Class of 1885
The annual Christmas letter from the Secretary to his classmates extracted a few replies and some items of interest which he is pleased to pass along.
Charlie Chase intimates that Henry Austin, as class treasurer, is doubtless living on the interest he collects on our class funds; the Secretary has suggested that Henry is living on his salary as treasurer; but as both sources would hardly permit him to support a winter home in Florida and a summer home in New Hampshire, he must have some hidden source which under the "New Deal" policies should subject him to be duly "investigated."
Charlie also writes that his daughter Margaret is now a sophomore at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa., and that his youngest daughter, Alice, expects to enter college next fall.
Henry Austin, our much envied and abused class treasurer, also replied to the Christmas letter with some welcome class news, which includes his proud statement that he is "etijoying college in the thirdperson," which, properly interpreted or translated, means that his grandson, Robert H. Austin, is a member of the class of 1940 at Dartmouth. This explanation relieves the Secretary very much, for at first he thought that Henry was trying to take his own college course over again. Henry also reports the gathering in of two more treasurerships, viz., one of the "New Hampshire Tourist Club," presumably a large number of New Hampshire residents who seek to spend their money and avoid taxes by sojourning in Florida during the winter months, and the other of the "Dartmouth Club of Florida," which includes, I imagine, other Dartmouth alumni who, like Henry, are fortunate enough to be able to maintain a summer and a winter home. During the year Henry has received the honor of being a delegate to the General Council of Congregational-Christian Churches, which met at Mt. Holyoke College last June, and also of being the moderator of the Merrimack Association of Congregational-Christian churches.
The obituary notice of our beloved class president, Frederick W. Plapp, appears elsewhere in this issue of the MAGAZINE; his passing is an irreparable loss.
Mrs. Bayley and the Secretary spent their Christmas holiday as usual with their daughter and her family in Pittsburgh, Pa. On their return trip they stopped over in Washington, D. C., for a few days, where they saw some of the new public buildings which have been erected since their last visit, including the United States Supreme Court, the Lincoln Memorial, the grave of the Unknown Soldier and the Arlington Memorial—Washington is becoming a veritable city of marble of marvelous beauty and impressiveness. They also stopped over a day in New York, where they had the pleasure of entertaining Otis Hovey, our class agent, and his wife at dinner. The evening was spent very pleasantly, the ladies in comparing wonderful stories of their grandchildren and Otis and the Secretary reviewing college matters. The Hoveys are always a delightful couple either as hosts or guests.
Secretary, 18 Tremont St., Boston
