Class of 1932
The Class Baby issue, stated briefly in last month's column, is being met by this department with mixed feelings o£ panic and gratification. Your Secretary is quite obviously on the spot, where stepping in any direction spells mortification of the direst sort. On the other hand I have received to date eight letters and a telegram on this topic alone; there are several others of the regular run. Except for the fact that orders have come from the editorial offices of the MAGAZINE to cut down on the length of class notes, the shock of having at hand such a copious supply of material provides a long-awaited and delightful sensation here in the secretarial penthouse.
Gentlemen, the case of Jeffery, B. J., vs. Swenson, S. S. (both minors), has come before the tribunal. For the purpose of disposing of this question before both parties are old enough to knock my block off for the trouble that's been caused them, we shall not shilly-shally. The brief for Kid Swenson has just been forwarded special delivery by the firm of "Allen, Altman, Buckley, Fanelli, Fox, Peyser, Pochna, Richardson, Ryan, Stern, and Wright (J. Amos)." Drawn up by the unerring and facile pen of R. B. Buckley, this despatch from Cambridge professes to cover "only the legal interests of Mr. S., his other supportersmedical, dental, insurance, etc. are too numerous to mention; in fact we will not accept a ratio of 5-5-3 with any other section of the country." And then Buckley launches into an eloquent argument, which bases its points upon several undeniable facts, among which are: (a) He is male. This may have to be thrown out as irrelevant But proceed! (b) By virtue of having been raised, so far, in N. H., he has the Still North in his heart and the granite of aforementioned state in his muscles, and if he takes after his pappy, in his brains. We hope this rock is a product of the John Swenson Granite Co. John Swenson, production foreman on the three to midnight shift, (adut.) (c) He might eventually wind up on the gridiron, to raise Big Green football hopes. At any rate he'll never be on a daisy chain or winner of a hoop-rolling contest. And in conclusion Mr. Buckley hurls at the bench a threat that "it is now stare decisis—one false move" and we'll call for a Senate investigation. We might even go to the extreme of sicking Huey Long on you."
A supplementary plea has been submitted anonymously. It runs on to the effect that a picture of young S. has been published which gives his parents great pride .... that to dash all this to earth would be unspeakable, blah, blah, etc. The handwriting of this communication has been traced back to the "quill" of the older Swenson. Ho, ho, John, think you're going to get away with that? Plea thrown out!
The arguments of Miss Jeffery's counsel are tense and almost devoid of sentimentality. Mr. M. H. Cardozo points out snappily that precedent does not dictate what gender a class babyship shall be, and cites actual cases. In short, Babs arrived first, therefore Babs is the rightful holder of the distinction.
And finally a rather breathless telegram from Uncle Jack Hamel is submitted (as received): "O HOW CAN THE CLASS BABY BE OTHER THAN BARBARA JEAN JEFFERY FORGET THIS FEMALE STOP OTHER CLASSES HAVE GIRL CLASS BABIES SEE NOVEMBER ALUMNI MAGAZINE CLASS OF NINETEEN TWENTY-EIGHT SPECIFICALLY STOP WITH A THIRTY-TWO FATHER AND A THIRTY-TWO UNCLE LONG LIVE DAD THE CLASS BABY."
