I .^! MINNESOTA BETA'S CHAPTER-HOUSE. THE SHIELD Vol. XIV. OCTOBER, 1893. No. 1. MINN. BETA'S NEW CHAPTER-HOUSE. The harder men have to fight for a cause, the more ready they are to rally to its support. The Minn. Alpha boys, when in college, always slept on their arms, guarded by a double line of pickets; out of college:, a more loyal band of Phi Psis can 'not be found. One of these Alpha boys, and in fact the founder of that chapter, was one of the chief pro moters of Minn. Beta's new chapter-house that was buih last year at the University of Minnesota, and about which there has been more or less said in The Shield although our good secretary. Brother Smarts; was so unkind as to report at the G. A. C. that Minn. Beta occupied a rented house. It is about this house, or home, if you please, that we wish to write at this time. First A brief description of the house : It is a large frame building, 36x42, two stories and a half high above the basement. The building has a south front, overlooking the river and where the landing will be as soon as Captain Reno's, steamboats continue their course to the head of navigation. The street in front is Washington avenue, S. E., on which runs the Inter-Urban car line that connects the Twin Cities. The tower is at the southwest corner. With this general outline, refer to the cut on the front page for details. Floor plans of the basement, first, second, and third floors will be found elsewhere in this number of The Shield. In the front part of the basement is the gymnasium, 18 feet wide and extending the full width of the building. Back of the gym. comes the furnace-room, the,vegetable cellar, laundry, wood and coa:l bins. Entering the first floor from the porch, through the vestibule, the' parlor (15x18) is on the left, the dining-room (12x23) in front, and the hbrary on the right. These roonis are all finished in oak (the floors being 6 MINN. BETAS NEW CHAPTER-HOUSE. smoothly polished), and, together with the hall, which is large, all open up as one room when desired, or ach can be shut off by itself. Also, besides the kitchen and servant's room, on this floor are the matron's rooms and a bath-room, the outside entrance to the matron's rooms being on the State-street side. On the second floor are four students' rooms, the chapter-hall and ante-rooms and a two-compartment bath-room. Three good double rooms and a single one are on the third floor, a store-room and a large open billiard-hall in the center. From this hall easy access to the gravel roof is obtained, from which an excellent view of the city may be had. An artist from the "White City," attracted by its peculiar advantage, "begged permission," and is even now, at thjs writing, seated on the railing, making a sketch for one of Chicago's illus trated publications. This, in brief, is what Minn. Beta's new chapter-house is a home, where the boys live. A room for reception and dancing far superior to many houses that are more elaborate; a dining-room that will easily ac commodate eighteen or twenty persons ; a library that can easily be closed to shut off all confusion without;' pleasant and commodious quarters for the matron; a chapter-hall, with suitable ante-rooms; excellent accommo dations for twelve or fourteen boys; and a system of electric bells suffi ciently elaborate to satisfy the most fastidious. Second How we got it : < The continued agitation of the house question in The Shield led lis to believe that if we did not take active steps toward owning our house, we should, as members of a leading fraternity, be away behind the times. Accordingly, we talked, planned and figured "house," both in season and out of season, but strictly among ourselves. We examined a good many- locations, but never felt able to make the start, and might not have felt so yet had it not been for Bro. Joseph E. Ware, Minn. Alpha, referred to above. Brother Ware has just successfully organized and opened a new bank on the east side, the St. Anthony Falls Bank, of which he is cashier; but he was then in the real estate business, and it was through him that we saw it was possible to build when we did, by securing the excellent site where the new house stands, We found that we'could buy two lots, with 76 feet frontage on Washington avenue and a depth of 66 feet, and build thereon such a house as we now have for about $10,000. When it began to look as though it would be possible for Minn. Beta to have a new chapter-house, a meeting was called of all the Minn. Beta active and alumni. boys, both At that meeting it was decided that a stock company should be formed, regularly incorporated under the laws of the State, and that that company should be charged with the purchase fiasT" Fuoof^ Ji GYMNASI UM LAUNBR.Y VEGETABLE :BASirA-NT FLOOR PLANSliHNN. BETA'S CHAPTER - HOUSE. 8 MINN. BETAS NEW CHAPTER-HOUSE. erection, and ownership of the property; thus following the Mich. Alpha plan. It was, of course, apparent that we should organize under the law relating to educational institutions, and thereby be exempt from taxation. The amount of our capital stock was placed at ten thousand dollars ($10,000), divided into 1000 shares of $10 feach,. stockholders to be confined to members of the Phi Kappa, Psi Fraternity in good standing. After subscriptions had been taken for stock, the subscribers met and elected five of their number to constitute the first board of directors, this board to have charge of the affairs of the company for the stockholders ; the name of the organization to be The Phi Kappa Psi Literary Asso ciation. A committee on plans ffom the chapter met a similar committee from the board, and after preparing and considering a great many different sets, a plan was finally agreed upon. Specifications were then prepared and adopted, with such care that the contractor who built the house ,said they were the most complete of any he had ever worked from. Bro. M. B. Davidson, Minn. Alpha, also Minn-. Beta, law '92, now cashier of the Bank of Wheaton, this State, not only did invaluable work in assisting with the plans and specifications, but as a practical builder he assisted greatly in seeing that the plans were carried out. Brothers Soares, Wil liams, and Wilson each drafted a set of plans, each one containing some features that were adopted, and Sikes kicked on everything that was wrong till he got it right, while Triggs looked after the artistic arrange ment of -the whole. Money for the first payment was secured from the stockholders, who receiive a one-share certificate for each $10 paid. This certificate is actu worth its face and as ally value, the value of real estate increases it may even go to a premium. Of course it is only transferrable to Phi Psis, but as the number of Minn. Beta alumni increases, there will be a greater demand for this stock, for it is understood that as each Minn. Beta boy graduates or l^ves college he is to take at least five shares of stock. By this plan almost every Phi Psi in the Twin Cities, no matter what his chapter, is willing to take some stock. The certificate he receives for his $10 has an actual value; it represents one share of the thousand, and the most conservative judges say that the property is easily worth $10,000. The interest and are to be met running expenses by the active chapter, so that whatever the alumni put into the house applies on the principal. The stockholders own and control the house. The property is theirs and in ordinary times is easily worth the abount of the capital stock. Each stockholder has as many Votes as he has > shares of stock at the annual meeting for the election of directors, etc., which occurs on the second Monday in March, as a reminder of the date our chapter was established. ' 1 1 CHATTER Hall . \ - B--R " 1 L 1 c T , 1 oJ ^"^ ) oJ m. C o\ ... I 3-R- ) e- B-K. T \ SeconIdTloo^ T~ TRUNK R.OO|^ 0 J BiLLIAWl H- 3-\. 3.A- FLOOR PLANSMINN. BETA'S CHAPTER - HOUSE. MINN. BETAS NEW CHAPTER-HOUSE. our has Almost every alumnus to whom we have presented plan shown his approval of it by subscribing for five shares of stock, the calls seen but if the to be for one share each year. We have not yet all, per to see centage of those who subscribe should be as large among those yet the call for one share as it has been among those that have been seen, amount we have to each year will much more than meet the promised pay becomes less and each year on the the principal. The interest, of course, less each year, so that the active members will have more and more money to put into the furnishings and keep the house in good repair. Some of them take stpck while active members, and thereby have a voice in the management of the property at least at the annual election.