Accidents, Robberies Mar Weekend; 1500 Couples Crowd 'Prince'-Tiger

November 16, 1959 — Two automobile accidents and a rash of thefts totaling $4950 worth of luggage, clothing and jewelry marred the 1959 version of the Princeton-Yale weekend.

One local resident was killed, and a Yale student was badly injured in the auto wrecks which occurred on Friday and Saturday nights of the weekend.

Borough police said eight parked cars were victimized by thieves during the weekend, but were unable to give all the names and locations pending further invesigation.

The $4950 is based on a total of what the owners estimated their losses to be. Most of the merchandise taken belonged to girls who had come to Princeton for the weekend.

The largest single loss was $2500 worth of jewelry taken from a Volkswagen parked on Roper Lane outside Cottage Club. According to police, the burglars broke into the car through one of the small vent windows on the left side.

On Friday night, five robberies occured totaling $1750 worth of merchandise. In addition to the jewelry taken on Saturday night, luggage worth $500 was reported stolen.

Sunday afternoon a $200 radio was reported stolen from a car parked on University Place near McCarter Theatre.

Police pointed out that more robberies may yet be reported by persons who did not realize that had been robbed until they began to unpack.

James Cooper, fire chief of Princeton Junction, was killed at 3 a.m. Saturday when his car went out of control on Washington Road just west of the Penn's Neck traffic circle.

State police listed the cause of the accident as fog and wet road conditions.

Cooper's funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Kimble Funeral Home in Princeton.

Richard K. McGuire III, a student at Yale, suffered deep laceration of the chin and lips, a fractured jaw and a possible nasal fracture when his car hit an abutment at Mercer Road Bridge.

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Township Police said he was the only occupant of the car and listed the cause of the accident as wet road conditions.

A Princeton Hospital spokesman said McGuire's condition was "fair."

The usual number of petty thefts was reported at the two dances during the weekend, the 'Prince'-Tiger dance and the Big Three Spree.

The proctors apprehended one man at the 'Prince'-Tiger with several bottles of liquor, three hats and several girls' wallets, which he had stolen from the check room.

With this exception the dance was a huge success, with 1500 couples attending. This represents the largest number of people ever to attend a dance in Princeton.

One alumnus and former editor of "The Tiger Magazine" created quite a stir at the affair when he and his date jitteredbugged in the pond, which was part of the fountain.

Saturday's rain and wet road conditions caused a tremendous traffic jam after the football game. Several New York sportswriters complained in their stories on the game that it was the worst they had ever seen.

Traffic stood still on Washington Road from the stadium to the traffic circle for over 30 minutes at one time, a reporter said.