1914*

Secretary, 367 Boylston St., Boston

The REUNION program is now just about all set. There are just a few details here and there to fill in, and if you have not already replied to the bulletin and the little questionnaire attached thereto, please do so and get it off your mind.

The committee has done exactly what they set out to do; namely, plan a REUNION which would have a nice sense of balance between planned activities and plenty of leisure time for each man to follow his own personal inclinations while in Hanover.

REUNION gets underway Friday, June 16, and right away a warning—the dormitories assigned to us are Wheeler and Richardson. You will receive direct from the Bursar's Office application for rooms. This must be returned with the necessary deposits to the Bursar's Office and not to the class officers. Men wanting to room together may arrange to send their applications together, and the rooms will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. In the event you don't receive an application from Max Norton, Bursar, by May 20, you had better write him for one.

Well, now we are all in Hanover, rooms assigned, suitcases unpacked, and certainly sometime before 5 P.M. on the above mentioned Friday. The "flag-raising" ceremony will take place promptly at 5:30 P.M. with adjournment to the Tent for acquaintance renewing, and so forth, and so forth

During Friday evening will take place the President's reception. This has grown in importance since our day, and few returning alumni miss it. Tell the ladies that they may attend in informal attire.

Saturday morning is left free up to noon, when we shall parade in a body to the gymnasium for the Alumni Luncheon as guests of the College. Immediately thereafter is the reception to the fifty-year class, followed by the baseball game with Cornell. Shortly before sundown the bugle will announce another "flag-raising," then the well known Class Hum, and we will repair to the dinner served, surrounded by Walt Humphrey's murals, in Thayer Hall. At the dinner we hope to have a resume of movies taken during previous reunions, which Jack Conners has in charge.

After the dinner will be a Thespian production, which is so much of a surprise that we won't go into details:

Oh yes! Violet will appear at the dinner. No plans have been made for the rest of the evening, feeling that from then on nature can well take its course.

Sunday morning our chaplain has arranged for a memorial service in the College Church, which many of us have not yet had the opportunity to visit, after which we shall repair to the Lebanon Country Club, where the Old Pine Stump has arranged for golf, bridge, climaxed by a picnic in the grove.

Commencement exercises will be held in the Bema Sunday evening, in plenty of time so that New England alumni, at least, can return to their homes that night.

The class tax has been set at a minimum, which it is hoped will enable everybody to take advantage of it: $ 12.00 for men returning alone; $5.00 for wife; $5.00 for each child.

The ladies and children desiring to do so will attend a Dramatic Club performance Saturday night, and of course the ball game and class picnic.

The tax should be sent to John F. Conners, Assistant Treasurer, care of The Stanley Works, Bridgeport, Conn.

As mentioned in the bulletin, if any of the men, particularly those in remote areas, desire transportation, communicate with the Secretary and he will try to make arrangements so that they can be picked up at least for most of the way.

Likewise, any men having movie films or good snapshots, we would thank them to send them along to Jack Conners, who is editing the film.

We are informed that in connection with the two Fairs railroad and bus lines are offering special inducements for excursions this summer. It would be advisable to consult your local transportation agent for these reductions, which may be money-saving in some cases.

John "Paducah" Palmer came to town the other day and we had a pleasant lunch with him. He informs us that his daughter, Clotilde, was married March 18 to Mr. Edward Everett Baker of New York. John says that business with him has been looking up lately, and it was nice to meet one such optimist.

As we get older erudition breaks out in most unsuspected places. Somebody having told Stubby Johnson that our REUNION costume might include a bush coat, Stubby went to work and the following is the result, quoted verbatim:

"As I seldom see Esquire, my knowledge of things sartorial does not include bush coat. Consulting Webster's Collegiate Dictionary I find several definitions of the word 'bush.' Could a bush coat have any relation to 'a thick, densely branched shrub,' or 'a branch of ivy (not poison I trust) hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern sign,' or 'a bushlike mass, as of hair or feathers (I vote for the feathers)' or 'a metal lining'—ah, that must be it, a new container for beer. I am not so certain of the easy fit—don't forget to ask for waist measurements. As I read your paragraph the word 'modification' saves the whole situation. I like the biological definition of that word '. . . . a noninheritable change in an organism caused by the influence of its environment.' Anything is possible in the environment of Hanover during a TWENTY-FIFTH REUNION!"

Our good friend and classmate, Tom Anderson, passed away March 25 and was buried the following Tuesday. Jim Gregg, Chick Grant, Harold Brown, and the Secretary attended the services, and a floral tribute was likewise sent.

It had been the Secretary's misfortune not to have seen much of Tom these past years, but it so often happens too late one hears so.many pleasant things about the man. Living quietly and immersed in his florist business, Tom had acquired a wide circle of friends, and those who knew him best particularly enjoyed his quiet sense of humor and enjoyment of life generally. With a note of sadness the class of 1914 records the loss of another member.

At the spring meeting of the Phi Beta chapter in Hanover Walt Humphrey was elected an honorary member. Congratulations, Walter. A little bird tells us that you should have had this honor as an undergraduate, and we are all very glad that it has now been bestowed.

Speaking of Walt Humphrey, Chuck Kingsley comes to bat with a mild kick concerning Walt's illustration at the head of the column. We quote:

"He shows the 1914 reuner arm in arm with Eleazar Wheelock and Samuel Occom. Eleazar and Sam each have a mug of spirits, but apparently our reuner has to be satisfied with his class spirit. Evidently he is as dry as Volstead. I weep for him. Maybe we can do something to relieve his condition when we reach Hanover."

Chuck also records another meeting of the New York group. Apparently the weather was a little bad this last time. In addition to Chuck, Howard Bowman, and Paul Hazelton—all regulars—three fellows whom Chuck notes as "irregulars" were on hand—Doc Herring, Moose Englehorn, and Carl Buck. He says, "The smallness of the gathering was compensated for by its warmth and cordiality, and I believe we all enjoyed ourselves."

Recently Chick Grant and your scribe had occasion to take a motor ride with our bond-bundler and likewise class vice president, James Douglas Gregg. The conversation having passed quickly through -the realms of family, business, and Washington. Jim told us of two new games he has invented, which have to do with the numbers on license plates of automobiles. Number work has always fascinated Jim, it appears, which, intensified by long years in the bond business, has merely resulted in a sublimation which psychiatrists could resolve but which we shall merely relate.

The first game involves the well-known laws of probability, and smacking as it does of a game of chance, if described here might involve us with the S.E.C. if not the State Beano Commission. .. .so we pass on to the second.

Here the player starts by noting a plate of which the lefthand digit is "one." Now you're off! Start looking for a similarly placed "two," and so on. There are little tricks involved, of which this is a sample. If you are looking for "19" and you come across "19184," note where the car is parked and when you reach "190" you retrace your steps and if the car is still there the same plate can be used again for "191," or given luck and patience in due time for "1918" or even "19184."

Jim got up to "340" in a few months last year, but is off to a much better start this spring. He would be glad to start little private competitions with interested classmates with pay-off at REUNION this June. In anticipation Jim is already working on a handicap basis for interstate matches, where he will buck up against, for example, Connecticut, where certain birds have private license plates like J. F. C„ R. E. P., or R. C. H.

Anyway, Jim says his game is a fine tonic, and keeps his mind off the muddled world generally. We have another theory, but we'll let it pass.

SEE YOU AT REUNION!

* 100% subscribers to the ALUMNI'MAGAZINE, on class group plan.