Gradus Ad Parnassum

Available to all alumni upon application to the treasurer's office are copies of the Financial Report for the year ending June 30. It is a complete and welldocumented summary of the year's financial operations. The Alumni Fund again proved to be the keystone in the structure of Dartmouth finance by providing funds to avoid what would otherwise have been a deficit of $79,540.22. (The balance of the Fund, $21,571.17, was applied to Dartmouth Hall reconstruction.) In spite of an increase in expenses of $114,136.95 over the previous year, bringing total expenses to $1,880,661.99, 'he net result of operations was somewhat more favorable than in 1936-37. In his preface to the report, which is addressed to the trustees, Mr. Edgerton accounts for this situation by the increased income from investments and particularly from common stock dividends. Although a $25 dollar raise in the tuition fee last year provided more revenue, "nevertheless," he writes, "the percentage of the total paid by students actually showed a decrease, this percentage now being 48.8%."

Three items account for the substantial increase in expenses last year. The largest was the establishment of the Student Health Service; a second was a gift of $25,000 to the extensive building program of the Hitchcock Hospital; and the third item of increased expense was due to renovating and remodeling of the Hanover Inn.

In connection with this last item it is gratifying to note from the report that the showing by the Inn is greatly improved over recent years. In the face of the rising food costs (which ruined many a well planned budget) the Inn shows a substantially stronger position. If the trend of the past twelve months toward a considerably larger number of patrons can be maintained and furthered an even stronger showing by the hotel is hoped for another year.

IT is APPARENT from the Financial Report that both individuals and groups among the alumni and friends are eager to strengthen the finances of the College through gifts to endowment and gifts for current use. There is listed an impressive array of gifts and bequests for scholarship aid, ranging from $50.18 given by the newly formed alumni association of Wellesley, Mass., to the thoughtful gift of $5,000 from Marian S. Emerson to establish a loan fund in memory of her widely loved husband, Natt W. Emerson 'OO.

Real progress in the Alumni Council's move last year to encourage groups of alumni to set up scholarship and loan funds in the College is shown by the number whose contributions were received during the year: Chicago Association, Dartmouth Club of Detroit, Eastern New York Alumni, Dartmouth Women's Club of Boston, Philadelphia Association, and the alumni in Wellesley, referred to above. A Tuck School Loan Fund in memory of Al Priddy '15 has also been founded by Mrs. Priddy. The Simon Michelet gift of $2,500 established a scholarship fund in memory of his son, Bob Michelet '34. And two of the leading student organizations of the College, Palaeopitus and Green Key, have turned over sizeable sums of money for furthering the financial aid program. It is not possible to name here all of the persons or groups who have recently given the College, either by gift or bequest, funds for this purpose. The significance of this support, no matter how modest it may appear to the donors, is fully understood when one realizes that gifts toward financial aid relieve the general funds of the College of burden. Last year nearly $125,000 was granted to needy undergraduates. Of this total about one-half is provided by endowment, or special, funds. The remaining 50% represents a drain on general income that should be lessened as speedily as may be possible.

THE LAST words of Daniel Webster '01 (that is, 1801), reported to be "I Still Live," are defined by the American Wine & Liquor Journal. The story is:

Lucius Beebe, celebrated New Yorkraconteur, relates in his regular column inthe New York Herald-Tribune, on August14, a new explanation of an old legend:

"Dr. William N. C. Carlton, the celebrated Williams College librarian, was discussing life and letters with Alva Johnstonat Jack Bleeck's last week and, amongother things, offered the soundest interpretation to date of the legendary lastwords of Daniel Webster: 'I still live.'

"Webster, according to Dr. Carlton, hadbut a brief time left and the doctor who attended his last hours gave his parting orders to the nurse, instructing her to givethe great man whisky as long as he lived."Webster overheard the prescription,and it was then that he made his oftenquoted bid for immortality, 'I still live.' "

THE DARTMOUTH family has been shocked and saddened in recent weeks by the sudden deaths of several of its members. The necrology section of this issue of the MAGAZINE is filled to a distressing degree with accounts of these great misfortunes. The toll among the undergraduates has been unfortunately heavy.

The very unexpected and untimely death of Prof. Ralph Beetle '06 removes from the community of the College one of its most prominent and useful citizens. Always interested in student activities he had lately served as the "unofficial adviser" to the newly formed crew, the Dartmouth Rowing Club. There, as in many other phases of Dartmouth and Hanover life, he will be sorely missed.

With their lives and careers largely before them two of the College's most respected younger men have met violent ends, in automobile accidents. Jack Hill '35 .... Gordon Clark '39 .... fine, clean cut, leaders among their fellows. It is hard to think of the great Dartmouth fellowship without these two men in it. We shall miss them.

