COMMUNICATIONS

November 14, 1922.

Editor Dartmouth ALUMNI MAGAZINE:—

In looking over an old memorandum book the other day I came across a letter from the President of the College, which I received as a Freshman, and I thought the incident might be interesting at the present time. I therefore am enclosing you a record bearing on the matter.

Yours very truly,

Having read with great interest the recollections of Dartmouth College of some fifty years ago that were recently published in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE by Professor E. J. Bartlett, I am reminded of an incident that may interest some of your younger readers, since it happened only thirty years ago and serves as an interesting comparison between the period of the early '90's which had not apparently changed greatly from the '70's, and the present time.

In those days there was a Faculty rule that sports should not be indulged in on the Campus during morning study hours; and while this was observed by the students so far as any large gatherings were concerned, it was the usual procedure for the boys, if they had no morning recitations or studying to do, to play tennis on the few "private courts" that they had laid out around the borders of the Campus, or to play catch, or knock up flys, or kick a football dependent on the seasonal sport.

"Deke Hall," so called because the upper two flors of a large frame house, with the Davison general store on the ground floor, were occupied by the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, then stood on the present site of College Half, and at that time housed such congenial spirits as Ed Hall, Sam Baldwin, Henry Ide, Pat Reed, Matt Jones, Phil Marden, Charley Merrill and others equally studious—near examination time—but not so concentrated on their books as to miss any possible diversion within the wide scope of vision afforded them from their windows.

It so happened that my chum and classmate Pillsbury and I had a free hour one bright spring morning of our Freshman year and thought we would enjoy a game of tennis on "our court" which we had labored long and arduously the previous day to mark out; and as we were playing, suddenly the windows of Deke Hall shot up and in chorus or singly, but always vociferously and complainingly the voices rang out, "Lane! Pillsbury Stop playing tennis, you are disturbing our studies."

Naturally we were amused at anything disturbing such studies as they might have and wondered what the joke was until we saw on the street the figure of the venerable Dr. Bartlett, then President of the College, about opposite the bank which was the next building to Deke Hall. They continued to shout and Prexie looked at us, looked up at the windows, noted the time and listened carefully to the names, bobbed a little more vigorously his head of which his silk hat seemed an integral portion, and a day or two later we each received through the mail the following letter written in long hand by the President.

Hanover, New Hampshire,

President's Office, April 30, 1892. Dartmouth College.

Lawn Tennis on the Campus in study hours will incur faculty discipline.

President.