1932
What's bad about writing a column, or a letter, against a deadline is that you have to do it under the influence of the mood of the moment. Writing should be done when you are in the kind of mood the subject calls for. These notes, for example, should reflect a fraternal gaiety, full of back-slapping and purified locker-room humor. Tonight (I am writing this a day after the deadline, starting at 10 P.M.) I am tired. Alice has been in bed with her attack of the seasonal virus, and just recovered in time to take care of A. Rebecca, who came down with her threey-ear-old version of the same malady during last night. I was up the usual number of times in such situations, and then I spent a full, typical day at the State Department, whirling from one country to another and from one problem to another on an interdepartmental, interoffice, international merry-go-round. Hence you will have to excuse the complete absence of any original contribution from me, and share my thankfulness that I had plenty of material on hand.
Walter Rushmore is reported to have been elected first Vice-President of the Dartmouth Alurnni Association of Long Island JimMoore won his 30th victory (that's a lot) in a row in the Class B frostbite, dinghy sailboat race on Long Island Sound on January 29 (sounds cold to me) Whit Daniels is the author of an article on Fraternity Public Relations published in the October issue of Banta's Greek Exchange Joe Byram is now the Treasurer of the Worcester (Mass.) County Republican Club; he's also on the Finance Committee From a couple of sources I have learned that, effective January 19, W. H. Kendall was appointed Assistant to the President of the Atlantic Coast Railroad Co.
Our classmates are touching on foreign affairs in many ways. I read in the Congressional Record, of February 14, at page 1096, an article by Charley Odegaard, originally prepared for the news letter of the American Council of Learned Societies, which he directs in Washington. The subject is the Fullbright educational exchange program, under which local currencies realized from the sale of U.S. surplus property abroad is being used to pay the expenses of American students and professors in other countries. It's a complete story of the program as it is operating. I was particularly interested because I was in on the negotiation and drafting of many of the agreements under which the local currencies have been made available.
Howie Sargeant has contributed again to a publication which I find very valuable reading, namely, the hearings before the House Appropriations Committee. At page 1077 of the Hearings on the State Department Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1951 Howie defined our foreign policy extemporaneously in a manner that drew from Congressman Stefan of Nebraska, who is an old hand in this field, the remark that "You have done a better job than anybody else has done here as to what is our foreign policy....."
Bo Wentworth, writing last January from Riverside, Conn., describes a practical tour among some of the recipients of that policy:
"Reading your column in the Jan. issue of the MAGAZINE last night reminded me that it is a long time since I sent a note your way.
"You reported my last 'eviction' which occurred last May, but now I feel a bit more entrenched as I have purchased our present habitat. I echo the refrain of other classmates in stating that the welcome is out and a can of ale on the ice for any '32ers, or other Dartmouth alumnus for that matter, who cares to call. Happily, there are a number of Big Green, though none from our class, in the neighborhood, so my daughter feels a bit less oppressed by the Blue wave of Yale progeny which inundates these parts.
"Scarcely had the ink on the deed dried, and the new coat of paint on the house ditto, when I received an urgent mission to depart for Arabia and other Middle Eastern points. Flew off late in August, stopping briefly in Paris and Cairo. The next six weeks were spent 'basking' in the scorching heat of Dhahran, Riyadh, Jiddah and other scenic spots—the scenery consisting largely of sand, camels and swarms of pilgrims of all shapes and hues headed for Mecca and Medina of the annual 'Haj.' After observing the wonders of the 'black gold' industry and, as a sidelight, the conventional yellow gold industry at the site of the ancient mines of Solomon (those of central. Arabia, not Nairobi as in the new MGM film), I wandered on to spots along the Persian gulf, Bahrein island, Kuwait, etc. and finally wound up in Baghdad where I flew around for a bit on a magic carpet before proceeding to Syria and Lebanon. I might add that while I flew over an arid spot en route from Basrah to Bagdad which the Iraqi co-pilot identified as the original garden of Eden(!), I saw no-one during all my travels who approached in pulchritude the comely wench who is reputed to have been a mother to all of us. However, while I may have failed m that direction, I did not return from the Moslem world without the dignity of a fancy title. In a ceremony which might best be left undescribed I received the noble designation Bo Hassan Bin Sober Al Dey—no relation to or reflection upon the star halfback from Hanover.
"Well, after Beirut came Athens with the Acropolis, olive groves and the Allied mission. From there I flew to Israel where I beheld the miracles which have been wrought by men with faith and a vision. Tel Aviv resembled an anthill, and a very modern one, with concrete buildings mushrooming in ever-increasing suburbs which might one day threaten the reputation or Los Angeles. While in Tel Aviv, by the way, j met among the insurance fraternity a chap named Stahl who said he had a friend or a relative wno had known you in Constantinople days. Unfortunately I don't remember the name. Then up Jerusalem over what the Israeli refer to as their Burma road because they built it to supply, tne Holy (all faiths) city during the prolonged siege. I was surprised to the 'new' city such massive modern metropolis. Unfortunately I couia not visit the 'old' city, full of historic shrines, because this would have necessitated crossing tary lines, but I did look down over the wans which were patrolled by an occasional Transjorda soldier. Somehow, one felt that if the world didn't mix in quite so much these peoples and others elsewhere might patch up their differences and find a modus vivendi. Which might apply at home here as well, n'est-ce-pas?"
George Hahn's letter of January 25 shows that he has not let up in his strenuous activities in his vocation and avocations: "We spent a most pleasant summer vacation on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where all the children except the youngest (age 3) learned to swim and dive. The waters of the Chesapeake were soothing indeed in comparison to the Maine waters where we have been going for a number of summers. When not sleeping (the prime object of a vacation as far as I am concerned) we ate sumptuously of fried soft shell crab, hot breads and other Eastern Shore delights.
"In the early fall we (the adult members of the family) went to the Homestead in Hot Springs where we attended a medical gathering and dined elegantly and were also introduced to skeetshooting—a fascinating pastime, even for those who are not particularly adept with a rifle.
"Later in the fall we witnessed the Penn debacle (the Penn game has taken the place of the Yale game in my heart as the 'jinx' game). After the game Bill and Jay MacKinney and Ben Burch and his charming wife stopped by for a while. Ben is engaged in an interesting profession—restoring old homes to their original beauty—when oftentimes the luster has been effectively concealed by ill-chosen modernism.
"The practise of medicine continues as usual. In the fall I was appointed to the Cancer Commission of the State Medical Society, was reelected a director of the Philadelphia Division of the American Cancer Society. I was just appointed a member of the Cancer Co-ordinating Committee of the State of Pennsylvania. This committee is composed of representatives from the American Cancer Society, Cancer Commission and State Health and Education Department and an attempt is made to utilize the resources of all in the most effective way.
"Have just finished reading The Egyptian, a tale of a physician in Egypt in the time of Amhotep (about 1000 B.C.)—a most interesting story, even though you may not be medically inclined. Medicine has improved, but the fundamental biologic urges remain about the same.
"The possible '32 reunion in New York sounds good. I'm sure that a representative Philadelphia contingent could be persuaded to make the trip.
"Any further news of Art Blais' engagement?"
No. Does anyone else have any?
Secretary, 3909 North sth Street, Arlington, Va. Treasurer, 144 Brixton Rd., Garden City, N. Y. Class Agent, 3448 81st St., Jackson Heights, L. 1., N. Y.
