CLASS OF 1899
Only classes like '99, whose five-year and multiple of five year anniversaries fell in 1914 and 1919, can experience that peculiar sensation of tucking in a big world-war between two reunions. Thus within a month after '99's fifteenth regathering all Europe was aflame, while their twentieth followed the armistice by only seven months and was almost coincident with the signing of the Peace Treaty. This circumstance was responsible for not a little of the atmosphere of '99's twentieth home coming.
Quoting from the June 7 sheet of propaganda sent out by our efficient Executive Committee, Warren C. Kendall, James L. Barney, and Secretary George G. Clark: "We venture with humbleness to say that very few classes have had the variety of contact with the crisis that '99 has had. '99 is probably the only class having both its own members and the Class Baby fighting in the front line. It has touched the medical side of the war in Europe and here. It has touched the engineering side likewise. It has touched the "Y" service overseas and the librarian service here. It has touched the labor, food, railroad, and military side in Washington. It has touched the problems of Americanization and the problems of the Eastern front. It has touched the great drives for finance and relief."
It was to this keynote for example that the climax feature of the occasion was tuned, the dinner on Monday night. Here Prof. Gordon H. Gerould of Princeton, N. J., who had been stationed in Washington with the rank of captain, as head of the Statistical Branch of the Trench Warfare Section, acted as toastmaster. He had a large map on which the United States and France and England were in focus and the rest of the world out of focus, so to speak. In focus he had points where '99ers had been in war activity, and he used this map cleverly 'in introducing the speakers. Secretary Clark, from his months in the Statistical Department of the Food Department with Pearl '99 and Hoover, spoke on "Saving Food"; William L. Hutchinson on "Growing Food" (he has a hundred acre farm in Cecil, Pa.) ; Lt. Samuel Burns, Jr., of the Nebraska Home Guard reviewed the Fourth Victory Loan Drive in Omaha; Warren C. Kendall, manager Car Service Section, Transportation U. S. R. R. Administrator, spoke on "Moving Things,"—a moving subject surely in these days of increased and increasing fares; Prof. Herbert A. Miller of Oberlin, expert in the psychology of aliens and ardent worker for the new little independent nationalities of middle Europe and the Balkans, discussed the "Other Fellow": "Bob" Johnston of the Governor's staff took the subject of "Home Fires" in his characteristic way; Prof. Charles D. Adams gave a luminous response to the topic, "College and the War"; Capt. Herbert L.Watson of the 305 th Signal Battalion, 80th Division, A. E. F., just returned from France, told of the campaigns in Belgium; Major Frank W. Cavanaugh, miraculously restored to almost normal health after being fearfully wounded last October, and having spent five months in a French hospital, delivered his modern commentary on "Arma Virumque"; while Nelson P. Brown, recently appointed judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court, ably summed up the composite theme, "'99 and the War." Two of '99's sons were present, H. L. Lyster's and A. B. Leavitt's, the latter being the Class Baby just back from active service in the Anti-Aircraft Corps abroad. Moreover, during the dinner a cable was received from W. T. Atwood and L. A. Martin, Y. M. C. A. secretaries in France, reuning by themselves on June 14 at the dinner commemorating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Dartmouth College, being held by Dartmouth men at the American University Union in Paris.
But to begin at the beginning. In one sense there really was no beginning, for the Executive Committee's arrangements were so skillfully made that the festive light of the great days of the actual reunion was, as it were, thrown warmly way over into the hours before and the hours after. For it was a travelog in no small part. Some twenty-five of the men coming in their own cars had picked up carless questers for Arcady all the way from New York state round to Boston and Maine. So, like brooks flowing towards the common river, these informal reuning carloads all flowed (some dust withal) over the country roads that emerged on Hanover.
Some of the gayest of these single machine parties met at the Old Cheshire House in Keene Friday night, and had a real prelimiriary celebration', singing, sightseeing, and as George Clark would say "jamboureeing." And there's one thing in Keene not generally known of, which some saw for the first time. In Fred W. Whitcomb's Men's Furnishing Store in Central Square there hangs on the rear wall what the owner calls the best portrait of Daniel Webster in the country. It was painted by Harding, and given by the artist to Jonas Whitcomb, uncle of the present owner, when Jonas was proprietor of the Tremont House in Boston, a favorite resort of the great statesman.
By one o'clock or before, Saturday afternoon, the automobiles began to roll up be- fore Middle Massachusetts Hall, headquarters for the reunion. On every auto's windshield was pasted a big placard reading
"99
On to Dartmouth!"
One after the other the machines parked a double row deep on the driveway, while the House Committee busily assigned new comers to rooms, and Mrs. "Jim" Barney attached to every left coat sleeve whether of man, woman or child, a circular chevron, carrying in green letters the insignia of reunions attended from the Triennial on, Proud those few who could display an undiminished total:
"Triennial," "Quinquennial," "Decennial," "Quindecennial," "Vicennial."
