CLASS OF 1900

The Hotel and Travel News, which is devoted to the interests and activities of New England, has a very fine picture of Henry Teague with the heading, "Teague's Golf Togs Hold Unique Record Even in Southland," followed by the cryptic statement that "Henry's shootin' a mean game." This picture of "Uncle Henry," as the boys down South call him, was taken just prior to a round over the links of the Sedgewick Country Club, which is in Greensboro, N. C. Henry holds the record of champion golfer for his bulk and weight for the entire hotel fraternity of the country. This note is intended to pay a little tribute to Henry, and also to stir up a natural feeling of envy among people in the North, who are not playing much golf at this time of year.

In this issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE the class of 1900 wishes to indulge itself, and asks for the kind consideration of other classes.

Twenty-seven years of careful planning have reached their culmination. The nickels and dimes that we had tucked away in old stockings have been collected, polished a bit, and handed over to the College to build a home for the Outing CIUD.

We were given a dinner on Saturday night, February two, when the new building was dedicated. It was a fine dinner and about twenty-seven members of the class were present. The president of the Outing Club presided, and Craven Laycock spoke in behalf of the College. Leland Griggs showed some wonderful slides of the hills and mountains of New Hampshire, and R. B. Sanders accepted the house in behalf of the Outing Club Council.

Walter Rankin represented the class, and spoke of many things which happened in College when we were undergraduates. Clarence McDavitt followed, describing the changes which have taken place since we were in Hanover.

About sixty people were present-that was all that the new lunch room in the 1900 house could hold. Then we adjourned to the living room, where a picture was taken and the memorial tablet unveiled.

Every member of the class who was present felt that we had builded better than we knew. The College has received something very useful. This Clubhouse will be used a lot by the children of the faculty, the wives of the faculty, and the whole Hanover community. Already the activities on Faculty Pond have increased in interest and in the number of participants. Soon there will be faculty teas, fraternity banquets, and all kinds of parties, which heretofore have had to be held in the cabins or down in the crowded section of Hanover city.

So much for the material side. That is not the most important element to the class of 1900 in this whole project. The 1900 fund, which was planned in 1903, aimed at a distinct objective—we wanted to give the College something which would in part repay them for what they had done for us. That was in the day when there was no Tucker Fund and almost no general giving on the part of the alumni. Of course we can never repay the College for what it did for us as individuals or as a class, but we can show our appreciation, and that is what this new Clubhouse means to us.

We become a little introspective when we consider that this twenty-seven years of effort is all over in so far as a specific goal is concerned. After we had been going along for a few years we thought that $10,000 would be a very large amount; then our ambition grew to $25,000 and finally culminated in $60,000, which, in the light of present-day giving, does not seem a very large sum.

The 1900 fund has not meant to us simply a material gift. It has meant a project which has enlisted the support of every member of the class and has bound us closer and closer together during all these years. It has also acted as a bridge to convey our strong class feeling to the citadel of the College. Too often between class and college there is a moat, and no bridge to encourage constant communication. Our fund has been that bridge. It has helped us to win the cup for the best percentage of attendance at reunions at each succeeding five-year period.

Now this is all over and we cheerfully and gladly join the throng of givers to the Tucker Fund. We hope to give just as freely, although our heroic exertions of the last few years will make it hard for us for a year or two to maintain the average of the last ten years.

Now that the strain is over and the celebration has taken place, we rather feel like dignified old men. No doubt the undergraduates think of us that way. We hope that this new Clubhouse, when we visit Hanover, will be the means of keeping our stagnant blood in circulation, as our sons and the sons of other classes tell us what a fine thing it is for Hanover life and for themselves individually.

We have erected this Clubhouse simply to carry out a plan which was conceived in the days before giving was a popular characteristic of Dartmouth alumni. We do not want any one to feel that we are trying to set ourselves apart from the general alumni body by erecting an individual monument to our class. We have tried to give something that will help the physical and spiritual life of the College and the community. We hope that the modest tablet which you will see when you enter the door will convey an expression of our love for Dartmouth and our kindly feeling toward all Dartmouth classes and all Dartmouth men.

So when you visit this little building modestly placed at the end of Faculty Pond, surrounded by birch trees and rolling hills, just have a kindly thought for the class of 1900, who have at last reached the end of the trail they planned so many years ago.

Secretary, 10 State St., Boston