CONTRIBUTOR'S COLUMN

Editor of the DARTMOUTH BI-MONTHLY:

Permit a graduate of a generation ago to voice a desire of the older alumni for some better knowledge of the songs of the Dartmouth of today. College singing was practically a minus quantity in our day, because the College spirit had not begun to manifest itself in any intercollegiate competitions. True, there were so-called ''college songsand they exist today in a few books bearing that title, and used largely only by other persons than college students. During the last few years the alumni who loyally attend intercollegiate contests have heard with genuine interest some distinctively Dartmouth songs; but our knowledge of both words and music depends on listening and catching what little we may. That magnificent "Dartmouth Song," which every college boy of today soon learns, has grown familiar to the older alumni in a measure; why can we not have it in published form? I confess that I felt like a boy again as I made my way to the cheering section during the intermission of the Springfield game, and bared my scattering gray hairs to the breezes of that November day while that song was sung; but if I had known all instead of half the words, I should have enjoyed it better. Harvard and Yale songs are printed in sheet music form and are upon the market. Why should not the actual popular songs of Dartmouth for the last few years be made accessible to those who desire them ? Why should they not be published in a small booklet, available for alumni gatherings and for homes like my own where future Dartmouth men are fitting for the college of their fathers ? If any such collection is now available I should be glad to learn of it; if not, I propose for consideration the question of its preparation, in which it would seem that the BI-MONTHLY might have a share.