Class of 1898
It becomes my sad duty to announce for the second time this year the passing of a classmate; this time that of Charles D. Montgomery, affectionately called "Monty" by his classmates for the last forty years. The obituary notice appears in another column of this MAGAZINE.
Denis Crowley, chairman of the 40th Year Reunion Committee, sends in the following interesting information.
FORTY FOR THE FORTIETH
The preliminary reports to the Reunion Committee indicate that the 40-year reunion will be a most successful one. Already we know of some who have never before been back for a reunion who are to be present at the 40th. We also know of some who attended the 35th for the first one, and who now are eagerly awaiting the 40th, and cannot be kept away.
The stay in Hanover will not be long enough. With the change in Commencement Days we would ordinarily arrive sometime Friday afternoon and leave Monday morning. At this reunion we will meet at Camp Wawona, West Swanzey, N. H., on Wednesday, June 15, until Friday morning. We will have the first days of the reunion at Camp Wawona, which has been selected as ideal for this purpose and is ideally situated as regards Hanover. It is located just five miles below Keene, on a direct route from Boston to Hanover and only a few miles from the New York- Hanover road. For any of the class who are so old they have taken up golf there is a course connected with the camp. There is fishing on the lake for those so old they cannot golf. For the younger (in spirit and feelings) there are pool, ping-pong, and tennis. We will arrive at the camp on June 15, but if you cannot get there until the 16th you will be just as welcome.
While the reunion days are in June, the Committee will be after you before that time for a report of your coming, that they may plan and arrange for the number to be present.
Do not postpone making your plans, make them now to be at the reunion from June 15, 1938, to June 20. Make FORTY FOR THE FORTIETH the fact as well as slogan.
Classmate Bugbee, who married Ich Crane's sister, lives at 25 Parkinson St., Needham, Mass. Bugbee was with '98 for two years, and at present is not in the best of health.
Melvin Smith wrote a note of cordial greeting to all '98 men, but it came a bit too late to be read at our October roundup. Mrs. Smith, the time the note was written, was visiting a sister, Miss Grace Whitford, in Melrose. Both Melvin and his wife are looking forward to the time when they can retire to New England and meet members of '98 oftener.
Seth Pope called on the Secretary Thanksgiving afternoon, as he had been spending the day with his sister, Mrs. Provost, one of Newton's outstanding teachers.
Joe Bartlett, Ev Snow, and Mr. and Mrs. Aubey have taken time to call on Mrs. Macandrew. The Secretary has called a number of times and wishes others of the class might do so.
Miss Maud Belknap, a sister of our much loved Belknap of college days, makes her home at the Pioneer Club, 410 Stuart St., Boston. She has recently paid a visit to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Belknap, the widow of our classmate, and her son James Lyman Belknap, at Sanbornville, N. H. James Lyman is a graduate of Governor Dummer Academy and William and Mary College. He is trying his hand at farming in New Hampshire. It seems very pleasant to have Miss Maud Belknap join the '98 fellowship, and I hope we may all call on her as opportunity affords.
A recent letter from C. E. Clark to Ted Leggett reads as follows: "The Novembernumber of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE forwarded by you arrived yesterday, and Ifound it very interesting indeed. In theOctober number tucked away where mostpeople would not find it was a note askingwhen I would be starting for home. Wehave not set the exact date yet, but so far as'we can say now, it will be early in May.We want to spend a few days in England,and reach the homeland in time for thecommencement season. As yet we have notbeen able to learn the date of commencement at Michigan State College, where twoof our children expect to receive their diplomas. I hope very much that the reunionat Dartmouth will come at a time such thatwe can be there.
"We are now planning the Thanksgiving dinner and expecting the whole station at our house for dinner. I am surethat you will have a gala day and anticipatethat your whole family will be together.However, by the time this arrives,Christmas will be near and I want to wish foryou and yours a beautiful day and a happyNew Year following. I shall be glad toknow the date of the reunion as early aspossible."
