Class of 1923
Len Bronner is the author of this tribute to a classmate who has gone ahead.
IN MEMORY OF SHEP HILTON '23
The circle round the flowing bowl'Is rent beyond repair;And many a bright convivial soulEnsconsed his signet on the scrollAnd knelt in homage there.
For some have found their lesser firesOf friendly hearth or homely toil;Ah lads, subdued to steadfast sires,What leaden weights are fair desires!Yet weights made light with oil.
And some have gone to darkened lands,Their cup stands empty at the board,A lifeless thing that understandsNo eager grasp of friendly handsNor supplication to the Lord.
The circle's rent beyond repair,Nor can the smithy weldA new bolt here, a forged link there,To simulate the ancient heir,Nor is such loss dispelled.
'T is best to trace our path anewAnd seek a gentler sloping landOf milk, perhaps, of honeydew—Where sunlight smiles the whole claythrough,Far from Samarkand.
And yet the voice cries out againAs college ends another year.The seasons now have counted tenLet us lay off the cloaks of men!Come fellows, gather near.
Though time has played a saddening partAnd death has made his kill,We yet are cords of one great heart,The love we feel shall not depart!The voice is crying still.
SAM, THE SOLE LEATHER MAN
Your correspondent spent several days in Boston around the first of February, and bumped into Sam Home, the Big Cut Sole Operator, down in the shoe district. To be specific, Sam was eating squash pie in Thompson's Spa. I was glad to see Sam, and also glad to learn that what is known in God's country as pumpkin pie is squash pie in Boston. Sam seems cheerful enough in spite of his occupation.
MORE ABOUT REUNION
This column should be devoted to reunion plans, as promised in previous issues, and indeed it would be were it not for the secretiveness of the committee. In short, the executives who are giving this event their closest attention, and working out a program which will enliven you every moment at practically no cost, have divulged little or nothing of their plans to this correspondent.
Plan on being in Hanover, dead or alive, next June. Start now to set aside the dough, to secure the time. Line up the '23 men near you, to head for Hanover in cars, which cuts the expense. Make up your minds that you can't afford to grow: five years older than you are now before you again renew your spirit at the old stamping ground, and again clasp the hands of bosom companions of other and better days—not quite beyond recall.
A word to men who live in the East and want to have a hand in making the reunion a big success: get in touch with Pudge Neidlinger, at Princeton (he coaches hockey there), and tell him you want a job working on reunion plans. Or if you want no job, but have suggestions to make, or want to know anything about the reunion, give him a buzz.
CHICAGO ANNUAL BANQUET
Bill Juergens, Bill Wallace, Dud Pope (outgoing treasurer of the Chicago Alumni Association), Ward Hilton, Vince Baldwin, and myself took in this big annual event. The Dean was worth going miles to hear, as usual. (It's odd how mellow he seems now, and how hard-boiled he used to seem. I guess it all depends on where you are sitting.)
At this gathering we heard the one about Ward Hilton jumping rope with Tex Guinan out on the south side at the Frolics. Also the one about Bill Wallace out in Sioux City. It seems he and roly-poly Burt Ford had fun playing hide and seek around the piles of scantlin's and two-by-fours in Burt's lumber yard.
PERSONALS
A correspondent wants to hear from Warry Zeller. Will Warry please communicate his whereabouts to Bill Wallace?
A thousand thanks are hereby expressed to Walter Dodge for the good letter which follows:
"For some time I have been intending tosubmit to you a few miscellaneous itemsconcerning the '25 men with whom I havebeen in more or less intimate contact during the past two or three years. The totallack of '23 news in the last ALUMNI MAGAZINE has finally brought forth the followingnotes:
"Ted Shapleigh is, I believe, either comptroller or assistant treasurer, or possiblyboth, of Gladding's, Inc., in Providence. Heis married, has a daughter about a yearand a half old, and lives in Barrington, R. I.
"Ivan J. Martin is manager of the Lincoln Store in Central Square, Cambridge.He lives in Waltham and is married toEleanor Stearns, formerly of Manchester,N. H. They have two small boys.
"Glen Elliott spent the summer nearus in Bristol, R. 1., and is now living inNorth Attleboro, Mass. I believe he is withthe Pawtucket Braid Company. The Elliotts also have two children, a boy and agirl.
"Kendall Way, who, like myself, worksfor the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, also spent the summerin Bristol, R. I. The Ways have a boy aboutfive years old.
"Harry Watson I saio about a year agoin the Little Building, where he has anoffice with Woods Tours. The Watsons areliving in Wellesley and have one child.
"Hollis Riddle is in Akron, Ohio, withthe Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.Last summer we met him in New Yorkwhen he returned from an assignment inBuenos Aires. We saw very little of himand his wife at this time, as they left forAkron very soon after Hollis arrived. Theyhave two children, both boys.
"About a month ago I saw Bub Eatonin Providence and talked with him a fewmoments. He is traveling for a wholesalehouse, and I am unable to tell you anythingabout his family, if any.
"About two years ago we were living inBrockton, Mass., and while there occasionallysionally saw something of Stu Knight andFrank Mackedon. Stu is now married, Ibelieve. Frank, however, according to thelast report, is still single, and I do notbelieve they have entirely reconciled theirvery differing matrimonial states.
"I myself am with the New EnglandTelephone and Telegraph Company, andhave shuttled back and forth betweenMassachusetts and Rhode Island a numberof times during the past nine and a halfyears. At present my wife and I are livingon Gibson Road in Bristol, R. I. We alsohave two children—a boy three and a girlone and one-half.
"WALTER DODGE."
Secretary, 293 E. Central Ave., Highland Park, Ill.
