1895

It seems that a secretarial error was committed by me in reporting in the '95 notes of last month that "Mike" Adams resigned last year from the staff of California Tech. This apparently was due to misinformation given me. I'm rather glad of the mistake, however, because it brought a rare document to me—a letter from "Mike" correcting the error. Here it is:

"I feel that I must call your attention to something you said about me in the December number of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. It is true that "Mike" Adams has retired and is living a simple life in Pasadena, but he retired over three years ago and from the staff of the Mount Wilson Observatory with which he was connected for 18 years. Cal Tech is a most worthy institution, but I was never connected with it.

"Last spring Thompson, Marden, Bugbee and myself had lunch together and spent most of the afternoon going over old times. Jesse has changed very little since Marm Swett days, something which I am afraid cannot be said of the other three."

Another too infrequent occurrence is a nice letter from Joel Harley, written on the very last day of the old year, 1942.

"No," he writes, "we are not planning to go to Florida this winter. I love my seat on top the steam radiator and sit there to read. This has been an unusually cold December. Yes I learned from Austin of the death of "General" Davis. Austin said that makes five deaths in '95 ranks since our last reunion. Too bad so many of the boys have passed on so early in life; but now we are all reaching the last lap whether we acknowledge it or not. Yes, indeed, go ahead with the making of plans for the 50th. That is the only incentive for revisiting Dartmouth College again—my desire to meet the boys on the old campus once more. It will be my last. If at the last moment, all plans have to be abandoned, well and good, but I would go ahead with your program.

"By the way, I want to say that nothing impressed me more deeply during my college days than a spectacle I witnessed at our commencement. It was the reunion of the Class of 1845. The scene took place in front of the Inn when Howe's big bus halted and a member of '45 alighted. All the other members were expecting this long-lost classmate from the far West, whom they had not seen for 50 years, and when he stepped down these old boys grabbed him and hugged him and patted him on the back; they laughed and shouted and cried as the poor man tried to guess who they were. But oh, the joy of that last reunion. They were all boys again, back where they had left each other in 1845. It proved to me that there was something in the Dartmouth fellowship, in the Dartmouth spirit, that was deep-rooted and would never die. It was indeed a touching scene and I shall never forget it. Let's reunite."

Secretary, White River Junction, Vt.