Class of 1917
On April 20 at the Dartmouth Club the New York cohorts gathered for the first class dinner in several years, and, though not largely attended, the enthusiasm of the occasion ran high—in fact, the boys had such a good time that they immediately decided to have another dinner on May 18. Eddie Earle took over the piano after dinner with the result that the vocalists quickly got into form and became so occupied with their singing that they forgot all about the films of the last Winter Carnival, which had been shipped down from Hanover for the occasion! That little amnesic lapse is ample proof of the spirit of the evening. Those present were Bill Sewall, Chuck Norby, Gene Towler, Ves Whiton, Ed Earle, Frank Lagay, Doc Wagner, Ev Robie, Don Brooks.
The class of 1917 continues to keep busy in the Dartmouth Club of Northern New Jersey, being represented at their annual dinner on April 7 at the Essex County Country Club, West Orange, by Brooks, Koeniger, O'Neill, and Towler. At this meeting Koeniger was elected chairman of the board of governors and Towler reelected to membership on the board.
We were represented this spring by Sumner Emerson as a candidate for the Alumni Council from the Middle Atlantic District. At this writing no results of the election have been received, but we all hope that Sumner landed the berth. Here is a good letter recently received from the boy himself:
"It has been some time since I have givenany dope for the class column in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, and therefore I amglad to answer your letter. It comes justwhen I am in the midst of making a change.After having been eight years with theGuaranty Company in Buffalo and Montreal plus four years here as local manager, I am leaving May first to go on theother side of the fence and be vice-president of the Fire Association of Philadelphia, which is a hundred-year-old fireinsurance company, and take charge oftheir investment portfolio. We will expectall members of the class to tell their insurance brokers to write their fire andautomobile insurance with the Fire Association. The Fire Association has alwayshad thirteen directors, executive offices onthe thirteenth floor, and I was electedFriday, the thirteenth, all of which meansthe future looks fine.
"The Emerson family, consisting of agood wife, Dickie (Dartmouth '43), Elizabeth (Wellesley '47) and Danny (Dartmouth '53), have grown to like the Cityof Brotherly Love. We live at Villanovaand have an empty guest room for all visiting firemen and classmates.
"There are several of the class here whomwe see fairly regularly at the alumni luncheons. 'Brother' Ralph Britton still has awell tanned forehead that extends clear tothe back of his head as a result of his tripto Florida this winter with Bob Scott.Bruce Ludgate is now in charge of thePhiladelphia office of the Armstrong CorkCompany, and is selling millions of stoppers and caps to distillers and brewers andis recognized as an authority in the liquorindustry, although he still does not partake.Vic Smith has three young hopefuls, andwill be glad to sell you a rolling steel dooror a set of Venetian blinds. Jim Duffy hasleft the Pioneer Suspender Company andis a consultant on all production and marketing problems. (Don't charge for theadvertising.) Art Jopson has been gettingaround more frequently of late and is stillin the coal business. Lew Cunninghamsurprised us all by blowing in from Altoonaat the time of our annual meetingandalso appeared to ivelcome Red Blaik andthe other coaches. He is still the leadingsecurities salesman of Central Pennsylvania. Freddie Goodwin is still hiding hislight under a bushel, but we hope to seehim at some of the meetings. The class of'17 easily had the biggest and without aquestion the best delegation at the annualmeeting. We all admitted it ourselves.
"As for myself, I still try to wield atennis racquet and a squash bat, but whenit comes to a golf club I am the world'smost pediculous (you know what thatmeans), and won a beautiful prize at theBond Club outing last year for high grossof 139.
Freddie Gates writes in a light and happy vein from Massillon, Ohio, where he is practising law—"/ live a very prosaic sortof a life with little in it that one couldcall news. I studied law at a night schooland now I pose as a lawyer after passingthe bar several years ago. I get plenty ofcommunity jobs wished on me, such asbeing on the Boy Scout council, Y.M.C.A.Boys' Work Committee, vestry of thechurch, American Legion executive committee, and I have become a pastmaster atbegging, being on every welfare and membership drive that is ever cooked up. Infact, I sometimes wish I could move to atown where nobody knows me so that Icould escape some of these drives andfinancial problems." With this reputation it looks to me as though Don Brooks and Curley Carr should be able to use Freddie in their business. Fred also made one disgraceful admission in his letter—he is still a bachelor.
From old man Towler (sees 'em all, knows 'em all) we learn that Creeper Hartshorn resides at Kensington, Md., and that he is employed in Washington as supervising architect in the Treasury office. Gene says that Creeper has not changed a bit since 1917, which ought to be something of a record. His progeny consists of three strapping boys.
Additions to the Active List up to May 1 are: V. C. Smith, W. S. Fitch, L. F. Hill, R. E. Adams, E. L. Olds, S. B. Emerson, R. A. Dunning, F. W. Spearin, P. W. Blood.
SUPPORT THE ALUMNI FUND JOIN THE ACTIVE CLASS GROUP
Secretary, Craig House, Beacon, N. Y.
