Class of 1923
This issue of class notes is dedicated to men who were officers of the class of '23 while we were in college. It is interesting to learn what this group of men are doing, and letters from all except two are submitted herewith.
It has been necessary, due to limited space, to do a certain amount of editing, but the important parts of the letters have been left intact. Also if there has been any error in the record, the apology of your Secretary is offered in advance. The minutes of class meetings during our college days are nothing less than masterpieces of brevity.
Graham Whitelaw was the first president of the class of '23. He sends the following felicitation:
"This is about the third time I've startedthis letter to you. I am sorry to be late.
"Much has happened to all of us sincemy connection with the class of '25 wassevered in the spring of 1920.
"The next two years I spent at NewYork University School of Commerce.
"I started to work for the CorporationTrust Co?npany on April, 1923, and havebeen there ever since.
"I married in 1925, and have two sons,one four years old and one six months.
"This is not much of a news letter, butyou probably have decided long ago thatI'm not a letter-writer.
"In closing I want to send my best regards to all my old friends from Hanoverand to wish we could all be transplantedback to Hanover again if just for a night.
Jim Taylor (the big ox—ed. note) in some way or other was selected president of the class in March, freshman year, and what is still more amazing, he repeated his political victories for two terms. After I finished editing his letter, the following is all that remained which was fit to print.
"I am practicing medicine and surgeryin Johnstown, Pa., and like it very much,so needless to say I would select the sameprofession if / had it to do over. I am married and have a daughter, Sally Lou Taylor. Guess that covers most of your questions.
"It is very seldom that I see any of myclassmates from Dartmouth and feel quiteout of touch, until I do meet up withone and get the dope on the situation.However I often think of the class and tryto imagine what the members are doingand where they are. Therefore permit meto take this opportunity to say hello tothem all and wish them the very best inevery way.
"JIM TAYLOR."
Joe Houston was elected to the class presidency in March of junior year. Under his direction, the first junior class dinner was held, which, I believe, has been adopted as an annual event among succeeding junior classes at Dartmouth. Joe sends the following from Denver:
"Your letter of April _j received. I shouldhave hastened to answer before now toshow you appreciation of your good workon 1923 class news. Time seems to passquickly for poor correspondents, and thisis really a record for me.
"I have noted that '23 news is as prolificin the ALUMNI MAGAZINE as that of anyclass and, much more consistent, so even atthe expense of personal news 1 want to addmy assistance even further—though it berather the routine personal news.
"We are just changing our residenceagain, this time to 800 Detroit St., havingmade a good real estate deal and oncemore being under our own roof. For threeyears it's been a nip and tuck affair, andfinally and fortunately this time they can'ttake our more modest home away—so inten days we'll be moving.
"For business and profession I'm still a'hanger-on' in the investment businesswith Bosworth, Chanute, Loughridge, ifCompany, a local firm—needless to add it'sbeen a case of working thrice as strenuously to get a quarter as far, and that fraction might be disputed. But business doesseem to be improving a bit—the crumbsgrow larger, but they're still crumbs.
"I don't know about selecting a profession over again, it's nice out-door activity(not getting inside many offices over thepast three years)—maybe I would prefer tobe Flanagan's assistant campaign managerif I were to choose a business over again.
"As you know, I am married—still to asweet girl of college days—we have twochildren—Cynthia Jane—age eight years,and Sally Joe (an interesting name) agetwo and one-half years. Of course the factthat we think they are two jewels is all thatmatters.
"Sally and 1 hope that by 1938 we willhave whipped our credit back into sufficiently good shape to be able to drive backfor the 15th reunion. The Fifth was ourappropriate moment, the Tenth reuniondecidedly not, and now we hope the 15thwill be. Beyond that, I'll be too grayhairedto recognize, so we're concentrating.
"Occasionally a '23 man comes throughhere, but not very frequently. Frank Dotenabout two years ago for his FrigidaireCompany. I have his resident manager inour fishing club now, so Frank can comeback with a treat in store. Ches Sweney washere, looking over one of the local railroads.A delightful letter from Kip Couch madeus yearn for last year's reunion, but didwell to stir our imaginations, having to beabsent. Years ago he came West, as didSammy Sammis, my cohort in the 'tryingprofession' of bond selling.
"Your efforts are appreciated, J. C., ourbest to you, and some news of you wouldbe more interesting to devour than this.
"JOE HOUSTON."
Don Moore received presidential honors in March, senior year. He is living in Pittsburgh now, and sends the following:
"Since last fall I have been tied up withthe local administration of the CWA—ajob that has necessitated long hours, andhas left me very little time to myself. Butit has been interesting to me in that it hasbrought me back into my old field, theconstruction business, and it has also givenme an inside view of a large scale socialexperiment. (I will not give you my viewsas to whether or not it has been successfulat this time!)
