GRADUS AD PARNASSUM
Neal Hoskins of the famous team of "Hoskins and Johnson" is dead. A member of the class of '99 he was largely responsible for enlivening the days of his college generation; laughter at his genius for impersonation and clowning has come down through the years and will continue as long as men remember his name.
And not only laughter, for there are as many fond and serious memories of Dr. Hoskins, the skilled physician and surgeon, as there are amusing stories of Hoskins and Johnson. A Detroit press comment says: "His death is a severe loss toDetroit, and to hundreds who relied onhim it is nothing short of a calamity."
The following story is told by a friend, Malcolm W. Bingay, in the Detroit FreePress:
The Doctor's flair for trouping did notlessen in his college days at Dartmouth.Nor did his Rabelaisian delight in thestudy of the genus homo. He had finishedhis junior year at college and was gettingready to go to his family home for hisvacation when he found an old evangelist'swagon. The evangelist had been arrestedfor something or other and had his horseand wagon which were of no immediateuse to him. Neal bought it for a few dollars and let two of his classmates in on thesecret.
He started out on a tour of New England to save the world with a new religion!Even as a boy a master of the classics,he had a good knowledge of Greek andLatin, a smattering of French and German.Taking a large part of his linguistic vocabulary he memorized a weird exhortation.To the meaning of the words he paid noheed whatever. He sought only a fine nuance, a swing that carried conviction. Thusprepared he started out with his two assistants. The trick was to be intensely serious.And nobody could be more so than Nealwhen he was engaged in one of his fiendishpranks.
His old professor of Greek was so interested in the joke that he followed theboys, as they went from town to town withNeal in the role of the New Leader. Thegood professor sent for his colleague inpsychology. Here was a study worthy ofhis specialty. Neal had "converted" a halfhundred people by this jumble of wordswhich meant nothing.
Although Bud Carter's death is detailed on another page of this issue, the editors must here extend their sympathy to his family and to his many Dartmouth friends. Bud's photographic and literary contributions to the MAGAZINE during his undergraduate years were ideal in interpreting to alumni the best of student talent and activity. With a scholarly and full life ahead Bud's career ended in tragedy. But the memory of this fine boy is not soon to be forgotten.
At a meeting of the faculty last spring it was voted to reserve admission to transfer applicants from other colleges to men "with outstanding scholastic records and personal recommendations." There has previously been a policy of accepting only transfers in the upper third of their class. Even so, the admissions office has felt that policy should be more stringent. The new status of transferring to Dartmouth is mentioned here because alumni are so frequently asked concerning it.
There is general rejoicing over the decision of the combined association of eastern college athletic councils to permitbroadcasting of some major football gamesthis fall. By earlier action this seemed tobe out of the realm of possibility thisseason. But early in Septetnber the Powers-That-Be rescinded their former vote tothe extent of announcing that certaingames only will be broadcast. That theDartmouth games with Lafayette October8, with Harvard October 22, with YaleOctober 29 and with New Hampshire November 5 are among the few tentativelylisted on the fall radio program leaves theIndians from the Grt. White North muchplacated, and smiling.
For this sample and free copy which goes to some 9,000 Dartmouth men the editors have put on their best front. The principal article of the year appears in this issue: President Hopkins' opening address. Rees Bowen's newly created section on books, "Hanover Browsing," invites the inspection and regular reading of subscribers. The several departments promise to present the latest news—whether of alumni, undergraduates, or the official College.
One of the best friends and most loyal supporters of the MAGAZINE is no longer with us. "Bubbie" Bartlett for so many years has been, not willing, but eager to undertake any assignment for the editors that his passing June 10 leaves a gap that can't be filled. No one will try to fill it. To all those who knew the charm of his conversation and writing the loss is commonly felt and understood. As a student under Professor Bartlett, then as an associate in the department of Chemistry, and always as an intimate friend, Professor Bolser is admirably fitted to write the first tribute to appear in these pages. Many years ago the name of Bartlett was one famous in Dartmouth historv. It has been richly enhanced by the long life and good works of "Bubbie."
