Class of 1911
Secretary, Hanover, N. H.
Whether or not class secretaries are af- fected by business recessions they surely are the victims of news recessions, and your secretary is in this position right now. Apparently either members of 1911 are so successful in their various careers that ordinary doings are of no news value, or else they are accomplishing so little that nothing is worth while mentioning, so skip this column this month but report on something or somebody for next month.
Anyhow, the heavy early winter snowstorms are a blessing and boon to at least one classmate. That is Chuck Emerson, who is filling "The Emerson Inn" at Intervale to capacity each week with skiing enthusiasts. As a matter of fact, Chuck deserves most of the credit for the development of the Eastern Slopes Ski Association. When he first went to Intervale he foresaw the possibilities of the development of winter sports in that country, and finally got various hotel men and others interested in the scheme of cooperation, in which they recognized that business for one would mean business for all. As a result, the Association was formed, and has now increased to a point where it has several hundred members. It has developed various ski runs; has an active executive secretary; and in cooperation with the Boston and Maine snow trains that whole section of the White Mountains is overrun every week-end with skiers. Chuck has developed, with the aid of the state, one of the finest ski runs in the mountains, which starts right at his front door. Several ski schools are being run in and about Intervale and Conway; all of the Emerson boys are excellent skiers and act as instructors in the schools. Last winter when Lowell Thomas took the movie men to Mt. Washington he got Bob and Hugh to perform for them, and if you saw the film, you were witnessing Chuck's two sons performing in Tuckerman's Ravine. If any of you believe that skiing is not now a national sport, just visit Hanover or any of the points north during the winter, and you will no longer be skeptical on this point.
Another instance of the interest of the class in one another is illustrated by the fact that Fred Eaton, now general sales manager for Standard Air Conditioning, Inc., has recently taken into the Boston branch "Deac" Dunham's son, Dick. Dick returned the compliment by making a good sale his first week on the job.
John Learoyd gave one of the principal addresses at the recent meeting of the New England Council in Boston.
On a recent trip it was my, pleasure to visit the United States Rubber Company's plant in Naugatuck, Conn., where Walter Norton, our good friend in 1910, is its able and highly respected manager. In a huge office filled with a staff engaged in production planning and control sat Jake Lovejoy at its head. If you believe that planning a daily production of some twelve thousand items which vary from day to day isn't some job, just ask Jake. Incidentally, also if you want to know anything about how it is all done, Jake has all of the information immediately available. I have seen some pretty tough assignments for planning and controlling production, but if anyone knows of one tougher than this, please advise, for I would like to look it over. The only thing that I could discover that Jake fell down on was that he failed to send me certain data which he promised. How about it, Jake?
Also, in my wanderings I had the pleasure of a visit from Ray Nead and Mrs. Ray. Surely Ray is the picture of health and very much on top of his job in the telephone company in New York. Ray, incidentally, has become quite a Bowdoin fan, due to the fact that his son Phil is a senior there. However, Ray says this is only temporary, and he'll be visiting Hanover soon instead of Brunswick, Me.
Ed Chamberlain's mother, who has been an invalid for several years, died in December.
The Steeves brothers, although of course experiencing occasional upsets as do all first-class contract players, are still leading the New York Dartmouth Contract Team in its various tournaments with other colleges. Guy says it is Jack's fault, and Jack says that if Guy only knew the game a little better they really would be doing better yet.
You may recall the prediction made in these columns last fall that Bob Sanderson would be sought out as a Democratic candidate for governor of New Hampshire in the near future. This has now happened, and he is being urged to run for governor next year. Bob, however, is turning both deaf ears to this appeal. However, Bob is not done in politics yet, and you will hear from him as a candidate for other offices before many years. There is no denying the fact that he is a stand-out in the Democratic party in the state.
Thanks to Larry Odlin for the information about Eben Holden. He writes that Eben is in Honolulu, where he was ordered to hold over on his way back to the Standard Oil Company job in China from his vacation in the States. He is to stay there until things in Shanghai settle down a bit. Off hand, it looks like a prolonged visit in Honolulu. Anyhow, on November 24 his wife took advantage of the fact and went to the local hospital, where a 7 lb. 2 oz. daughter, Dorothy Ann, was born. You will be interested in Larry's remarks about his assignment.
