1917
The New York gang met at the Dartmouth Club March 13 with Karl, the Kompetent Kampaigner, as the particular attraction, and hospitable Rounderupper Tom Cotton making sure that all the inner men were amply satisfied. The Old Guard reporting were Lt. Comdr. Slatz Baxter, Don Brooks, Tom Cotton, Karl Koeniger, Len Reade, Ev Robie, Sam Saline, Len Shea, Art Stout, Gene Towler, and Eddie Wagner. Karl was the feature of the evening and as the result of his talk, Tom says, "We have our eyes on the Green Derby and we shall not be denied."
Our lids are doffed to Commander Walter Kipp as we give him a long Wah Hoo Wah on his recent elevation while on duty in the Mediterranean area. This gives us almost as much pleasure as it does Helen, tending the Kipp hearthside in Charlemont, Mass. Our best to Comdr. Walter in his favorite war theatre.
As the guest of Curly Carr and in company with Sam MacKillop we were privileged to have lunch with Lt. Col. Harry Fowler CAC AUS at the Union Club, Boston, recently. Harry is director of Department of Tactics, Coast Artillery School, Fort Monroe, Va., and visited the Hub of the universe in the course of an inspection tour of East Coast artillery installations. He was in the pink of condition with no extra weight, but a good deep tan, after his twenty-one months in the South Pacific. Leaving the East Coast in January, '41, his outfit went to New Caledonia via the Panama Canal and Australia. A year on New Caledonia and the balance of nine months on Guadalcanal sounds very simple, but it was at a time when hell was a-poppin' in that area. And more might have popped had the Jap been able to follow through. Harry escaped malaria but had his bout with dengue ("break bone") fever. He left us to have dinner with Walt Ferguson, and planned to look up the Maine delegation on his further tour of inspection "down" the coast. His son Jim '42 is in Italy with the Rangers.
Lt. Coradr. Bart Shackford writes that he is "still fighting the Battle of Long Beach (CaL), having spent the last twenty-two months as a medical officer in the Long Beach Naval Dispensary. Our group of doctors has been dubbed the 'Navy Immobile Unit,' but each of us expects orders at any time, thus keeping alive a delightful air of uncertainty. So far my son is the only member of the family whose military career has been off the home base, he having been in the Alaskan Aleutian area for some months. Had a note from Capt. Walt Walters (USNR) some time ago. He is only fifty miles away but each of us has been so confined by his job that we have not met since he came to Southern California."
Capt. Tom Clark AUS says, "The company I worked for loaned me out to the Corps of Engineers for the duration. My specialty is crawler tractors and I'm here in Berwick, Pa., converting part of a tank arsenal to crawlers and bulldozers." .... Lt. Col. Will Fitch's article, "Our New Aviation Cadet Program," appeared in a recent issue of Air Force, the official service journal of the USAAF.
The March Dartmouth Club News under "Reunion in New York" says, "It happened rather late on February 16. Lt. Comdr. Slatz Baxter '17, a Navy doctor, was chatting quietly by the desk with his classmate, Art Stout. A stranger who had never been in the Club before, entered, looked at the two, and the reunion started. The visitor was Nemo Streeter '17 from St. John, N. B." That's the way it is at the Dartmouth Club. Nemo was variously reported in Boston and New York but unfortunately we failed to meet him so cannot give details. Just up for an airing, no doubt The same issue of the News says that "Comdr. George Currier, with a new assignment to the amphibious force, made a flying trip home last month. He said Lt. Comdr. Mike Donahue MC USNR is senior medical officer at the big Bermuda base hospital." No direct word from either, but we are glad to tack down both George and Mike again, even though perhaps only for the moment.
A recent letter from Cranford, N. J., brought word of a reunion which made us green with envy. Writing for himself and Anita, Bob Scott authored the first section describing the luscious provender set before them by the Towlers and complained, "I have two gorgeous blondes at either side, Ellen Cotton whom no one can resist, and Buff Halloran, the answer to a young man's prayer. I am hungry as the devil but how can one eat under such circumstances?" Buff Halloran sends her love and describes herself as a Dartmouth daughter which would make her all right with us if she were not so already. Tom and Ellen Cotton mention plans for dinner the following evening with Slatz and Helen Baxter, June and Buff Halloran, at their Gramercy Park apartment, and promise the "natives" some music. June explains that they are in New York for Buff's screen test for M. G. M. and reports he was "entertained by Don and Helen Brooks night before last, Tom and Ellen last night, and tonight the Towlers. What a_ reunion!" Gene and Lucille, bless their hearts, sign the letter as "the only sober, psalm-singing son and daughter of Eleazar Wheelock in the crowd." As long as the spirit of such reunions remains in the hearts of 'l7ers, the world's all right by us.
