1940
After its pursuing him half way around the world in the process of obtaining an Alumni Fund contribution, Bill Harriman finally caught up with his mail long enough to pen a note —and a check —from Naples, Italy. As he explains it: "I've been hopping around the world at a great rate, and my papers never seem to catch up to me. I resigned from Creole Petroleum Co. after eleven happy years in the Jersey Standard family, in order to see more of the world with an internationally-famed consulting outfit, DeGolyer and MacNaughton, of Dallas. After a short three weeks in Buffalo, Tulsa and Dallas, I flew to Spain to work on an unsuccessful wildcat in the Ebro Valley (south of the Pyrenees). Now on a month's leave of absence in France and Italy, I'm returning to Madrid on September 1, where my address will be the Hotel Ritz, Madrid, Spain. Hope I'll have time to write something for the Indian Drum some day."
Better late than never and we've really interpreted the adage liberally in quoting the following sequel to last spring's correspondence exchange with Bob Skinner, the master of the Sporthaus Ski Shop, Mt. Sunapee, N. H. Bob writes under a May 11 dateline:
"You will have to excuse the delay in answering your letter. I have excuses to burn. By way of explanation, it seems that I became married to one Margaret Gardner around April Fools Day, and we took a little trip to the western ski resorts Sun Valley, Alta, Aspen, etc. Hence, I returned to the place where they said go west young man only a few weeks ago, and I am just now catching up on my writing.
"I certainly appreciate your sympathetic attitude in regards to the 'bitter remarks' that came my way as the result of my first letter; however, when all things were added up, I doubt whether sympathy was needed. What I am trying to say is that looking over the letters I received, I fand that the majority of them are slapping me on the back, the minority in the face. Of course, I received letters that you didn't, and vice versa. In any case, as you said, it did stir up a little more interest. There is only one thing I have to say about the matter, and that is that I was very disappointed in your editing my letter: to wit, you left out my constructive suggestion in the last paragraph or the letter. (Ed. Note: Bob's last lines offered his critique as an open letter and invited other classmates to make constructive suggestions as to how the class news reporting might be improved. He assumed and correctly so that they had been omitted unintentionally in my quotation.)
"The only 1940 I have seen in many a moon is Dave Mellor, who dropped in a month back. He is doing some first class reporting for the New Haven (Conn.) Register. He looks wonderful, and is the same old Dave. He's married, and smokes cigars which come in metal containers.
Culled from the latest changes of address: Ralph Aulmann has left his spot as vice president of the Eagle Iron Works, Des Moines, lowa, to become a television sales executive in Tulsa, Okla. Art Christensen is now manager of the Fremont White Truck Sales, Fremont, Ohio. Jim Malaney has moved his law practice to Tonowanda, N. Y. Dr.Danny Rectanus has completed his medical studies at the U. of Rochester and is now on the staff of the Grace-New Haven Community Hospital, New Haven, Conn. Edward"Nun" Shaw is a field service representative with United Aircraft Service Corp., Corpus Christi, Texas. Gardner P. Ashley is pursuing his teaching career in the Romance Language field as a professor at Northwestern University, after three years at the University of Vermont. Fred Porter has .settled down with Ann and family in a new "Swallow Farm" at Essex, Conn.
Al Rosenthal is now in the real estate busi- ness with Al Zura Cos., Providence, R. I. Ros-coe Giles Jr. is a Court Reporter in Chicago, having moved from a similar position in Oak- land, Calf. Bud Courshon has left his engi- neering position with Western Sand 8c Gravel Cos., at Spring Valley, 111., to go into retail- ing, living at Oak Park, 111. Bill Rutherford is in sales work out of Glen Mills, Pa. PageSmith is teaching American history at U.C.L.A., and living in Santa Monica, Calif., having left his previous position with the Institute of Early American History and Culture, at Williamsburg, Va.
For those of you who have just received the first notice of 1940 annual dues and noticed that the ante has gone up to $5, it is appropriate to quote from a note recently forwarded by Treasurer Don Rainie, in which he says:
"The hike to $5 is more or less forced on us by the increase in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE subscription rates. I also have a personal interest in building up our surplus gradually, bearing in mind that the 25th Year Gift isn't as far distant as many think. Actually, the MAGAZINE increase is thirty cents, making it $2.30 per subscription for the coming year. Hence, the treasury will only benefit by seventy cents over previous income from each dues payment not a very staggering sum in these times!"
During the recent Alumni Fund drive, a letter arrived enclosing a note and bank draft from Hans-Joachim Heinz. Heinie is presently a doctor of parasitology at the South African Institute for Medical Research, Johannesburg, S. A. He reported having spent last Christmas in Germany, getting in some good skiing in Austria (Sylvretta region) and visiting numerous other cities, including Berlin. Back in Jo'burg again, he writes that his life is quite uneventful. He has taken up the study of violin again to counterbalance his scientific work, and he is up to his neck in the financial problems of living, as are most of us. Apparently, the S. African practice is to skip an income tax assessment for as many as three years and then to charge three years' taxes all at once to be paid immediately. Heinie has been the unfortunate victim of this system this year.
Doug Hunter, ex-Chi Phi stalwart of Col- linsville, Conn., received a write-up in a pub- lication of the Connecticut General Life In- surance Cos. earlier this year. Doug has risen steadily since he joined that company after graduation, with time out only for service in the Finance Corps of the Army during World War 11. He is now the senior underwriter in the Group Pension Division and in off hours spends his time golfing or digging in his flower garden. Another insurance executive, Frank Whaland, was appointed special agent for the Central Mutual Insurance Cos. recently. Formerly of Newburyport, Mass., Frank went on from Dartmouth to take graduate work at Harvard. He served in the Army from 1943 to 1946, and was associated with the Travelers Insurance Co. from 1946 to 1952. He and his wife, the former Ruth Hopkinson, have two children.
Stet Whitcher and Dave Leake have ac- cepted the challenge of leading another '4O Alumni Fund campaign. Stet missed winning the Green Derby by a slim margin this last year a tangible indication of all the time and energy he spent mapping strategy for his first year as class agent. It's our guess that he'll do better in '54 if more of the class gets behind him. He's practising up now in his present civic capacity as chairman in the Medford (Mass.) section of the Greater Boston Community Fund campaign.
Occasionally the duties of your secretary extend to writing an obituary. Fortunately, I haven't had the occasion to compose such notices in the volume that Jack Moody had to. It is with sadness and a feeling of inadequacy that I've reported the passing of John K. Bonter for In Memoriam. A similar sense of reawakened sadness has come with receipt of a news clipping announcing that the remains of Major Hudson Eliot Bridge USMC, who was killed in action on Guam, July 21, 1944, have been returned to the United States and interred in the Walpole (Mass.) cemetery, with full military honors.
A FAMILY TRADITION: Three and perhaps four generations of Dartmouth men are shown above, with (l to r): Herb Austin '14; Henry Austin '85, Class Secretary; Peter Coffin Austin and his dad, Robert H. Austin '4O.
Secretary, 322 Canterbury Road, Westfield, N. J. Treasurert, 88 North Main St., Concord, N. H.
