The Dartmouth Carnival

Rosalind in the epilogue of the play says "A good wineneeds no bush," and the editor says that Rolph Syvertsen'sstory of the Dartmouth Carnival needs no prologue. However, the editor may be permitted to say that having been aclose observer of Mr. Syvertsen during six of the manyCarnivals which he conducted, he has arrived at the conclusion that much of the success and much of the progressfrom year to year in this matter of Carnivals is due tothis ex-chairman. All persons connected with Carnival inthe past will probably find their names somewhere in thestory either in this chapter or in the next which will be published in March.

THE BEGINNINGS IN 1909

TOMORROW morning The Dartmouth will say that the official opening of the 19th Annual Winter Carnival of the Dartmouth Outing Club was preluded by the dedication of the new club house. On the twentieth anniversary of the first winter sports meet in the twentieth year of the life of the club, the mists of antiquity, which gather quickly during the short college generations, have enveiled completely the origin of this extravaganza which dominates the social life of the campus. Yet the winter-sports meet which is the nucleus of carnival is as old as the club itself and even the festive possibilities of the occasion were in the minds of the founders when the beginnings were taking shape.

When on December 17, 1909, Cliff Lyon, destined to be the first secretary-treasurer of the club, printed his editorial column following the first informal public meeting of the embryo organization, the memory of a prophetic vision must have been with him. Very vaguely outlined it may have been to that small group but the image was there, for these words appear, "A winter carnival could be made the culmination of the season." A month later the formal adoption of a constitution found Fred Harris 'll elected president, Walt Greenwood '11 vice-president and Cliff Lyon 'lO secretarytreasurer of the Dartmouth Outing Club, whose avowed purpose was the promotion of interest in outdoor sports, especially winter sports with such social activities as might be incidental. These interests were to be given impetus by a field day in February.

As the membership of the club swelled to seventy the executive committee which consisted of the officers together with Clarke Tobin 'lO and Paul Whitcomb '10 met with Professors Hull and Gene Clark, the advisory committee, and were encouraged to announce the first official trip to Mt. Pineo under the leadership of Professor Clark and to set the field day, already called annual, for February 26. No attempt was made during the first winter, 1910, to develop the social phase of the winter-sports contest, although the first snow meet might have been headlined "Novel Winter Meet Officially Opened With Monster Bonfire" for in the very early hours of the important day, South Fayerweather Hall was completely destroyed by flames of such enthusiasm that Fred Harris, anxious overseer of the coming events, was very nearly barbecued. No other social event occurred although 300 spectators did brave the then considered rigors of the climate to view the program, which was divided between Dewey's Hill and Occom Pond.

The list of events included ski-jumping and Tellemark and Christiania swings as exhibition numbers together with 100-yard and 220-yard dashes on skiis and snowshoes, an interclass snowshoe relay, and cross-country races for each division of snow sports. The crowd assembled at the golf barn and proceeded in a body to the ski jump on the hill near the Vale of Tempe. There, A. T. Cobb '12, a north country scion, won the event with a leap of 45 feet 2 inches. Fred Harris who jumped in spite of his earlier morning experience achieved second place in this as in the ski dash events, which were all won by Cobb. The cross-country ski course marked by red-flagged stakes was covered first by Cobb, second by Henry Van Dyne '12 and third by Arthur H. Lord '10, one of the earlier members of that dynasty of sons of the faculty that was to rule so many later wintersports contests. The 100-yard snowshoe dash attracted by far the greatest Hst of entries and was run in three heats, to be won by Alvah Holway 'l2 who was closely pressed by Wallace T. Jones '12, who succeeded in exchanging places with him in the cross-country race.

In all, fourteen different men won places in these events, which marked the debut of the Outing Club as the sponsor of organized resistance to imprisonment by the Hanover winter. This meet was the direct forerunner of our present carnival with all of its elaborat enchantment.

For the next year bold enthusiasts in the club began at once to build dream palaces of ice and snow with hopes of a show by the dramatic club and perhaps a hockey game by the varsity, to be added to a more extensive winter sports meet, all for the entertainment of the fair guests who would come to the Outing Club dance, an expected part of the ambitious program. The new officers, A. T. Cobb, W. Lee White, and W. H. Weston, Jr. who, with Fred Harris, again president, making plans and exacting promises for the coming year, had high hopes for a real winter carnival to be the first in an American college.

