CROSBY DAYS
Recalling Life in the Old Dorm of Yesteryear
CONVERSION of Crosby House to administration uses brings to mind some of the rich memories associated with this grand old building which, in the early part of this 20th century, was considered the patrician dorm on the campus. As one writer put it, "Many are the great names it has had on its honor roll; many are those who have gone forth from its walls with the spirit of do or die; many are the tales it could tell, could it but talk."
This building, owned by Dr. Dixi Crosby, was acquired by the College in 1884. In 1896, the authorities, aware of its advantageous location and its stateliness, turned it into a dorm, after hitching an addition to the rear. It housed about 50 students.
I came to know Crosby as a freshman, moving in with my classmate, Maurice Kivel, for the second semester. Duke Naylor, with whom I had been rooming in Fayerweather the first half of the year, teamed up with a bunch of seniors—Trail Ford, Bob Wallace, and Bob Carpenter. Living with these superior beings gave him a feeling of importance.
Crosby was the only dorm, to my knowledge, that ever sported its own newspaper. The first issue of Ye Crosby Chronicle appeared on March 17, 1906. It was supposed to be a weekly, but after five issues it died a natural death and never was revived. Robert F. Carpenter '06 was Editor-in-Chief; Associate Editors were T. Edward Ford '06, Herbert H. Mitchell '07, Robert F. Thompson 'OB, and Em- mett Hay Naylor '09. John C. Wallace '07 was business manager. The sheet was a four-pager that sold for ten cents. It was printed at the Dartmouth Press for the amazingly low cost of $4.00 per issue. Although the first issue carried its own weight, subsequent issues fell off in paid circulation, as Manager Wallace pointed out in his financial statement of March 31, in which he complained that only 25 copies had been sold for cash and payment for seven other copies was on the cuff.
The Chronicle campaigned for tennis courts to the rear and a "palm garden" on the side porch to be fitted with awning, chairs and tables. "When we get our litde palm garden," went one comment, "some of the men in the other dormitories will wish that they, too, were Grosbyites." All they ever got was the awning.
The greater part of one issue was devoted to recounting a visit of a phrenologist who charged a buck a throw for reading a guy's bumps. After he took all the dollars he could, he lowered his price to 50 cents, leaving the dorm with a tidy sum of 12 dollars for his night's work. The Chronicle referred to those who paid as "lemons," a slang phrase for "suckers" current at the time.
Champion of law and order, peace and quiet, the paper complained about "the ginger ale drunks" who caroused in the stilly night; the piano playing of Pat Hathaway and Herb Mitchell, who pounded away at different tunes on their respective boxes; the housekeeping of Kivel whose room was referred to as "the waste basket." "Some of our esteemed members of the class of '09," went one warning, "have been getting a trifle fresh lately. If the upperclassmen should suddenly decide to take them down a peg, the aforesaid freshmen will find that such Child's play hardly pays."
There was plenty of musical talent in Crosby in those days. Shorty Neal and Doc Felt, both '06, performed well as a violin and piano team. What a treat it was to go up to their room on the second floor of a Sunday afternoon and listen to those old familiar tunes. There were almost nightly "hums" in the hallways when Joe Berwick, the sandwich man, put in appearance. Joe, who will be 78 in January, continues to live in Hanover and he can still give with that tenor voice of his. "Besides our friend . Joe," commented the Chronicle, "the most prominent singers (?) are Beals Wright, Bishop Niles, and Jack Wallace. It seems strange to us that some members of the College Glee Club don't take advantage of the priceless opportunity offered by these 'hums.' "
Quest of feminine companionship was prevalent then as now. Witness this item: "Sam Barnes '07 has been loud and long in his denunciation of the way authorities of some of our nearby women's colleges restrain their freshmen. You have our sympathy, Sam."
Major Pelton, in those years, was the esteemed janitor of Crosby. Oldtimers will remember him and his brother Tony, the Popcorn Man, who, with his blackdyed mustache, was a familiar figure at the corner by the C. & G. house. Major was also the father of Henry, an ebullient townie, who was born, lived, and died in Hanover.
An editorial in issue No. 3 of the Chronicle had this to say about the Major: "We all know that we have the best janitor in college right here in Crosby House. The Major has helped each pne of us out of many a scrape, and by his unfailing good nature, has shown himself to be a friend to all of us .... Major's task is no easy one. Let us help to make it as light as possible. He is interested in us; we should be in him."
Crosby was the first dorm to house feminine guests at Dartmouth's Junior Prom, an institution that came into being in 1899, but has since given way to the Winter Carnival. In the final issue of the Chronicle, an editorial welcomed the girls with "hopes that all of our guests may carry away with them the most pleasant recollections of Crosby House, of the Prom, and of Dartmouth." They carried away, also, certain possessions from the rooms they occupied. :
Pretty good personal coverage in the Chronicle was given to residents that spring of 1906—members of the classes of '06, '07, 'OB, and '09. Among them were Art Stearns, Pat Early, Chet Melville, Bill Walker, Charlie Woodworth, Art Stewart, Fat Prescott, Ralza Cummings, Bill Cummings, Pete Knight, besides those who have already been named in this piece.
It is good to know that Crosby House is being retained as part of the college plant, although its halls no longer echo the roisterous activities of high-spirited undergrads. Many of those who enjoyed the hospitality of Crosby during the period of which I write have departed this earth and can no longer re-live, in memory, those happy undergraduate experiences, as can those of us who remain.
CROSBY HOUSE 40 YEARS AGO: A photograph of the pillared Colonial building indicating the stateliness it possessed when its setting was a great deal more bucolic than that prevailing today.
THE STUDIOUS LIFE was not unknown to the inmates of Crosby, as shown in this picture of a room of the period described by the author (who believes it was posed). The figure in overalls is Major Pelton, beloved janitor of Crosby. The picture is from the collection of the Pelton family in Hanover.
