1921
June 20 was " '21 Day" in the United States Senate. For on that momentous date, Nels Smith's reappointment as Federal Power Commissioner and John Sullivan's nomination to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air were both confirmed by the upper branch of Congress. Nels had been nominated by President Truman on May 31 for reappointment to the Power Board for a full term, which development was followed by a June 9 WashingtonPost story forecasting a Navy Department reorganization which would bring in John as one of the two assistant secretaries to the top man, Jim Forrestal '15. Sullivan promptly made history, according to a July 3 UP report, by becoming the first Assistant Navy Secretary ever to take the oath of office in a war zone at sea. This neat stunt was accomplished by John's being sworn in aboard his aircraft carrier as a task force of the Third Fleet plowed through the battle zone waters off Japan, while carrier fighter planes flew overhead to intercept any attack. Trust John to be right up on the firing line! It's assumed this new assignment implies John's withdrawal from the Washington law firm of Sullivan & Bernard, a partnership announced as recently as May of this year Things of a '21 nature continue to pop on the Washington news front. Early in June, Luke Boggess came on from Missouri to witness his elder son Jack's graduation from Annapolis, with the rank of ensign in the regular Navy. Your scribe had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Boggess and Jack, and lunching with Luke. The Boggesses have two other children, Margaret (now Mrs. Joe Miller) and Bill, aged eighteen and on his way into the AAF. Luke is in grand shape and continues to be one of the most active citizens of Carthage, Jasper County, Mo., what with his construction firm, building and loan, and insurance offices. The reason we mention the county is that Luke was president of the Young Democrats of Jasper County the year Harry Truman first ran for the Senate, knows all the Trumans intimately, and stands ready to introduce any and all '21ers at the drop of a hat.
On June 21 (the longest day of the year) it seemed the shortest, however, to this participant, for the following good reason—Fred Benton hit town and we tossed one or two together in the Statler as dusk drew on. Fred recently joined the Dartmouth Club in New York and had seen Bill Codding while at the clubhouse a few days earlier. The Bentons of Philadelphia have two children, Joanne, just through her freshman year at Oberlin, and John, "fourteen, about to enter high school. Sez Fred, about the prospects of John's going to Hanover, "Either they will have to put in some agricultural courses or his interests will have to change." .... On a recent trip to Dayton, 0., your correspondent tried without success to contact Bill Keys. Bill is engaged in the general insurance business in the Winters Bank Bldg., and this operative was told by a native that Bill also owns and operates a local cinema theatre The big Dartmouth dinner in Washington on May 25 was presided over in his usual efficient way by Mac Johnson, with Carleton McMackin doing the honors at the piano for the singing part of the program. John Sullivan and Nels Smith graced the head table, with the result that '21 played a leading role that evening With profound sororw we record the sudden death of Rog Bird on June 30, in Boston, of a heart attack. Funeral services, attended by a number of Dartmouth men including Cliff Hart from our class, were held July 3 in Larchmont, N. Y. An account of Roger's life will appear in an early issue.
Service promotions recently reported include Corey Ford, to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and Vincent O'Reilly, to the rank of major..... Rudie Blesh turns up in Manhattan (a far cry from San Francisco) as a writer, lecturer, and music critic for the Herald Tribune. Address him at 46 West 54th St., New York 19 Capt. Ben Tenney of the Navy apparently has put out to sea again, for his new address is Fleet Hospital 117, F.P.O., San Francisco Terry McAdams remains in California, but it's now Manhattan Beach, instead of Glendale Vinnie Corwin has returned to Montana, where he's managing the Maclntyre Motor Co. in Billings..... Major Newell Smith appears to have been evacuated from Wright Field, Dayton; at least he reports a mail address of 1218 Brookside Drive, Fairfield, Conn., his pre-war habitat John Woodhouse, the duPont scientist, displays understandable reluctance to break into print about his many contributions to the war effort. Anent the firebomb, however, John does loosen up with a statement that "All that the Army has announced to date is that in approximately two months after the problem was put up to us, imme- diately following Pearl Harbor, we had developed and were ready to manufacture the incendiary com- position which has since been the standard product. Incidentally, we had to train everybody, from cap- pistol manufacturers, to candy makers who had been forced out of business, to wallpaper producers, to make the stuff. That was a much more difficult job than developing the material itself." .... Ort Hicks forwards a most interesting letter from Florrelle (Mrs. Bob) McConaughey, writing for and in behalf of the w.k. Salt Lake City real-estate entrepreneur. Lacking space for extended quotation in this issue, we highlight the contents by announcing that young Bob has been accepted for Dartmouth
NEWEST HONORARY MEMBER OF 1920, Joseph L. McDonald, Professor of Economics at the College and of Foreign Trade at the Tuck School, joins the distinguished company of President Hopkins '01, who was elected an honorary '20 shortly after becoming the College's head, and Dr. H. Sheridan Baketel m'95, father of H. Sheridan Baketel Jr. '20.
Secretary, 201 W. Montgomery Ave., Rockville, Md. Treasurer, 545 Hinman Ave., Evanston, Ill.