SPEAKING OF Gradus Ad Parnassum, have you seen the original of the Dartmouth tradition in the small replica of Bezaleel Woodward's library on the mezzanine floor of Baker Library? There, in about the most attractive display of historical material that the College exhibits (there should be more displays of colorful Dartmouthiana) is the "Gradus Ad Parnassum, A Bible, and a Drum" and among the missing are "Five Hundred Gallons of New England Rum." When Professor Haskins served so capably as chairman of the faculty committee on the new library he and others took the greatest care in assembling the volumes of the first library of the College which in those early days was in the custody of First Treasurer Woodward.

This tiny library is a focal point of interest to visitors during the summer. But Senor Orozco's frescoes continue to attract

more attention among tourists than anything else in town. And many of those who inspect the 3,000 square feet of frescoes are not casual tourists on their way to the mountains. They are folks who have come from far and near with the basement of Baker as their destination. Do they like what they see? The guide says "yes and no." Just about everyone admires the color that Orozco used and the striking effects created; others damn with faint praise: "Isn't it interesting? Very interesting"; others: "Wonderful, wonderful!" Always they ask numerous questions and there is much comment and discussion.

In this issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE the editors are delighted to present to the alumni the sprightly ideas of Walter Humphrey '14 on the subject of what a true Dartmouth mural should look like. And if a suitable wall space is found (in the right sort of congenial surroundings) the hope is that Mr. Humphrey will transpose his sketches to an ample area of square footage. The Athletic Council is indebted to him for the design of its official Dartmouth Indian head; and we of this magazine are grateful to his gifted hand for numerous sketches and art contributions.

AWAY BACK in June it didn't seem possible that a new crop of printer's deadlines would face these editors within a short time. In June the summer stretches on into the indefinite future. Hanover changes within an hour from a green campus filled with black robed seniors and happy relatives and friends to a small and apparently deserted New Hampshire village. At last, the long-awaited vacation! But where has it gone?

During these weeks that are supposed to constitute a dormant period in the lives of tired educators there is an amazing amount of activity. One can, and does, at almost any time of day, survey a campus empty of life, except for custodians of the grass. The paths run cool and undisturbed in the shade of a thousand elms. Evidently life has ceased in the College. This opinion is shared by kind classmates and other loyal friends who state their conviction that "Hanover is very quiet in the summer. Nothing to do. What do you do all day?"

Figures make their way toward the library. What? Members of the faculty going to work? And so early in the day? It's true. And they do work, industriously and with more to be done than can possibly be accomplished (like most of us), when they are supposed to be dormant.

Administrative projects of a hundred and one varieties are hauled out of storage from the long winter and put into motion. Painters, carpenters, cleaners attack 22 dormitories and as many more buildings devoted to other uses. Sounds of construction fill the Main Street of the village as the new business block, the Lang building, owned by the College, moves rapidly to completion. Finishing touches on the new Phi Gam House and completion of the new Gamma Delta Chi House give way to the beginnings for a new home for Kappa Sigma, in a busy year of fraternity construction.

Miracle of miracles!—a new railroad station at the Junk. We are living to see the day of a modern terminal for the Boston & Maine and Canadian National Railroads, with the architectural advice of the College's Jens Frederick Larson.

And the greatest project of all—the building and completion of Thayer Hall, upperclass dining center, authorized by the trustees to be built in memory of one of their long-time and beloved associates on the board, Mr. H. B. Thayer '79. The frontal attack on that ancient Dartmouth problem, the eating situation, is under way. Thayer Hall is attractive and commodious. The care taken by Mr. Larson and others in its interior planning and decoration and furnishings is evidence of the common desire to make eating a "social as well as gastronomic function," as the Social Survey Committee stated in its recommendation that the College should provide more and better eating facilities for the student body. Alumni are invited to sample the food and service and atmosphere at Thayer Hall.

"The football team comes back tomorrow." Can't be true—but it is. Another college year begins and a great throng of undergraduates takes over the town—their town. It has just been held for them during the summer, and improved, as always. It is ready .... everything is ready . . . . for the one hundred and sixty-ninth year of Dartmouth College.

THE WORDS of the treasurer of the College, H. C. Edgerton '06, in his introduction to the Financial Report for the past year are convincing: "If we were to figure the Alumni Fund as a return on endowment funds, it would require a capital of about two and one-half million dollars to equal it." A total of $106,847.16 was contributed by 7,942 subscribers—a record number of participants in the Fund (5.3% more than last year), and the first time since 1931 that the total of gifts has exceeded $100,000.