By four o'clock the majority of our final number had arrived, 68 men, 40 ladies, 17 youngsters (some, I fear, rather too mature to relish this somewhat supercilious appellation — thus the Class Baby, Ronald Leavitt, above referred to as fresh from active service in France, and the Misses Marie Barstow and Pauline Joy, both enterprising high school damsels), and seven guests. And this goodly assembly now witnessed the imposing investiture of Field Marshal Joseph W. Gannon with an elaborate green and white sash and baton.
Thus having deliberately put ourselves under autocratic rule, the long line of autos, still with their windshield inscriptions, began a sightseeing tour, south on Main Street, down "Leb" Road to the Viau house, graced now by the erstwhile Rood House Porch. Here "Ikey" Leavitt temporarily alarmed the present occupants by delivering a fiery and reminiscent oration on the ancient greatness of the same Rood House. Hence the procession wheeled on past the Oval, around College Park, past the Hospital and Rope Ferry to the Golf Club. Here the party spread out over the breezy links for a sauntering inspection of the ski-jump, thence to return to our now — Professor "Jim" Richardson's new home on Choate Road.
Here Registrar and Mrs. H. M. Tibbetts, "Long Jim" and Mrs. Richardson hospitably served tea. Cordial were the good wishes lavished on the new home and its master and mistress, and their co-hosts.
That evening while the ladies attended the moving picture show, the men returned for an informal round-up in Jim's basement billiard room, suggestive of the good-fellowship atmosphere of the "dungeon" in the Copley Square Hotel, Boston, scene of so many stirring March round-ups under the inspiration of this same James Parmelee. And here now the spirit of true sociability abounded, cheered by songs new and old. For earlier in the evening on the steps of Massachusetts there had been a "hum" from a new publication, "Ninety Nine's Own Songs," gotten up for this very year 1919, and bearing on its cover our own Weary Wardle's spicy word of encouragement, "If you can't crow, cackle." Besides the old songs composed for other reunions there were new ones set to present-day popular tunes, like Jim Barney's "Strawberries" to the tune of "Oh! How I Hate to Get up in the Morning"; C. H. Donahue's "Ninety-Nine" to the, tune of "Made-lon" ; K. Beal's "Cheers" and "Old Dartmouth Calls" to the tunes of "Smiles" and "Joan of Arc"; and G. G. Clark's "Driving Our Dodge to Dartmouth" to the tune of "Building a Bridge to Berlin." All went well, but the finest piece of sentiment and real music was A. M. Abbott's "Dear Old Cav" to the tune of "Old Black Joe." This had been written right after Major Cavanaugh was wounded in October, when his recovery was altogether uncertain; and its singing this night with "Cav" himself present and the strong undercurrent of deep feeling in everybody's heart gave the song a notable effect. Nothing could have more happily and convincingly expressed the closeness of the ties that bind the men of '99 inseparably together. The words follow :
"These are the days when Cav is young and gay, Here are his friends on Dartmouth's Field today; No greater joy upon this earth we have Than hearing old friends' voices singing Dear Old Cav.
"Here are his friends for years well tried and true, Here are his pals at home and football too, Long have we wished the chance that now we have, To hear his -classmates' voices singing Dear Old Cav."
Chorus
"We're singing, we're singing with all the love we have, Just hear his old friends' voices calling Dear Old Cav."
Sunday was a full day for the Vicennialists. At nine-fifteen in Rollins Chapel came the Memorial Service for the three men we had lost during the year: I Herbert C. Collar, Earl Eastman, and Jesse J. Dearborn. Rev. Montie J. B. Fuller spoke, Charles C. Sturtevant read from the Scriptures, and Alvah G. Sleeper occupied his familiar seat at the organ. These simple memorial services do not a little towards developing that spirit of fine sensitiveness to those qualities in each one of our brotherhood which are best and most enduring. Memorable too was our quiet pilgrimage to the cemetery to lay a tribute of flowers on the resting place of our beloved Prof. Richardson.
Some 10 or 12 of us attended the Baccalaureate by our distinguished ten-year senior, Rev. Ozora S. Davis '89. His sermon from I Cor. 3:9, "For we are fellow-workers with God," led to the pronouncement of some especially fine maxims, such as, "There is no chemistry by which noble acts can be extracted from low moods," and "There are no means by which high ideals can be frustrated." And the caps and gowns, the clean-cut faces, the clear eyes, and firm jaw's. No "low moods" there, and in our own hearts grew again the resolve — while we listened also to President Hopkins' strong word of personal appeal — that the highest ideals of our dreams twenty years back should stand firm where ; the preacher-prophet put them, on a high mount, unassailable, never to be frustrated.
