The security used to protect the girls from outsiders and enforce compliance with not leaving or entertaining after certain hours, almost led to disaster in 1924. The front page of The Weekly Spectrum, March 13, 1924, read "Barred Escapes and Locked Doors Force Ceres Girls to Stay In and Fight Fire. Excitement ran high at Ceres Hall Wednesday night about midnight when some of the late burners of the oil discovered the halls blue with smoke and a smell of burning wood somewhere. The House President and a few of her trained sleuths began an investigation and after several frantic trailings thru the labyrinths of attic and basement found a rubbish box in the Home Economics Cooking Locker room blazing merrily.
The fire department had been called by one of the girls. Others who came first on the scene unrolled a few hundred yards of fire hose and extinguished the blaze. The fire department on arriving in full force found the doors securely locked against all invaders and a group of girls in the lobby. The temperature outside was rather low but rose somewhat at this juncture. Before finally gaining admittance the chief's first query was, 'Well, if there's a fire why aren't you girls outside? The group answered in chorus 'We can't get out!'
Several hours later when the excitement had subsided enough for those in attendance to retire, sleepy individuals emerged from various rooms wondering why all the racket,-for no alarm had been given. Windows, doors, and fire escapes at Ceres have all been carefully screened and barricaded this year for fear of some truants getting in or out unofficially-but little consideration was taken of the fact that at some time these fire escapes might be their only possible exit. The Ceres girls' motto at present is, 'Clear Fire Escapes or We Clear Them.' The damage though not great would have been very serious had it not been for the wit and clear mindedness of some of the girls."
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University Archives, 701-231-8914 Published by the University Archives, NDSU Last Updated: 8/27/04 |