"I haven't been able as yet to do any workon the Alumni Fund, but some of the boyswho helped with the Fund last year havealready started to work, and I am bankingon them to pull us through, for lam afraidI will not be able to devote as much timeto the Fund as in the past years.
"Don't forget to give the Fund some advertising in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE anddon't hesitate to take a subscription fromany of the '25 gang you see.
"DON."
Chick Burke, our first vice-president, served two years, being elected in the fall of freshman year and re-elected in March of sophomore year. His letter follows:
"Your persistence has finally stirred meto action. My inertia, if I must alibi, wasdue however to Uncle Sam's mailman being unable to )locate me, but he finallycaught up with me, even as the bill collectors.
"Jumping into a chronological statement of facts that cover the last ten years,if I interpret your letter correctly, the following would be the high lights:
1. Sold insurance for a year and onehalf.
2. Two years in the oil fields in Texas,plus considerable barnstorming and sightseeing in the Southwest and West.
3. Tied up with Shell when they invaded the Eastern seaboard.
4. Got married. 5. Bought a dog. 6. Patricia Ann Burke came to town(now close to two years old).
"At the present time I am living at 26Walnut Road, West Barrington, R. 1., tenmiles out of Providence. There is a liberalsprinkling of Dartmouth men in the town,including Russ Goodnow, Harold Smith,Jack A born, and Ted Shapleigh, and I alsosee a few of the old classmates in Providence.A recent dinner in Providence wasthe occasion for some sixty or seventy Hanoverians assembling to see a few movies ofHanover and hear Dr. Ruggles tell usquite a bit about what's what in Hanoverat the moment.
"My present work takes me all overRhode Island (and I must mention thatRhode Island is not as big as Texas or Iwill be accused of bragging) as well asCape Cod. This business of working for aliving certainly interferes with one's golfand fishing, but I must admit I like it better than Archaeology 12 or Music 23.
"This isn't much of a letter, John, but ifyou use any of the facts herein containedplease include an invitation to any of thewandering brethren of '23 to stop over atthe above address whenever business orpleasure might bring them into this sectionof God's country.
"CHICK BURKE."
Joe Millar succeeded to the vice-presidency of '23 in March of sophomore year and remained in that office for two terms. He was also class marshal senior year.
"After graduating from Dartmouth, Ientered the University of PennsylvaniaMedical School. I later decided to studyveterinary medicine, so transferred to theveterinary department of that institution.I graduated in 1928 cum laude. After passing the state board examinations in NewYork, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, I became associated in practice with my fatherin Asbury Park. The following year webuilt a hospital for small animals in Deal,N. J. We have a rather complete equipment, which consists of accommodationsfor no animals, two examination rooms,operating room, pharmacy, microscope,electric centrifuge, X-ray machine, diathermy machine, ultra violet and infra-redlamps, along with an efficient ventilatingsystem. We modestly believe we have a veryexcellently equipped small animal hospital.
"I am very much interested in my profession. If I were to do it over again, I wouldselect the same profession. I am makingevery effort to study on the side.
"I married Agatha Eroh of Allentown,Pa., on November 10, 1928. We have beenfortunate in having three children: BarbaraAnne, age four and one-half years—ShirleyJean, deceased—and Harry Cecil, ageeleven months.
"During my senior year at veterinaryschool I was elected member of Phi Zeta,which is equivalent to Phi Beta Kappa.Since then I have become a member of theNew York City Veterinary Association, theKeystone Veterinary Society of Philadelphia, the New Jersey State VeterinaryMedical Association, and the AmericanVeterinary Association. I am now interested in the formation of a society ofanimal hospitals in the United States, andam also a member of a group interested inthe more scientific research and treatmentin small animals.
"This last fall I was laid up in bed forthree months with an infected leg as a result of a blister on my toe. I finally managed to throw off the infection and getback to practice.
"JOSEPH A. S. MILLAR.
John C. Allen became vice-president, dog show operator, chariot racer, and class errand boy in March, 1923. He now lives in New York and is engaged in patent development work for Technigraph, Inc.
A. D. Albee, now of Montreal, was the first class secretary. He was elected to a second term in the spring of freshman year. We regret that no letter was received.
Kip Couch was elected secretary of the class in March of sophomore year and served two terms. He writes:
"After your 'mild' reminder, I hastento write a few lines lest I receive a bombthrough the mails in the morning.
"As you know, we have lived in thecountry for the past seven years, at aplace called Scarsdale, and what with allthe country chores to do there seems to belittle time to write. We have managed toraise a daughter, Janice, who is now sixand one-half years old, and at the momentare on the ten-yard line waiting tomake another score, which should happen in about three weeks' time. For thepast seven years, I have worked withthe firm of Hofstatter & Cos., 668 FifthAve., where we try to make and sell finefurniture and wood paneling. I am associated with S. D. Kilmarx '22, and wemanage to attend most Dartmouth smokers and football games.
