1909

Old gents of around our time like to take trips down "Memory Lane," the pathway we trod in our undergrad days. And why not? It's a legitimate pastime that quickens the sluggish bloodstream and warms the area around the heart. I am mindful today (the day after Christmas) of the musical clubs of our time which embraced the Glee Club and the Mandolin Club, the latter now an extinct unit, more's the pity. Let's go back to the clubs of '06-'07. Swipes Andrews '07 was the genial manager, and John Hinman '08 was his assistant. Swipes was an ebullient soul, full of bubbling humor and original ideas. He's likely a staid businessman now - maybe retired - but I think he missed his calling by not going into advertising. This is the way he advertised a concert given in Hanover for the edification of the student body:

TONIGHT Glee and Mandolin Club CONCERT

50 - Trained Musicians - 50

Rollicking Songs and Tuneful Airs. A program crammed with Laughter, Joy, and Pain Ease. Every song a new one, every verse a good one.

SPECIALTIES

H. S. McDevitt, fresh from his conquest in Europe, will sing a package of delectable ditties that will make your palms ache with applause. Don't miss this soft-throated warbler. R. R. Lane, the Hanover virtuoso and Prince of Stringed Instruments, will make you all sit up and wonder if it's true, when he probes his classic pick into the melodious liar.

Do not throw flowers on the stage.

Quite a dish, eh? The two guys mentioned were both '07. Lane was leader of the Mandolin Club, and Pat Hathaway, also '07, was leader of the Glee Club. While we're on the subject of Musical Clubs, the following is a write-up on the opening concert in the fall of '07, as appeared in the Dartmouth. It will give you an idea of the subtle humor of the era, although the author did not sign his name, unfortunately. (I suspect it was Duke Naylor.) The review was headed:

IN THE "LYME" LIGHT

"In the bucolic atmosphere of the Congregational Church at Lyme, N. H., on November 1, the Dartmouth Musical Clubs made their debut of the present season. The audience, composed chiefly of pastoral folk from the neighboring highlands, seemed quite appreciative of the excellent program. As each club concluded its rendition, a storm of applause would sweep the vast auditorium. These might have been taken as a compliment, had it not been necessary for each club to instigate the recognition of its consort. In the rural consideration, the aggregate concert was a success, and gave promise of future more metropolitan possibilities.

"The songs of the Glee Club were well attempted. The first number Onward, was sung with such a military swing that even a drowsing son of 61 was wont to mark time with his wooden appendage. Loch Lomond, another number, was rendered with the true mellowness of old Scotch. The Longshoreman with a Soule ('08) solo, was the best song of the evening. The gentle cadences of this selection were embellished greatly by a volunteer accompaniment on nature's Aeolian harp, which might facetiously be entitled The Longsnoreman.

"The Mandolin Club played their first number, Big Chief Battle Axe, with a genuine Indian vigor. This was followed by a syncopated waltz as an encore. The selections from the Red Mill, being familiar, were well played.

"The specialties of the program were some exceptionally good readings by Keough '11, and unique mandolin solos by Chas. Watson. These solos were given their singular effectiveness by the guitar playing of J. Roland Childs, who demon- strated his great versatility in music by accompanying Mr. Watson in several different keys.

"The last two numbers were the old reliable Hanover Winter Song and the Dartmouth Song. As the last strains floated out through the redolent gloom, the lethargic audience was suddenly startled by a lusty cheer finale. An immediate exodus followed, and thus the first formal concert of the Dartmouth Musical Clubs ended."

In the October issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE was published a picture of three '09 guys taken freshman year. Two of the lads, on the left and on the right, were identified as BillBailey and Art Rose. The middle man was unidentified. Hardy Walt Dakin '06, the Madison, Wise., telephone tycoon, thought he might be Ray Herman of his class, but Ray was not in college when we were freshmen, having left before his senior year. Merrill Follansbee, our Pacific Coast correspondent, has come up with the answer:

"The picture of Bailey and Rose with the handsome guy between, I was glad to see. The middle one was Hart Ellis Fisher who entered with us. He was from Joliet, Ill. He did not return after '05 Christmas vacation. I don't what 'U' he attended, but he took his medical degree at Hahnemann Medical College in Chicago, and interned at the hospital of the same name. Just what happened to him since I don't know, as he dropped out of Dartmouth affairs. The Dartmouth record is in error when it states he was with us during 1905-06. He was in Hanover only the fall of 1905."

Merrill had ought to know, for he and Hart were in the freshman delegation of that distinguished frat, Alpha Delta Phi. Hart did well in the medical profession. He went on to become chief surgeon of the Chicago Rapid Transit system, consulting surgeon of the Public Service Co. of Northern Ill., and served on the Chief Surgical Staff, Hospital 38, during the first World War. No doubt he has done equally well for himself in the years that have ensued.

Getting back to Merrill, - who has gone into semi-retirement, having turned his dateranch interests over to other parties - he reports that his grandchildren number six, three boys and three girls, and that he hopes his children will now call it "quitz."

On the subject of grandchildren, Ben Burpee, the eminent doctor of Manchester, N. H., gives the information that "seven of my nine live within the block and this is usually, although not always, a blessing. The stork is still hovering. What a persistent bird!" Ben said he had been enjoying poor health for a month or so:

"Probably a combination of old age and laziness, as my cardiologist gives me a pretty clean bill of health, but with the son-in-law doing 90% of the work, why should I exert myself? My postage stamp hobby takes up a good share of my time. Bob Mower, as you may know, is a stamp dealer on the Coast. I think he has not been back to Hanover in recent years. (Right.) My other interest is the Board of Registration in Medicine, which takes a fair amount of time. I am just finishing my fifteenth year, which is the longest anyone has served, except Bush Kingsford, who, you will remember, trained the football team in our day."

Mickey McLane, Ben informs, is about the same. His main interest is in his Dartmouth recollections, and he is planning on being back to Hanover next June. Fine, Mickey.

Honorary classmate Dot Chase sent a clipping from the Boston Globe that featured a write-up on Judge Emma Fall Schofield, the widow of Al, who became the first woman in New England to sit on the Bench. One incident in the interview recalled the police witness who kept quoting the defendant in the third person, thereby presenting hearsay evidence, inadmissable in court. "Did he say, 'I was drunk?' " queried Judge Schofield in an attempt to get a direct quote. "Well, he may have said you was drunk, your honor, but I didn't hear him," replied the witness. A salute to Emma on her 25th anniversary as judge.

This concludes '09 journal for this month, so we'll close with the fervent wish that all of you had a Happy Groundhog Day.

Class Notes Editor, 141 Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio

Secretary and Treasurer, Sandwich, Mass.

Bequest Chairman,