"We've been here just two months andalready like it a lot—am, sure the next twoyears will pass very quickly. As the last,three moves—New York to Washingtonto California, and out here, have all beento the West, am hoping the direction maybe reversed in 1939. We might even belucky enough to draw duty in New England somewhere next time.
"Have been to one Dartmouth gathering here—1911 the best represented of allthe 'older' classes by Holden, Pat Hurley,and your subscriber. Wyman I believe ishere, but they say he seldom shows up. Pathas been here a couple of years and'hasn'tseen him yet."
The December 19 issue of The Cedar Rapids Gazette was a big number for the Hedges family, there being news items about Dad and two sons. Dave was reported to have been one of the prime organizers in the Cedar Rapids Home Town Club of New York City. Dave, incidentally, has received rapid promotion in the Bank of New York and Trust Company, where he is now assistant credit manager.
Son Dixon, who is now employed by an oil company in Houston, Texas, was quoted with regard to a recent trip to Mexico City, where he was sent by the company. He traveled via Pan American Airways on one of their clipper ships to Tampico, and then on to Mexico City and Cuernavaca, which is being developed as a modern resort town.
The principal item, however, was one concerning "Cap," who has just completed twenty-five years as "Big Time Sports' Middle Man," where "he's rated as one of the best football arbiters in the country." Some of the writer's comments are of such interest that they are given below:
"One of the outstanding football officials of the United States and one whose list of Big Ten games each fall reads like the road to a championship, Horace G. 'Cap' Hedges, local realtor, has completed twenty-five years as the 'middle man' in big time collegiate sports activity.
"Going to Dartmouth from high school, Hedges played four years on the cage team. On his return to Cedar Rapids, he turned to basketball officiating, and would have dropped football altogether after 1911 except for the pleas of a friend, Frank Birch, living then at Cedar Falls. Incidentally, both Birch and Hedges are now rated with the best grid arbiters in the country.
"Despite his intention to drop football officiating, Hedges was prevailed upon by Birch to work a game the next year at lowa State Teachers College. At that time, Cap recalls, the officials had no special outfits to wear and usually reported for duty in the garments they wore for carrying out ashes or other dirty jobs around the house.
"In the intervening years, Birch and Hedges together have climbed steadily into the higher brackets of the game, until to- day they are recognized as two of the best qualified men in the game and their names appear in the summaries below the biggest games in the country.
"Over a period of twenty-five years, Hedges has seen so many football players and teams he refuses to even attempt the selection of any 'bests.' He regards the Notre Dame-Nebraska series, which started in 1921 and continued for about ten years, as the greatest series of games he ever handled, and said the Pitt team as it played in 1936 against Nebraska could have defeated any football team anywhere.
"The local man rates Big Ten football over a period of years as the best he has been privileged to see, although he says West Coast teams are tough, and the Eastern teams in years such as 1937 can hold their own against any kind of competition. Strangely enough, Hedges never had an opportunity to see Red Grange play during the years the famed Galloping Ghost performed for Illinois.
"Counting engagements for both basketball and football games, Cap has been at Ames and Grinnell more than 125 times apiece, while his name is almost a fixture at the bottom of football summaries for Nebraska games played at Lincoln. The largest crowd he ever worked before was 80,000 at the Notre Dame-Navy game in 1934, played at the Yankee stadium in New York City. The next largest assemblage was 75,000 for the dedication of the Ohio stadium, when Ohio State and Michigan played.
"In recent years, Hedges has served principally as an umpire in the Big Ten. As such, he stands behind the defensive team and watches for infractions of the rules in line play, such as holding, illegal use of the hands, unnecessary roughness, and pass interference on short passes. On long passes, he watches the players while the field judge watches the receiver and the ball.
"Hedges credits to his luck his unusual freedom from criticism after games. To those who have seen him work, the reason is far more obvious. Without a lost motion and with no ostentatious display of authority whatever, the local man runs his share of the game from the opening whistle until the finish. At no time is there any doubt about who is boss. One of the hardest of all coaches to please, the late Knute Rockne, rated Hedges as tops on his list. It wasn't that Notre Dame enjoyed any unexpected favors. Neither team did, and that was all Rockne asked."