"hi a very active correspondence withHouston (his last letter came a year ago)he described many fishing trips in themountains. Quite a lure to one whopasses the walls of Radio City every dayand spies an occasional green tree on thethirtieth and sixtieth floors.
"Doc Jim Taylor is still a cut-up andis very active on the surgical staff in aJohnstown hospital.
"Sammis after many years of sellingbonds is now behind the bars, where, Ibelieve, he will become a full fledged conservative banker in Pittsfield.
"Loosh Ruder, according to my lastreport, was in Florida benefiting by thewarm sunshine.
"Saw an unusual but pleasant sight inRoy Brown and Art Everit at the lastclass dinner.
"Ike Phillips and I got lost togetherthe other night, but the old OutingClubber soon found the path home.
"I was glad to find out that you stillhave an inch left on that cigar you boughtten years ago, and that Flanigan does notdrink, smoke, or talk any more exceptwhen he is awake.
"All are invited to attend the ajinualtennis match between Landauer and myself on Bastile Day. Both will be zealousin trying to keep our respective mantelpieces clean.
"KIP COUCH."
Jack Taylor, now of Buffalo, N. Y„ once of Mexico, N. Y„ the only threeterm politician, failed to send us a letter. He was elected treasurer at the beginning of freshman year and retained the office until March of junior year.
Paul McKown became custodian of the class exchequer in March, junior year. The following is an enlightening bit of political scandal, discovered ten years too late:
"Accustomed as I am to writing aboutmyself (ahem!) I hasten to yield to thewheedling notes of your recent epistleand tell you something of the story of myinglorious past.
"The great success that has marked mycareer I have always attributed to myonce having handled the cash of 1923. Inthose days, you will recall, there was noregular salary connected with the treasurer's office, so it took some caution anddiplomacy to cull from the conglomeration rubber checks, 1. O. U.'s, lead nickels,and pants buttons, which flowed throughmy fingers, sufficient legal tender to payoff a few class bills and still leave enoughsurplus to form a foundation for my future fortune.
"Good times were rife then, and I remember that last day in Hanover when,with a jingle in my pockets and gold inmy teeth, I set forth in the direction of theGolden West to win fame and prosperity.
"But, alack, the accumulated wealth of1923's nickel-nursers was speedily dissipated, and it was with onerous effortthat I ultimately reached my father'sstoop. At length I catne to realize theexigency of taking unto myself labor ofa sort. I had the good fortune to landwith an insurance house of high integrity.
"The St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company I soon happily discoveredwas purveying to the public protectionagainst arsonists, incendiarists, recklessdrivers, shop-lifters, burglars, forgers,embezzlers, and other malefactors, malefactresses, and hoodlums. My experiencein these lines gained me rapid commotionand I became most happily married (toJosephine Hurd of St. Paul).
"Time marched on. We were blessedwith a son (Jimmy—now aged six). Foreign lands beckoned. I was relegated tothat burgh of buxom boards and effervescingbeverages, Milwaukee. That wasin 1930. Here I opened shop for theCompany and dawdled under the guiseof an insurance underwriter. Here oursecond son was born (Teddy—going on3). Here I am still dawdling. Here myfalling dandruff and failing bicuspids remind me that our Fifteenth Reunion ison the horizon. My Milwaukee cohorts,Hap Jefferson, Swede Swenson, and BudFriedman, and I are already planningfor that eastern emigration. We'll bethere.
"And if any of the gang lands in ourtown, be sure and holler; we want to seeyou.
"PAUL MCKOWN."
John Foster, who was elected treasurer in March, 1923, writes:
"The delay in answering your letter ofApril 11 has been caused by the fact thatI have been out of the office for the pastweek. I remember very well our classofficers at the time of graduation, and inthinking back over those wonderful daysat Hanover, I find it impossible to writea letter of this kind without saying axoord about one of the most beloved menin the class, who was our secretary and,who since has passed on—Louis Lewinsohn.
"I had the pleasure of rooming withLouis for three years. He meant a greatdeal to me, and his going has left a biggap in my life. I know that many others,particularly of the class of 1923, feel thesame way about him.
"Briefly, my career since graduationhas been as follows: the first year out ofcollege I taught English and coached football and hockey at Phillips Andover, andfinally in the spring of 1926 I becameconnected with the Grant Company. Iworked in our Newark and Portsmouth,Ohio, stores, and in the fall of 1926 wastransferred to the real estate departmentof the New York office. In the spring of1927 I was transferred to the personneldepartment, where I have been ever since.The breaks have been with me, and I amnow the director of personnel of theGrant Company, enjoying my work mostthoroughly, and to answer one of thequestions directly that you asked in yourletter, I would select this type of work ifI were back ten years and knew as muchabout it as I do today. I believe this factis true because I have been primarilyinterested in and have had a liking forpeople ever since 1 can remember.
