1908
From A. B. ROTCH, Hanover
Early in April Bob Marsden completed his P.W.A. bridge building in New Hampshire, turned his back on North Stratford, where he was located all winter, and headed for Townshend, Vt. At Townshend Bob will have charge of P.W.A. projects in the vicinity. He says his permanent address will be Manchester Center, Vt.; not West Manchester, as reported last month. John Hinman spent part of the winter in Florida. He is now back in Montreal, vice presidenting the International Paper Co.
Joseph A. Hammond is welcomed back to New Hampshire. Joe is now pastor of the Community church in Enfield, which should permit him to get back to Hanover frequently.
A letter from Art Eberly sort of burns us up. Well, puzzles us. Here we're shivering in late spring blizzards, and Art's letter, dated March 19, says he has the screens on the south porch and is going out there with the morning paper to "set, and sun myself." All right for Miami, but this letter is from Wichita, Kansas. He enclosed a page from his paper, mostly devoted to the account of the address made the day before by Dr. Harold O. Rugg, Dartmouth '08, to Wichita's Progressive Education Association. This affair, mentioned in class notes last month, rated a big spread in the next day's papers, with pictures an' everthin'. It appears that 1500 of the most prominent schoolmen in the Mid-west assembled to listen to our classmate, and attend a dinner in his honor. It was the big news of the day. But, to us, Eberly's screened porch on Mar. 19 should have had at least one headline.
Another Mid-west clipping tells about Attorney William D. Knight, president of the Illinois State Bar Association, who was picked last month by the U. S. District Attorney in Chicago to select men to fill vacancies on the district attorney's staff. Classmate Knight is a member of the Dartmouth Athletic Council.
Paul S. Vaitses Jr. won his numerals on the freshman basketball team. Paul Sr. visits his son in Hanover occasionally.
"Lynde" Speare in retail merchandising in Haverhill, Mass., is reported to be doing well and expanding his store. He moved from Nashua to Haverhill several years ago; has a son in Dartmouth.
Sometimes we don't know whether we're shocked or delighted; like at the old-time burlesque shows. Anyhow, the list of Dartmouth graduates in "Who's Who," as recorded by the MAGAZINE, lists seven '08ers. We're delighted that there are seven, shocked that there are any classmates not listed among the great. The seven who have made the grade are Bant Blake, Detlefsen, Bill Knight, Mason Lewis, Harold Rugg, John Cushing, Bob Marsden. Probably there'll be 70 in the next edition.
A picture postcard which we took to be another aerial view of the World's Fair proves to be a birdseye view of Vermilion Lagoons, sent by Don Comstock of Cleveland. Vermilion Lagoons is the magnelegant suburban development in which Don is interested, and from 2000 feet up it looks very Venetian.
Park Stickney authored the following communication, which needs no comment:
"Two-thirds of the members of the class of 1908 (Marsh and Knight) attendant on the annual Dartmouth dinner held at the Blackstone Thursday evening, March 9, instructed me to write you and inform you of this epoch-making incident. Mr. Marsh and I assembled at his office about 5:30 and in due season reached the Blackstone just as the speakers' table was filled. There we found our industrious classmate, Mr. Knight, right in the center, indicating that he might be Master of Ceremonies. This surmise later turned out to be true, and said Mr. Knight dispensed oratory in grand shape, and he could be heard to the far corners of the room. One John Dingle, with whom presumably you are acquainted, was closing his year as president of the local association, and presumably suspected that Mr. Knight had the edge on him when it came to toastmastering at affairs of this kind. He may have thought, however, that so long as the job remained in the Fiji family it would be all right.
"Bill brought his usual contingent down from Rockford, and we had a very enjoyable evening, extending far into the night. The rest of our classmates were not to be found, although that is nothing unusual. I think Freddie Cooper's last appearance was about nine years ago, although I remember very definitely that Irish showed up in 1932. Ev and I are going to put on a drive to get them out in 1950. Nothing of interest to members of the class seems to happen in these parts, and lack of news from this section will just have to be taken as an indication that we are still doing business at the old stand and will keep you posted regarding any news or interesting happenings to any of the class."
