"c. t Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY September 17, 1956 September 17, 1956 THE MICHIGAN DAILY re .,.,,_.17. 19 . THE MICHIGAN DAILY Notebook On A Tow TheJ By LEE MARKS Daily Staff Writer WILLIAM W. COOK doled out eight million dollars to make a dream come true, and then, for fear reality would belie the dream, never returned to see it. In all, Cook gave to 'the Univer- sity gifts worth sixteen million dollars-Martha Cook Dormitory and the four buildings which com- prise the Law School being the most prominent-without ever re- visiting the campus where he spent his undergraduate days. The rumor may or may not be true-there are some who claim the lonely millionaire surveyed the campus by night, alone, to see "his" law school-but it is an in- teresting sidelight on the life of the man often termed the Univer- sity's greatest benefactor. Along with being the Univer- sity's most magnanimous donor, Cook was its most eccentric. Years have built a legend not only on his generosity but on his person- ality as well. Anecdotes about the man, his peculiarites and idio- syncrasies, -are told and retold. Puritan Strain .. . COOK was born in Hillsdale, Michigan, on April 4, 1858, a ninth generation lineal descendant of William Bradford, governor of the Massachussets Colony in 1620. The puritan strain and general Dream That Cook ARTIST'S SKETCH OF THE LAW QUADRANGLE distaste for women which CookI had are sometimes viewed as an inheritance from his famous an- cestor. Of his undergraduate days at the University little is known ex- cept that he received his B.A. in 1880 and graduated from the Law School in 1882. Second hand sources claim Cook was a "quite serious, studious American boy who was not known to have attracted attention or friends." The picture of Cook as a lonely undergraduate striving hard is probably correct. Evidence indi- cates that his life was character- ized by an introverted personality that forced him to live largely in a world of dreams and ideals. AN OLD newspaper clipping claims he was a "man apart, a mysterious indvidual, secretive, incomprehensible. Except when his work brought him into contact with people he seems to have shunned his own kind, preferring loneliness and the company of his1 individualistic hobbies. "The puritan strain must have been strong in him. It was re- vealed in a deep-seated loyalty to his state, his profession, his University. "He lived much in a world of imagination, turning from the im- perfections of the actual to the creations of his own mind and then refusing to view them for" fear, perhaps, that they would not realize the splendor of his# dreams." It was of course precisely this loathing to face the difference be- tween reality and dreai that is; commonly assumed to have kept; him from the campus for several; decades.- i a norrrrs® ® iw ii insn w nn i _... here's a Nationally- Known Indeident Record Dealer in Ann Arbor Years of musically intelligent service in an atmosphere of congenial informality, have resulted in an envied position among record dealers. A COMPREHENSIVE RECORD STOCK - TABLE MODEL & CONSOLE RADIO-PHONOGRAPHS RECORD CABINETS AND OTHER ACCESSORIES TV SETS by RCA VICTOR UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MUSIC May we invite you to visit us at either of our two convenient locations. ANOTHER article claims, "He was loath to look upon a changing campus. The picture he wished to retain was of the cam- pus as he knew it." And yet, as a hard business man he knew the value of change, contributing to the change of the campus he loved perhaps as much as any man has. F o r m e r University President Harry Hutchins, is quoted in sev- eral sources as remembering Cook as a peculiar man with a fast mind and a "steely coldness,", a man who knew what he wanted and usually got it. President Hut- chins was one of Cook's teachers (in a class on rhetoric) and ap- pears to have been influential in the latter's decision to endow the University. When he graduated young Cook headed East and within a short time amassed a good deal of mon- ey practicing cororation law and investing. His modesty once led him to con- fess to Henry Bates, dean of the Law School from 1910 to 1939 that he was not, for a lawyer, a poor man. Dean Bates is supposed to have surmised that Mr. Cook was not a poor man for any profession. Books & Building.. . COOK also built a reputation as an author, a reputation of which he was proud. His two books on corporation law, "Cook on Corporations" and "Principles of Corporation Law," were valued as authorities on their subjects. He also wrote "Power and Responsi- bility of the American Bar, and "American Institutions and Their Preservation." At least one writer claims that the period during which he wrote his books on corporation law "when he was alone, devoting himself to serious study," led him to see the need for an institution like the Law School he created. It is, at any rate, a reasonable in- ference that it led him to see the need for a well-developed legal re- search program. Cook's decision to build a law school at the University was, in part anyway, a result of circum-. stance and accident. He first plan- Built: ned to build a men's dormitory (he had already built Martha Cook in honor of his mother) but wrang- ling and disagreement among lit erary school faculty members as to how the dormitory should be built had so irritated Cook that the project was in danger. THE beginning, if there existed such a point, of the creation that was to occupy a prominent place in Cook's life may have come at a small party in 1919. During a social conversation Dean Bates suggested to President Hutchins that Cook be asked to contribute to a law school rather than the dormitory. In Dean Bates' words, there was "no thought of initiating a grand plan, or, for that matter, any plan . .. A few weeks later Cook withdrew his dormitory offer "in a huff" and the President took Dean Bates' suggestion. Shortly thereafter the Dean was on his way East to speak to Cook. Their first meeting is an illus- tration of the sort of man Cook was. BATES, arriving at precisely the correct time, as he had been urged to do, was ushered into a small office by a woman he as- sumed was Cook's secretary. Cook informed him later the woman was "only a stenographer." In the words of Bates, "In re- sponse to my salutation he rose slowly and silently from his desk, looking at me with eyes which would have pierced the armor on a battleship and finally said with- out any other greeting 'Your hair isn't as red as I thought it would be!' "I assured him that earlier it had had more of an auburn hue, Cook on Genetics Long noted for eccentricities, William W. Cook wrote a book entitled "American Institutions and Their Preservation" in 19?7. It was last taken from the General Library in the mid- thirties. Written to "quicken the na- tional consciousness," Cook provides the following opinions on the "problems" of his day: THE JEW: "We may not like the manners; we may not like the methods of the Jews, but they are here to stay. We can prevent others from coming but cannot drive out those now here, and we may rest assured they will not leave voluntar- ily . . . America has the best wishes for Palestine as a home for the Jews . . .' THE NEGRO: "Centuries do not seem to change the essen- tially negro characteristics. The situation is a reproach to the nation, a menace to the Re- public ... The day may come when some powerful charac- ter . .. will extend the boun- daries of the United States southward and by the induce- ment of 'forty acres and a mule' cause the negro to go there and live his own life under a protectorate." THE RUSSIAN: "A few years ago America fed the starving millions of Russia but without recognizing its Bolshevik gov- ernment. It is the traditional policy of both governments to remember the friendly past and continue it in the future." THE IRISH: "A singularly affectionate race, when treated with kindness and firmness, yet quick to take offense and quarrelsome, they wait for no oncomer ... Born to toil, their bones are found along the path- way.of . every . railroad.and trench." (Continued from Page 9) themdown from above and then pulling them back up again; and finally, of course, the main campus Itself. I wore out two pairs of shoes covering this itinerary, and I had Harvey Asks (Continued from Page 12) land emerging-cellophane wrap- ped and misty-through the black- ness of the night. "The streets were thronged with window shoppers. And there was music. The melody of a Salvation Army lass's voice rising above the jingle of the bell she rang seeking people's pocket change for the hungry, the ragged and the home- less. Even the sooty walls of office buildings were wrapped in clear, clean notes from the majestic chimes of church bells. "In front of the merchant's windows there were the loud- speakers piped from the record players inside. 