1909

We have one young man in the class by the name of Curt Sheldon, who is anxious to see if there is anybody smarter than himself. Don't all rush me at once! I would like to know if anybody wants this cup that Curt mentions any more than he does himself. I am aching to give this cup to the right person as soon as I find him. Here is Curt's letter:

"A few nights ago at a club dinner I sat next to a Williams man, who told me that his class has a cup held by the member of the class having the youngest child. I would be interested to know if my second daughter, Diantha, born August 15, 1937, is the youngest child in the class. If so, it seems to me that I should be the custodian of the cup for the class baby. Of course, I would expect to pass the cup along to anyone qualifying at a future date with a younger child, and probably when I did so I would put a dollar bill in the cup. Your observations on this matter would be interesting."

I am sorry to report that Bob Holmes had a rather serious operation recently, but is back home now and well on the road to recovery.

Mabel Avery recently wrote to me that she had a letter from "Bunk" Irwin containing the news that his wife died in May at her home, 510 Ninth Ave., Brookings, S. D. She had been ill for some months but was reluctant to let anyone know that she was not well. Also enclosed was the following clipping regarding "Bunk's" son:

"An Army dad was proud of his Navy son today in Brookings when Col. Burr P. Irwin, head of the State College Military Department, learned of an act of heroism performed by his son in the South Pacific —Col. Irwin's son James, 22, pharmacist's mate in the Navy, used a mattress as a shield in rescuing four wounded sailors from a burning ammunition area. After making four trips through the area covered by exploding ammunition and Japanese bombs, young Irwin was uninjured but the mattress carried ninety-two shrapnel holes. 'Well, I'm glad he had the nerve to do it,' commented the colonel when newspaper accounts of his son's exploits were brought to his attention. The son has been located in the South Pacific since early in the present conflict, his father said, and has recently been located at an advanced seaplane base."

Mabel Avery tells me that she expects to be a grandmother again the latter part of November, and plans to spend her time with Joan until that time, at Manchester, Conn. The new address which we have for Eugene Stark is 4491 Brockton Ave., Riverside, Calif.

George Adams writes that his second son Edward received an honorable medical discharge from the Navy last January and is living with them at home. He was at Pearl Harbor and Midway for some time after the attacks on those places. George says he may or may not have seen action but he does not talk about his experiences. His youngest son John has passed his Army Air Force tests and is waiting for notification from Washington of his assignment as an Air Force pilot, navigator or bombardier cadet.

This column is going to print just before our class reunion at the University Club before the Cornell Game. We have had the best response so far that we have ever had for a class dinner. If this materializes, I hope we will have something interesting to report in the next issue regarding some substitute plans for our reunion in '44.

Secretary, Wm. Filene's Sons Co. 426 Washington St., Boston, Mass Treasurer, 16 Wall St., New York, N. Y.