Things Won't Run as Well Now That He Has Retired

WALTER DURRSCHMIDT, for 25 years a master instrument maker in charge of the shop at the Wilder Physics Laboratory, retired last month at the age of 70. In spite of the saying that no man is indispensable, Walter Durrschmidt seems close to being that man. It is he who has kept the Baker Library clock running and on time, and in the early days, he diagnosed and cured some of the clock's unique peculiarities, which included striking the wrong hours and keeping varying times on its four different faces. He, with Professor Longhurst of the Music Department, often struggled late at night, either with the clock or the programmer that played the tunes, long after the town had retired.

For many years, Durrschmidt, a skilled worker in all kinds of metal, has produced necessary equipment for the College physicists. Working from a simple sketch, he could evolve what was required for experimental or teaching purposes. At one time he made a Wilson cloud chamber for detecting and recording cosmic rays. He also made an infra-red spectrometer, and the basic frame for the new nuclear accelerator that the physics teachers are now finishing. One of his farewell tasks was a new automatic device for raising and lowering the shades in the main lecture hall of the laboratory building. He installed the original apparatus, now worn out, when he first came to Dartmouth in 1930.

Durrschmidt arrived in this country from Germany when he was 12 years old. He served his apprenticeship and worked for the General Electric Co. and the Waltham Watch Co. before coming to Hanover.

During his retirement, he and his wife are looking forward to enjoying more outdoor living and hope to go to Florida or California. An enthusiastic hiker, Durrschmidt plans, however, to return often to the North Country and the White Mountains.

Walter Durrschmidt