To the Class of 1900
The Dartmouth in the following editorial gives expression to the undergraduates' appreciation of the new Outing Club House:
"Dartmouth owes the class of 1900 a vote of thanks. The dedication next month of the new .Outing Club House will be more than the mere opening of a clubhouse; it will be the beginning of a new and important phase of Dartmouth life.
"For a score of years the D. O. C., with its various operations, has done much to set Dartmouth apart from other colleges. Its activities in the fields of winter sports and cabin trips, to say nothing of Carnival, have gone a long way in lessening the tedium of a Hanover winter.
"Now in the year of the twentieth anniversary of the D. O. C. the new lodge has enabled the club to broaden its work and improve its facilities. In the first place, there is the matter of convenience and comfort for skaters and skiers. A chance to have some hot refreshments, get warmed, and rest a bit before returning to the dorm, adds much to the pleasure of winter sports.
"Greater than the material advantage is the new opening for social life. Outing Clubbers will no longer merely comprise a loosely joined conglomeration generally interested in the same things. They will be knit together into a large but congenial group. Instead of a heterogeneous succession of trips and activities, there will come a unification of feelings and interests. Getting together informally in the lounge or dining room in more comfortable surroundings and friendly groups should become an important and popular part of the club's activities.
"The large group of non-fraternity men will be able to find, to some small degree at least, the intimate group life they have missed. Perhaps the building will take on some of the characteristics and functions of the Unions in our larger universities, though it will differ in possessing that rustic, 'outdoor life' atmosphere which we like to feel is characteristic of Dartmouth exclusively among colleges.
"The D. O. C. will become more tangible than ever before. We no longer need think of it as an entity, and abstract body. We have before us a definite building, in which to visualize the organization. The rustic architecture, the great stone fireplaces, the raftered ceiling, the quaint lanterns and furnishings, decorations and fixtures in general, together with the attractive and a bit isolated location, are all concrete suggestions of what the Outing Club stands for.
"In addition to all this perhaps we should add that the dining room promises something almost unknown in these parts, namely, good food in pleasant surroundings."
