1925
Having arranged some travel to professional meetings this spring, your secretary finds himself constrained to write these notes rather longer in advance of publication than usual, and a little closer to the schedule imposed by a long-suffering editor but seldom kept. This will apply with particular force to the column in the June issue, which will be the last until next fall. Since that is a season especially rich in announcements of en- gagements, weddings, and graduations, all of which may seem a bit dusty if held over for publication until October, those who have such items are urged to get them in no later than April 30. Apropos of these considerations, Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Thompson of Newton Highlands, Mass., have announced the engagement of their daughter Cynthia Lynde to Edward Victor Nef, son of Dr. Victor Nef, Swiss Minister to Canada, and Mrs. Nef, of Ottawa. Cynthia is a senior at Radcliffe and Mr. Nef a senior at Harvard.... Also announced recently was the engagement of Coralie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin F.Huberth Jr. to Samuel Sloan of New York. Coralie graduated from Colby Junior and Colorado College, and studied at the New York School of Social Work of Columbia University. Mr. Sloan is a senior at Princeton.... Miss Carol Ann Webster, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Webster of Short Hills, N. J., was married on March 5 to Van Vechten Bigelow Sayre in Christ Episcopal Church, South Orange, N. J.
An interview with Ralph Carey, New England division manager of the Shell Oil Company, recently published in The Boston Herald, made encouraging reading for those who are interested in this important industry and particularly for young men considering a career in it.... El Lyman is seeking reelection for a third consecutive term on the School Committee of South Hadley, Mass., of which he is now chairman; he has also served two terms as Town Moderator. El and Mary have a daughter, another Mary, who is a senior at South Hadley High School.... Dutch Clark is now head master at the Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan Street, N. H., an institution with many Dartmouth associations. It was good to see him and Gladys in Hanover again recently, after a long lapse.... Bill Barker is completing thirty years of service with the Western Electric Company of Newark, N. J., being, as he puts it, "involved in public relations, plant security, college relations, etc." (The etc. sounds interesting.) He was a member of the Bell System recruiting team that visited Hanover this year. By a strange coincidence, this visit came the day after the 1925 Parents-Sons weekend, and Bill just happens to have a son Neill in the junior class. These things happen.... Lew Veach is in business in Richmond, Ind.; his daughter Norma graduated from Smith in 1952, and his son Bill is a junior at Notre Dame.
Carolyn and Buck Jones sailed for Antwerp in early March, whence they expect to drive over a goodly portion of Europe before returning in July; and Buck says he hopes to be able to talk June Bryant into joining them in Portugal or Spain.... Charlie Graydon, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, is now stationed in Boston as Regional Field Officer for Region I of Selective Service. He looks very fit after his illness of a few years back.... Lin White gave a television interview on skiing from a Boston station on March 2. This was, if memory serves, the first appearance of one of our boys on T.V. (in this neighborhood, anyway) since Parker Merrow's features hit the picture tubes during the celebrated controversy over the "Statler-in-the-sticks." Parker has been sworn in as a member of the Governor's Council of New Hampshire, and thinks that the new governor, Lane Dwinnell '28, will do a good job.
A few new addresses have come in, as follows: Lincoln K. Davis, Wheelock Road, South Easton, Mass.; Robert J. Palmer, Insurance Agency, 1387 Main St., Springfield, Mass., home — 47 Pleasantview Ave., Longmeadow, Mass.; Laurence A. Welch, 59 Western Avenue, Gloucester, Mass.
Few things are more exciting than hearing from friends who labor in far-away places. Dick Plummer writes from Karachi, where he is serving on one of our overseas missions:
"I am well aware that there is a very real interest in the States in learning everything possible about these countries, but it is very difficult to know quite where to begin.
"In the first place, I am probably a very poor reporter. Having lived so many years outside of the States, I take for granted a certain amount of dirt, dust and smells, and am pleasantly surprised if the plumbing works. Therefore, my impressions of a place which is new to me, Karachi, for instance, will probably completely overlook the items which would be of interest to one less travelled. I noticed the other day that none of .my letters home have even mentioned that the chief hauler of materials here is the camel - to me it seemed just part of the picture, and something I had unconsciously expected to see.
"Up to the time of partition from India seven years ago, Karachi was little more than a large fishing village. The British paid very little attention to it. Now it is a very large city, population variously estimated at up to a million people. The Muslim refugees, who poured into the country from India at the time of partition, live in refugee camps of indescribable squalor. The city has grown like a mushroom and its appearance is just about as bad.
"However, I have had the good fortune to make a long trip up north by car, and see the older and more settled country written up so well by Kipling, - Bahawalpur, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar, to mention a few centers of interest. Purely as an example of the older and more refined atmosphere which does exist up there, - The Peshawar Vale Hunt Club had a pink-coated Master of the Hounds as early as 1872 - his picture is on the wall of the club bar along with every other Master of the Hounds since then. I hesitate to cite that detail as evidence of a long-standing cultural background, and you will probably accuse me of going British, but I do seriously think it is symptomatic of an established way of life of many years standing.
"Since I started this letter I have been out to the beach for some good ocean bathing - the Arabian Sea, of course. The water is surprisingly cool - quite refreshing, in fact - and I have added considerably to my tan.
"Have yet to receive a copy of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE.... They are probably on a slow boat to China. Best regards to all the gang when you see them."
Lest any of you think that your secretary does this job for love alone, it is only fair to explain that there are tangible rewards as well. Each spring he is the guest of the College during the Alumni Officers Weekend, at which time he is provided, gratis, with lodging at the Inn and two elegant meals. This year, however, on May 6, he will have to sing for his supper; for, as previously mentioned, he is expected to tell the others how 1925 got that way; in other words, how has it achieved its record of cohesion as a class, and accomplishment for Dartmouth. This is a formidable undertaking, particularly in the light of you secretary's conviction that, with all due respect to leadership, the roots that nourish this accomplishment reach out to hundreds of men and women. For that reason, he would be happy, when the time comes, not to develop a statement of his own but to be able to quote many statements from his classmates, giving their concepts of the reciprocal relationships between the Class at large, its officers, and the College. Nothing loath to expressing his own opinions when they are wanted and can be recognized as such, he would prefer, in this instance, merely to represent. Your suggestions, therefore, will be welcome.
Not that any of you are likely to have overlooked it, but April is here. When do people best tolerate spending money for which they receive no immediate or tangible return? Is there any season during which it is easier to feel and appreciate the intangibles? As far as Dartmouth is concerned, is there any time of year during which it is more dear than others, - the flaming glory of the autumn, the still white beauty of winter, the warm sweet loveliness of late spring? Whatever answer your own associations and memories make for you, remember that in this harsh world there must be material corollaries of our immaterial hopes. In the operation of the College, they are a necessary preoccupation in every season. By tradition, this is the time you are asked to consider them, but it may be hoped that you think of your response not so much as an annual act of giving, but as the recurrent expression of your participation, throughout the year, in Dartmouth's life and work.
Secretary, 58 Winfield St., Needham, Mass.
Class Agent, 306 Crosby Hall, Hanover, N. H.
