room onthe third floor.

Schmuck and Nichols were on the third floor in alittle room on the south side of the house. Schmuck,having first been aroused by the crackling of wood andthe roar of the fire, awakened his roommate and com-manded him to follow. He realized that it would be futileto open the door into the hall and accordingly, by meansof a dormer window to the room, gained access to thebig gutter above him that surrounded the house at thisthird level. He made his way some ten or fifteen feet andturned to see if his roommate was coming. To his horror,

Centennial Remembrance12 From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold

and Goetz suffered for a short time from the injury tohis hip.

Neither Schmuck nor McCutcheon made formalstatements. McCutcheon was unconscious most of thetime until he died. Schmuck, while more severelyburned than any other of those who managed to escapefrom the building, never lost consciousness until a briefmoment before he died. Besides the remarkable hero-

ism he displayed, it was evident that throughout it all hekept his head. While sitting on the edge of the bed, hesaid to a friend, “Did Billy [Nichols] get out?” He wastold that he had by way of conveying whatever peace ofmind such information might make possible. CornellPresident Schurman, hearing that the young man wasgoing to die, went over to him and was told, “I was outall right, but I went back for Bill.”

I had come to Cornell in the fall of 1905 because of its high reputation as an engineering school. JackMoakley, the great coach, invited me on his track

squad, where I met Joe Pew ’08, winner of the inter-collegiate hammer throw that spring. Joe invited me todinner at the Lodge, and shortly thereafter I pledged. I moved into the Lodge that spring, and Harry King ’06invited me to stay in the attic. Heaven, it was called, and we were the only occupants in thatlarge, airy room that spring. One night,before we went to sleep, we imaginedhow we would escape in case of fire.This conversation with Harry was mostimportant to me because when the con-flagration did occur the next fall, Iinstinctively followed the route I pickedout. When four new men moved intothe attic with me the following fall, Itold them of my conversation with HarryKing. I believe each of them thought ofa way to escape in case of disaster.

My bed was directly below an electric light bulb. When I awoke themorning of 7 December, the whole atticwas so dense with smoke that when Ireached to turn on the light I could onlydimly see the curled carbon filament and a dull glow innearby areas. All in the attic seemed to awake at the sametime and were well aware that the building was on fire onall sides. We rushed to our planned paths of escape. Minewas up a ladder and out on the upper roof through a trapdoor. I jumped from one roof to to the ridge of a lowerone, but I missed my footing and cut my leg quite deeplyso that during the ensuing hours my pajamas were stiff-ened with frozen blood down to my bare feet. I slid downthe roof to a small projection and roof over a niche unoc-cupied by a proposed statue, and lowered myself to theniche. I slid down the smooth marble column supportingthe niche, then jumped to the ground.

After seeing that medical help was available to theinjured, I found shoes and returned to the burning mansion. I helped hold a blanket for my classmate,Werner Goetz, who was hanging outside his third floorbedroom window. Clarence Andrews had escaped from

the same window previously but the bed sheet rope hadbroken, so Werner had to jump. He hurt himself but subsequently recovered.

The scene at the fiercely burning building was quitewild and full of excitement. In the bright light of theflames from all parts of the mansion, student friends andBrothers were climbing ladders, helping in rescues,pulling out books and furniture where possible, and

assisting firemen on their arrival. Thearea of action was surrounded by hun-dreds of spectators attracted by theimmense blaze seen for many miles upand down the lake valley and hillsides.The cold was intense, the wind wascruel, and the edges of my ears werefrost-bitten.

Ray Rivington Powers ’07, a mag-nificent person with a Peachtree Streetaccent, was my particular hero. He hadbeen burned in getting Brothers out oftheir rooms and bringing them down to safety. He was the leader of theassembly of Brothers as dawn was breaking when we said a silent prayerfor those missing and pledged our continued allegiance to Chi Psi.

