CORRESPONDENCE

For Foreign Study

To the Editor: JUST ABOUT a year ago my hopes of returning to France to work on my doctor's thesis were shattered by a letter from the Institute of International Education, informing me that it was no longer their policy to award fellowships to graduates of institutions which made no provision, fellowship, exchange, or otherwise, to bring French students to their campus. My parchments from Dartmouth College and Brown University cut no ice at the Institute. Inquiries at Brown brought a very plausible answer to my request for information: finances depleted. Perhaps Dartmouth might have given the same explanation, had I investigated.

That is now beside the point, however. Occasional items which filter through minute openings in the fingers of Parisian city editors or more lengthy articles in the prohibitively expensive "Herald" seem to indicate that Uncle Sam is struggling back onto his feet. Presently the wave of prosperity will lap the gates of Hanover, one might reasonably expect. When that time comes, might I urge those directing the policies of the College to turn their attention momentarily from the question of a new coat of paint for Reed Hall or even of a new Commons to the more subtle and equally meritorious question of a scholarship to bring a French student to Hanover? Not that I am the least concerned with the problem of wrangling a fellowship out of the Institute, for I have succeeded in getting over here in spite of Dartmouth and the Institute, but rather that, as a sincere admirer of French culture, I believe in working for a better rapport between France and the United States. From official sources I am informed that for each American scholarship now available to the French there are innumerable candidates of highest caliber. That should dispel the fiction that the best students go elsewhere. Furthermore, America has no more enthusiastic and understanding supporters than the French students who have studied there. Such harbingers of good will are not to be disdained in these days of international friction.

There are plans afoot among the Dartmouth alumni in Paris to establish a scholarship for a French student; one hopes, of course, that the project will come to early fruition. I would urge the college and the alumni in general not only to give their approval but also to recast their own ideas on the subject of foreign scholarships, whether intended for Americans to study abroad or for foreigners to study in the States. The problem is so real and so distinctly related to the well-being of Dartmouth as a liberal college that it concerns more than the alumni of Paris.

The first Dartmouth student to participate in the Delaware Foreign Study Plan gambled on his chances of getting back into Dartmouth. Even in these days when such participation is officially tolerated, the returning Delawarian is penalized, for example, by being made ineligible for dormitory lists and, if he aspires to scholastic honors, he is frequently outdistanced by his competitors since Dartmouth refuses to recognize grades assigned by Delaware and demands of any transfer that he obtain a higher scholastic average than usual to qualify for Phi Beta Kappa. That is what Dartmouth does for those who wish to study abroad (true, some graduate fellowships may be used for foreign study but were not created for that purpose—that is something, however). Nothing very tangible, so far as I know, has ever been done to help or hinder those desirous of coming from abroad.

In other words, there seems to have been an appalling lack of interest in foreign study in any of its aspects. That is most regrettable. In the long run, the College cannot lose by changing its attitude. The presence of an earnest and sympathetic foreigner on the campus is a decided asset if only to serve as an example for the "collegiate" individuals who burn up the tarvia in the vicinity of Hamp. On the other hand, the cultural experience of the junior year in a European country can only infuse new vitality into a college which, by reason of its isolation, tends to be too provincial and unaware of the world beyond Balch Hill.

58, rue Madame,Paris (VI).December 19, 1935.

Notes on Dartmouth Hall

To the Editor: I wish you to know-the pleasure that reading Professor Childs' story of Dartmouth Hall gave me. It will surely stir venerable memories among the old grads antedating 1900. Then the cut of the Old Chapel must have sent a thrill through many an old man's anatomy as it did mine when I turned the page and saw the familiar lines of the old meeting place of the College in the 19th century. In some ways, more than any other room of the College, the Old Chapel was the center of the life of the College. It served many purposes. First of all was the Chapel religious service. There was much that suggested churchly connection in its form and arrangement. It was so designed. But in the 'Bo's it was serving many other functions. Meetings of the whole College for various purposes were held there—class meetings, athletic meetings, especially baseball, then our only intercollegiate interest. Examinations were conducted with a little more than the usual impressive meaning of such functions. The professor presiding over exams took on greater dignity when conducting them in the Chapel. The seniors tried out their oratorical ability from its rostrum on Wednesday afternoons. It was a real test. Happy the man who could hold that assembly's interest.

The place for the most part had much dignity. During Chapel exercises week day mornings and Sunday afternoons there was always the reverence and respect accorded religious services. For the greater part of the hour during which Prexy Bartlett conducted that service the place took on the atmosphere of the house of worship. This did not, however, deter some ebullient Sophie, bursting with pent-up emotion, ten seconds after Prexy's concluding "Amen," yelling with all the derision and sarcasm at his command, "Oh—Freshie!" He got his answering "Oh, Sophie" with equal feeling. Thus the Chapel was the point of contact of wits between the two classes, and sometimes ill-feeling marking the encounter. Despite all this I do not recall a single instance of untoward disturbance during "Prayers." Please assure Professor Childs of my

sincere gratitude for his excellent effort in writing so fine a story.