'Silent Night' - 'Virgin Mother and Child'-and white shirts in the window, 'Three For Only Ten Dollars-Gift Wrap- ped.'1 "Glancing from the shirts to- ward another window we happen- ed to notice a man clutch at his stomach and fall. The people at that window walked around and over him. "We walked over to the man. He was middle-aged, neatly and expensively dressed. One of the people, in order to get a better view of the sports slacks draped around the jolly Santa Claus, had inadvertantly stepped on the man's wrist. A dirty heel mark was imprinted on the white fabric of his shirt cuff. "We ran for a cop. The cop called an ambulance. And, when the ambulance came, the cop had to force the people out of the way in order to load the stricken man on the stretcher. "The attendant closed the am- bulance door, as snowflakes fell through the red beams of the blinker lights. And through the loudspeaker, piped through the window with the white shirts from the record player inside, came the consoling phrase, 'Peace On Earth.' " Socks & Coins . .. "SO-O-O?" Asked Harvey. "Simply this," we answered. "You, as a book reviewer, have been wondering why writers don't scribble nice, sweet books. We have just told you some of the things that writers see. Now, what would you advise the writer to do?" "He might go buy a pup and raise himself a dog for a friend," Harvey replied. "That's out of the question," we countered. "Why?" asked Harvey. "Simply because the writer is too poor to buy a pup, and too doggone lazy to steal one. You know that as well as we do!" "I'd better go," said Harvey, picking up the bandanna-wrapped bread crumbs. "It's getting late and the pig is probably hungry." "Don't rush off," we quipped. "But I gotta go." Harvey went to the door of the hovel, paused, and turned around. "Do you have a dime?" Hie asked. "For what?" We wanted to know. "A cup of coffee," he replied. "It's our last dime," we mused, as we removed the tarnished coin from the sock hidden under the refrigerator. "But you know what they say about the Widow's Mite," we concluded, angelically. "People ain't all bad," Harvey brayed, as he reached for the dime. "Somebody could write a decent book yet! Here you gave me your bread crumbs and your last dime and-" "Down, boy, down!" we yelled. "Go home and braid your wife some moccasins." to buy all new pairs for school inI the fall. But the shoes were aI small investment on what I gain- ed in insight. For when you tramp a dozen miles across the lawns of sixty separate buildings housing an inestimable amount of knowledge from the fields of human under-, standing, you begin then to per-I ceive just how great the idea of a university really is. T HE last entry I am able to dis- cern on the pages of my mental notebook on Ann Arbor has to do; with my very personal feeling to- ward the town; it also involves a; blue University panel truck and mankind. I feel I must apologize here for the philosophical tone iti has taken, but that is the fault ofi the years, and should not rightlyI destroy the intended spirit of thei observation - which is one of ap-o preciation and homage offered to1 her.I It is simply this: today as I walk along a campus street no longer do I notice the blue Uni- versity trucks that cruise by. They are there, of course, but I really don't see them - as once I did. Although I actually shouldn't let this bother me, it does disturb me a little to think of the talent I once had for spotting them which is now completely gone. This, I feel, is my crime - a crime of unawareness. To me, another crime of unawareness - one of which perhaps thousands are guilty -. (and here is where the homage enters in) is that which carries us from day to day in virtual ignorance of the charms of a most gracious and outgoing hostess, of what seems to me an uncherished shrine, the autumn city of the autumn west. : 9' STATE STF Everything Photographi But I reprieve myself hind with a final con finding comfort in th that as essential ideali, all alike in this respec thoughtless. In a college town this 4 fits us: always confide Try ITSI For ALL of your Photographic Needs- "Prchase from Pu. STATE STI Ann Arbor's Only Exclusive Can '1 ANSCO ALPHA ARGUS BELL and HO' BESELER EASTMAN K( Prompt Photo Finishin Authorizedl Dealer For Most Nationally Advertisec Merchandise Including: CANON L EXAKTA F GRAFLEX F HEILAND F KEYSTONE F DU PONT F )DAK LA BELLE rg Camera Repairs MUSIC SHOPS -Downtown-- 205 East Liberty Street Phone NO 2-0675 --Campus-- 211 South State Street Phone NO 8-9013 urchaso Camara 1116 S. University NOrman E _ n