Harvard Brains

At indoor sports, there's nobody can beat us

At indoor sports, they're all afraid to meet us. . . .

--The late great Bert Williams.

One May day last year, Yale's ten brightest Seniors sat in Connecticut Hall scribbling answers to a Harvard English examination. They could smoke, but honor bound them not to speak, peer or signal. At the same time Harvard's "ten brightest" took the same examination under like conditions in Cambridge. The Harvard men made the highest marks and thereby won a "brain contest" originated and financed--with a foundation of $125,000--by Mrs. William Lowell Putnam, sister of Harvard's President. The victors' spoils were $5,000 worth of books (TIME, May 14).

This year Harvard wanted to have another brain bout. Invitations were sent to Cambridge, England, to Princeton and to Yale. Last week, trustees of the fund announced that the contest would have to be postponed until next year. No one had accepted brainy Harvard's challenge.