1908

'Tis said that "verbosity veils vacuity." And it may be so. Anyway, in my inaugural address it developed that my verbosity exceeded our quota by considerable. I shall retreat but not surrender. Mr. and Mrs. Dartmouth, "Let's go to press."

Don't hesitate and get lost. If you haven't made that reservation for the Dartmouth Reunion at Vero Beach, Fla., there's still time to get ready for one of the best times of your life. Innkeeper Treadway of the Royal Park Inn has Dartmouth open house from March 20 on. He has opened his heart and Dartmouth men may deduct a third from the reasonable rates. We've had wonderful times there the last two years. Grab your wife and run for the train. You can make it.

With great sorrow, we report the passing of Doug Ruxton on December 28. Doug was a loyal and big-hearted supporter of '08 and will be sorely missed. His obituary will appear later. A few days before Christmas, Annis Stearns, on the way to a splendid recovery from an operation of a year ago, fell and dislocated her spine. Happily, no serious injury developed and she is recovering nicely. Mike says, "Us Stearns is rugged."

Harry Rogers, at his desk as Prexy of the Suncook Bank reports his election as Chairman of the New Hampshire Forestry and Recreation Commission. String Hale, who roams New Hampshire with the freedom of a deer, writes of a Christmas-time visit to Hanover. He said the lighted tree on the Campus was something to see. Webb Evans at last writing was on the edge of becoming a grandfather wholesale. Each of his sons was to present him with a grandchild, the youngest son being in Korea as an officer in the 5th Air Force. On second thought, I believe the respective wives should also be mentioned. Chet Melville & Co. he who works the shell game honestly - are now comfortable at 2134 Lee St., Fort Myers, Fla. Chet says that the latch is out to Dartmouth wanderers. Fie has one of the most famous collections of shells in the world though it wasn't he who told me.

Fred Hodgson of Verona, N. J., is in the pollen business for income and is a consulting botanist for honor a happy combination. But withal, Fred says he's busiest in grandfathering his six grandchildren. By the way, have we any great grandfathers in the class? Come, come, let's not be bashful.

Bill Knight has his chest out a bit and who can blame him? It seems that he and Leila have so guided Bill's youngest sister Dorothy that she has become the mother of Bayard Johnson who is the captain of the Dartmouth football team for '53. Bill Jr. has completed his law course at Northwestern and is sweating it out in Pop's office - bet he passes his bar exams. Jack Corcoran's son John has recently been elected to Phi Beta Kappa. We're proud of him as we were of Jack.

It appears that Doc Thorpe is pen-shy, so Jo, his wife, is good enough to write that they have just moved into their new home "out in the sticks" and love it. It must be near Newport, N. H., which is Doc's medical parish.

You should see the whole-page story in the New Hampshire Sunday News of Manchester about the nationally famous Rotches. Pictures galore of the '08 Sage and his son Bill, the plant, etc., etc. Six generations of Rotches have run the Milford Cabinet for 150 years - only 13 years younger than our country, the paper says. Let any publisher match that. The Indians used to pay for their subscriptions with deer meat. If you don't believe this, ask Art. Earl Wiley of basketball fame rings in from. Columbus, O., where he is professing at Ohio State. Reports a visit to Hanover last fall and to our mutual birthplace of Holyoke, Mass., the beauties of which I will not go into at this time.

It seems that Alanson Alden, after 42 years plus 12 years night school plus 22 summer schools has at last cried quits as Chairman of the Foreign Language Dept. in Western High School at Newark, N. J. Think of what he must have learned in all that time. His son Bill is Asst. Prof, of French at Princeton. Alanson is taking it easy on Grandfather Boulevard.

Two from Vermont. Fred Copeland of Randolph says hello with an appreciation of how much the reunion meant to him as it did to all of us. W. Mayo Lynde in the granite business at Barre is to spend the winter in Flordia. I could have told him that he won't find any granite there. "T. I." and Helen Dunn, of Rye, N.Y., were busy recently entertaining their son Jr. and his new wife from Seattle who were about to set sail for a honeymoon in the Caribbean. According to the notices in the paper of the parties given, they take their cock tails seriously in Rye. The preference may not be universal.

Hartwell Harriman of Clearwater, Fla., writes that Ev Marsh and Vi have established residence in a new home nearby. He and Ev are busy removing the Spanish moss from his trees. Personally I prefer Spanish cream. They'll be at Vero. Art Wyman writes that he expects also to be there and is working on his old roommate Robbie Robinson of Des Moines to join him. There are many others, of course. Also, a note from Henry Stone who with wife Blanche are spending the winter at St. Pete, reveals that they hope also to be there. Henry is making a nice recovery from an affair of the heart.

Don Comstock from Vermillion, O., AlbertChandler from St. Pete and Jack Detlefsen from Waynesboro, Va., check in with greetings to the class but refuse further information. Shame on 'em.

Honker Joyce wrote me a nice long letter one night when he was having difficulty with Morpheus. Much of it was written in Sanscript (i.e. without script), but the English part said that Clint Bills was at last report in the Veterans Hospital at Buffalo and, of course, would welcome word from the boys. Honker was always a terrible writer. Remember how he used to come into exams with a typewriter around his neck?

George Fine asks that his address be changed to read c/o R.D. Fine 6563 Irving Ave., Merchantville, N. J. He and Martha left January 5 for Orlando, Fla., where they are no doubt at this sitting.

To quote from a letter from Art Soule. "The main reason for this letter is to let you know that George Bright, a classmate of ours, died recently. George retired from the forestry service in the state of Oregon some few years ago. He has been a summer resident for a number of years at Shelter Island where I saw him frequently.

"He left New York in November for a trip around the world but was taken ill en route and debarked, I believe, at San Francisco. George had been in poor health for some years." More about George later.

In the same letter Art advises that he and Juliet expect to spend the last week in March at Vero Beach. His letter dated January 21, he says was written upon his exit from the water, the temperature of which was 76° with air at 80°. Even at that, it's colder than hell.

Notes Editor, 119 Parker St. Newton Center 59, Mass. Secretary, 115 Broadway, New York 6, N. Y. Treasurer, Taftville, Conn.