Class of 1932
The Robert Wilkins were visitors at these diggings the other night, and Bob reported on a recent junket to Boston. He and Nathan Hawkes had gone to call on some youths of the class of '33, now studying at Harvard Law School—Werner, Hulsart, and Monahan, by name. They seemed fairly glad to see these visitors—at least, so Wilkin says, after they'd had a glimpse of the Old Panther that had been brought along—but were faintly scornful of what they considered a loss of zip since college days on the part of your two classmates. Whereupon Wilkin in a good burst of righteousness let one fly at the wall and unfortunately caught it in a most vulnerable spot, for the lights went out throughout the apartment. Nursing a pumpkinlight fist our heavyweight then led the lads into purlieus of Cambridge they had never dreamed of. I suppose that Monagan, who is secretary of the 1933 class, will have something scurrilous to say about all this. Of course complete silence would be the most damaging admission of total nonplussal on the part of these callow representatives of his class, and that's what I should expect; but if he does have something to say you will always be able to come back to this column for the true interpretation of events as they happened.
Word cair.e from Glens Falls on April 22 that Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Peters announce the engagement of their daughter Margaret to James Dennis North of Maplewood. The despatch further stated that Miss Peters was a graduate of Glens Falls Academy in 1928 and attended Smith with the class of 1932. North was in the same class at Dartmouth, and is now associated with the United States Rubber Export Co. in New York.
A marriage of the month took place in Brooklyn on the 4th of May, between Miss Alice Katherine Parke, daughter of Mr. William M. Parke, and Mr. John Otto Zimmerman. Unfortunately your secretary was out of town over the week-end and could not attend the ceremony, but expects to get details for next issue. From very indirect reports I gather that at least brother Gus Zimmerman and Bob Harrison were there out of our class.
There is a feeling haunting me that there is at least one matrimonial item for our monthly filing, but at this writing I can't for the life of me remember where I heard about it, or indeed, if I ever did hear of such a thing. That too will have to come out in the next issue on October i, I might remind some of you lads who have intended to write in all along, and now at least can have a fairly clear conscience over the summer. .... Somewhat to the bewilderment of my staff of secretaries the mail this month has been approximately forty per cent of the chain variety, entreating this office to take a name off the top of the list and send anything from a dime to a pint. None of them, however, included another classmate's name besides the sender's—that automatically excluding them from quick, or even eventual reply, and I have given up hope of ever becoming the owner of a large sum of currency or on the other hand 15.625 pints of "Old Kentucky Snort." What might put this chain letter idea over to the satisfaction of the Alumni Office is the quick despatching of a line in each letter about what your college pals have been doing. I take very little pleasure, you see, in removing the name of a Miss Thelma Whistler of 408 West Myrtle St., Independence, Kansas, from the top of my current list and sending her a dime, but I would like to hear any recent b doggling of certain members of the large and uncommunicative class of 1932.
Well, there you are: the last blast of the season on this ever tedious subject.
Something more cheerful is waiting in the form of a letter from Whip Walser, who says, "I had written a letter to you before, but sent the damn thing to my uncleinstead it was so good that he apparentlykept it. Anyway, I had explained to youthat I was now settled down for awhile inWashington. I am working with the aboveorganization (Division of Press Intelligence).My job consists in reading all theeditorials from 350 daily newspapers thatpertain to certain departments like State,Agriculture, Foreign Trade, Justice, Navy,AAA, Securities and Exchange, etc. I try togather the public reaction to variousmeasures they try to foster, and give myopinion in a daily bulletin which is sent tothe heads of the departments.