Traverse City, Michigan,

January 10, 1936.

Notes on Samson Occom

To the Editor: UNDERSTANDING THAT the burial location of Samson Occom was unknown, as well as some of the facts about his later years, I am sending to you the following account:

In a History of Long Island by Nathaniel S. Prince, published in New York City in 1845 by Robert Carter, 58 Canal Street, there is quite an account of Samson Occom beginning on page 110. Mr. Prince states that Samson Occom was born in 1723 and was admitted in 1743 to the school of the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock of Lebanon, Connecticut, where he remained four or five years. Later he was sent to Long Island as a teacher and was afterwards licensed by the Windham Association as a preacher, and on the 30th day of August, 1759, was ordained by the Presbyterian Church to the day of his death.

In 1765 Occom was sent by Mr. Wheelock, in company with the Rev. Mr. Whittaker of Norwich, to England to procure funds for "Moors Charity School." His success there is well known but my main purpose in writing this is to state what happened to him in the latter part of his life. I quote from Mr. Prince's History. "In 1786 Occom was removed with a number of the N. E. Indians, and a few from Long Island, to the Brothertown tract in Oneida County where he spent the remainder of his days. In 1790 he was set off from the Presbytery of Suffolk, with others, to constitute the Presbytery of Albany. He died suddenly July 14, 1792, in the 69th year of his age.

"The following account of his departure was prepared from the recital of his wife. For some time he had a presentiment that his death was near. As he accustomed himself in his earlier life to the manufacture of pails and copper-ware, he still devoted what strength he had, when leisure permitted, to the same employment. One day he observed to his wife that he must finish a churn soon that he had commenced or he might not live to do, it. He went out to his work, a little distance from the house, finnished the churn, and started to return. His wife observed him crossing a run of water near the house upon a pole; looking towards him again, a few moments after, she saw that he had fallen; and going to him she found him dead. His funeral was attended by more than 300 Indians who lamented him as a father. The Rev. Mr. Kirkland preached on the occasion."

Mr. Prince then states that Occom was well accomplished and peculiarly fitted to teach and edify his savage brethren. He also says he was quite a poet. He says that "Occom was in several instances overtaken with the besetting sin of the poor Indians, by which his Christian and ministerial character was greatly dishonored, or to use his own penitential language to the Presbytery of Suffolk, in a letter dated June 9, 1764, in which he acknowledges himself 'to have been shamefully overtaken with strong drink, by which I have greatly wounded the cause of God, blemished the pure religion of Jesus Christ, blackened my own character, and hurt my own soul.' But he finally obtained the victory over himself, and lived and died, as was believed, a truly good man." It would seem from the foregoing that the place of burial of Samson Occom would be in the Brothertown tract of Oneida County, New York State.

135 Merrick Road,

Baldwin, New York,

December 21, 1935.

New Dartmouth Song?

To the Editor: IN RESPONSE to your notice in the January issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, I submit the enclosed, to be tried on your piano. You may throw out the words, you may throw out the music, but STOP if you want to throw the whole thing away because I'd like to save it for my own satisfaction at least.

In case you find it to your liking, I'd be very glad to give you particulars on its conception and birth.

In Tempo Marziale,

254 West 72nd Street,

New York City,

[.Professor Choukas, of the department ofSociology, on leave of absence this semester,enclosed both words and music for his contribution to Dartmouth football songs. Theeditor defers to the department of Music forits expression of expert opinion. Meanwhile,without having tried it on our piano (whichwe can't play), the layman's opinion is thatthe song is excellent.—ED.]

Music Is Needed

To the Editor: I AM ENCLOSING a new song for 1936, called "The Bells of Dartmouth." If these verses are unacceptable, please consider them as though they had not been sent to you. My idea seems good to me, at any rate, for the bells of Dartmouth have always been to me one of the fondest memories of my four undergraduate years. Perhaps you may find someone to handle the idea in a better form. Please feel free to adapt what I have submitted to you in any manner you wish.

816 Ivy Street,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

D. O. C. of Boston

January 9, 1936.

To the Editor: The Dartmouth Outing Club of Boston set aside for January three real winter dates. On January 15 moving pictures featuring Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a composite of the last six carnivals, the Yale football game, and New Hampshire ski projects, were shown to the Club's members and guests.

On Sunday, January 19, the Dartmouth grounds at Groton were opened for a grand ski party which included ski instruction by such former varsity ski team men as Dick Emerson and Don Allen. This outing revealed much latent talent of one sort or another.

The real feature of the month was the Flying Yankee trip to Mt. Moosilauke where the group of 140 were welcorned in the good old Fordien way. The streamlined, air-conditioned Dartmouth Special left Boston at 8.15 A.M. on January 26, arriving in Warren by 11.15 A.M. From the Warren Station some of the more expert enthusiasts were carried directly to Hell's Highway and the rest were ushered right UP to the door of the farmhouse on Spy Glass Hill, where excellent practice slopes and Dartmouth-at-Moosilauke comfort may be enjoyed.

Mass.,

January