Class of 1895
Knowing that classmate John Hayes has a scientific bent and that he had built himself a radio, I made urgent inquiry about it and asked him to describe it. This is what he says:—
"I must confess that I am very much delighted with my radio. I had an old Browning-Drake battery set which I had madefor me in 1928, and I hated to give it up onaccount of its fine tone. Could not get muchon it, though, in the way of stations. Lastspring I saw that Mr. Browning, who wasthe Browning of Browning-Drake, hadcompleted a new set, one in which youwould buy the parts and assemble themyourself. On investigating I found that itwas really a wonderful set, and decided toget the parts and assemble them. It took meabout a month and a half, working whenI could find time. Soldering is rather slowwork for a novice. However, I enjoyed thework very much. After I had got the partsassembled I built a box and mounted theset in it. I then took the whole over to aradio man I know, who went over it andtuned it up. He also got me a loud speaker,which I mounted in an old cabinet I had.I certainly have a wonderful set. Its tone isexquisite. No static whatever on UnitedStates and Canadian stations, excepting occasionally I get a little static on a remotestation. I have about eighty United Statesand Canadian stations which I can turn toat any time. These stations are on the ordinary wave. The set is made with threebands for short-wave reception.
"Last evening England, Germany,Mexico, and Australia were on, and I wasable to get all of them, although Australiawas a little faint. England and Germanycame in very strong, in fact sometimes asstrong as local stations. The South American stations come in very well indeed, canget them any time, but am rather disappointed in the music that comes from SouthAmerica, only occasionally anything verygood. Germany is, to my mind, the bestfrom a musical standpoint. Some of theirorchestras are very fine."
President "Willie" Wilson tells me that he has already written to most of the class, giving news about the trip which he and Mrs. Wilson took last summer. He seems to think that the classmates who have already heard from him will not be interested to hear again, but the acquaintances and friends of '95 men were not all confined to the class. They embraced the classes of '93, '94, '96, '97, etc. I also find that there are friends and relatives of classmates and college-mates who are interested to learn of the activities of members of '95. So the following quotation from Wilson's letter seems justified:—
"We left N. Y. July 3 on the AmericanScantic SS. Scanmail. Herbert W. Briggs '01and wife also made the trip on the sameship. The voyage took us around the northend of Scotland and down across the NorthSea, which was in a very placid mood. Wepassed close to the coast of Norway, butmade no stop there. Copenhagen was ourfirst stop. The days there were warm butnot hot. The Kings palace there is far fromimposing, but looks very comfortable. Onecould easily spend days looking at thewonderful works of Thorwaldsen. We arrived in Stockholm in the morning of aday which was slightly showery, but it didnot dampen our enthusiasm. The ConcertHall where the Nobel prizes are awarded isinteresting, as well as the market in thesquare in front of it, but the building mostworthwhile seeing is the City Hall. It is oneof the fine buildings in the world. Here isgiven the banquet to the Nobel prize winners in the evening following the award.The King attends. The banquet room willseat 1200 at the tables.
"We had seven days in Finland. It wouldtake hours to tell of the interesting thingsand people we saw there, and to give anyaccount of the progress the Finns havemade since securing their freedom in 1918.A. party from our ship happened to be atImmatra, where there is a huge electricpower platit. It was Briggs' birthday andwe were in good spirits, so in honor ofthe occasion Briggs and I sang 'EleazarWheelock' for the edification of the crowd.After Finland we went to the new Polishseaport of Gdynia and then to Danzig. Boththese cities are remarkable, but for widelydifferent reasons. Gdynia is new, modern,and up-to-date and has the makings of agreat port. You can almost see the unfolding of its development from day to day.Danzig is delightful. It reeks of the daysof the Hanseatic League. It is called thefree city of Danzig, but its area is 800 squaremiles. Some of its streets are narrow and,crooked, and the ships come into thecanals just as of old. There are a few piecesof the old city wall extant, particularly thecity gates.
Coming home we had the same coldpassage of the North Atlantic, but not agreat amount of fog."
Here is news of "Gerry's" activities. He is now rendering his fifteenth year of servlce as librarian at Princeton University. During this time he has been trying to induce the trustees to erect a new library building. The trustees are working hard to raise four million dollars, one-half of which would probably be used for the building. Speaking of the hope for a new building, "Gerry" says: "Being always an optimist, Ihope to be in it before I retire. In themeantime I get a lot of fun out of my joband never have desired any other." "Gerry" is now preparing a Union List of Newspaper Files in hundreds of locations throughout the country, for which purpose the Rockefeller Foundation has appropriated $25,000. The Carnegie Founda- tion has appropriated money for a similar purpose which "Gerry" is to have charge of. This work is being done at the office of the Library of Congress but under "Gerry's" supervision.
In the pursuit of his profession "Gerry" has traveled all over the country. He has been in every state in the union except Maine. He has for many years, except recently, spent his vacations in Canada. Last summer he was at Princeton, the summer before in Bermuda.
"Gerry" disclaims the honor of being the twelfth man in the Dartmouth line-up against Princeton last fall. He didn't even see the game. He was in Chicago the day of the game. This is a perfect alibi.
Albert C. Gerould, Dartmouth '32, son of our "Gerry," spent the first year after his graduation in Europe, the second year as a teacher in a preparatory school, and last year in the Library School at Columbia. He now holds a position at Leland Stanford University.
Fred Cleveland and Mrs. Cleveland are spending a few weeks in Florida. St. Petersburg is their headquarters. They motored to Boston, where they took a boat for Norfolk, Va. From there on,. they motored to St. Petersburg. At our fortieth reunion last June, Fred took some movie shots of the class, which I am hoping to see after he returns from St. Petersburg.
What '95 man can guess who put the following words into verse and what it portrays?
"Farewell, beloved mountainsWhich I have wandered o'er;To quiet pasture lands and dalesFore'er is closed the door.
"The fields, so often watered,The trees, as seedlings sown,Shall happily without meCome to their fullness grown.
"Farewell, beloved grotto,And springs so sweet and cool;Whose water's flowing deeplyRefreshed my weary soul.
"And Echo, gently ans'ringThe lilt of my humble lay,Shall silent be forever;Eternal is my stay."
From one classmate at least, I have received a lamentation concerning the passing of the old covered bridge across the Connecticut at the foot of the Hanover hill. We seldom heard it referred to in our day as the Ledyard Bridge. In recent years, however, this appellation has been quite generally used. He who laments its passing says:— "It was too bad to see the old bridgego. A product of an age that is gone, andone of the best examples of bridge-buildingof that time, it is strange that no one cameto its rescue from destruction. With properinitiative, and help from state and even nation, and, of course, the College, it couldhave been preserved. It was, also, a part ofthe College, with almost as much of tradition about it as that of some old building.The very spirit of Dartmouth was in itstimbers."
Secretary, White River Junction, Vt.