"There are a great many Dartmouthmen in the Grant Company. The class of1923 has giveri us Clarence Goss, who has•done a mighty fine job and is now buyerof women's wear. All of the fellows whowere fortunate enough to return to thereunion last spring undoubtedly remember the swell job that Clarence did withour class uniforms. Paul Dame also ofthe class of 1923 is managing our store inButler, Pa. Charlie Rivoire graduatedfrom Harvard Law School, and findinglaw not to his liking, signed up with theGrant Company last fall, and is nowworking in one of our stores in New YorkCity.
"In July, 1930, I married Isabel MunozCoons. We have one youngster, Charles,and live at 14 Glen Road, Verona, N. J.Make a note of that address, as we hadquite a meeting there the Saturday nightof the Princeton game last fall, and anyof you will be welcome in 1934.
"Aside from my family and my job,my interest in the winter is tied up withrefereeing college hockey, which has beenmighty interesting in that it has allowedme to keep in close contact with the gamethat I loved, and to see something ofundergraduate life at Princeton, NewHaven, and West Point. In the summer
I struggle with the golf game, whichprimarily consists of a five-year-old feudwith Louis Van Orden, ex-1923, ratherthan a demonstration of good golf.
"JOHN FOSTER."
Truman T. Metzel, first and only elected member of the College Club. At the risk of personal embarrassment I have decided to print the following, but only because the ALUMNI MAGAZINE needs the paid advertising which Truman has promised:
"Your request for reminiscences re myincumbency as a. class officer is very embarrassing, as the one thing that is alwayssure to bring blushes to my cheeks is therecollection of the time I went to Philadelphia to report the Dartmouth-Penngame in 1919 or '2O, for the College Club.
"You may recall that on that day thePenn team took a terrific lacing, and thatthe score at the end of the first half,which I wired from Philadelphia to thepalpitating group in the gymnasiumhuddling about the chart, was the samescore which the Sunday papers carried asthe final—the Sunday papers were right. Itseems that my reports on the second halfcame through first, to be followed by aclear-cut account of what happened during the first half. When I got back toHanover I was met with a cold receptionand was not delegated to report anyother football games.
"Another item which will forever livein my memory is the kidnaping connected with the freshman picture—youmay recall that all the officers were setupon during the early hours of a verycold morning, in their beds, and thosewho did not escape (of which group I wasunfortunately one), were spirited away tothe Thetford Inn. There we were lashedto a bed and fed evaporated apples andplenty of water by Ozzie Holland, untilthe Society for the Prevention of Cruellyto Animals interfered towards the end ofthe day, and effected our release fromthis living death.
"More real even that the dried appleepisode is my recollection of my seizureat four o'clock in the morning by Suttmeier and his cohorts. No one who hasmissed being waked up at that hour bySuttmeier can ever appreciate how horrible an experience this is.
"While I am on the subject of class officers, I want to take the opportunity todeny the veiled charges that had beenmade from time to time that during theperiod that my colleagues and I guidedthe class in the ways of righteousness, Iused my political influence to enrich myself to an amount variously estimated atfrom fifty to seventy-five thousand dollarsduring that year. I wish to state emphatically that the take was almost negligible,and that the profits actually accrued frommy management in the Green Book,which netted me $59,757.62. I think eventhe biggest dullard in the class will beable to differentiate between graft inpublic office and the income from anhonest enterprise like the Green Book.
"Just in case you should be tempted togarble the above account, either throughstupidity or malice, I would like to callto your attention that if you should doso, I would not hesitate to spread acrossthe pages of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE in apaid advertisement an account of whathappened the day you had your picturetaken with the freshman football team,and to further refer in said ad to a coupleof your debauches in Boston, to which Iwas an eye witness.
Late Flash.
"T. T. METZEL."
Sanford I. Phillips was born January 4, 1934, to Mr. and Mrs. Elmer I. Phillips (Ike to you). I am advised that the "I" in Sanford I. Phillips is not for "Ike."
Al Hovey writes that he is no longer with General Electric in Schenectady as mentioned in recent class notes. He is now director of research for Beck, Roller, & Cos., Inc., of Detroit. Two children have been bom in the Hovey family. Mildred is 914 and Roger is 8 1/2.
George Weston is still fighting for Dartmouth. Son of George D. Weston is entered in the class of '53 and Perry C. Weston in the class of '55.
Doctor "Babe" Miner had a nasty time of it in the hospital not long ago, and the report is that he was right on the line for a while. We hope he is out of the danger stage now however, and will soon be entirely recovered.
Secretary, Box 14, Wall St. Station, New York
