1898
It is so terribly cold here in Florida this morning that your Secretary had to wear his Balaclava helmet, Alpine boots and double mitts to type these notes (he has just finished reading Hunt's The Conquest of Everest). The morning temperature dropped to 40 degrees, but his chilly brain failed to distinguish whether it was above or below zero. Our notes, taken from several contributions by classmates, might be entitled De Senectute.
Bill Williams recently wrote from his home town in Milford, Mass., that "everything goes along with me in the same old way, the only trouble is that the old way is not the right way." Bill is having trouble with his back, a portion of his anatomy not unknown to most of us, and he is able to see the funny side of that subject - a mental feat, as we all can agree. His wife has suffered a broken hip, alas! from which she is recuperating at this time. We want to say that she has a greatly increased chance of recovery than existed at the time when we were students at Dartmouth.
Bob Osborne mentions a week's visit to the hospital for a minor operation. But he is now "in circulation," and has taken up temporary winter residence in the Flanders Hotel of Atlantic City until the first of April. "Being 85 years old now I am taking things quietly and easy, but hope to plod along for some time yet." At this point came a letter from Bob, telling that this is the first winter in fifteen that he has not come to Florida, but that his quarters in Atlantic City have proved to be very pleasant, sometimes cold; but he is able to get out-doors daily and is well. He is planning for that 60th reunion. On the first day of spring he leaves his present quarters for his home in Summit, N. J., later going to Northfiekl, Mass., for the summer. Good going to this veteran '98er with his five years of added experience in growing older.
From Houston, Texas, has come another approach to the subject, mentioned above, from "Hoss" Nichols:
"Was shocked and grieved to hear of the passing of Fred Bennis. I know the sympathy of every '98 man goes out to his sister Ida to whom he was devoted." His own sister, Edith Nichols Bye, after two months in the hospital is now convalescing at their old homestead in Baldwinsville, Mass. He adds: "I have been in the hospital twice in the last eighteen months but Mother Nature with the aid of several physicians and my stubborn resistance, kept me from entering the Pearly Gates. . . . What few of us '98ers are left are all approximately 80 years old. We are fast approaching the end of the trail, when we will have solved this enchanted experience of life. May the trail be long. I could tell you a good story about - when he was —. Maybe later. Regards to all the '98ers."
He closes with that tantalizing suggestion of further word. We are all ears for that.
Apparently this symposium on old age is something that has simultaneously occurred to these three members of our class. It is good to note that with each writer there is a note of detachment and a sense of humor, added to the more serious remarks. It may well be that these qualities are partly responsible for their reaching this state of longevity. Also they will carry their authors more happily into the future.
Late in January your Secretary was delighted to be able to see in the flesh four '98 men, gathered together at his place in Florida, three with their wives, Mr. and Mrs. Archie R.Kendall, Mr. and Mrs. Denis Crowley, MelvinW. Smith and your Secretary and his wife. In addition to these seven '98 representatives were gathered Mr. and Mrs. Warren C. Kendall '99, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Chase '96, Frederick Chase '05 and the Secretary's sister, Mrs. Laura W. Lord Scales, widow of Robert L. Scales '01. Our camera was all set to snap a photograph to appear with these class notes, but rain, the late hour and the host's excitement over such an occasion combined to make this impossible. Better luck another time with better weather and more experience!
The affair was most delightful. The more practical and somewhat less involved wives, exhausted by the reminiscent flow, were hard put to it to get their husbands headed home - there was so much to be said among the '98ers and the other Dartmouth men present. Denis, looking especially fit, and Melvin Smith entered into the "little reunion" with real zest, as in fact did all of us. Archie Kendall, whose days have mostly been spent in New Hampshire, now is living in St. Petersburg near by, and his son Warren, named after Warren Kendall ("no relative," says Archie) is headed towards Stetson College's Law School, just moved to St. Petersburg, and in a few years he hopes to be practising his profession in this state. Archie himself looks well and was full of interest in all things concerning Dartmouth, recalling, as especially memorable in his case, "Frankie" Sherman, "T'at'll Do" Moore and "Georgie" Lord. His wife seems to have accepted the '98 traditions and in any case she was able to meet the occasion without faltering. Perhaps as a result of having been recently a member of New Hampshire's Legislature. Or it may be due to a long and successful experience in the business world, at present in Florida. They both like living in this state, even in the summer, if "you don't try to live as in the North."
We should like to see a repeat performance of this nature in Florida and with still more present, working up to 1958.
Secretary and Treasurer 960 Broadway, Dunedin, Fla.
Bequest Chairman,
