1909*

Although I have notes from the Alumni Dinner and recent happenings to various members of the Class, the space alloted to us for Class notes will not permit my using them this month. I had so many laughs out of the following letter that I cannot resist the temptation of giving the whole issue over to this letter from Cad Cummings. When Cad went into the wall paper business, literature missed another Ben Ames Williams.

"The news of Jim Driscoll's death started me thinking. I dug out my memorabilia book. In it I had a picture of the York Beach baseball team the year we were graduated, with a number of clippings of the games we had played. (See next page.)

"I thought that some time when 'O9 news was scarce you might like to print some of the following. Because eight in the picture were 'O9 members, others in the class might be interested.

"In the top row comes first Jim Driscoll, then 'Cap' Kelly, Joe Brusse, Sid Hazelton, Bo' Beauchamp. 'Bo' was an older fellow who had played in the New England and Southern Leagues and taught us a lot of inside baseball. In the bottom row is 'Knuck' Kennedy, Bill Raftery, who played for Mercersberg, then 'Mickey' McLane, Jess Hawley, and 'Cad' Cummings.

"Joe, Knuck, and Jim are gone, but through their lives I know they carried memories of the Summer we lived together in our little cottage and had such a wonderful time.

"It doesn't seem real now, but even those of us who lived nearby did not go home. We went to Manchester to play a team there. I often think how our parents must have wondered. Four years in College then off on a junket without reporting home. But that is the thoughtlessness of youth. A game in Manchester, a game in Rockport, Mass. (Battery for York Beach, Hazelton and McLane, battery for Rockport—The Same Old Pair)—but we beat 'em.

"Then on to York Beach where we were put up in a nice cottage all by ourselves. We had 'Hockey-Foot' Devenny for a cook, and you had to be up on time to get breakfast. All except Knuck: he was sort of a hero to Devenny and could do no wrong. He could stay in bed as long as he liked and still get a hot breakfast, but the rest of us had to be on time.

"Our plan of life was as follows: Eat breakfast in our bathing suits (all had Dartmouth green suits), wander down to the beach and stay there until dinner time; eat, still in bathing suits; then slowly put on baseball uniforms and go to the ball field; after the game a bath and supper. At first we had no shower, but pails of water. I can feel them now, cold as ice, thrown over each other which did the trick. Later we had a shower, but it ran only ice cold water. My but we were the rugged lads!

"Then we dressed for the first time of the day; that is, in street clothes. Evening was the time for the social whirl. And don't let anyone tell you that we were not the social lions. Each hotel had a dance nearly every evening and there was a moving picture theater. Amateur night was our highlight. Cap Kelly could play the piano. That was enough. The prizea couple of bucks—was always his. How? We packed the crowd with friends and no matter how good the opposition was, Cap would get the loudest applause. Then we would smoke real cigarettes for a day or so. Money? Well I suppose some of the boys got paid. You will have to ask Mickey about that. I know that I smoked more Bull Durham than I ever did before and only once a week a tailor made cigarette. That was after amateur night or when some woman bought Knuck a pack of Rameses.

"The other boys did not get a hell of a lot more for on Sundays when they asked Mickey for money for the contribution plate he would offer them a dime. No, they didn't want a dime they wanted a nickel. It was bigger than a dime and looked like a quarter if you slipped it in the box quick enough between a couple of bills.

"At that time I suppose we thought we were raising the very devil night times. Compared with the present time, our evenings were a mere nothing. As I remember nobody went to bed until the last man was in the cottage. Eleven o'clock was late. When all were in, we sat around for a short talk and then all went to bed.

"We had avery fair ball club. Sid Hazel ton can give true statistics, but I think we played some fifty ball games and won thirty-five. To start with, the battery was perfect. Sid was in his prime, and with Mickey catching, the rest of us just had to go through the motions. 'Bo' Beauchamp relieved Sid every other day and when we had a soft touch, like the Marines from the Portsmouth Navy yard they put Cummings in the box. The Marines were fierce looking and carried bats that we could not even lift. But being so seldom ashore they could only wave them around, so Cummings was elected as 'The Marine Pitcher' Oh! and Knuck was the catcher. Did you ever see Knuck throw to second to catch a man stealing? If the runner was smart he would keep right on going and be on third before Jim Driscoll had caught the ball. A perfect arch, soft and gentle.

"Jess Hawley was the base stealer. When he went from second to third he simply went to town. Slide—he wouldn't even pretend to slide. He just took off. Why, X saw him spike the Biddeford third baseman above the knee. Talk about hitting the dirt. He would have landed in the ocean if the third-baseman had not been in the way.

"We had pretty good competition too. There was one fellow on the Biddeford team named Leary. Ever hear of him? Well he went straight to The Saint Louis Browns and the only reason he lost his job was because a guynamed Sisler came along. We played 19 games against Biddeford and came out very well with them. Again I refer you to Sid Hazelton for true statistics.

