GRADUS AD PARNASSUM
Records Broken . . . Carnival and the CommunityDinner . . . Notes on Picking the Queen . . . HarryChase '04 a "Damyankee" . . . Contributors . . .Undergraduate Number
In spite of bad times two important February events in this New Hampshire village have maintained attendance records. More than 700 young ladies participated in Winter Carnival festivities and Commons was crowded to accommodate nearly 400 diners for the annual Community Men's Dinner. No one can explain the large number of fair guests—only a few days before the party the Outing Club and others concerned predicted a rather slim time of it, what with no snow and no money. But the snow came and also the ways and means, evidently, for the girls certainly arrived in the largest group of femininity ever entertained at Dartmouth.
Fraternity house taxes for Carnival were lower than usual, it was a two-day Carnival again, houses combined to hold dances, favors were largely eliminated, attendance at the hockey game and swimming meet was noticeably smaller, other small but customarily present items were eliminated from the budgets of those having guests. All these things combined to make Carnival much less expensive. With the girl friend paying railroad fare Carnival became almost a Dutch treat and perhaps this explains the record. Anyway, it was a fine week-end, a successful party if there ever was one in Hanover. Ski Heil to the D. O. C.!
As for the "town and gown" dinner nothing short of a natural disaster could stop it. What with Ory Grant, head College painter, selling around 100 tickets every year a good crowd is always assured. Unique in college towns is this dinner which yearly attracts a considerable number of faculty and townsmen to College Hall for repast and entertainment. The after dinner program varies from the sublime to the ridiculous. Craven Laycock is the favorite toastmaster. President Hopkins is the favorite speaker, cheered to the echo with all Hanoverians on their feet, just as he's welcomed to the most distant and Dartmouth-hungry crowd in the land. Perley Bugbee sits next to a shaggy haired farmer from the backside of Moose Mountain and across the table is Professor Soand-So who has walked down from Rope Ferry Road knowing himself to be a part of this rural community and not being sorry that he is. Democracy is just as much a virtue of Hanover as it is of Dartmouth.
There was no formalizing at this year's dinner. Max Norton '19 was the maestro of his second minstrel show, assisted by Warner Bentley and Henry Williams of the Players. Prof. Don Stone was interlocutor with Ernie Tanzi and John Piane '14 for end men. In the rest of the circle were Jim Hamilton '22, Prof. Artemas Packard, Budge Rood, and Joe D'Esopo '29. The chorus included Prof. Lloyd Rice, Ira Leavitt, Chintz Allen '24. Many cracks at the expense of local celebrities were shouted by Producer Norton's colored boys and the crowd howled its appreciation of local gossip and fun-poking. The bachelor ranks are thinning but two are left and Halsey Edgerton and Harold Rugg, both '06, paid for celibacy. Other sallies were made on Arch Gile '17, Harry Hillman, Harvey Cohn, Dean Bill, Bob Strong '24, Walt Record, Gordon Ferrie Hull, Fred Longhurst, President Hopkins, James Dow McCallum, Cotty Larmon '19, and Dr. Kingsford.
Concerning the election of Harry Chase '04 to the presidency of the U. of North Carolina a Contributor to the New York Herald-Tribune, signing himself "Tarheel," spins this yarn:
In 1920 there was, and for a long timehad been, a vacancy in the presidency ofthe university. At that time the trusteeshad reached a stalemate in the effort todecide upon and elect a president. At last,in desperation, they resolved to select thatman whom the teaching faculty by votemight decide upon. They left the matterto the faculty. There were 200 membersof the faculty.
Harry Chase was a professor. He was aNew Englander and belonged to a groupof Northern professors at the institutionthat dined around at one another's housesand disposed of cocktails, if any, and discussed such things as the whichness of thewhen and the hereness of the now. Themembers named their club the DamyankeeClub. It was composed of thirty members.
The meeting for balloting by the faculty approached. Two candidates from thebody of the faculty had been proposed—onea native son and the other Harry Chase, aDamyankee. Two hundred ballots were tobe cast. The Damyankee Club was thirtystrong. The non-Damyankee Club strengthwas 170.
The balloting was over. The native sonreceived thirty votes. Harry Chase received170 votes.
Thus it was that Harry Chase becamethe president of the University of NorthCarolina.
Correspondents and commenters want toknow "how about 'About Ten or FifteenYears Ago' in the MAGAZINE." There is certainly nothing wrong with this idea andnominations are eagerly awaited. It wouldseem that some well informed person couldcompose a monthly contribution on theorder of Hap Hinman's popular "About25 Years Ago" to cover the War period andrun through those halcyon days of '22-'26.Professor William Hill McCarter '19 coulddo an excellent job of it.
From the Dartmouth ads, after Carnival: WILL STUDENT who took snapshot ofcouple in sleigh on Tuck Drive, Sundayafternoon about 2, call Hamilton, AlphaChi Rho.
Newspaper special writers had a big time in Hanover over Carnival. There were three of these visiting gentry, viz.: Harland Ratcliffe of the Boston Transcript, Robert Kelley of the New York Times, and Fred Hawthorne of the Herald-Tribune. Grouped together at the entrance portals of the outdoor evening scene these mere mortals, endowed with journalistic abilities and a zest for their work, were assigned the arduous but invigorating task of selecting a Carnival Queen. With a stream of beauty in ski suits tripping past for a half hour or so the judges stood, at times transfixed and unable to do their duty, at other times merely gasping or whistling low in admiration. From all of this daze they emerged often enough to ask some particularly ravishing young lady to join the candidates from whose number the Lucky Girl was later deleted. She proved to be the blonde Miss Virginia Helm of Minneapolis and Smith College. Her escort was Capt. Lyman Wakefield, of Minneapolis and the winter sports team. Scheduled for a fancy skating act during the evening Lyman exclaimed, upon being informed of Virginia's success: "Oh, boy, will I skate now!"
Just what caused the D. O. C. to switch from its policy of having faculty judges select the Queen is not clear. Of course it does flatter metropolitan newsmen to tell them they are the best pickers in a town full of males feeling this to be their own natural talent. Heretofore the faculty judges have done their best. But faculty wives have not always seen the wisdom of their choices. Perhaps for the preservation of communal bliss the change is a good one. But how about Mrs RatclifEe, Mrs. Kelley, and Mrs. Hawthorne?
Unless there is an unfavorable decision by the associated railroad passenger associations, which seems unlikely, alumni and parents of graduating seniors will again be enabled to secure special one and one-half rail rates for Commencement, June 16-20. Special "identification certificates" may be secured from class secretaries and from the College Secretary's office which entitle holders, and members of their families, to the lower round trip rate.
C. E. Dankert, contributor this month ofthe article "Economic Aspects of MechanicalProgress," completes in June his thirdyear as instructor in economics at Dartmouth. His academic degrees are: A.8.,McMaster University (Toronto, Ont.),1926; A.M., University of Chicago, 1927;Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1930. Hehas previously taught economics at theUniversity of Saskatchewan and at Chicago.
The annual Undergraduate Number of the MAGAZINE will appear next month. following the policy of last year when it was felt that alumni would enjoy an opportunity to see samples of the best work of students, and that students appreciate having such efforts published, the April number will be given over in its editorial and feature sections to such contributions. Senior Fellows and other leading representatives of undergraduate thought and opinion are the authors of prose and poetry to appear in these pages next month.