The Hanover Inn quieted down for several weeks after Commencement. Tourist traffic has been light and things in town have been slow this summer. One of the haberdashers rang up 50 cents for a necktie one day and the noise of the cash register startled the clerk so that he had to take a three weeks vacation (on his own pay). But things at the Inn gradually picked up during August until the crisis of a full house was reached just before the eclipse. This rush of business was sustained until Labor Day, when things quieted down to 1932 normal. Whether it was the crisis or the eclipse that sent Lon Gove to the movies wearing a small dark green flat felt hat with a small light green feather in it isn't important. It's the funniest hat of a lot of funny ones we've seen.
The golfing Heneages golfed themselves into two first prizes at Hilton Field of the Hanover Country Club when the championships were decided. Son Dick won the first prize in a gruelling extra-hole match with George Butler, the dark horse from Allen's. George will be glad to show the old course or the new and easy (?) nine to out-of-town visitors. But when placing bets remember that he lost, after 38 holes, to the par-shooting young Mr. Heneage. Father Harry Heneage won the third division title. Fergie Murch receives the President's Cup, awarded by President Hopkins, for winning in the handicap second division.
Readers will do well to visit Hanover in the golfing season. The regular 18 holes were never better than this year. They improve all the time, but they still seem rather difficult. For a pleasant and satisfying diversion, play the new course, conceived by Ralph Barton '04 and executed by Halsey Edgerton '06. Here is plenty of sport, scenery, and exacting golf terrain. Tommy Keane and Bob Heneage (yes, another Balch Hill golfer) jointly hold the record of 36. And we'll say it's good!
We are indebted to a good friend, Shirley Patterson, professor of Romance Languages, for several items relating to the French celebration of Mr. Tuck's ninetieth birthday. Professor Patterson is a long-standing friend of the Tucks and a devoted collector of "Tuckiana." His interesting notes on these latest honors, upon reaching the age of four score and ten, follow:
The ninetieth birthday of Mr. Edward Tuck, on August 24, was made the occasion in Paris of a Franco-American celebration, the like of which has probably not been seen since Benjamin Franklin won the lasting affection and admiration of France as the "wisest and noblest genius of his day."
American to the core of him, Franklin's remarkable ability to understand and assimilate the best in the genius and culture of another nation was never so well illustrated as that day in 1778, when Voltaire, eighty-four and dying on his feet, saluted the "American Sage" on both cheeks, in response to the demands of a clamorous throng.
On August 24, 1932, France again saluted its best-loved American, through scores of the highest governmental and municipal officials, while American diplomats stood by and applauded.
The June issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE was devoted to appreciations of Mr. Tuck's life and good works. This number received wide attention in the metropolitan press at home and in Europe.
Since June, the famous "Trophee of La Turbie"—erected by Augustus at the gateway between imperial Rome and Gaul, and the ruins of which have been the despair of historians and archaeologists since the Renaissance—was formally declared restored and the property of the French Republic, thanks to Mr. Tuck's generosity.
Since June, the Municipal Council of Paris, in extraordinary session, declared Edward Tuck a CITIZEN of Paris. A signal honor that once more recalls the despairing efforts of the proudest and most cautious of cities to make Poor Richard realize that her love for him had found its most intimate and historic expression.
In the minutes spread on two pages of the Bulletin Municipal Official of July '21, one finds the essential phrase:
VOTED: (unanimously and with cries of"Tres bien!")
The title of Citizen of Paris is conferred on Mr. Edward Tuck on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of hisbirth.
Ambassador Walter E. Edge wrote to the New York Herald:
International understanding andfriendship rest on loyal collaboration, onlong tradition, on fair dealing betweengovernments and peoples. But above allthey are the work of individual men andwomen. No one in our time among thelarge company of those who have devoted themselves to the best Franco-American relations illustrates this axiommore strikingly, more significantly, moregenuinely, or more belovedly than Edward Tuck . . .
Among other American opinions: "He has done more good than any American I have known here." "He is the finest type of American citizen and an honor to his country in France. Indeed, he has made so many friends in France that many of them love America on account of him. Mr. Tuckhas done more to bring France andAmerica together than any American outof private life ever to reside here."