And now for the jury's decision. First member: C. McGowan of Columbia University and Paris, 111. He has sent the following opinion in to this office: "It seemsto me quite sound for you to have reliedon the practice of the past, call it tradition,custom, usage, or what you will. From whatis disclosed by the record sent up, it is safeto say that the Dartmouth classes are prettydefinitely committed to the designation ofmales as their honorary progeny. In thelaw the right or wrong of an establishedcustom is seldom material; it is enoughthat it exists, that it has governed in thepast, and is adhered to generally in thepresent. You were, then, on firm legalground when you reversed your first holding. And the law also recognizes the principle that the mere fact that an error hasbeen made is not, without more, sufficientreason for its perpetuation.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE BABY CASE
"An objection springs from what isknown as the doctrine of injurious reliance.As applied here it means that if Jeff reliedsubstantially on your first decision in theform of definite and specific acts, then youare now estopped from asserting a changeof mind. But these acts of reliance must beof a substantial character, and it wouldseem necessary that a damage to someproperty interest be shown. Thus, if Jeffhad gone out in full flush of parental prideand paid over good money for a gold spoonwith "Class Baby" or some such thing engraved on it, and all this in innocent andjustifiable dependence on your first decision, then it might very well be that nochange could be made later. However, inthe absence of a showing of fact to the contrary, I think that you were justified in presuming that Jeff's reliance was confined toa bit of boasting to the boys, and that yourreversal affected his pride rather than hispocketbook. And the interest thus injuredis not one with which the law concerns itself, at least under the doctri?ie we are considering Off the record, Judge, a follower of the newer realist jurisprudencemight correctly surmise that more thananything else in the above I was moved bythe consideration that any child who drawsSwede Swenson for a parent is entitled toall the compensating honors it can get.How is John, anyway? And does he evercome to the city?"
Next, The Babbling Barrister of Myrtle St., Mr. J. C. Couzens:
"The question of the babyship of theclass has been booted about and now mustbe hooted about. Since the day that manmade law has freed woman from the paradise of oblivion to assume the cares andburdens of this life, the unforseeing malehas always lamented each step that placesthe burden more squarely on the female ofthe species.
"As Mr. Justice Cardozo has been reputed to say in propounding a question ofgrave importance, 'There before us is thebrew .... out of the attrition of diverseminds there is beaten something which hasa constancy and uniformity and averagevalue greater than its component elements.' Yes, the future is trackless as thesea, and unreasoned precedent often failsto float "
Finally, the venerable Deacon of George Washington U., Mr. W. H. Mack, says: "Personally, I'll stick my rather large neckout and opine in a purely opinionativemanner that the Class Tot should be of themale species, and especially so in this case,since Stevie Swenson is going to need adefinite plus element (and a class babyshipmight give him this) to counteract thereputation left behind and recorded indelibly in the annals of Dartmouthian professordom by his old man.
"In the event that no amicable arrangement can be reached, I have reserved asuggestion which I am surprised has notoccurred to you. Eliminate the two candidates now under consideration, providethat the class baby shall be of the malegender, disbar all other members of theclass from further competition, and allowthe parties of the first and second part referred to herein and above to start fromscratch once again. This would seem to beboth an equitable and desirable arrangement and thoroughly in keeping with theDartmouth tradition of fair play. Whichlast causes me to think of what WalterButch Modarelli, that grand old Dartmouth man of letters, was wont to say.' 'Tisnot whether we won or lost, but how wewon the game—something.' "
Obviously, gentlemen, the tergiversations of these learned followers of the law has gotten us no place, although they themselves will probably go far. If another decision must be given at this sitting, why I give up. On the other hand if the question does not appear to you so pressing as it once seemed, why not conduct a poll, say at our fifth reunion, where the exhibits under discussion and all other possible candidates might be presented by their various backers?
Milt Burnes, writing from Boston, reports that Hank Barber, Bull Martin's only mat rival, was married to Isabelle Bloom, October 14. They spent their honeymoon in South America Hank Douglass is teaching at a private school in Washington. He married Barbara Goodridge of Newton several months ago Phil Burleigh is still plugging the stationery line Bill McCall has settled down in Newton. . . . . DeStefano is teaching part time in his home town Newell Goldberg operates the leading wallpaper concern in Waltham. He has been married for quite some time to the former Ruth Ritter of Bridgeport, Conn Terry Logan is the head dispenser at Logan's food shop on Stuart St they have swell beer. .... Moze Parker is working for the Empire Linoleum Co. on Portland St., and married to the former Muriel Steele of Reading; residing in Allston. Jack Whitcomb is working for a security house on Washington St
Thanks, Milt. And how about it, Douglass, Goldberg, and Parker? When are you going to complete our files by writing in more complete details about when and where you were married? Which reminds me that M. Burnes concluded his letter with the modest but deplorably incomplete statement that he joined the married ranks slightly more than a year ago and is now another one of Boston's struggling insurance salesmen.