THE 1911 PROGRAM

As midwinter arrived with the return of the College after New Year's the white-and-green-ribbon silk badges of the D. O. C. appeared on the campus, and the promised carnival became the topic of conversation after fraternity meetings. The plans of the club were announced in The Dartmouth by President Harris in a letter on January 21, 1911. To a member of this year's 19th committee who might have made his first move on the day after the end of the 18th carnival the suggestion of a plan only twenty days before the event would seem a queer and unreal nightmare. During the year the scheme had grown more elaborate and now called for a gala week following exams, to be given up to a little relaxation before settling down to the work of the second semester. According to promise, the captains and managers had arranged for their performances and now several fraternities were expecting to hold house parties.

The big dance was the nucleus of the festivities, and the fraternities were asked to elect several members of the committee to-cooperate with the officers of the club. R. C. Stoughton '12 was chairman with Dr. A. H. Licklider, B. K. Ayers '11, F. H. Harris '11, R. B. Keeler '11, A. C. Keough '11, H. F. Whitcomb 'll, W. D. Wilkinson '10 and Lee White '12. Strange as it may sound to later committees elaborate precautions were taken to prevent anyone from making any money excepting perhaps J. B. Clark '11, A. T. Cobb '12, and C. E. Snow '12, who were to be auditors. The dance was to be held in the new gym and many and valuable prizes were on exhibit to tempt the novice to perform for the ladies. But weather then as now occupied the attention of the committee from time to time, and many if's occurred at the meetings of the club which functioned as a committee of the whole membership when it came to making helpful suggestions.

On February 11, 1911, Occom Pond, with its level, evenly snowed surface, was the scene of the opening of the second winter-sports meet, characterized still by many events, really track in nature, but made interesting by the handicap of skiis and snowshoes. This time Boreas was in command and attracted by the good weather many more watchers lined the courses, including the fair visitors whose presence made carnival. Wallace T. Jones 'l2 for the second year carried away the prize in the cross-country snowshoe race, with J. L. Day 'l4 and A. S. Holway 'l2 behind him. Fred Harris 'll got a chance to beat A. T. Cobb 'l2 in the cross-country ski race by virtue of a breakneck dash down the last steep pitch. W. H. Weston, Jr. 'll was in third place. The snowshoe obstacle races were tremendously entertaining and diverted the crowd during the cross-country events. The score by classes gave 1912 an irreducible lead with 17 out of 27 points.

THE SOCIAL SIDE OF CARNIVAL,

Two years had elapsed since the dramatic club had appeared in Hanover. The presentation of T. W. Robertson's comedy "David Garrick" as part of the Outing Club program was a thorough success. The entire cast, ably coached by Mrs. Esta M. Barr with A. C. Keough '11, manager of the dramatic club and member of the carnival committee in the lead, met with complete approval the demands of a critical audience. This performance in Webster Hall served admirably as a prelude for the reception and dance in College Hall. Mesdames Nichols, C. F. Richardson, E. F. Clark, H. E. Burton, J. M. Gile, E. H. Carleton, P. R. Bugbee, and W. Patten received the members of the College and their guests in College Hall where in the Commons room the Outing Club dance was held. The college orchestra, ensconced in a balsam bower, part of the evergreen forest scene which hid the customary oak panels, played until dawn before the twenty-five dances were finished.

Early to bed the night before, had been the rule for many of the club, who were entered in the contests of Saturday afternoon, as well as for the hockey team slated to meet the Mass. Aggies who came up to carnival as almost champions, having beaten all New England teams except M. I .T. The first streaks of dawn disclosed a perfect sample of Hanover winter, air still, snow deep, and the ice hard and smooth. The crowd gathered at the pond and the sport was on. The 100yard snowshoe dash started the second afternoon of the meet. J. L. Day '14, G. B. Watts '13 and A. S. Holway '12 were winners in the order named. In the 220-yard dash Holway won with Day and W. T. Jones '12 following. A. T. Cobb '12 outdistanced both V. C. Schellenberg '13 and Fred Harris in the ski hundred, although the snow was too deep and slow for skiing. Cobb won the 220-yard race and Shumway had just an edge on Harris. Nineteen twelve won the toss in a tie for first in the class snowshoe relay, with prizes for T. P. Miller, B. B. Lyons, A. S. Holway, and J. B. Griffin.

