1911

Interesting letters have been received from a few classmates which should prove of interest to you. Doc Carroll in East Orange, N. J., continues to follow Veblen's definition of leisure which he describes as "the non-productive consumption of time," which, Doc says, classifies him as a "gentleman of leisure." Doc says there is "no news," yet goes on to give interesting information about his family. His son Gerald, who had a fill-in appointment at Dartmouth for a year in 1953, is now Assistant Professor of Geology at Texas A. & M. Dick is with the central Auditing Department of the Carbide and Carbon Chemical Company, a subsidiary of Union Carbide and Carbon, at Oak Ridge, Tenn. John is with the Connecticut Light and Power Company at Meriden, Conn.

Some day you are going to have a story on Wee Kimball and his success in building a very successful insurance business in the retail store field, in which his two sons are now sharing, allowing Wee opportunity to seek some leisure for himself. Wee was in Hanover for the fall football games, commuting from his summer home in Contoocook, N. H., where he may be found from early spring until late fall, having built for himself a pond and all the accouterments on his property. This is in Contoocook, which is on the state highway between Concord and Sunapee. These remarks are preliminary to a description given recently by Wee to a friend concerning the game of basketball when he was playing in college. Wee began playing basketball at the Y.M.C.A. gym in Cambridge, Mass., at the age of 12, and the following quotation pertains to the freshmansophomore series:

"The freshman-soph series were something in those days in old Bissell Hall — baskets hung on the end walls, not outside space - the sidelines were the first row of spectators. When I got the ball outside I had to leap up in the laps of the first row spectators in order to throw the ball out. The body contact was the same as in hockey today and very few fouls called - in fact no fouls called, except for deliberate tripping, slugging, running and holding, that was wide open enough for the spectators to set up a shout about. There was every incentive for the referee not to call fouls unless the spectators shouted loud enough, and if he failed to call a foul after several warnings of that nature, he was approaching the likelihood of being mobbed by either team or even the spectators."

Word of Pat Partridge's participation in helping in the recovery program following the flood disasters in Connecticut last summer reached the North Country, and upon inquiry to Pat concerning this, the following reply was received which is given herewith and shows not only Pat's part in the project, but should be of interest to all as a description of the nature of the remarkable relief work that has been accomplished. The first sentence indicates that Pat has joined, with so many others in the class, that venerable group of coronary "thrombosisers."

"Have plenty of time to reply as I am presently in the Hartford Hospital recovering from a coronary thrombosis. Regarding my flood relief work, I was associated with the Small Business Administration which set up several offices in Connecticut following the flood of August 19. The S. B. A. of course does not have a sufficient force to handle a disaster of such proportions as this one. My job was to interview businessmen and home owners, verify their losses and whenever the loss seemed justified and the prospect of repayment even remotely possible, to recommend loans sufficient to enable them to resume business or in the case of home owners to acquire new living quarters. These loans might run anywhere from $1000 to $1,000,000, in the case of business loans. Home loans were naturally much less, rarely exceeding $10,000 or $12,000. I worked with a group of four or five other experienced credit men furnished by the banks. Most of the loans made could not be called good by banking standards, and there were probably some made that will not be repaid, but experience with other disaster loans has proven that the loss ratio is small. The tough cases were the ones we had to turn down. In those cases the loss was real and in most cases the moral risk good, but the prospect of repayment was so impossible that we had no choice. The Red Cross did a marvelous job in my opinion and helped materially with grants which made it possible for us to give first mortgages, the payments on which could reasonably be related to the applicant's income. In many cases the Red Cross got plenty of criticism and no doubt made mistakes, but the overall picture should give them plenty of credit. It was a rough go for Connecticut, and our placid New England existence is not geared to such violence as hurricanes and floods, but we will survive."

The Class of 1911 may well be proud of its contributions to the College through the years. Up to June 30, 1955, the grand total, as given by the College, is $334,499.82. Of this amount, $21,725 has been given by individuals for special purposes, the rest being principally Alumni Fund contributions, together with the Memorial Fund principal and income. This record does not include the bequests made by members of the Class in their wills to the College, nor efforts of many engaged in special fund raising, of which the Dartmouth Educational Association, originally the project of Boston alumni, is a striking illustration. A 191 ler, Josh Clark, who became active in this organization, has raised the dues-paying members from 180 to 1000. The College looks upon the income from this group as one of the principal sources for scholastic aid.

Now don't forget our annual reunion at Mountain View in Whitefield in June about the middle of the month - exact dates and other information will be given in future issues.

This MAGAZINE will arrive too late for a Merry Christmas, but please accept hearty best wishes for a very pleasant and happy New Year.

Secretary, 1 Webster Terrace, Hanover, N. H.

Treasurer, 27 Emerson St., Wellesley Hills 82, Mass.

Bequest Chairman,