1920
Timely arrival of our local Mercury, who performs special delivery chores for the community of Rye, brought a message of significance and reassurance from Class Agent PetePotter. "Calm yourself, boy," said Pete, as of April 25, "the show is going on. I am on the warpath for the Alumni Fund. Following conferences with Ken Henderson, chairman, and Nick Sandoe, executive secretary, our campaign moves into high gear. You have probably by now seen the slogan 'What will Twenty do in Fifty-Two?' Those who haven't responded by the time they get the June issue still will not be forgotten." Any heartfelt Amen that we might attach to Pete's eloquence would carry with it the hope that our slow start this year presages an unusually strong finish.
Our Foreign Travel Department now swings into action for a few paragraphs. Thanks to a State Department release, we can supplement our earlier remarks on the subject of Sam Stratton's assignment in Saudi Arabia.
"Dr. Stratton will work with officials of the Government of Saudi Arabia in formulating plans for technical cooperation in economic development and will direct the Point 4 program in that country ...Point 4 activities in Saudi Arabia are in two major fields, public administration and government services, and water resources development. .. to provide the greatest benefits to the people, in terms of irrigation, village water supply, and water for livestock. The Government of Saudi Arabia intends to stabilize agriculture and nomadic lite around dependable sources of water, and agricultural extension, health, sanitation, and education services will be developed through these settlements. The Point 4 program in Saudi Arabia has been in operation under a general agreement between the two Governments signed on January 17, 1951 the first Point 4 general agreement to be signed by an Arab nation. ... It is expected that about 35 Americans will be in Saudi Arabia when the Point 4 program is in full operation, and an even greater number of Saudi personnel will be assigned by their Government to work with them.
Clarence G. McDavitt, mainstay of the Class of 1900, has made a welcome correction of the April class notes to the effect that Sam "was a public member of the Regional War Labor Board in Vermont." Himself chairman of the employer group of the War Labor Board, Mr. McDavitt points out that there was no such board restricted to Vermont, but that Sam's service was with the New England Regional War Labor Board. In that capacity, says C. G. McD., "he made a fine contribution to the work."
Clint Johnson, fast becoming Twenty's leading globe-trotter, was reported by his secretary (with an assist from Paul Richter) to have left with Mrs. Johnson in mid-March on an 11- week, round-the-world journey covering 40,000 air miles on behalf of his bank, visiting correspondent banks and commercial customers in the following cities: Honolulu, Sydney, Melbourne, Jakarta, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangkok, Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Karachi, and London." Before long Clint may start taking his two granddaughters, Christine, now 5, and Cynthia, 3, along to see the sights. They are the children of Dorothy (Johnson) Mullin, resident of Valley Stream, L. I.
It will be interesting to learn whether traveler Johnson hooked up with classmate ShiroAkaboshi in Tokyo. Ort Hicks '21 renewed acquaintance with Shiro in the course of a late 1951 junket and found him active in the affairs of the Dartmouth Club of Japan. This comes as especially welcome news, in view of the fact that he left Dartmouth after freshman year, enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania, and played some tough football for the group of Penn maulers that broke so many Big Green bones in the memorable 1919 contest. Now, like so many other Twenties, relaxing in the much milder sport of golf, Shiro has been several times national champion of Japan. He is Tokyo representative for Antonin Raymond & L. L. Rado, a New York firm of architects, but in his spare time carries out a separate activity of his own as designer and layer-outer of golf courses. Consult him, in either capacity, at 4 Kogai-cho Azabu Minato-Ku, Tokyo.