"Life was never dull. We had a lot of Dartmouth visitors. Bert Beckett came along, pitched a game or two for us and had a nice visit. Charlie Fay came. We had a keg of beer and Charlie recited Gunga Din as usual.

"Then the break up after the last game, again at Rockport, Mass., (Battery for Rockport, The Same Old Pair), but we beat 'em again.

"Social and business contacts were made. Ask Sid, Mickey, and though you cannot ask Jim, it was at York Beach that he made contacts that governed the rest of his life. Sid was the favorite of a grand old gentleman who was interested in young men. Once a week he took two of the ball players to dinner with his wife and daughter. At the end of the summer he had a dinner for the whole team in a private dining room of one of the hotels. His name was Spoor Mackey. He was the type of aristocrat that has gone from the country never to return.

"Over a year after the Summer at York Beach I went into his office in Chelsea. I had forgotten that he was president of The Thomas Strahan Cos. He recalled me at once, invited me into his private office and five minutes after offered me a position with him. That was in 1911. I have been there ever since. I have not made as much money as some of the other boys but I have had pleasant associations, managed to pay my bills, and get a little pleasure out of this life. Can one ask for more?

"I could go on for a long time and fail to tell of all the things that happened that Summer. Somebody broke into the fruit store one night and stole a lot of fresh fruit. Two hoboes were accused. We were glad those hoboes happened along. One night during a storm somebody had to rescue two men, stranded on a leaking boat a quarter mile from shore. Nine young men tried to get in one rowboat to go to their rescue. Where we would have put the two men after we reached the sailboat, I don't know. Lucky for them somebody got to them before we did. Anyway they were saved. And so on—it's like a dream to think of, but a finer bunch of fellows never spent a better summer together."

Fund Contributors for 1940 Contributors: 101 (57% of graduates). Total gifts: $1,614.50 (53% of objective). HAROLD M. PRESCOTT, Class Agent.

1909

Alvord, Russell O. Bates, Albert W. Beebe, John C. Bedell, Arthur S. Bell, Thomas Bird, Francis H. Brett, Chester S. Brock, Fred S. Brown, Walter E. Bruce, Robert M. Bull, Wilbur I. Burbank, Harold H. Burns, George T. Burns, Robert A. Buxton, Arthur L. Carroll, Frederick A. Catharin, Norman R. Chappelear, Edgar S. Gates, Stanley Graff Joseph R. Graves, H. Wilbur Hadden, Arthur A. Hammond, Karl R. Hawley, Jessß. Hazelton, Sidney C. Hinckley, George H. Holmes, Robert J. Holzer, William F. Hooker, San ford B. Howard, Eliot R. Howland, Nathaniel J. Jewett, Maurice G. Lane, Walter J. Leighton, Stanley W. Locke, Richard B. Loughlin, William A. McCurdy, Allan M. Martin, Edwin D. Meleney, Henry E. Moffatt, Elbert M. Mower, Robinson H. Murchie, Harold H. Newton, Jonah J. O'Brien, Frank J. Olmstead, Frank T. O'Mara, Arthur J. Parker, Thomas O. Parkinson, Taintor Patch, William T. Patterson, William H. Perley, Rollin H. Clark, Harold S. Clement, Ralph B. Colley, Reginald H. Cummings, Clarence E. Dillingham, Herman L. Dole, C. Elbert Driscoll, James G. Dudley, Benjamin H. Dunbar, Clarence E. Eaton, Walter I. Erhard, Emile H. Farley, Leon B. Fleisher, Horace T. Floyd, Harry R. Follansbee, Merrill M. Ford, Edward C. Foreman, Harold E. French, Bertrand C. Perry, Chester N. Pettengill, Russell A. Prescott, Harold M. Reagan, Frank J. Root, Kenneth E. Rose, Philip M. Ross, Wallace M. Saville, Clark Sheldon, Curtiss L. Sidley, Walter A. Simpson, C. Randolph Smith, Mark A. Snow, Clifton A. Sporborg, Arthur J. Stanley, Arthur B. Stark, Eugene M. Stone, Robert M. Storer, Perley N. Swenson, J. Arthur Tucker, Lynde W. Tuttle, James N. Walker, Herbert M. Watson, Daniel E. Weinz, A. Gordon Wellsted, Thomas C. West, Vernon F. Whitcomb, Henry B. White, Arthur C. Whitmore, Harold C. Wight, Ralph M. Williams, Frank B. Wing, Richard L. Worthen, Joseph W.

FAMOUS '09 YORK BEACH BASEBALL TEAM. ("SEE CLASS NOTES FOR NAMES)

Secretary, William Filene's Sons Co., Boston, Mass.