Charlie Odeguard sends a long letter from "chez AI. J. Trarnond, 46 rue Jacob,Paris, VI," descriptive of his present life in France, and giving a hint as to what he's been doing for the last two years. In 1933 he got an M. A. at Harvard, specializing in medieval history, and last year he com- pleted residence requirements for the Ph. D. Now he's prowling around the Archives Nationales, collecting material for his thesis. In the spring, when the French provinces become delicieux, as Charlie says, he will have to go to a number of departmental archives in the north and center of France. It is unfortunate that there's not space enough to quote the rest of the letter, which touches briefly on the prevalence of decorations on male lapels in Paris, the paucity of Dartmouths there; the picturesque Left Bank section where he's living; the grand show provided by the opening of the Universite de Paris-bright colored professorial garments, smartly delivered speeches; the Saar situation; and enough other material to fill a Times SundayMagazine Supplement.
Jack Hollern, recently bound into the bonds of matrimony, as announced last month, says, "We now have a couple ofchairs and a table and Wilkin's weddingpresent and a very small auto Ourfirst overnight guest, I am happy to report,was Denver Harry Litzenberger, late ofHanover coaching fame, who blew intotown with his salesman's kit and orderblanks at al at the precise moment of theMinnesota-Michigan game. Isn't it peculiarhow one's work will lead to interestingplaces at interesting times? In return fornothing much, Harry entertained the localchapter of Dartmouth supporters at ourfair city's finest entertainment center. I'llthank you for them all, Harry.
"Jim Shevlin also found his way out hereone stormy week last winter and managedto fascinate all with his 'charming voice'(I'm quite sure that's what they said,'charming'). He led a drive for Rooseveltagainst poor Minnesota in the XSB orsomething administration. He worked hardand we didn't see enough of him. And withShevlin comes to mind that old master Eddie 'Old Oscar Pepper' Judd, who disruptsthe harmony of my complacent existencesemi-annually with a typical burst of undergraduate enthusiasm on some oddTuesday morning."
Johnny Laffey '31 secretary of the St. Louis Alumni Club, writes that Tommy Curtis's career at Washington Law School was almost cut off before its zenith because the authorities had an idea that he might be partly responsible for the disappearance of the ballot box during last senior elections. Evidently they'd heard about the 1931 fiasco in Hanover and would suspect any Dartmouth man within rifle shot or farther. When Tom isn't being suspected of outrages like this he's playing first string scrum-half for the St. Louis Rugby Football Union's team, or taking care of the business end of the St. Louis Law Review Ted Thompson went to Washington Law last year, but after taking his bar exams decided to branch out into promoting a large newspaper route, which keeps him very busy, and not, apparently, unprofitably so.
Harry Litzenberger, also in a long letter, speaks of seeing at various times: John Sheldon, who ran an informal movie-conducted tour around the world with films he took on his late trip. He's now back at Charles A. Stevens & Co.; Charlie Doerr and Jack Hollern; Ronny Olmstead, who had been in the Southwest auditing some public service companies for his firm, Niles & Niles; and Whip Walser. This one was just leaving for the East, planning to stop and see Dick Cleaves on the way. He is still interested in aviation and hopes to get back into it in Washington Harry says that Eddie Toothaker's little girl is a "darling, toddles around, and has completely tnastered some foreign language,but she will soon start talking English."
On the 17th of November Helen Holt Clark was married to Joe Sawyer in West Hartford, Conn.
Dave Larrabee corrects an error in the address published last month. He lives at 109 West Washington St., Urbana, Ill., rather than Newman Hall.
While you're at it one of these cozy 1935 evenings, gentlemen, why not surprise me with a few more communications, brief or lengthy according to your New Year whims. This month the supply of mail came into this office at a great deal more than seasonal rate, and we expect an abrupt drop after the holidays, when, more than ever, there should be a rise. Let's see what you can do about it!
Secretary, 424 E. 52d St., New York