The Secretary took his youngest daughter, Barbara, now a senior in the Newton High School and headed for Mt. Holyoke College another year, to the Cornell game at Hanover, November 13. There my freshman son Bob joined us, and we sat out the Cornell-Dartmouth game, when Dartmouth soaked not only the rich but everyone else. However, the game was very interesting. The Secretary had the very great pleasure of taking to lunch four sons of four members of the '97 varsity baseball team, namely Patrick Conway, Walter MacCornack, Edward O. Tabor Jr., and Robert Thayer Patey. All boys were taller than their fathers—a finer group of young men I have never met.
Fritz Robbert has recently received a letter from Middleton, expressing his purpose of attending the 40th in June.
I feel certain that all 'gBers will congratulate sincerely both Ev Snow and Buck Chandler on the happy events mentioned below.
Rev. and Mrs. Everard Walker Snow of Beacon St., Brookline, formerly of Wellesley, announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Margaret Walker Snow, to Dr. Paul Vintcent Woolley Jr., son of Dr. and Mrs. Paul V. Woolley of Kansas City, Mo. Miss Snow was graduated from Dana Hall in 1930 and attended Skidmore College before receiving her degree from Simmons College in 1934. The following year she obtained the Master's degree from the School of Social Work and has since been affiliated with the social service department of the Children's Hospital, Boston. Dr. Woolley was graduated from Kansas University in 1930 and belonged to the Pi Beta Phi fraternity. In 1931 he was a teaching fellow at the University of Idaho, where he received a Master of Science degree. He attended the Harvard Medical School in the class of 1935, and since graduation has held an internship at the Children's Hospital, where he is at present a resident on the medical service.
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Chandler of Warren's Cove, Plymouth, announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Edith Gray Chandler, to Mr. John Oliver Crawford Jr., son of the late Mrs. John Oliver Crawford of Rye, N. Y. Miss Chandler attended the Misses Allen School and was graduated from Wheaton in 1934. Mr. Crawford attended Middlebury College and Dartmouth College. The announcement was made Thanksgiving Day.
The Secretary called on George Farley in Amherst, December 9, and found him full of good cheer as usual. George was a bit worn and tired at the time of our October round-up and so took a little vacation with his wife in the beautiful Fitzwilliam country in New Hampshire. He summed up their outing in a bit of verse as follows— "Would you ask me whence this story Of a very happy outing, I would answer you in this wise. Two old cronies went a-camping To the hills of old New Hampshire Not so far from Mt. Monadnock.
"There they went in gay October, When the leaves were slowly turning Brown and yellow and bright crimson, Nature's colors for the autumn. There they made their habitation In the quiet of the forest.
"Far removed from city turmoil, There they strolled through field and meadow.
Hunted out the checkerberry, Gathered of the moss and lichen, And the twigs with bright red berries. Warm the sun shown down upon them.
"Keen the winds blew all about them, And the tan came on their faces, Nature's sign of its approval. By the fireplace, in the evening, There they'd sit in meditation, And the wind outside the cabin Told that frosty nights were coming.
'Once the wind blew from the south 1; Bringing rain in great abundance, But we minded not the weather
In our cabin in the pine woods. When at last the trip was over Back we went to tasks awaiting.
"But our thoughts turn ever northward To that cosy two-room cabin."
George also showed me a Christmas greeting that he was sending out to his many 4-H club members, signed, as he is known to them, "Uncle George." It reads as follows—
"ON CHRISTMAS DAY
"We celebrate the birth of Him who As a babe was cradled in a manger, As a boy grew in wisdom and stature, As a youth worked with his father as a carpenter.
'As a teacher and preacher told mankind That faith and hope and love were the Needs for happiness of the human race, And called service one of the highest Expressions of Christian living.
"Uncle George.
What an inspiration our classmate has become far beyond the confines of his Amherst home!
