1890

The Dartmouth has brought up the existence of a non-fraternity cry. It is interesting to us in what it shows as the difference between the fraternity situation in our far-off day and in the 1947 era. This year there is a student enrollment at the College of 2822. Of this number only 1317 are members of fraternities, and 1505 are non-fraternity men. In other words, over half the students at present at Dartmouth belong to no fraternity. This is a tremendous difference from the situation as it was in our day. In the seven classes with which we were connected at Hanover from 1887 to 1893, inclusive, there were some 650 students, and of these only about 60 did not belong to fraternities. This latter number was made up of men who did not care to join such organizations, and some who no doubt failed to receive invitations to do so. This means that in our time at college less than 10% of the students were non-fraternity men and that over 90% were members of the eight fraternities in existence at that time.

In our own class, out of 92 members who started their collegiate careers in the year 1886, there were 10 non-fraternity men or a little over the average for the seven years. If fraternities are of real benefit to students in their social life, to have over one half the College outside fraternity membership is far from a healthy situation, and some sort of relief should be possible.

There is one item in the life of Vic Safford that has just come to my attention, and that is that he and his sister, Mrs. Wilds of Kittery, Me., for many years owned the historic Pepperrell Mansion in Kittery. They inherited it from their Uncle John Bellamy, noted for his wood carving, especially of eagles. The mansion was built way back in 1682 by Col. William Pepperrell, father of the man who commanded the Colonial forces and captured the Fortress of Louisburg in Nova Scotia from the French in 1745. For this feat he was knighted by King George 11. The house was at that time the most palatial mansion in that part of the then New World.

Billy Earle writes me from Florida that he is still at work for the City of Miami, even though he has reached a year that is much nearer 80 than 70. He is probably doing more in the active line than most of his remaining classmates. The great trouble with most of us who graduated back in 1890 is that we are really afflicted with having had too many birthday anniversaries.

On the distaff side of the class we have two invalids, in the person of Mrs. Smith of Winchester, Mass., who has been ailing for some time, and Mrs. Mills of Bennington, Vt., whose son from Cleveland has been with her. On the other hand, Mrs. Mathewson writes me that she is living comfortably in a Vermont atmosphere where the thermometer registers 18 below zero and the ground is covered by at least a foot of snow.

Secretary and Treasurer9 2456 Tracy .Place, N. W., Washington, D. C.

ANNUAL NEW YORK DINNER, APRIL 16 HOTEL COMMODORE AT 6:30 P.M.