1895

It may seem unnecessary to call the attention of '95 men to the Class reunion next June. We all know that our 45th occurs then. I am asking for suggestions, from those who are willing to send them, as to a program; and also as to the probability of attendance of various members.

I regret to announce the death of Henry C. Sanborn which occurred on October 31. His obituary will be in the necrology column of the next issue.

While in Chicago recently, I called three times on "P. I." Morrison. Each time we chatted industriously about our classmates and about Dartmouth, Old and New, as well as current history and world events. For twenty years Prof. Morrison was a member of the Faculty of Chicago University in the department of education. In his retirement he is writing books and pursuing his flair for cultural knowledge, and gets his summer exercise in his garden. "P. I." was critically ill a few years ago, but due largely to the skill and persistent efforts of his physician and surgeon, Dr. "Sandy" Davis, son of Ozara S. Davis, 'B9, he recovered and remains active.

While in Chicago I learned Howard Rumery had given up law practice and is now living with his sister in Ossipee, New Hampshire.

Referring now to the class poll in the matter of the Eleazar Wheelock murals, here are some of the replies:

(a) "As competent as you are as a Class Secretary I do not believe it is in you to make an intelligent Art Critic out of me. All I know about modern art is what I read in Time and Life and, occasionally, the daily press. I do not know what I like, however, and most of the modern stuff is not included. I like Grant Wood but when I see stuff such as Dali puts out I am inclined to wonder if, after all, he doesn't fairly represent the chaotic condition of the Universe. To me, it's all perfectly terrible. Coming down to Thayer Hall and its murals your worm's eye view of them leads me to believe that they, too, must be quite out of place and a poor showing of the real Eleazar and his time and work. We all know what firewater does to the Indian. Of this I am sure that they cannot depict the old man as I was taught to revere him and his work. Nor as I know it can they possibly portray the Spirit of Dartmouth. Perhaps here, too, the moral fiber of the artist was as dormant as that of people generally."

(b) "Doesn't it depend upon the season of the year whether or not we are in sympathy with the murals in Hovey Grill? There are certain traditions of Dartmouth which always have been, up to the present time, received with enthusiasm by some all the time and by all at times. The murals are evidently symbolic of one of these traditions and to many of us mean nothing more than a jolly good time and the jovial spirit of the college. Presumably these murals do not faithfully represent the founder of Dartmouth College. They do, however, faithfully represent certain conditions existing at the time of the founding. While they might be objectionable in any other place in the college buildings, there can be, it seems to me, no objection to them in the Hovey Grill. There they are almost entirely apart from the academic development of the college which is, of course, quite another matter."

(c) "As I have not seen the mural decorations at Hanover, no opinion ought to be expressed."

(d) "Your lengthy endeavor, very earnestly designed to project a ray of light into the begloomed interior of my hapless head, has been received and perused with plenteous care. With Luther-like obstinacy I incline to stay unchanged, though to publish those cuts in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE may be ill-advised and misleading to the world at large. Howbeit the opinion, not to say judgment, of an unmoral codger such as I am can be of no considerable moment at all. Moreover the sense of humor implanted in me at the beginning was outstandingly abnormal and everlastingly remains askew."

(e) "As to the Humphrey Murals, I have seen Thayer Hall and admire it, and the ALUMNI MAGAZINE which I read thoroughly, and enjoy has acquainted me with the Murals. They seem most fitting for such a place but out of place elsewhere e.g. auditorium, church or library. As to the Orozco things, to my taste, after frequent visiting, they seem like 'insults to rationality' (Prof. Gabe Campbell) and leave me cold. As to reflections on the life of the great Eleazar neither they nor Hovey's jingle have any more bearing on his biography than Orr's cartoons have of F. D. R.'s or Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee had on King Arthur's. Just good clean fun, Hie at nunc est bibendum—et ridendum."

Secretary, White River Junction, Vt.