That eight out of eleven graduates contributed to the Alumni Fund this past year is remarkable—it is an amazing percentage, a tremendous annual demonstration of loyalty and interest unequalled by any other institution in the country. That the total collections should represent the income on two and one-half million dollars is a situation that has its own great significance. It explains, to a greater degree than does any other single factor, why and how Dartmouth has enjoyed enough financial security to make constant progress in the face of what would otherwise have been stringent limitations of the most disheartening sort.

The credit for the magnificent showing this year goes to the Alumni Council's committee in charge of the Alumni Fund, and especially to its chairman, Sigurd S. Larmon '14 and the executive secretary, Albert I. Dickerson '30; to the small army of class agents, whose efforts are so largely responsible for the results achieved; and to that great army of contributors—nearly 8,000 strong.

IN COMPARISON with other liberal arts colleges for men in the country, Dartmouth's figure for "endowment per student" is low. On a list of 15 to 20 colleges, ranked according to endowment per student, Dartmouth is near the bottom. It is nothing short of miraculous that the College has set for itself and maintained a standard of educational work of the very highest quality in the face of financial conditions that must, at times, have seemed very discouraging to the board of trustees. The miracle has been performed, year after year. The miracle is compounded in large degree of the support of (in the most recent Fund campaign) nearly 8,000 alumni. They are Dartmouth's endowment—or the margin between an intolerable condition and one that is reasonably stable.

Efforts are under way, under the direction of the Alumni Council, to strengthen the College at what appear to be its weakest points—the lack of certain badly needed additions to the plant and an inadequate endowment. It is hoped that support will be attracted from sources outside of the alumni. For the feeling in the Council is now that the Alumni Fund should continue to be the one major agency for providing the College with gifts from its alumni.

AT DARTMOUTH, as at most other colleges, the return from football games, which must pay the way for the whole athletic program, is a matter of great fluctuation. Whereas one season may be profitable enough to carry all the teams it has more often than not been true in recent years that the Athletic Council has been forced to dip into reserve funds to make both ends meet. In every year from 1930 to 1935 operations ended with an operating deficit. Experience has shown that a reserve fund is essential. It must be accumulated to guard against the poor financial years that are bound to recur. The reserve fund of the Athletic Council was entirely depleted during what we recently heard described as "the period of upset."

It is fortunate that the business affairs of the Council were so successful last year as to provide a substantial surplus at the end of operations, on June 30. According to the financial statement published in this issue of the MAGAZINE more than $24,000 has been added to that very valuable reserve fund in the first major move toward rebuilding it. Officers of the Council do not expect that the year just beginning will be anywhere near as successful financially as last year. Shrinkage in income is expected largely because of a less favorable football schedule.

One interesting comparison can be made between the 1935-36 statement of Athletic Council operations and the figures for the past year. Basketball nearly broke even. Two years ago basketball closed its season $4,000 in the red; last year the deficit was $645. Hockey also showed a lower deficit, as did baseball and several other sports.

THE COVER this month shows the west entrance of Baker Library. The photo was made by Newell Green of Hartford, Conn. Mr. Green is an Amherst man who visits Hanover occasionally from his summer studio in Ascutneyville, Vt. He has recently made a number of Dartmouth pictures which have been added to the constantly growing collection of striking views of College buildings and scenes.

THE STORY is told of a woman who has never heard of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was shopping at an antique place in Northern New Jersey and stopped to admire a large wooden horse. The owner of the shop commented that the horse was being held for Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and when there was no reaction by the visitor she repeated that the horse had attracted the interest of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"I'm sorry," said the woman, "but I don't know anyone around here. You see, I come from New Hampshire."

BECAUSE THE opening of College is somewhat later than usual this year, September 23, and the customary strenuous efforts are being made to bring this publication out on time, the first of the month, there is a dearth of material for the Undergraduate Chair columns as we go to press. Beginning with the November issue Ben Ames Williams Jr. '38 will continue his editorship of this monthly department devoted to undergraduate news and comment.

A feature of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE this year will be the publication of news of the alumni in New York City and reports on the activities of the Dartmouth Club there. The first installment appears this month. The column is edited by Milburn Mc-Carty '35, former managing editor of TheDartmouth, now doing editorial work for the New Yorker. He is our "Special Correspondent."

WALTER HUMPHREY'S "ELEAZAR" The artist's contribution to Dartmouth'soldest tradition, a sketch that may become part of a mural in Hanover.

DARTMOUTH'S SENIOR GRADUATE Mr. Edward Tuck '62 celebrated his 95thbirthday on August 24.