You know that I am rooming withCleaves. The last time he accused me ofmaking us move from Virginia back intotown. Luckily our new house has no oneabove or below us. Therefore, it has beenour fortune not to be evicted. We roomwith three other boys—one of them theformer quarterback of the Brown IronMen of 1926. He was one of the boys thatwas on that African trading expeditionthat never left Quincy, Mass., and laterwent with Dick to Martinique Bythe way, you perhaps did not hear ofDick's prowess as a boxer. As you remember, he did pretty well in school one night,and when the Golden Gloves Tournamentcame here he decided to enter it. I was hismanager and trainer and did my best to bean example, of what clean living can do toa young man. Unfortunately my rules didnot leave out certain of the few joys of life,and we struggled on for a month gettinginto shape. The night of the preliminariesI decided to celebrate the coming victoryand was a very poor second, cheering thewrong man. Finally the fog lifted and witha good slap on the back and a 'get in thereand fight like hell, they can't hurt us,' Isent Dick into the ring. He put on a swellfight and knocked the man out in tworounds—we found out later it was a policeman who had had a string of victories fortwo years. If we had only known it was apoliceman the fight would have finishedearlier, as the week before we had beenfined $24.45 for doing 70 on the Baltimorehighway. Well anyway, Dick had to fightagain in the evening, and knocked out another man. He was the hero of the night,being the only one who survived throughtwo preliminary fights. The next day wefound one of his knuckles broken and hedidn't fight.
NEWS ON EDITOR CLARK
"I have run into Ben Burch, and willhave lunch with Tucker this week. Clarkis still with the Post, and we think we havean expose to give him on hospital conditions (the nurses live right down thestreet). In a couple of weeks Clark may bethe town talk if things break Dickand I hope to drive up to Hanover overthe May 30 week-end—see the old chiefand Ma Smalley, not forgetting the Duchess or the swimming down in the WhiteRiver.
"I would like to know what happenedto Johnny Watts—l know he is marriedand somewhere in Pittsburgh, but henever answers letters. I wish you would inform the readers of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE that if any of them, run across anyexpeditions and want men we can supplythem with some of the greatest manpower in the world. This would of coursebe reciprocal, and should any of our oldfriends want to get in touch with someSouth Sea Island trips we have the plansand the desire. All of which foretells thatsomething is brooding for the near future—we hope."
I had direct word from a freshman, brother of one of our classmates, that Al Levi has developed considerable following in his philosophy courses. in Hanover. This particular freshman doesn't happen to be doing so well at that, so his sentiments are undoubtedly sincere.
Bill Peck is now stationed in South-bridge, Mass., with the American Optical Co.
Another stray bit is to the effect that Ken (W. H.) Kendall is an assistant supervisor on the Pennsylvania R. R. at Cresson, Pa.
NEWS FROM DENVER
Eddy Toothaker voices the thoughts of a good many rival '32 pappies when he writes that he isn't impressed by the recent Class Baby feature. In his words, "You see, the real class prodigy resides inDenver and goes by the name of Toothaker. If Jeffery's or Swenson's babies looklike their fathers I'm just laughing up mysleeve, because my baby looks like hermother." In spite of this unkind touch it was good to hear from Eddy, for, just as he suggested, I had thought that the passing of the last of the Tabors had written finis to everyone in the Queen City of the West. Soon after his communication, however, came a letter (non-chain) from Dutch Litzenberger, who is right now carrying out mobilization of the Alumni Fund forces. With the doleful reminder that so far our class has been fairly near zero in comparison with other classes as far as the Alumni Fund is concerned, he pointed out that we might see some encouragement this year, due (a) to the fact that a lot of the fellows are getting out of graduate schools this year, (b) to the likelihood that others have succeeded in getting raises or have found jobs, and (c) to the possibility that a lot of us have an increased feeling of responsibility to an institution that's probably done a lot more for us than we deserve. Furthermore Dutch has lined up a larger staff of lieutenants than he has had before-these being: Handy Auten, Joe Byram, Joe Carleton, Paul Cook, Dick Cleaves, Red Drake, Ralph Elias, Chuck Hall, Morry Hubbard, Ernie Lanoue, Bill MacKinney, Don McPhail, Ed Marks, Howdie Pierpont, Don Richardson, and Max Wolff. These fellows will take a lot of time to write letters to some of you, and the only thanks they get for it really is the satisfacion of having more than a few responses.