Several requests have been received for the whereabouts of Sam MacKillop's 1917 Luncheon Club, so we take this opportunity of advising that it is at Schrafts, 356 Boylston St., Boston. If, from near or far, you are in Boston on a Thursday about 1:00 P.M. and will repair to the above rendezvous, the chances are that you will meet some of the gang. We tried it recently and had the pleasure of lunching with Howard Bartlett. His son David, recently home on leave from anti-submarine patrol service with the Air Corps in the Carribean, is now transferred to the 839 th Bomb Squadron at Alamagordo, New Mexico. Rog Stone was a recent luncheoner there, as were Ping and Caroline Doty again. Their oldest son Wallace, a Navy specialist stationed at Norfolk, Va., has the unique duty of teaching French sailors engineering in their language.
Ralph Sawyer saw Capt. Charlie Peters AUS recently and reports Charlie as in command of the Motor Pool at Fort Devens Ed McGowan's younger son Tom has completed his course at New London Submarine School and been transferred to Mare Island, Cal. With the older son Terry '44 at Alameda, the two will be within hailing distance for the time being Louis Cunningham seems to be doing himself proud selling bonds in Altoona and Pittsburg for Janney & Co., the old Philadelphia Quaker investment banking firm. He writes, "Have some of the best clients in the city. My two daughters are now in college. Phyllis, the older, is a senior at Connecticut College for Women, having prepared at Highland Hall, Hollidaysburg, Pa. June prepared at Oak Grove School, Vassalboro, Me., and is now a sophomore at Guilford College, Guilford College, N. C., the oldest co-ed college in the South. Beulah is kept busy keeping the Cunningham organization together and moving."
Ned Dewey wrote that he was in Boston recently and almost had time to give us a ring. Unfortunately the miss was complete, a fact which we sincerely regret. Ned writes, "My daughter Barbara is at Smith, second year. Ned is completing his senior year at Deerfield Academy, played varsity backfield and is enrolled for Dartmouth— when the war ends." .... Vic Smith talked with Russ Fisher recently. Russ is a personnel manager with the Dravo Corporation, ship builders, in Wilmington, Del Jim McGowan is a _ civil- ian employee of the Ordnance Department in the Somerville (Mass.) plant doing property work.
.... Carp Atwater threatens to drop in on us this spring as, he writes, "I am toying with the idea of a business trip East to jar some mine and mill supplies out of our various connections. Spokane is three hundred miles east of Seattle and pretty much in the hinterland, but it has developed into a big bomber base, Navy supply base for the Pacific and Alaska, and the center of aluminum and magnesium for the west. Our friendly city of 120,- 000 has stepped up to a callous metropolis of 160,000. My business is keeping up about the same, but we will welcome the 'old' deal as soon as possible." One son entered Admiral Farragut Academy, Toms River, N. J., last fall and another the Army Air Corps this spring. "Labor shortage acute out here in mines, woods, mills, and defense plants. Round up the gang and come on out and help."
Another step, and a long one, toward a complete class record, has been accomplished by those two old 'l7 wheel horses, Sam MacKillop and Sunny Sanborn. Working together they have assembled a complete set of class pictures, originals or good copies—the Freshman picture, the Aegis group picture (taken in 1915), the senior picture (taken at the Bema in 1917), and each of the six reunion pictures. This pictorial record is a valuable one to us and will become more so. Its assembly has meant considerable time, effort, and fun for the collaborators. Copies can be made of any one or more for your own collection at an approximate cost of $1.25 per picture. There have been occasional instances of difficulty in identifying individual members of one or two of the groups. If, therefore, you have any or all of these pictures in your possession completely keyed as to male members, you can be of real assistance to Sam and Sunny in polishing off this labor of love by allowing them to check with you on particular identifications.
Start laying plans now for the Notre Dame game in Boston October 13, and the nightbefore round-up at the University Club. And a sure tip—Place your bet now on 1917 to win the Green Derby.
A 1917 FOURSOME. Left to right: Jack Soladine, Barney Thielscher, and Summie Emerson. Rog Stone is in the background, between Saladine and Thielscher.
Secretary, 57 Chestnut St., Dedham, Mass. Treasurer, 9 Park Terrace, Upper Montclair, N. J.
