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ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT. 181
Special provision has also been made for the physical training of
women in the Sage College Gymnasium. The department has or
ganized a system of exercises calculated to maintain and develop the
physical strength of young women, and at the same time prevent any
of the evils which might arise from exercises that are too violent or
too long continued.
The exercises thus provided for are obligatory upon all members of
the freshman or sophomore classes living in the college, subject to
exceptions in particular cases by the Instructor in charge.
The building
erected for the purposes of the Gymnasium and
Armory is situated at the extreme southern end of the campus. The
main portion is of brick, one hundred and fifty feet long, sixty feet
wide, and fifty feet high. The Annex joining the main hall on the
south, is a three-storied building, having an area of seventy-four by
eighty feet. The main building, with the exception of a small por
tion that is set apart for an office and a military store-room, is used for
gymnastics and military drill. This contains the arms and equipment
of the cadet corps, and a carefully selected supply of the most im
proved gymnastic apparatus and appliances for both individual and
class work. The hall is heated by steam and lighted by electricity,
and gives a clear space of floor room in the gymnasium of one hun
dred and thirty-five by sixty feet. The Annex contains the offices of
the Department of Physical Culture, examination room, bath rooms,
swimming bath, lavatory, closets, general repair room, baseball batting
cage, crew practice room, and dressing-rooms which contain locker
accommodations for about one thousand students.
Athletics. The Cornell Athletic Association, composed of repre
sentatives from the trustees, faculty, and student athletic organiza
tions, was incorporated in June, 1889. A standing
committee on
athletics, including the faculty members of the association, has also
been appointed from the faculty. It is hoped that the cooperation of
these various interests, and the existence of a permanent organization,
may tend to produce a greater steadiness in the management of
athletics, and permit of some continuity in the transmission of athletic
methods and traditions.
The athletic ground called Percy Field, after the son of one of the
donors, was secured and equipped for out-of-door sports by the joint
gift of Mr. J. J. Hagerman and Mr. W. H. Sage. The field has an
area of nearly ten acres, including a quarter-mile cinder track, the
Witherbee Memorial club-house, and a grand stand seating about
twelve hundred persons, and is arranged for football, baseball, tennis,
and general athletics.
The courses are offered in 1899-1900 :
following