The Secretary took dinner with Joe Carney, December 10 at the Boston City Club, and Joe is enthusiastic for all 'gBers and especially for our 40th in June. He lives with his family at 418 Beacon St., but goes to Gardner daily to attend to private business, where he is president of the Gardner Trust Company and heads up three manufacturing plants, two in Gardner and one in Vermont.
And here is a letter from Fletcher Harper Swift.
"We arrived in London July 20, and occupied a furnished flat here until September 20, when Mary and our two daughters, Mary Ruth and Julia, left for Vienna, where they will spend the rest of the year, in order that the girls may gain some command of German. I think you know that eight years ago they lived for a year in a boarding school in Paris. The knowledge of French which they acquired at this time has been a tremendous asset in many ways, and we are hoping that the year in Vienna will be equally profitable.
"Soon after arriving in London, I called upon Willard Connely, Dartmouth class of 1911, director of the American University Union. Connely put me in contact with Mr. Oake, the secretary of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who invited me to use as a workshop the office of the Warden of Studies during the summer vacation. The London School of Hygiene is housed in a very fine building built from Rockefeller funds and equipped with every modern convenience.
"Later, when the Warden returned, Mr. Oake introduced me to Mr. Parsloe, secretary of the Institute of Historical Research, who invited me to use one of their rooms until their lectures began. After I had been in this location three weeks, Mr. Parsloe secured for me a room in one of the wings of the new University of London building, now in the process of construction, on Montague Place, directly back of the British Museum. My room is one of about twenty which are eventually to be occupied as temporary quarters by the Institute of Historical Research. The Institute will not move into this building until next spring, so that at the present time I am the only occupant of this suite. The entire building is heated by electricity. Panels of travertine set into the walls serve as radiators. I think you will see that I have been exceedingly fortunate.
"One of the most interesting experiences I have had here was a day I spent in the old Westminster School as the guest of the headmaster, Mr. J. T. Christie. I had lunch with the headmaster. There were three other guests present, among whom was a lad named Edward Robie who is an exchange student from Andover. He is a fine lad and in every way representative of the best in American youth.
"On the platform in the auditorium which they call "School" is the table over which Dr. Busby of immortal fame used to lay the boys when he flogged them. Out of each drawer of the table protrudes a bundle of switches such as Busby used to use, and which are still used for flogging boys for certain offences, although caning is the more general procedure. Back of the table are two chairs given by Henry VIII, and further back on the platform was a chair given by Charles 11. In one of the rooms is a copy of a portrait of Queen Elizabeth in the dress she used to wear when she came to examine the boys in Greek and Latin. The dress is covered with a design of large human eyes and ears, intended to signify to the boys that they must keep their eyes and ears open during examination.
"The consideration and courtesy which one receives on all hands is as delightful as it is surprising.
"The political, social, and labor problems are acute. There is tremendous feeling regarding the Spanish and Japan- China situation. Laborites are complaining of what they consider the ineffectiveness of the present government. No doubt much of this is political, on the other hand the facts they present are very convincing. The lower middle class and the working classes receive such low wages that one wonders how they manage to exist at all. There is much agitation for increase of wages. A bus driver who gets £3, a week is considered very fortunate, and the cost of living in London is even higher than it is in America.
"There is continuous agitation for shorter hours and higher wages for miners, for young workers, for nurses and housemaids. Nurses attached to hospitals get from £50 to £70 a year, and housemaids get about the same. It is not surprising that they are finding it very difficult to recruit the ranks of nurses. The number of resignations from the police force each month exceeds the number of applications.
"One of the pleasantest experiences I have had since arriving here was lunching last week with Raymond Pearl, Dartmouth class of 1899, who is giving a series of lectures at the London School of Hygiene, an evidence of his international reputation. We, of course, had a feast of reminiscing, which was very enjoyable on both sides. He was much interested to learn what I could tell him about Guy Gary, who, it seems, was one of his closest friends at college.
"With best wishes to all the members of the class of '98.
"Fletcher Happer Swift."
Secretary, 57 Grove Hill Ave., Newtonville, Mass.