Congratulating himself that his own globetrotting days are as good as over, Gerry Stone has let the Crockery and Glass Journal tell the startling story of his retirement from Macy's after 27 years of service that made him, in the words of one wholesaler, "Tops, the dean of all buyers." On April 1 he went to work for Johnson Bros., English dinner ware manufacturers, whom he will represent in their Empire State Building office. In so doing he moves out of retailing into the wholesale business, but direct quotes from the article mentioned above will best serve the purposes of accurate reporting:
"In these years when china and glass buyers flit from store to store, the post which Mr. Stone has held at R. H. Macy Co., New York, for 22 years is looked on with awe. Even more inspiring is the fact that he is so well-liked after years of having to drop one line, refuse another, criticize products and perform other unhappy details which are a part of the job of being a good buyer
••In his observance of his predecessors and through practical experience in the lengthy period spent in his present position, Mr. Stone sees these fundamentals as the qualifications of being a good buyer: 1. hard work; 2. proper study of the field, 3 common sense; 4. fair treatment of all you meet in business; 5. seeing everything m the market 6. confirming orders on what you say you will buy. "Unobtrusive and gentle of speech, you'll "ever hear him boast—he is a mite proud of the fact that. 1. he is a citizen of these United States; 2. he was born in New England; 3. he was graduated from Dartmouth College; 4. and most important, he is a part of the china and glass industry."
Mel Merritt was the recent subject of an article in the Boston Herald's series, "My Top Thrill in Golf." Expressing doubt about his ability to select the one top thrill, Mel told his interviewer, Joe Looney, that in his case two diametrically opposite occurrences have proved how uncertain the game can be. On one occasion, when virtually everybody conceded that he had the Massachusetts amateur championship tucked away in his bag (this was in 1935). his opponent, on the play-off 19th hole, chipped in from a bad lie 35 feet from the flag and stole the cup from him. But five years later, in the same tournament, after a something less than neat 84 in practice,
"Some people advised me to drop out of the tournament and concentrate on an official's role since I was the MGA secretary-treasurer at the time. I'll have to admit I became aroused by the nettling. The opinions of the boys on the sidelines looked good when I pulled my first tee shot into the heavy rough to lead to a one-over-par five on the first hole. But I steadied down immediately and played the remaining 17 holes in two under par for a 71. I was two strokes higher in the second round, but easily won the medalist prize with a 36-hole total of 144."
Frank Kimber, now resident at 80 Lawton Road, Needham, Mass., reports from this comparatively new address, "no activities other than maintaining a house with too much ground and waiting on my family." Frank has been connected with the Merchants Mutual Casualty Company for 26 years, and for the greater part of that time has held the job of New England manager of the Company's Compensation and General Liability Department. His 20-year-old son is a sophomore at North- eastern University.
No Newcomer to grandparenthood is our Stanley J., who nevertheless welcomes with wide open arms his second granddaughter, Marcia Ann Newcomer, born right there in Monroe, Mich., on April 11 and looking (from her picture taken at age four hours) as if she'd be knocking the boys dead some 17 or 18 years hence. Marcia Ann is the daughter of Bill and Betty Newcomer. By way of celebration, her grandparents took off for a week in New York, during which they divided their dining time between honest-to-God clowns in the Madison Square Garden circus and less talented clowns in the class of 1920.
Frank Mayer's wife Katherine bowed out of the presidency of the Chicago Visiting Nurse Association- at this year's annual meeting, after a term of office that ran through several years, reflecting her high abilities as an administrator and her deep devotion to a cause of the greatest civic importance.
Up in Massachusetts, where novel highway signs apologize to tourists for the inconveniences of new construction, Chief Engineer PhilKitfield was in charge of The Works for a 10- day period in April, while Public Works Commissioner Callahan was undergoing surgery.
The death of Oscar Anderson on April 2 takes from our ranks one of the quiet, stalwart, much admired members of the Class. An obituary notice appears in this issue.
CHINA EXPERT: Gerald S. Stone '20 has joined Johnson Bros., English dinner ware manufacturers, after 27 years at Macy's. Popular in the trade, he is known as the dean of buyers in his specialty.
Secretary, Blind Brook Lodge, Rye 17, N. Y.
Treasurer, Windmill Lane, Arlington 74, Mass.
Class Agent, 1128 Clover St., Rochester, N. Y.
EDITOR'S ADDITION: In the April 19 issue of the Saturday Review, Class Secretary DickPearson was the author of an article representing the publisher's point of view in a symposium on the textbook in American education.
