1902

On a beautiful June day this year, my wife and I journeyed over the hills toward Hanover. We passed through the quaint old Maine towns of Gorham and Cornish, through Freedom, N. H., with its watering trough full of flowers, along the shores of Lake Winnepesaukee to Centre Harbor and over the hill by charming Squam Lake to Plymouth. Thence we meandered up along winding Baker's River and over Cube Mountain to quiet Orford in the Connecticut Valley and down the river through Lyme with its church and long stalls of the horse and buggy days, along the golf links by the ski jump, Prexie Tucker's old home, the New White Church, Rollins Chapel, Dartmouth Hall to stop in front of the gym at 5 P.M. to see the Campus covered with back stop nets and Navy men playing soft ball.

The face of the college seemed little changed except that Crosby Hall had improved its dress from the old yellow to a charming white which to me added to the beauty of the ensemble. All the fraternity houses were closed and beginning already to show signs of disuse. The C. & G. house was a Hostess House and the Nuggett was blackened and dreary due to a recent fire.

It was interesting, one evening to walk into our 1902 room in the Baker Library and see every seat in that spacious room occupied. Whoever of our class chose the pictures for the walls of that room showed discrimination for there are the friendly faces of "Clothespins" Richardson, Craven Laycock, Prof. Adams.

I visited the Alumni Record office graciously presided over by Miss Charlotte Ford and found that 1902 entered a class of 195, where I wrongly remembered that we were the first class to pass the 200 entering mark. Our graduating number was 135.

Arthur Ruggles was in Hanover for the meeting of the Trustees and Percy Dorr of the Alumni Council. We spent a pleasant evening with Mose Perkins who is teaching in the Clark School and living in Bobbie Bartlett's House just where it always was.

There was no lack of spirit among the Alumni and there seems to be a good outlook for the fund. Also they were ambitious in planning a new Physics Building, additions to the hospital and other improvements. The Navy parades on the campus but no seniors are sitting on the fence and no reunioners are singing far into the night. In fact one seems to hear the noise of the plumbing in the Inn more than I ever noticed before.

My trip had a very sad ending, for as I stepped into my office on my return my telephone was ringing with a long distance call from Worcester announcing the sudden death of our classmate and treasurer, Arthur Houghton.

Secretary,, 7 Ship Channel Rd., South Portland, Me.