1912
In what esteem Ralph Pettingell was held in his community was strikingly evidenced by a spontaneous gift of 5125 to the Class of 1912 Memorial Fund made in Pett's memory by some of his friends and relatives who knew how much he loved Dartmouth. The contri- bution came from the Dedham Rotary Club, the Dedham Chamber of Commerce and brothers and sisters of Pett and his wife. As Henry Van Dyne wrote Emma Pettingell in acknowledging receipt of the funds: "I consider these gifts to be a magnificent tribute to Ralph and I know of no other case in which two outside organizations with no possible connection with Dartmouth class funds have made a contribution as a token of respect to an esteemed resident of a community." Emma wrote me: "We are proud that so many of his fellow-citizens have seen fit to praise him so unstintingly. I wonder if either you or Lyman could put in a 'thank you' in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE or The Billboard for me. I thought I should be able to acknowledge personally all the messages which I have received, but it is going to be physically impossible because they are in the hundreds. I have heard from many of the classmates, some of whom I scarcely know. Tell every 1912er that we thank them from the bottoms of our hearts for all they have done and been. If any of them are in this neighborhood we shall be glad to see them at any time."
We had exactly 13 classmates at the table at the Annual New York Dartmouth Dinner at the Hotel Commodore on April 12: RandyBurns, Nelson Doe, Rollie Linscott, HarryMcCaffrey, Doc O'Connor, Dick Remsen, CarleRollins, Les Snow, Jim Steen, Heinie Urion,Henry Van Dyne, Lee White and Red Whitney. Van Dyne came from Troy, Pa., and Red Whitney from Washington for the occasion. Alvie Garcia was unable to attend but sent his regards to all and was sorry to miss the dinner. Dick Remsen brought us up to date on the last of his three boys, all of whom have been so outstanding at Dartmouth. Ted will graduate in June with the Class of 1950. He is president this year of Dragon Senior Society, and was south during the spring vacation as a member of the Dartmouth Golf Team. HarryMcCaffrey has a son in the Class of 1951 to carry on the Dartmouth tradition.
On April Fools' Day, Bill Shapleigh went into the Maine General Hospital in Portland for surgical repairs, expecting to be back at business again after three weeks.
Pike Ghilds returned to Manchester, N. H„ April 6—home at last from his Florida vacation.
This is the last opportunity that I will have to put in a plug for support of the current Alumni Fund campaign and a boost to EddieLuilwieler and his committee. At this writing (early in May) reports show that the Class of 1912 is behind the other classes of our vintage in its efforts. We certainly owe it to Eddie to win him a top place in the "Green Derby" competition—which is calculated on a combination of the percentage of our class quota which we raise, and the percentage of individual participation of the total potential donors. We now have contributions in amounts ranging from five dollars to .$1000, so let your conscience be your guide and send in a check now for all that you can reasonably afford. Our quota is larger than that of last year, so Eddie will need larger contributions as well as a larger number of contributors for him to cop the prize.
Louie Ekstrom sent me a clipping from the San Jose Mercury-News regarding Bill Butler that Louie received from his daughter Nancy (Mrs. Jacques Le Borgne). She was married a year ago as a sequel to her stay in Arizona and is now living in San Jose—in a house opposite the ninth hole at the country club (fine place to get thirsty, says Louie). For many years Bill has been manager of the San Jose Hospital and is one of the outstanding hospital administrators of the country, active in and holding high offices in the American Hospital Association. The newspaper article shows how efficiently Bill runs his hospital, stating that in the last year letters from ex-patients topped 600 in number, nearly double the overall number for the previous six-year periodonly 35 of which were letters coming under the heading of "complaints." An accompanying photograph shows Bill with his secretary measuring the past year's pile of letters, 6 inches deep, as compared with 114 inches for the previous-year, and a scant half-inch for the year before that. Bill makes it a practice to answer personally every communication received whether it be a boost or a knock. Louie concludes his letter: "Nancy has a commitment at his hospital come June. I have every confidence that Bill will deliver now." Louie's first grandchild, three years old, is Nicky Bush Dawson.
Alvie Garcia, who is a director of the Rockwood Company, the chocolate company of which our late classmate Wally Jones was president, either has been, or now is, on a fish ing trip with the president of that company.
Recent visitors at Hanover Inn were KenKimball and Ray Cabot.
In acknowledging receipt of a report of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Jack Randerson wrote Doc O'Connor from Diamond Point-on-Lake George, N. Y.: "In regard to the deforming propensities of the disease of infantile paralysis, I'm reminded of some verses I recently wrote. Last summer 1 stood on a side road looking over a wood lot adjoining some forest land I own. It had been cut over and it was dominated by one large but gnarled pine that the cutters had decided they could do nothing with."
CUT-OVER WOOD LOT
The misshapen pine has its good use too, Reject and alone in the wood lot slash When the crescendo whine of the mill is through And all of the good ones are turned into cash. For the winds will come and the gales will blow, Loosening the petals with deftest fingers, And scattering the pine seeds high and low To become tomorrow's grove harbingers.
So, too, the child or man misshapen, Scorned by the cold and calculating youths, Will, by seeds of mind unshaken, Reveal to posterity eternal truths.
THE DREAM OF EVERY BOY: Henry E. Atwood '13, President of the Minneapolis Eastern Railway Co., can be engineer of his own train if he wants to. This railroad, which has a run of seven-eighths of a mile, is only one of several concerns of which Hap Atwood is president. But that this responsibility has a special appeal is plain to be seen.
Secretary, 120 Broadway, New York 5, N. Y. Class Agent, 299 Marginal St., East Boston 28, Mass.
