Class of 1906
The most interesting news that I have for you this month concerns the visit of Charlie and Alma Milham to the Earl of Dartmouth. The Milhams have had a grand summer motoring in England and Scotland, and under date of July 18, Charlie wrote me a letter from Peterborough so full of interest to Dartmouth men in general that I am quoting a long section of it verbatim:
"Alma and I had the honor and the greatpleasure of lunching last Saturday at Potshull House with the Earl of Dartmouthand his daughter, Lady Joan. Isn't thatamazing? If you find it so, I assure you iceregarded it even more so. It came about inquite a surprisingly simple way. I wrote tohis Lordship about ten days ago asking ifwe might stop and see the place and payour respects to him. Lo and behold, theEarl replied that he would be glad to haveus come and lunch with him on Saturday,the 14th. Although the date was a bit inconvenient, you can imagine that we didnot permit that to deter us. We went—andwe had a rare time.
"To begin with, although the mail ad-dress for Potshull House is Wolverhamp-ton—an important manufacturing city inthe Black Country—the estate is actuallyabout seven or eight miles out, in a mostcharming region. It is typical rural Eng-land—lovely trees and green fields, farmcountry. The estate is a joy, with stretchesof attractive little lakes and ponds. Thedrive takes one for a fair distance throughthe park, past the pleasing chapel, and allof a sudden, the house is before you—arather splendid looking mansion, large,but not too imposing; somewhat massive,but not too dignified and austere. Indeed,while one might characterize it as a grandresidence, an elegant establishment, itslines suggested that it was a home and nota show-place. And this despite its broadterraces and its imposing situation. Inother words, we liked the house before weentered.
"Entering, the first impression was oneof spaciousness—large rooms, high ceilings,long vistas. Next, one recognized again thatthis was a home, and a home in which thesurroundings made for comfort and ease ofliving, for all that the walls were lined withscores and scores of paintings, large andsmall in size, and notable or otherwise inthe persons and the artists represented, sothat it might easily have taken on thesemblance of an art gallery.
"We were received by the Earl and LadyJoan in what I would imagine was thelibrary—although there was another roomthat could have had the same designation.We found the Earl to be quite feeble ofbody, but delightfully strong of spirit. Hewas eager to hear of Dartmouth College,spoke enthusiastically of Hoppy—referredto him several times as a great man—andwas, obviously, keenly disappointed thathis physical condition would not permithim to take another trip to Hanover. Herecalled his journey thither in 1904 glowingly. One could see in the way he spokethat he had thoroughly enjoyed and stillremembered proudly the reception givenhim and the Wah-hoo-wahs. The Wahhoo-wahs I would take to have left an indelible impression—for the Earl, if youplease, recited the good old Dartmouthcheer in toto at the luncheon table. Yes,it was good, he said; and he wished hemight hear it again; he wished he mightsee the College once more. He had plannedto go, he said, had planned to take thewhole family, but the breakdown thatcame three years ago coincident with alightning bolt on one of the trees near thehouse had ended it all. It was somewhatpathetic to hear him speak of it, but at thesame time, one could not help admiringthe spirit of the man. I think it would bequite fitting to refer to him as a lovely oldgentleman—a lovable being.
"We spoke, of course, of the Earl. HisLordship said, he remembered distinctlyhaving heard his grandfather refer to thevisit of the Indian (Occurn) although he,the present Earl, was only two years old.Lady Joan and he talked of the greatgrandfather, the Earl, in serio-comicfashion—the way one might speak of someone of whom 07ie thought a great deal.They characterized him, affectionately, as'the Prig.' When I asked why, the answercame, 'Because he was so good, almost toogood.' We saw a number of portraits ofDartmouth's benefactor. One was especially good. Our host asked Alma and meof whom the portrait reminded us. Therewas something about it that was quitefamiliar, but while we were groping, theEarl broke in, 'lt's like George Washington, isn't itV And surely enough, it was.We learned that it was Hoppy who hadfirst called attention to the likeness, andundoubtedly to the present Earl's greatjoy.
"The Earl and Lady Joan conducted usall about the house, and then the Earl gaveus a personally conducted lour of thegardens—he occupying a wheeled chairhandled by a footman and a nurse, andAlma and I walking along on either side.The gardens are decidedly worth while,with rich foliage of many gorgeous treesand deep, varied color of many flowers. Aswe passed through one unusually colorfulsection, the Earl said that Lady Dartmouth,with a gift for gardening, had scatteredquantities of the seeds of a number of wildflowers. What a picture it now yields! Iwish my pen had the gift to describe it.I can only state, baldly, that there was agrace and a beauty and a charm about itthat made one think of contentment.
"When we left Potshull House, the Earlsent his warm regards to the College andto Hoppy. One cannot believe other thanthat Dartmouth College holds a distinctiveplace in his heart."
Steve Cushing, who, you will recall, is head of the Vermont Public Service Commission and author of the present Vermont liquor law, received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Norwich University last June. Congratulations, Dr. Cushing.
Daniel Ransom of Windsor, Vt., is now on the technical staff of the C C C in Vermont.
Homer Brown writes that Bradstreets, by whom he was employed, went out of business and left him without a position, and he therefore has formed a financial agency of his own. He still lives at 1236 65th Ave., Philadelphia.
Dan Carr suffered a severe shock last April and has been seriously ill ever since, but at last reports was believed to be definitely on the road to recovery.
Dan Hatch was appointed in June to the vice-presidency of Buildings Products Limited, Montreal.
Art Libby and his charming bride, to whom he was married early in August, came through Hanover on their honeymoon, and gave your Secretary the opportunity of welcoming into the folds of the class this latest addition to 1906. Mrs. Libby is a graduate of Smith College and has a master's degree from Columbia.
Secretary, Hanover, N. H.
