Weekly Messenger - 1921 February 4

              The Weekly Messenger
Devoted to the Interests of the Student Body, Washington State Normal School
VOL. XX BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1921 NO. 16
DEATH CAUSED
By ACCIDENT
The entire community of Bellingham
was deeply shocked at the sudden and
tragic announcement that Ida Agnes
Baker had been killed in a collision with
a Garden Street car, on the evening of
Saurday, January 29. The exact cir­cumstances
of the death will probably
never be known. In company with her
old friend, Mrs. Alice M. Biggs, Miss
Baker had attended a meeting of the
League of Women Voters at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Nichols, on
Laurel Street, Saturday afternoon; at
its conclusion she had turned toward
her home, alone.
The storm which caused such destruc­tion
in the entire Puget Sound district
that night was then at its height, the
wind driving in fearful gusts and the
rain, cutting like blinding hail. Whether
Miss Baker did not see the approaching
car, in crossing at Laurel, and plunged
directly ahead of it, or whether she was
overcome by the storm and lost con-
(Continued on page 2.)
DISMISSED IN
OF MISS BAKER
On Monday,- January 31, the first as­sembly
after the death of Miss Baker,
Dr. Nash announced no school would be
held Wednesday, in honor of the de­parted
member of the faculty.
Many students of the school had not
heard of her death and their first in­timation
came when they beheld the
beautiful spray of carnations over her
seat in assembly, the second from the
end in the second row. This tribute, so
expressive of Miss Baker's love of
flowers, was provided by the faculty.
The flowers were transferred to her door
and hung there until after the funeral.
Dr. Nash, who had been in the south­ern
part of the state, could not be
reached by telephone on account of the
terrific storms over the week end. He
read the announcement in a Seattle
paper, while in Olympia Sunday. He
immediately departed for home, reaching
Bellingham Monday morning. He deep­ly
regretted the necessity of his return
to Olympia, before the funeral.
Rev. Marshall, who had been invited
to speak in assembly, paid beautiful
tribute to Miss Baker. He brought out
forcefully the idea that one should so
live physically, mentally and morally to
meet the hour of death — and that Miss
Baker had so lived. _
Although deeply moved, • Dr. Nash
(Continued on page 7.)
IDA AGNES BAKER, BELOVED MEMBER OF NORMAL FACULTY, WHO HAS
SERVED OUR SCHOOL FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS
Ope your doors and take me in, spirit of the wood!
Wash me clean of dust and din, clothe me in your mood.
Take me from the noisy light to the sunless peace,
Where at midday standeth Night singing Toil's release.
All your dusky twilight stores to my senses give;
Take me in and lock the doors, show me how to live.
Lift your leafy roof for me, part your yielding walls:
Let me wander lingeringly through your scented halls.
Ope your doors and take me in, spirit of the wood!
Take me — make me next of kin to your leafy brood.
— ETHELWYN WETIIERALD
The above poem, a favorite of Miss
Baker's, and which she chose to be read
at her mother's funeral, sounded the
spirit of the simple but beautiful ser­vices
held at her home, 418 High Street,
Wednesday, February 2, at 2:30 o'clock.
The little house, so charmingly sur­rounded
by flowers and shrubs of her
own planting, was not large enough to
hold her many friends. The casket was
placed in a bed of moss, surrounded by
a profusion of flowers. The Alkisiah
girls, dressed in white, stood in the hall
and on the stairs.
A quartet of Normal students, Pearl
Ingals, Ethel and Marion Chisholm and
Ellen Ileep, sang " Like a River." Rev.
Baker, of the Unitarian Church, read
" Crossing the Bar" by Tennyson and
" The House of the Trees " by Wether-ald,
and sj:>oke words of appreciation
regarding the life and character of Miss
Baker. Mrs. Vincent closed the ser­vices
with a beautiful vocal solo.
The pallbearers were Prof. J. T. For­rest,
Cbas. Scarf, of Seattle; Mr. E.
Scott, Rev. Eddy, Mr. Bever, senior
member of the Normal faculty, and
Wm. Boyd, representing the students.
The flowers were especially lovely and
largely expressive of Miss Baker's par­ticular
delights. The Normal faculty
sent an immense spray of pink roses,
with a background of paper white nar­cissi,
ferns and chiffon; the Students'
Association a mammoth bouquet of
sweet peas and fresias; the Alkisiah
Club the emblem of their society out­lined
in jonquils, violets, roses and
ferns. Beautiful floral tributes were ex­pressed
by the Unitarian Alliance, the
League of Women Voters and personal
friends.
OF MISS BAKER
One of the rarest flowers is missing
from life's garden. Ida Agnes Baker
has been taken.
Our friend was deeply interested in
life and inspired her students to under­stand
and appreciate the wonders of
nature. She loved dumb animals and
labored to protect them from abuse, but
she loved more her fellow being and
endeavored to widen the circle of human
happiness.
She believed in her school and gave her
best talents to aid in its advancement.
She was industrious and never spared
herself when there was work to ba done.
She showed herself friendly and was
surrounded by myriad friends. She was
wise in giving counsel and commanded
the confidence and respect of her asso­ciates.
She lived a beautiful life and has
earned a rich reward. She is gone but
will live in the lives of those she ljas
left behind.
(Continued on page 2.)
PASSED BY FACULTY
Trie faculty of the Bellingham State
Normal School, wishing to express their
grief and their sense of loss, both per­sonal
and professional, in the tragic
death of Miss Ida Agnes Baker, and
also to convey their sincerest sympathy
to her relatives and friends, have or­dered
to be prepared and published the
following memorial:
In the twenty-two years of her con­nection
with the work and life of this
school, Miss Baker made an indelible
impression upon the lives and memory
of its host of teachers and students.
Her position may be filled by another,
but her place we feel will always be
vacant. Yet we are glad to testify to
the conviction that the spirit and ideals
of her life will continue to live and to
bless this school.
In all her professional relations, Miss
Baker was marked by unchanging love
of the school and unfailing loyalty to its
best ideals and traditions. She stood for
high standards of scholarship and of
professional achievement, and these
standards she enforced in her own pro­fessional
life.
We gratefully remember her for her
broad sympathies, which included every
living thing. She understood young peo­ple
and enjoyed the beauty, the fresh­ness
and the zest of their lives. She
(Continued on page 7.)