1909

Let's get going on plans for our reunion next June. If we don't do something in the line of organization, we'll be flopping around like a fish in a wet dishpan. The big question to decide is whether to have our joint reunion with '10 and '11 the .first half of the week following Commencement, or the last half. The first half, as pointed out in the October issue, offers us practically a free choice of locations for holding the reunion, and better facilities all around, due to increasing numbers of Dartmouth guys returning to the college for formal and informal reunions. The housing problem is getting to be serious. Away with the dilly-dallying act. Speedy and comprehensive organization is needed if we're to have a successful reunion.

Fruit of the Loom

Turning westward, our West Coast correspondent has worked up a dandy exposition on one of our classmates, Arthur CordinglyWhite, known in college as Reggie, but in maturing years, Steve. The correspondent, although a recently adopted son of the Sunshine State, has been indoctrinated sufficiently to start off his piece expounding the virtues of this remarkable section of the universe in this manner:

"And speaking of looms and their fruit, it is our privilege at this time to turn your thoughts to the state of California, now looming as the boomingest region of the U. S. of A., and dating its meteoric growth from the fruit growers' discovery of fertilizer, and that magic slogan, 'Cultivate and Exaggerate.' "

He refers to Steve "White as "out of Mechanics Art High School, Boston, but sired by the Dartmouth Chemistry department, notable for its explosive smells, but equally famous because there wasn't a stinker on the faculty roll. Such couldn't live under the inspiring example of Bobby Bartlett, or the wholesome influence of Charlie Bolser. It was this public-spirited pair who, in the fall of 1909, sent Arthur (Steve) White to M.I.T. to lend substance to its laboratory staff.

"Two years later," says the writer, "Steve's hat was hanging in the Bayonne, N. J., plant of Wesson Oil, and almost before he knew it, he had been drafted to Dupont's Pennsgrove, Delaware, shop.

"In the 1920s a ,few long-sighted chemical rivals began to build for the future by appropriating choice bits of underpinning from the Dupont structure. Thus, it came about that in 1926 Dow Chemical, then a dark horse in the race for leadership among Americans intent on replacing Germany in industrial chemistry, enlisted Steve White in their .new business main battery. He soon was writing promotional advertising, with emphasis on manganese, epsom salts, calcium, and suchlike.

"Dow Chemical was on the move and so was Steve. Working out of the main Dow plant at Midland, Mich., for a dozen years, more and more he became a trouble shooter in advising manufacturers fabricating products from Dow base elements.

"In the development of agricultural resources, one of the answers, in addition to climate and water supply, is the smart use of fertilizers, which happens to be a hobby of the chemical industry. Naturally, Steve found himself developing this field for Dow, and when the company absorbed Great Western Chemical Co., much to his satisfaction Steve found himself anchored for life under California skies.

"Two years ago, doctors raised their eyebrows and then endorsed Mrs. White's suggestion that it was time Steve did some research and demonstration on his own home grounds. So Steve sold a time-wasting summer home at Carmel and his three-level hillside home in San Francisco, and moved his choice collection of Dartmouth memorabilia to a three-quarters acre scenic paradise at Los Gatos, Calif. The spot was suggested by Charlie Luck '06, another engineer-scientist, who lives in nearby Saratoga. The address is 15415 Pepper Lane, Los Gatos, Calif.

"Steve's son, Robert, Dartmouth '41, has set up a family under his own rooftrees and apparently is wedded to life among San Francisco's insurance underwriters. Mrs. Steve, a Santa Cruz gal who has seen Hanover, would be approved by Christian Dior as a model for his latest slim-jim designs, but is so broadminded that Steve, when in an inventive mood, gets the run of the kitchen. His most recent chemical miracle is a method of stewing prunes without employing a single retort. But retorts are forthcoming if you question the value of his discovery (joke).

"Well, you wonder what Bobby Bartlett and Charlie Bolser would say if they were today to look over the rolling acres of California's orchards and vineyards, and were told that it was a kid from Dorchester whom they inspired with a love for chemistry, who has played no small part in bringing it all about. For that matter, they would be rewarded in full, if only they were to see Steve's eyes light up when he mentions their names."

Nice going, West Coast correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous. You've done a masterful job in highlighting the career of one of our classmates with whom there hasn't been too active contact since we left Hanover, and about whose success in life many of us have remained in ignorance.

Many in our class will regret reading about the sudden death of George Morris '11, one of the prominent lawyers of the country who made his headquarters in Washington, D. C. A letter from Nut Root called this to my attention. He writes: "I'm sure you remember George - one of the outstanding Dekes. There were of course, many of them. (Let the guy brag if he wants to.) I got George to go to Dartmouth, along with Ray Thorne, Hal Wampler, Bull Roberts, and Pete Vehmeyer, all 1911 Dekes. George was the only one who graduated."

Curly Blake was asking for the address of Dutch Thorn, as he contemplated a trip to Florida and wanted to get in touch with him. Speaking about his (Curly's) retirement, he writes: "Norm Catharin's report to you some time past was mostly baloney (Why, Curly Blake, how can you say such things about a classmate?). I have had an idea of spending two or three months in Florida during ,the winter, but I do not think I would want to live there the year around.... The two hurricanes which landed on New England this last summer did a tremendous amount of damage. Some New Englanders are thinking that perhaps the central part of Florida would be a safer place to live than the eastern part of New England. We have had four bad blows in sixteen years and it seems to be sort of a habit."

It would be nice if some of those Cape Codders say Bertie French, Heinie Whitcomb, and Hal Clark would tell the editor of this column if the hurricane did any damage to their places. It'd be news. And, Al Newton, let's have a report on the '09 dinner before the Harvard game.

By the time this comes out m print, your editor will have taken a trip to the Windy City to meet up with some of his old-time buddies, including that master mind, NutRoot. Lana, the glamour puss, will have to be content to stay with the two women folks.

What say some of you make with the pen or pencil, or typewriter, and let me have what's what in your lives.

Class Notes Editor, Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio

Secretary and Treasurer, Sandwich, Mass.

Bequest Chairman,