1894
June birthdays: Grover, June 4; Martyn,June 29. Aren't you going to write a poem,Eddie, to celebrate? We hope so. Kid Martynnot only is the youngest member of the Classbut also has, we believe, the largest numberof children, .grandchildren and great grandchildren. Be sure and write us about thecelebration, Kid.
Here is the promised feature letter fromBen Welton. After his usual forceful andforthright (but vain!) attempt to divert theSecretary from the various errors of his waysBen goes on to say:
"We are both well and have had a fine trip so far We got to Tobago via San Juan, Virgin Islands, Curacao, Caracas and Port-of-Spain on December 23. Spent a week at Arnos Vale Hotel where our friends the Van Benschatens of Kingston, R. I., have a half interest and then we rented a lovely house about a mile away (and six miles from Scarboro) for January and February.
"On March 1 we move on to Grenada for a month, St. Lucia for a short stop, San Juan again for a bit, perhaps, and then home some time in late April.
"We pay $250 B.W.I, (or about $145 U.S.) for the house we are now in. It has three bedrooms, three baths, three servants and two dressing rooms off the master bedroom. The house and grounds cover all of the top of a small hill about 500 feet above sea level, with a long view of the sea one-half mile to the west and higher hills on all other sides.
"We have several nice neighbors not too close, but handy, with whom we play bridge, and the scenery along the southern coast of the island is spectacular. Climate and temperature are wonderful - not too hot, not too cool. They had a record low of 62° F. late in January.
"When Miami was shivering at 28°-32° recently, I was going around in sport shirt and shorts. I hope to be able to show the boys some pictures of our trip next fall if Don Colby has a room he can darken. , .
"P.S. Took a shot at Princess Margaret when she was here.
"P.S. Tobago features Robinson Crusoe and birds of Paradise."
This month's column is also featured by a letter from the oldest member of our Class, Herman Lovejoy, whose birthday is May 31:
"I'm glad to comply with your request for information about my humble self and appreciate being remembered but regret that, from my viewpoint, I can't think of anything worth mentioning.
"Since early December, I've been practically a shut-in with my troublesome foot, but otherwise I've been feeling quite well. Due to the efficient and painstaking care of my unsalaried nurse my foot is much less troublesome than it was some time ago, and I feel justified in believing that I'm going to pass my 88th milestone in due time and perhaps go on for quite a while longer. Thanks to my bookworm habits I don't have to kill time. I ve been doing quite a bit of reading and browsing to fill in some of the numerous lacunae in my stock of general information.
"Of course it's quite natural for us oldsters to recall what happened back in the good old days, some of which were not so good, and sometimes I find myself reliving my boyhood days on a hillside farm in Vermont where so-called 'independent farmers' had to accept what was offered for what they had to sell and pay what was asked for what they had to buy. I like to visualize my father's old farm, including the hole of a certain woodchuck and I wonder whether the tillable acreage of that farm wouldn't be at least doubled if its up-and-down surface could be flattened.
"I'm trying to be optimistic while waiting for 'air raid warning signals.' I'm glad to have lived to witness so much evidence of a developing social consciousness and sense of social responsibility. I'm convinced that mankind is becoming increasingly civilized and more generally enlightened, regardless of its animal origin and past history. I'm glad to have lived long enough to know something about the causes and results of under-dog uprisings and social revolutions in various parts of the world. I'm also glad to know that, due to the enactment and enforcement of much-needed protective laws, the good old democratic doctrine of 'every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost' would seem to be functioning much less freely than, for example, it did during the orgy of speculation that culminated in the financial crash of 1929."
Secretary, 74 Kirkland St..Cambridge 38, Mass.
Class Agent, 45 Chase St., Nutley, N. J.
