1908

At the request of the family of Jack Clark, the 1908 class made a contribution to Halloran Hospital on Staten Island, in lieu of the flowers usually sent when news of a classmate's death is received in time. In addition to the formal acknowledgment, Jack's eldest son, John M. Clark '32, wrote a fine personal letter which will interest all his father's classmates. He writes:

"I think Mother has already written to Mr. Symmes to acknowledge the generous contribution of 1908 to the fund established at Halloran Hospital as a memorial to Dad. All of us hope you may be able to convey to the class our gratefulness for the comfort in knowing that Dad's classmates, whom he counted among his best friends, had rallied around at the time of his passing.

"Halloran Hospital is on Staten Island, as you probably know, and is one of the newest and largest centers for war convalescents. For a number of months before his death, Dad had been in the habit of going over to Halloran two or three days a week to put on magic shows for the boys. You will remember perhaps that he had done a good deal of what he referred to as 'prestidigitation' in his younger days and especially at Hanover. With the war, he revived his magic. He worked up an act and began running it off at neighborhood entertainment centers for service men in New York.

"That was before he started going over to Halloran. There he found that there were boys in certain wards who could not attend the large group entertainments provided by the New York bands and other professionals. But he, with a pack of cards and a few silks and other paraphernalia tucked about him, could go in and sit by their beds. Besides his tricks, he could offer them a sympathetic ear and friendly counsel to help them face their worries. Modifying the Red Cross nomenclature, he used to say laughingly that his assignment in this war was to be a 'Gray Gentle

"It appears that the Government hospitals do not have funds appropriated to provide this sort of individual morale work. And so it was that we thought it would be appropriate to set up a fund, in lieu of flowers, to carry on for a bit the work Dad had begun. Mother has been in touch with the Red Cross director at Halloran and they are working out the ways that the money can be spent to best advantage. We're pretty sure that Dad would have liked this, and especially the fact that through their gift his 1908 friends were participating in it."

Jim Norton brought his family east from California in the fall and that was a good excuse for the New York classmates to get together at one of the ritzy hotels for a bit of a reunion. Jim went to Baltimore for some tinkering on his spine and we hear the backbone overhaul was entirely successful. Jim's daughter saw Hanover for the first time. Any classmate who wants a bomber or a nifty pursuit job after the war can write Jim; he is a Big Shot at the California plant of Lockheed-Vega. Or you can write him anyway.

Mike Stearns was leading a lonely life in November. His wife Annis was in Cleveland visiting daughter Nancy and the grandchildren, and incidentally attending a Girl Scout convention as delegate from South Orange. Son Kendall, married and a father, works day and night at surgery in St. Luke's hospital. Son Sandy in England when he isn't doing his janitor work, as a North Sea mine sweeper.

Phil Thompson's wife, Alice Ricker Thompson, died October 14. Funeral services were held October 16 at the home in Yonkers, and burial was in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Mrs. Thompson had attended the reunions and the class will miss her. It extends deep sympathy to Phil and the children.

Larry Treadway, the hotel tycoon, is now a publisher. At least he gets out a weekly paper called The Co-operator in which he gives sage advice to hotel owners and managers, some paragraphs of comment, and a smattering of down-to-earth advertising. It is published at Williamstown, Mass., and as yet it hasn't a secondclass mailing permit. But not for the reason that Esquire tangled with the P.O. Dept. Larry Symmes made a quick trip to California in October with Mrs. Symmes. Dorothy remained there with her sister, whose husband died suddenly. Larry plans to go to California again at Christmas and return with his wife about January 1.

The soldiers say a chicken on the knee is better than an eagle on the shoulder. But 'oB's Art Soule is now Col. A. T. Soule GST and wears the bird on his cap and shoulder. And he is the youngest looking bird in the class today, durn little changed from the gay lad who led the Glee Club. We snatched a new picture of him and if the editor prints it (we hope he will) you'll envy that magnificent shock of hair hardly touched by gray. The slightly stern expression was put on for the occasion, and if you think you see a tiny line or wrinkle, it was touched in by the photographer. Honestly, the colonel looks hardly ten years older than he did in igoB. He writes a nice letter too. Here is part of it:

I returned to the Service as a Lt. Colonel, Adjutant General's Department, in charge of Officer Procurement for the First Service Command. In October, 1942, I was transferred to Headquarters as Chief of the Training Inspection Branch. In May, 1943, I was appointed Commandant of the New England Sector Tank School at Fort Devens and at that time was appointed to the General Staff Corps. Recently, I was promoted to a full colonel, General Staff Corps. I am associated with troops most of the time and feel that my duties and contribution to the war efforts are really worthwhile, but I have been forced to neglect the duties that I always enjoyed most and those are connected with Dartmouth.

My older son, who graduated at Hanover in 1938, is an officer in the Navy. My second son has been overseas in Africa and now Italy with the Tanks since last January. So my wife wears three stars on her lapel. My older daughter who graduated from her three-year nursing course in June is to be married November 20 to a medical student who will be an officer upon graduation next summer. My younger daughter completed her schooling at Dobbs Ferry and is now at Junior College and living at home. Last but certainly not least, my wife has served as Nurses' Aide in hospitals now for almost two years and is planning to serve in the New General Army Hospital at Framingham.

From the above you see the whole family, like most other families, are doing their best to help win this war.

GEORGE PIERCE '45, son of Cully Pierce '07.

COL. ARTHUR T. SOULE '08 is stationed in Camp Devens, Mass., in charge of New England Sector Tank School.

From Milford, N. H. Secretary, 115 Broadway, New York, N. Y. Treasurer, Taftville, Conn.