1916
Writing the day after the debacle at the Naval Academy, I am conscious of the feeling of depression which I suppose all Dartmouth men feel after such a crushing defeat. Followin" the Holy Cross defeat, I am in a double depression and I suppose the guys out on the field taking it on the chin, and Tuss feel worse about it than I do. However, the excursion was not a total loss. The Baltimore alumni arranged "Operation Indian, chartering the good ship Tolchester, which sailed from Baltimore at 10 A.M., loaded with men of all classes and their wives, children and girl friends and guests. We sailed down the beautiful Chesapeake Bay, famed in song, story and history, past Ft. McHenry where the Star Spangled Banner was born, cruising over the calm blue water to the Naval Acad- emy dock, about five minutes' walk from the football field.
At the game the only '16er I saw was StuPaul, but Dick Ellis Jr. who is in his third year at the Academy, and who was in the Class of '51 at Hanover, came over with his girl and sat with us during the second half, rooting vigorously for the Green in spite of his midshipman's uniform.
Coming back up the Bay, with a gorgeous sunset on the port hand, we formed a quartet of Page Worthington '33, Clarence Opper and Larry Pope '18 and your secretary, and produced some harmony for the benefit of those who wanted to listen, but chiefly for our own amusement.
I was not home when Anson Hates phoned to ask why he had not been notified of the boat trip, but that is something only the secretary of the Washington alumni can tell.
The Wilsons and Dartmouth House were honored with a visit from Fred Bailey, who is hereby given 100 demerits for not biinging Mrs. Bailey along with him from his daughter's home in Arlington. It was a grand day and we had lunch on the porch and did some reminiscing which is always in order when '16ers get together. We had been expecting Jack and Kay English to visit us this month but they were unable at the last minute to make the trip, and so we missed the anticipated pleasure of entertaining them and showing them the autumn foliage on Skyline-Drive in Virginia, one of the most spectacular and breath-taking spectacles this country affords. To console ourselves for not having Kay and Jack here, we are planning to go to the Colgate and Harvard games and before this is published I shall have seen a number of classmates in Boston, and some of the New England scenery at the best time of year.
A letter from Ken Henderson informs me he will be with us at the interim 1916 reunion at Hanover next June. Ken's son Pete is in the Navy, not the Coast Guard as I reported, and received a commendation for rescuing a plane pilot who had fallen into the sea while attempting to land aboard a flattop in a storm. Pete is a lieutenant junior grade.
I was disappointed, on getting a letter from Freddie Smith, to find he had been in Washington conducting his daughter back to her third year in Mt. Vernon Seminary and had been unable to find my phone number, the trouble being the common one that few friends remember my first name is Francis and the "F" is where I am listed. Says Freddie: "I have never tried contacting a president of the U.S. or of any other country for that matter but I am sure it is not more difficult." Alice Walker (Mrs. Ted), as I mentioned in the Newsletter, is a housemother at Mt. Vernon Seminary. She has been at Dartmouth House since returning from a visit to her daughters on the West Coast, and we are always glad to see her, because she seems like a friend we have always known and is a very congenial person to have around.
From the College I have "Suggestions for planning alumni Father and Son dinners" which gives some useful suggestions, such as avoiding freshmen Fathers' Weekend (Feb. 26-28, 1954); checking with the Secretary's Office, making reservations for dinner and accommodations well in advance; checking on athletic events; getting a list of sons in College from Charlotte Ford, Alumni Recorder, etc. So long as 1916 Father and Son dinners are held in Hanover, and so long as John Stearns is there, nothing can go wrong.
Dick Ellis Sr. wrote me there was a rumor Bill McKenzie would be at the Navy game but I didn't see him, which is no proof he wasn't there, because the crowd was dense. Dick, with Violet and Charlotte, drove down to Annapolis to see Dick Jr. over Labor Day weekend, and says they enjoyed themselves immensely in the Maryland sunshine. (Right now a little rain would be nice, too.)
The so-called Medalist Album of songs by the five highest ranking barbershop quartets in the U.S.A. which is made every year, was made this year by Decca, with Bones Joy directing the recordings. The recordings are by-far the best the famous barbershopping society has ever had made, although I do not care for all the arrangements (Yale men will shoot themselves when they hear what the Four Chorders of Toronto have done to the Whiffenpoofs) but the technical excellence of the recordings is a tribute to the technical skill and absolutely perfect ear of Leonard Joy. The quartets who made the recordings in Detroit last June told me Bones insisted on perfection and knew how to get it. If you want to hear some fine quartet singing, get Decca Record DL 5495 (any speed) and sit back and relax.
A report on Memorial Funds of various classes shows that 1916 now has a Memorial Fund of $25,981.74, of which $761.63 was added during fiscal year 1952-53. To give you an idea of how these funds range, four classes have accumulated more than $100,000. Of Harvard, Yale, Amherst, Princeton, Williams, all outrank Dartmouth in Endowment Per Student. At the top Harvard has an endowment of $24,323 per student and Dartmouth has $10,369. The total of all class Memorial Funds is now nearly one million dollars. Thank Cliff Bean for 1916's part in this, and of course, the loyal classmates who had the desire and ability to contribute generously to this Fund.
Charles L. Campbell, whom we knew as "Les" in college days, sends a new address at Geneva, Fla. (P.O. Box 67). We hope Les will give some further information on the shift from his farm at Valatie, N. Y., to the land of sun and palm trees. Such migrations always have a story behind them.
Jack English, my industrious correspondent, reports a phone call from Joe Lorimer, in Boston for the American Bar Association meeting, and a long talk. Also, Honey andEsther Abraham called at the English castle in Stoneham but Jack and Kay were away. "Just our luck —our only weekend away They (the Abrahams) are great people."
Bog English is out of the service and back in Klamath Falls, Oregon, with his old company, Weyerhauser Lumber.... Col. John L.Ames Jr. received the second Oak Leaf Cluster to his Legion of Merit from Maj. Gen. C. M. Bryan, senior UN member of the Military Armistice Commission in Korea. Awarded in lieu of a duplicate medal, the cluster to the highest non-combat medal was presented for John's "exemplary achievements and commendable action" in planning the prisone-Star, Bronze Star Medal, Commendation ribbon, Purple Heart for wounds received in action, and many theater and campaign ribbons ... John is Deputy Chief of Staff for General Bryan, and the number of his tent, by coincidence, is 16.
Charlie and Mrs. Everett announced the marriage of their daughter Constance Adele to Richard Henry Ware on September 26. The Wilsons announced the marriage of their daughter Janet Arbelan, to Houston Swink Jr. on August 29... . Jack and GraceLittle drove from Humid Houston (his words) up the continental divide until they found a snowdrift to soak their heads in, and then paid a visit to Ev and Clare Parker in Denver.
The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram mentions Ben Eastman, "an enthusiastic alumnus of Dartmouth, reminiscing about when he was on the campus at Big Green." ... Ernie Earley, helpful and efficient secretary of 1918, sends me an article in The Eastern Underwriter entitled, "It's the Pay-Off that Counts," authored by our Frank Bobst, John Hancock General Agent. Nice work, General!
LATEST AWARD: Col. John L. Ames Jr '16 (r), honored for his "exemplary achievements" in planning the prisoner-of-war exchange in Korea, is shown receiving the second Oak Leaf Cluster to his Legion of Merit from Maj. Gen. B. M. Bryan of the Military Armistice Commission in Korea. Col. Ames has received numerous awards and citations.
Secretary, 4808 Broad Brook Drive, Bethesda 14, Md. Treasurer, 27 Concord St., Nashua, N. H. Bequest Chairman,