But this account must hurry on with the autos leaving in the long and now familiar line at one o'clock for the Outing Club Cabin, Happy Hill, Vermont. Up the long narrow climb we went, up, up, to park in a close two line array and walk the last mile and a half to the Cabin. There Tibbetts and his corps of helpers. had provided sandwiches by the hundred, bananas and oranges and lemonade, fruit salad and doughnuts and coffee. And if there was anything left of that picnic lunch eaten in the clear breeziness of that perfect June afternoon it must have been a sharper eye than the writer's that discovered it—unless it was that comfortable peck bag of peanuts toted by Jim Barney on the return, till friendly hands by degrees quite relieved him.
The evening of Sunday was according to the announcement of the official prospectus to be spent in the Little Theatre, Robinson 'Hall, listening to a "Chantant." What a close prosaic definition of "Chantant" would produce I am not archaic enough to know. What the program thus entitled actually did produce, '99 and its friends of 'B9, '94, '04, and '09 and other invited guests do know. The Chantant opened with the Star Spangled Banner, played by Mrs. Allen, assisted by Clark '19 on the violin, sung by a packed house. There was singing, W. B. Adams brought down the house by his rendering of his own song "Arcady," illustrated by lantern slides; and the '99 chorus gave with gusto,, the new songs—"Old Dartmouth Calls", "Cheers" and "Dear Old Cav."
There was Bob Johnston in dress and manner looking the part of the erudite "old professor, expounding the merits and significance of his priceless collection of curiosities, geological and otherwise. It would take a genunine Roget Thesaurus properly to classify his specimens. Louis P. Benezet gave some of his amusing bona fide reminiscences, such as that of the knothole in Dartmouth Hall examination room, and the dangling string therethrough. Mrs. Philip H. Winchester played Grieg's "Wedding March" superbly, and for an encore nonchalantly struck the opening chords of "Rowe, Johnny Rowe," which almost brought the andience to its feet. "Cav" was also called to the platform, under contract to tell nothing that night except the lighter phases of his experiences. So he told amusingly of a "conscienceless" objector, and of the negro soldier who naively confessed that if ten thousand Germans were reported headed his way he should feel it his imperative duty straightway to "spread the news broadcast through France." President Hopkins kindly spoke for "four minutes" upon "The College". And there was the — yes (do you blush to read it?), there was the play, written by Donahue and performed with spirit ("Class Spirit" was its name!) by Messrs. Adams, Clark, Donahue, Hoban, Richardson, Lynch, and Mrs. Pitt F. Drew. The conclusion of the whole matter was that if a man didn't believe in class spirit he'd better learn how quick. Thus the hero of this playlet with his gaudy vest, the unwelcome gift of his wife, and with his irresponsible habit of using other people's money over-freely, does despite all his shortcomings convincingly convert by his own exuberant class spirit a very numskull of a skeptic to a similar enthusiasm. Nor should the account of this evening omit the '99 ladies' perpetration of a totally unannounced number on the program. For go- ing to the front in beauteous array they warbled melodiously to the tune of "There were ninety and nine that safely lay" their appreciation of their hosts' unsparing and miscellaneous attentions. Needless to say, a '99 reunion is as unthinkable now without the ladies as an automobile would be without a self-starter.
Monday morning found the men first in uniform on the Campus, and later taking each the position on the steps of Wilson Hall that he had held when the class picture was made in freshman fall. But in this new picture '99's children sat in the front row, replacing the solitary gamin mascot of '95. On Dartmouth Hall steps later the ladies joined the group for another picture. Finally, in Dartmouth A occurred the class meeting. S. Burns, Jr., familiarly known as "Buck", was there presented with a colonial pewter mug, reward for coming the longest distance for the reunion, namely, from Omaha. Donahue also was presented by the ladies with a big round piece of tinware bearing the numerals '99,—this for his part as "cop" in the play the night before, and incidentally as author. (With true Donnyesque humor he had claimed on that occasion that the audience clamored "Awful! Awful !" when in the innocence of their hearts they were simply shouting "Author! Author.") Also the new Executive Committee was elected, to consist of James L. Barney, Pitt F. Drew, and Kenneth 'Beal, Secretary. George G. Clark, Secretary for the past five years, firmly declined the re-election eagerly tendered him. True as always to the best interests of class and college, he insisted that the democratic policy of rotation in office alone could develop and maintain the fine spirit of co-operative comradeship for which •both '99 and Dartmouth are notable. In the afternoon of course came Class Day, and out-of-course came a most pleasant surprise tea party given by the men and women of '94 at their headquarters, Wheeler Hall, to which we went en masse. Finally in the evening came the play for the ladies, and for the men the dinner already accounted for in the first part of this report.
Monday was really the end of '99's reunion; everything possible had been crowded in then or earlier, for some had to take the early Tuesday morning train south, and most of the others went by motor later in the forenoon. Thus only ten or a dozen were left to see the Cornell game, and only three, Cavanaugh, Clark, and Pearl, to attend the Commencement exercises in Webster Hall. Doubly regretful were the rest of us to be unable to see "Cav" and Pearl receive their honorary degrees. But with these two awards '99's latest and greatest reunion came to a fitting close.
