From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 12, 1916:

“The New York alumni of the University of Kansas will stage a new kind of reunion April 7. They have made arrangements for a telephone connection from New York to San Francisco with Lawrence listening in on the line, and the first transcontinental K. U. reunion will be held. Eugene Alder, president of the New York alumni, is one of the main movers in the scheme, and Nels C. Benson, ’02, who holds a prominent position with the American Telephone & Telegraph company, was largely instrumental in securing the use of the trans-continental wire. The reunion by wire will start at 9 o’clock in the evening in New York. That will be 8 o’clock here and 6 o’clock in San Francisco. Chancellor Frank Strong, who will remain in Lawrence, will be the chief speaker at the New York reunion…. The University alumni are to have use of the wire for forty-five minutes. L. N. Flint, the secretary of the alumni association, will make arrangements for a Lawrence end of the reunion. It is hoped to arrange for a number of telephone transmitters through which the alumni in Lawrence can hear all that is said over the wires by and to the alumni in New York City.”

“The University Senate relented yesterday from its action of last spring and gave the students of the engineering school their coveted ‘Engineer’s Day.’ This action came as a result of a petition signed by practically all the students of the school. The objection to Engineer’s Day was due largely to the disturbance created among the other schools of the University because of the parade. The University Senate was given yesterday to understand before granting the request that the parade will not start before noon this spring, thus eliminating the previous objections made.”

“The arrival of warmer weather has brought about additional activity on the interurban line between Lawrence and Kansas City. Two locomotives are used to haul ballast for that portion of the line between Lawrence and Bonner Springs. The ballasting work was held up during the cold weather because the road has no roundhouse facilities, and there was no way of caring for the engines through below-zero weather. It is expected that the ballasting of the road as far to the west as Linwood will be completed by Saturday night. After that the work will be pushed on to Lawrence as rapidly as possible. The completion of this work is somewhat uncertain and the passenger traffic will not be opened up on the road until it is finished.”

“After a little over a year of married life Albert R. Davis is suing for divorce from Mary Hensley Davis…. Davis alleges that his wife has been guilty of extreme cruelty toward him and has further disregarded the solemnity of the marriage vow and been guilty of gross neglect of duty.”

“The contracts for the different work necessary for the drainage of the old river bed north of North Lawrence were let yesterday in a meeting of the Maple Grove drainage board. A. R. Young & Company was given the contract for the thirty-inch sewer down Bridge street. The contract price was $8,523,70. The Young company was also given the contract for the levee around the railroad trestle north of the city limits, and the concrete sluiceway and the main line drainage ditch. W. E. Pine was given a contract for the line which runs past the Maple Grove cemetery. The contract for the line past Will Pine’s place was let to Arthur Emery.”