How about kicking in?
Agent Mackinney sent Dutch news of Dartmouth '32 in Philly: Jud Covell is married and is working for the Gulf
Refining Co. in that city. Bill Gerstley is single, works for his father, Gerstley, Sunstein & Co., brokers. Frank Elliott is also with his father—in the wholesale electrical equipment business. Charley Scott is with the Maytag Co.—managers of one of their stores in the city Bob McKenna attends law school in Pittsburgh, but according to Ralph Elias, finds time for interludes in New York.
To continue our slightly laudable average of printing part of a letter each month that doesn't mention Walser, Hosmer, Cleaves, or Ferry, we give you quotations from Paul Leach's recent message.
"I've tried various occupations sincegraduation, including a couple of monthsFuller-brushing, six months farming withPete Power on his dad's farm in Victor,N. Y after which I came back hereto Gloversville and put in a spell at investigating CWA applicants and distributing federal food to families on reliefthroughout the county. Left that highsounding but far from lucrative positionto become a portion of the 'utility' department of a silk mill here in the city,which meant that I was a painter, mechanic, steam fitter, and janitor.
"Last September the 20th I was marriedto Thelma Marie Cole of Gloversville.We were married in Northville, N. Y., bythe Reverend George K. Frazier, who officiated at the wedding of my wife's parents, and who offered a prayer at thewedding of my own parents, thus makingquite a what-have-you. Pete Power wasbest man.
"Just a few weeks ago I took my presentjob of letting people buy paper for theUarco (United Autographic Register Co.)concern. It looks like a good thing. That'senough about myself.
"Pete Power is still helping out thewestern New York dairy farm industry.... He was married on November 10,1934, to Helen Hebard of Canandaigua,where the young lady was teaching theyoung.
"Dick Brooks is around Gloversville,waiting for summer to come to get outand bolster up his falling strength according to a Red Grange formula . ... hetells me that Howie Braillard is in Syracuse, with the Shell Oil Co. I think. Thelast I heard about Jimmy Flint he wasassistant to the chief dyer of a woolen millin Newport, N. H., and was singing thepraises of this freshman skier xoho cameover from Germany to show the boys howit's done Steve Wood is presidentor something of the Young RepublicanClub of Bloomfield, N. J., according toreport from my brother, Yale '33, who toldme that he and Mort Smith '30 had juststeamrollered Don Stoddard '31 into thesame office of the Nutley, N. J., branchof Young Republicans."
The ominous word comes to our ears that Judd might also be in Hanover around Commencement time, also meaning in addition to the menace of Ferry. Ryan is to be seen in New York shortly, say certain Chicago informers.
Marve Chandler supplies me with a timely reminder of the wedding I was trying to think of at the beginning of this blurb. It's penciled on the back of an invitation of Mrs. Frank Hermes to the marriage of her daughter Frances to Robert Brandon Marsh in New Rochelle on the 27th of April. Marve says it was quite a gala occasion—Dick True best man and Joe Boldt, Don Richardson, and himself lending moral support and thirst. .... "Other class tidbits: Alex Christiewas in town (New York) recently, havingbeen W. T. Granted a leave of absencefrom the Rockford, Ill., store. DickClarke, with the same organization, recently transferred from Pottsville, Pa., toOakland, Calif. When they transfer, theytransfer! Ran into Jim Flint and Joe Byram skiing in Tuckerman's on Easter Sunday." .... Speaking of W. T. Grant, the thing seems to be rapidly becoming a close corp. John King is another member, being in the Schenectady store, I just found out.
I am one who feels very sorry that John Clark didn't have time this year to get out another issue of the Check-Up, which appeared last spring. It was a lot of work, and we hereby accord him our second annual vote of thanks. Still, a lot of work that he and the rest of the Alumni Fund workers did seems to have been in vain. So—how about kicking in!
Secretary, 424 E. 52d St., New York
