The Nineteenth Winter Carnival
WITH nearly six hundred young lady guests expected to arrive during the afternoon of Thursday, February 7, all Hanover and its 2100 boys waited in a pouring downpour for the Nineteenth Big Carnival to get under way. For the first time in many years Old Man Winter played a fickle hand with the Outing Club. It is not unusual for the D.O.C. workers to spend a sleepless night, or several of them, wondering whether snow will come to make successful the three days of festivities and winter sports. But it always seems to come. With unabated faith all waited in vain for the rain to turn to snow. Carnival's greatest test has been met. With rain at the beginning, and with slush underfoot throughout the three days, this great event of the New England winter season still reigns supreme.
A slight lowering of the temperature in the late afternoon Thursday, when the rain stopped, allowed the colorful outdoor evening program to be carried through. Fancy skaters, the glee club, the band and the selection of the "Queen of the Snows" entertained a large crowd gathered at the north end of Occom Pond, directly in front of the new Outing Club House, the gift of the class of 1900. Miss Dorothy Wright of West Orange, New Jersey, was finally chosen Queen by the judges and she was immediately photographed and filmed by the small army of visiting movie and still photographers.
For the first time a small but courageous group of freshmen banded together and carried through their intention expressed some time ago, of entertaining girlfriends, as well as their friends,, the upper classmen. Under the direction of Palaeopitus plans were made and the culmination of the first Freshman Carnival came Saturday evening when forty-five couples attendedfa '32 dance in Robinson Hall. They were to the ball, but not to fraternity dances.
Having mentioned the ball it seems to be general opinion that the costumes were unusually striking this year. The huge gym floor was attractively disguised as a southern plantation. Snow sculpture among the fraternities is annually revealing a wealth of hidden talent. Even though Sigma Nu, with its capable D. A. MacCornack '29 wielding the snow scalpel, won first prize for the third successive time, many of the other sculptures were original and well executed.
"Double Trouble," the Carnival show put on by the Players, was easily the outstanding event of the weekend. The book, lyrics and music were all written by Charlie Gaynor '29 who was co-author with Nibbs Dowe '28 of the 1928 show. This one is excellent. Many residents of the Hanover community who have seen student-written shows year in and year out say that its equal has not appeared in Webster Hall, although "Oh, Doctor" is held by some to be superior. It is enough to say that Professor Longhurst and Mr. Gaynor have scored a notable success.
Ski jumping will always hold its place in the center of the Carnival stage. Pedersen of New Hampshire made 106 feet in the sticky snow and Sanders of the Big Green was a close second. Other athletic events, including hockey, basketball and swimming, are reported in another section of THE MAGAZINE.
The Boston Herald commented editorially the morning of the opening of Carnival: "Almost revolutionary is the thought advanced in the editorial columns of the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE that the college youth of today are hardier, more inured to the outdoors, and more enterprising than their brothers of a generation ago. It seems almost heresy in the case of Dartmouth, whose older sons have been famed in song and poetry for their stalwart indifference to the rigors of a New Hampshire winter. And now comes this confession, in the pages of the university's official graduate publication, that the 'wah-hoo-wahs' of yesterday practically hibernated from the Christmas holidays to Easter, sticking their heads out of doors merely to glance dismally at the thermometer or to gather more wood for the perpetual blaze in the fireplace. These legendary heroes lived, the editorial reveals, in rooms hermetically sealed against fresh air; avoided snow and ice like poison; and bathed only when necessity required.
"But the present undergraduate, pictured usually on paper and in film as happy only in a snappy roadster or a night-club, is the man who eats snow and drinks icicles, according to the writer. Due largely to the pioneers who formed the famous Dartmouth Outing Club, the students now at Hanover look forward to winter as their season of greatest and most thrilling sport. They ski down the sharpest hillsides, snowshoe up the highest mountains, laugh at blizzards and shout with glee as the mercury drops out of sight. Hikes of many miles over snow-covered hills and along ice-bound rivers fill the week-ends.
"Winter has become one of Dartmouth's greatest assets; years ago it was deemed her only liability. And all this in a generation whose paradoxical costume consists traditionally of featherweight underwear and a heavy raccoon coat. The high point of Dartmouth's modern winter is the carnival which begins to-day. On this occasion, the girl of to-day has her chance to show that she, too, can capitalize a New England winter."
CAMPUS TOWER AND ITS CREATORS The builders of the ice tower in the center of the Campus which attracted great attention at Carnival are (standing on tower): J. B. Robinson of Medford, Massachusetts; C. C. Sawyer of Ashland, Maine; and D. M. Larrabee of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. H. P. Haile, instructor in Philosophy, standing below, designed the tower.
CARNIVAL BALL COSTUMES As shown by Misses Edith Lysle, Helen Gaisser, and Charlotte Hanna. The ball was featured by an unusual number and variety of striking costumes.
THE QUEEN AND HER COURT. AS SEEN AT THE GREAT CARNIVAL BALL
SKI-JORING! The race down Main Street from the Natural Science Building to the corner at noon Friday. The races were run in heats and in spite of slushy snow were a thrilling addition to the Carnival sports program.
AT THE BALL Miss Betty Curry of Pittsburgh and John French '30 of Greenwich, Connecticut, editor-in-chief elect of "The Dartmouth."
E. O. PEDERSEN The champion ski jumper from New Hampshire University who again secured first place in the jumping at the Carnival. This photo was especially posed on one of the small jumps which dot the golf course.
