1932
In the good old days it seems as though professors used to just hang around the campus and teach. Now, if the learned doctors from our Class constitute a representative sample, they are always turning up on leave or special assignment, or are going somewhere on one pretext or another.
For example, from Oak Ridge, Tenn., Don Allen writes that he is teaching there while on seven months' leave from State University Teachers College, New Paltz, N. Y„ where he is professor of chemistry and chairman of the Division of Natural Science. He is also doing research in the medical uses of radioisotopes, a field in which he has done consulting work for several years. According to Don, this is a most interesting time to be in Oak Ridge, as the AEC is in the process of liquidating some of its holdings in land and housing, and is turning over the city to civilian administration. He and Kay, with daughters Patricia and Barbara, have been taking frequent hikes in the nearby hills in preparation for some jaunts into the Smokies later this spring. Their address in Oak Ridge is 101 Tucker Road.
Another traveling professor, this one airborne, is Sheldon Reed, director of the Dight Institute for Human Genetics at the University of Minnesota, who very kindly sends us an account of his recent trip around the world. He visited France, Italy, Turkey, India, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan, and his commentary is full of perceptive and entertaining observations; e.g., (of the Turks) one can almost feel the new generation pulling itself out of the depravity of a thousand years of serfdom; (of the Thailanders) a handsome little people, virile, vigorous and vivacious; (of the Japanese) it is possible that the constant bowing is not heart-felt, but it does no harm and is good for the waistline; (and on arriving home) my sense of gratitude that my ancestors came to America, which allowed me to be born here, was the greatest emotional experience of the trip. Whether or not some of you are thinking of getting into orbit yourselves, you may wish to write Shel for the complete story.
From Bo Wentworth we received a cordial note transmitting two pages of folded newspaper which opened up to an impressive pictorial spread announcing that the City Bank of Washington, D. C., (Jack Pyles, pres.) has constructed a new ten-story building to house its main office, in the heart of the capital's most important financial district. After alluding to the enclosure, Bo's note went on to say that he, in company with Jim Miller (recently a proud father for the first time) and Buzz Burrows, had attended the Dartmouth-West Virginia game in the NCAA playoffs and managed to enjoy themselves despite the outcome. He neglected to mention one newsworthy item, namely, that he has just been elected executive vice president and a director of the Firemen's Insurance Co. of Newark N. J.
Art Allen sends us a clipping which says that Lt. (jg) John Allen '56 was one of the officers aboard the Trout, a diesel-powered submarine which recently returned from a cruise under the icepack off Newfoundland. Trout and Harder, a sister ship, logged 280 miles each under the ice, a record distance for non-nuclear powered subs. The feat was possible only by finding frequent holes in the ice through which the ships could surface for breathers. Young John is based at New London, Conn.
One of our boys who never seems to stay out of the news for very long is Bill Kendall. He has just gotten himself elected president of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, one of the nation's leading bituminous coal carriers and the second largest railroad in the South. In the staid language of the N. Y. Times, Mr. Kendall is one of the youngest top executives in the railroad industry.
Also according to the newspapers, Ed Smith, president of J. E. Smith & Co., has been elected a director of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Waterbury, Conn. Ed is a director also of Lumber Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Boston and of Waterbury Ready Mixed Concrete Co., and has for a number of years been prominent in the civic affairs of his New England community.
A most welcome dispatch from our yachting commodore Jim Moore arrived just in time for this issue. He tells us that Lois is now convalescing after a very rough bout with rheumatoid arthritis; son Jimmy is a freshman at Governor Dummer Academy in S. Byfield, Mass.; and son Steve is entered at Fessenden School in W. Newton, Mass., for next fall. Jim is now general sales manager for Quaker Lace, in New York, and spends what time he can frostbiting (i.e., racing a small sailboat) in winter and sailing and racing his Resolute sloop in summer.
Jim adds that during a recent business trip to the coast he had dinner with Betty and Charlie Odegaard, who were living in an apartment while their home on the University of Washington campus was being redecorated. Charlie's chief concern at the time, according to Jim, was to get his proposed budget approved in full by a stubbornly economy-minded State legislature. Later on the same trip, Jim had a brief but pleasant visit with Bruno Saia, now a buyer of home furnishings for Dohrmann's in San Francisco. The report is that Bruno looks the same as ever and is really thriving on that California climate.
Max Wolff, who was to write the class newsletter, has found the double task of organizing a new work assignment and establishing a new domicile in Harrison, N. Y., about all that he can comfortably handle for the time being. Stepping up to bat as newsletter editor, therefore, is our old pro Carl Baker who has graciously consented to carry on. Carl's address is 109 Broadmead, Princeton, N. J.
Just one more thing. Don't forget to send in your reservations for the grand inter-reunion get-together in Hanover on the Brown weekend, October 9-11. Write to Mr. Borden Avery, Bonnie Oaks, Fairlee, Vt., and enclose your $25 deposit. Do it now.
Secretary, 341 West End Rd. S. Orange, N. J.
Class Agent, General Abrasive Co., Inc., Niagara Falls, N. Y.