Inspired by the occasion the hockey team, which had been snowed under literally and figuratively all season, performed with a quite bewildering brilliance to the great delight of the carnival crowd who had come as loyal rooters expecting to see defeat. The Dartmouth septet met the arrogant agriculturalists with a fast fighting, rough and ready attack and an air-tight defense which gave the spectators heart failure at the frequent headers and pile-ups which followed one another in quick succession, punctuated by time-out for bumps, and penalties. After 14 minutes of actual play a goal by Stucklen via Gapt. Fred Eaton broke the spell, and after that the game went completely to the home club. The final score of 4-0 hardly told the story of the overwhelming of the Aggies. A jubilant mob crossed over to the Vale of Tempe to see the ski-jumping on Dewey Hill. In those days as now the jumping was the climax of the contest and, for some, awe inspiring if viewed for the first time. Among the spectators were the patronesses of the dance and other visiting official guests who occupied a special observation stand which with the two take-offs had been covered with balsam boughs. These dark green towers were buttressed with loops of gayly clad crowd which lined the run-out and terraces trod in the snow on the steep hillside.

John P. Bowler '15, now Dean of the Medical School, but not then in College, won the junior prize while his twelve year old brother Dick astonished the crowd with his daring. The novice event also held on the little jump was captured by W. H. Weston, Jr. '11 treasurer of the club who had won a place in the cross-country race the day before. The senior event limited to "experts" was won by the two nearest to classification in that group. This contest became a duel between Ty Cobb and Fred Harris with but five points between them at the finish. Cobb's jump of 52 feet 3 inches bettered Harris' of 48 feet 5 inches and gave him 185 points to 180 for Harris. The jumping seen for the first time by the majority of the spectators was a series of thrills and sighs of relief as the tangled figures arose, apparently unharmed, from the falls which were frequent. The meet as a whole was a tremendous success and although the list of winners did not include many new or different names the total entries were many more than three times the number which appeared in the first contest in 1910. The names of past, present, and future officers of the club appear frequently in the list of winners bespeaking an enthusiasm of the most positive kind. The example of the wholehearted participation of the officers and membership of the club in the first carnival established a tradition which has come down to the present through a storm of campus iconoclasm. The generally hearty reception by the campus of carnival made it safe to prophesy that as a result of this first it would become a permanent part of the winter College.

Under the leadership of Lee White, A. T. Cobb, H. E. Allen and M. C. Avery with Carl Shumway as fifth member of the executive committee the Outing Club held its second carnival in February, 1912. Progress toward a week of festivities was made by the opening, on Wednesday evening, at the Senior Reception in College Hall where Dr. and Mrs. Ernest Fox Nichols and Dr. and Mrs. Edwin J. Bartlett greeted the Class of 1912 and guests, who remained to dance inforpially in Commons. The basketball team played Williams on Thursday evening. On Friday and Saturday larger crowds than ever thronged the golf links and Vale where the snow sport events were held. A. T. Cobb '12, a senior now, carried away the prizes for the last time although Fred Harris beat him in the jumping. New stars appeared, Bache-Wiig, Cheney, and Shumway, to dispute with the Bowlers. Day and Holway continued to fight about snowshoeing. Mrs. Ernest Fox Nichols presented the medals at Dartholme. Again Commons became a forest green, a winter sports camp in its midst, with gay dancers whirling till dawn. The last night of the week found the College assembled in Webster Hall to witness "The Importance of Being Earnest. Enthusiasts spoke of merging Prom with carnival.

THREE TEARS OF GROWTH

During the next three years carnival grew in many directions. In 1913 hockey came back to the program on Thursday afternoon to be followed that evening in Webster Hall, by the dramatic club production "She Stoops to Conquer." A raised take-off and straightened run-out, improved the ski jumping and an evening rendezvous for tobogganing on the golf links was added, for the guests. The carnival committee experienced one of the earlier dispensations of grief when a scarlet fever rumor spread abroad. No sooner was this laid than the weather man proceeded to chasten souls with a thaw. E. S. Bidwell '13 made claim to eternal fame by covering the entire distance to Lord's Hill and back on skates during an official trip, a fair index of snow conditions. Speed skating was added to the contests. Snow was carried to the jump from Occom Pond and all the events were held. C. G. Paulsen 'l5 came up from New Hampshire State College and gave a marvelous exhibition of jumping and somersaulting. Shumway won the ski cross country and jumping, expected of the president in those days, and Cheney and Adams, two of the other officers, were prize winners. Richard Bowler won the junior jumping event with Johnny Carleton appearing over the horizon as another member of the sons of the faculty clan. The prophecy of "Dartmouth Out O'Doors" published during the autumn was amply ful- filled.

THEY DON'T DO IT ANY MORE INTERCOLLEGIATE RULES HAVE DONE AWAY WITH THE SOMERSAULT SKI JUMP, BUT IT WAS A THRILLER IN THE OLD DAYS!

THE ETERNAL QUEEN Carnival Queens may come and go but this lady rules every Dartmouth heart.

Mr. Syvertsen will continue "The Dartmouth Carnival" in the March issue of THE DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE