1897

I marvel at the sagacity of women who day by day provide for the animal called man, and when at times ideas run out, graciously turn to hash. So it is with the class secretary. Webster defines hash as a mixture, a jumble, a mess. This piece de resistance is going to be hash.

Let's look at the record, as Al Smith used to say. First I come to our classmate Heald, who died May 27, 1947. "Sam" was a man I learned to admire 50 years after we were classmates at Dartmouth, a specialist in agricultural education with the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, a coach of football teams, a leader with a great influence with boys.

"Mike" Kelly admits he was able to steal enough duds to complete a football suit so that he could play on the team, the team which we non-football players hauled up the hill from the Norwich Station with a long rope dragging Hamp Howe's coach. There was nothing I did in college that gave me such a thrill as to be a boy horse pulling the rope hauling our successful team who had won over Amherst and Williams to the campus "Mike" Kelly riding on top.

I've just had a written confession from JohnMeserve about how the train that the boys came back in was wrecked and he disconnected the bell rope, others took cushions and things from the train. Dr. Tucker let them off by making them take the stuff back.

"Pa" Rollins is easy to write about. He was a member of the "rude" House Gang, as I have said before, a hunter in his leisure in the Rocky Mountains, introduced skiing at Dartmouth, a lawyer putting together the pieces of busted railroads, fond of dogs, a mountain climber and the father of a debutante who my grandson calls a "whiz."

Lull, who died in March, 1949, was first in this list to have the right to wear a Phi Beta Kappa key, a great engineer, a man of wonderful accomplishments, ran a big railroad in war time, vice-president of a national bank, an indefatigable fly fisherman, as he proved at our 50th reunion, kept his balance with his Vermont wit, a corn cob pipe and a slide rule.

Todds Harrison, the first classmate of ours to die, was captain of the "Ship's Company" who sailed with his psuedo-crew, all officers but one man.

"Bob" Sisk, first mate, "Poddy" Parker, bosun, John Meserve, chaplain ex officio, and Bill Ham, steward. Duties of the steward were to steal grub and fruit and arrange for cooking a squirrel stew with rabbit and woodchuck to round out a meal and make a sufficient size mess.

Of course, Vic, the one canine member of our family in college, went through the Thayer School with us and found his way to get his grub by pointing "Johnny" Vose's lunch box and wagging his tail. "Johnny" was certainly fond of dogs and Vic went about 50- 50 with him on his grub. A rule was introduced in the Thayer School that no dog should go to classes but it wasn't enforced until Vic graduated.

This hash is getting too big. Let's rush on. "Eddie" Carr, lawyer with office hours from 11:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M., specialist in defense of hearse thieves.

Joe Ryan, maker of blackboards to show up the bad spelling of lots of kids, but more important for use by the kids to draw cartoons of teachers. The blackboard is not romantic like the slate.

John Henderson, an economist of the old school, which had as its motto, "a small surplus is better than a large deficit," surplus now spelled with a small s and deficit with a large capital D to show advance in economy.

John Meserve with his lot of grandchildren and "Gibby" lately called "Ham" with a lot of books have been recently portrayed for you classmates.

"Hiram" is still raising money for the College and is portrayed in the MAGAZINE by the ugliest picture of him X ever saw. "Hiram" admits to being a glamor boy. Told me he was building a crazy house one time and one of the inmates swooned, as she shrieked, "his eyes are like mine."

In closing this screed which is really a hash, want to boast about the kids playing ball on my baseball field last year. My humble job is to raise the money to help provide a lot of things in baseball, such as suits, caps and masks and protectors and gloves. We had 600 boys playing last year and going to have more this year. As I see these kids respond to my small effort, I know that old age is but a second childhood. I have asked 250 citizens to subscribe to this movement in small amount of money and large amount as they wish, and only one has refused. He said, "let the boys work, don't coddle them." I said, "They can't work legally eight to twelve." He said, "let them break the law." He is the exception to the rule. Everyone of the 249 have responded generously. The Duke of Wellington is re- puted to have said that the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. If there are some battles of Waterloo ahead, I feel sure that my playing fields will furnish their quota of stalwarts in the line.

AN IMPORTANT OCCASION: Harrison L. Nichols '98 recently celebrated his 77th birthday.

Secretary and Treasurer 886 Main St., Bridgeport 3, Conn. Class Agent, 862 Park Square Bldg., Boston 16, Mass.