Some Chi Psi alumni arranged to rent Mrs. O’Neill’sboarding house on Lake Street, which remained theheadquarters of Alpha Psi until June 1909 when our newhome, built on the site of the old mansion, was in operat-ing condition. During my remaining student years, I livedin the little Chi Psi cottage on our grounds, taking mymeals at the Lake Street house. I slept only one night inthe new Chi Psi Lodge before graduating.

It was years before I could smell wood smoke and not instantly remember the experience we all had gonethrough. Many times I have gotten out of bed on the least suspicion of smoke and prowled the house or thecorridors of the hotel where I might be sleeping becauseof my keen recollection of the horror of that burningbuilding. The disastrous Chi Psi fire of 1906 made animpression on me which will last for my whole lifetime. I will never forget my lost Brothers and the heroic deedsof so many others.

Gus Requardt, Psi ’09, speaking to a Chi Psi Convention.

From Gustav J. Requardt, Psi ’09:

A Survivor’s Tale

Perhaps in our time when the word “hero” has lostmuch of its meaning, actions like those Schmuck hadjust performed could lead us to a redefinition of trueheroism. Schmuck’s efforts to save his roommate led tohis own death. This act, fruitless though it was at thetime, remains for succeeding generations of Chi Psis an example of brotherhood in the purest sense.

About seven o’clock on the morning of 7 December,three members of the Ithaca Fire Department werekilled. They were Alfred Slater Robinson, an attorneyand a former student of the Cornell College of Law;John Cooper Rumsey; and Estes J. Landon. They weredirecting a hose stream directly under the roof on thenorth side of the building and knew their position wasdangerous. The intense heat of the fire was causing wallsto topple on all sides of the building and, therefore, theassistant fire chief delivered an order for his men tomove away from the north wall. As they rushed forwardto move the hose, the massive stone wall fell towardthem and they were completely buried underneath therubble of two-hundred-pound granite blocks. The natureof their deaths, happening as they did after the escape ofthe residents, served only to increase the horror of thetragic waste of human life.

On the death of Schmuck and McCutcheon, the

senior class suspended university work, and the membersmarched as an escort of honor to the station when thebodies were forwarded to their respective homes. As thetrain pulled out, the strains of “Alma Mater” rang out insad tones of five hundred or more voices.

For three days and three nights more than fortymen searched the ruins for the remains of Nichols andGrelle. Remains of both were found and positively iden-tified. The senior class again suspended work andmarched in mournful procession, conveying Nichols tothe railroad station, and likewise the freshman classescorted the remains of Grelle.

Across the country the selfless conduct of the members of the Fraternity was widely recognized. Thattwenty-six young men should have met a test so severewith so much coolness and instinctive self-sacrificeshould strengthen our faith in human nature and thebonds of Chi Psi. Each counted his life as less than theneeds of his friends.

Brothers Jim McCutcheon,Ted deCamp, and Gus Requardt, Psi ’09, stand infront of the Alpha Psi Lodge during their freshman year.

President Theodore Roosevelt, after the fire of 1906, sent this autographed photograph from the White House to Alpha Psi,

inscribed: “In remembrance of the heroism of the men of Chi Psi,as shown on the night of Dec. 7th, 1906; and with all good wishes for the success of the new house.” This photograph replaced one

destroyed by the fire that the then-Governor Roosevelt had given the Alpha, when in 1899 he made the Lodge his headquarters while visiting Cornell. William J.Youngs,

Psi 1872, was then the Governor’s secretary.

Alpha Psi Fire at Cornell From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold 13

After the Fire at Cornell14 From Summer 2006 The Purple and Gold

Postscript on the Fire

B efore the fire was extinguished (it burnedcontinuously for 24 hours), loyal alumniwere arriving in Ithaca to offer succor andassistance, until they numbered as many as

forty. From his home in Auburn, New York, GeorgeTurner, Ψ’73, was the first to arrive. Immediately, this group, under Brother Turner’s guidance, beganconsidering ways of replacing the home and honoring those who had died.

Since the Fiske-McGraw mansion had beeninsured only to the extent of the remaining mortgage,$20,000 of which remained outstanding, Alpha Psiwas left bankrupt of funds, though not in loyalty andgenerosity. Of the alumni who returned, many gave

substantial amounts immediately to start anew. Thus,on the very day that the Lodge burned to the ground,a campaign to construct a new home was underwayunder the direction of George C. Miller, Ψ’87, withconsiderable assistance from Brother Turner.

By 1908, a new Lodge was standing on the samesite as the previous Lodge, for a cost of $75,000. TheBrothers moved in for the 1909-10 academic year.While the new facility was not as ornate as the Fiske-McGraw mansion, it was a dignified structure thatmet the expectations of the Alpha, and was again the finest fraternity home at Cornell. Finely sculp-tured stone fragments, salvaged from the fire, wereincorporated into the new building. Similar frag-ments were sent to other Alphas who had them builtinto their Lodges and were known as “Psi Stones.”

Also built into the new Lodge, on the first landing of the broad oak staircase, was the stainedglass window (pictured on page 4) contributed by the parents of Billy Nichols in honor of their son and Oliver Schmuck, who died trying to save him.The inscription (“Greater love hath no man…”) lives on today as a symbol of a night so tragic and of heroism so shining.

Plans and construction photos of the new Alpha Psi Lodge in 1908

Cornell Fire Centenary From Summer 2006 The Purple and

Cornell Fire Centenary

T he 6th and 7th of December 2006 marked thecentenary of the greatest tragedy in ourFraternity’s history: The fire completely destroyedthe Lodge and caused the death of four Brothers

and three volunteer firefighters. Against the stark back-drop of horror were outlined many individual acts of hero-ism, which epitomize the spirit of brotherhood that thosemen embodied.

At the time, the fire transfixed the imagination andwas a source of sorrow for all Chi Psis, the entire Cornelland Ithaca community, and the nation at large. The firebecame the subject of many articles in some of thenation’s leading periodicals. One hundred years have notdimmed that memory for Chi Psi, and the events sur-rounding that tragedy reveal so much presence of mindthat the story and its lessons seem as fresh and relevanttoday as they were a century ago.

When the story of the fire spread across the country ahundred years ago, the selfless conduct of the members ofthe Fraternity was widely recognized. That twenty-six youngmen should have met a test so severe with so much cool-ness and instinctive self-sacrifice should strengthen ourfaith in human nature and the bonds of Chi Psi. Eachcounted his life as less than the needs of his friends.

#23 Sam Bessey traveled to Ithaca in December 2006to represent Chi Psi at remembrances at the Lodge theevening of the 6th and with the fire department on the7th. At the same time, Brothers across the country gathered to remember those Brothers and firefighters who died a century ago. Some marked the event with amoment of silence at dinner; others took turns reading the story aloud by candlelight; others took lunch to theirlocal fire firefighters as a thanks for all they did for theircommunities.

Early on the 7th, the Ithaca Fire Department and Chi Psi Fraternity members commemorated the deaths ofthe Brothers lost in the 1906 fire by mounting a memorialplaque bearing the lost members' names inside the Lodge.

Later in the day officials gathered at the Ithaca CityCemetery to dedicate a memorial to all Ithaca firefighterswho lost their lives in the line of duty. The 1906 fire “was avery big event,” said retired Assistant Fire Chief RaymondWheaton Jr., caretaker of the Ithaca Fire Department's his-tory. “To lose three firefighters and four students shockedeveryone. Even President Teddy Roosevelt sent his condo-lences and visited the plots. It was widely reported all overthe country. These men were well-known and respected inthe community. In the age of the telegraph, it was a prettymomentous event. Our collective hope is that we'll neverhave to engrave a name on this plaque again,” he said.

The Purple and GoldThe Journal of Chi Psi Fraternity – Summer 2006

Centennial Remembrance of the Cornell FireAnnual Report of the Alphas Issue

P&G