1890

As secretary of the Class of '90, I tried to go to Hanover on June 11, the 70th anniversary of the commencement exercises of the class. I did not make it, but X was determined that I would try again to see Dartmouth for perhaps the last time. So, on August 6, with my nurse, Mrs. Mulvany, I successfully made the trip. Again I asked Professor Gerould to meet me at the Inn but his health prevented him from doing so.

I sat on the porch of the Inn and looked out over the campus and visualized it as it was 70 years ago. Next to the Inn was the old gymnasium, Bissell Hall, where "Tute" Worthen gave us exercises with dumbbells. Next was Wilson Hall, the old library, with the President's office on the second floor. On the east side I saw the four dormitories, Reed, Wentworth, Dartmouth and Thornton, and Rollins Chapel where the morning exercises were compulsory and it was a common sight to see students running across the campus with an overcoat over their pants, trying to beat the last bell. Old Dartmouth Hall was the location of the famous donkey episode, and where the hands of College clock were stolen every year. This led President Bartlett, who presided at the chapel exercises, to announce every morning that the perpetrators were well known and if the hands were not promptly restored the culprits would be separated from the College. The hands were never put back and were found, after the snow had melted in the spring, in the Vale of Tempe.

On the north side, I saw the old White Church where attendance was also compulsory on Sunday and where we listened to Dr. "Pa" Leeds, whose sermons were typical of the old Congregational doctrine. I don't know why compulsory attendance at church and chapel was discontinued, but we who attended them regret that they were not continued. On the west side, there was The Chandler Scientific School (which was later merged with the College) and the Bank.

College opened the first of September and the first term ran to Thanksgiving. Then there was a recess of a month, and the students who wished to teach winter school departed. I went to Grand Isle on Lake Champlain where I taught a one-room school of twelve grades. I went over on Sand-Bar Bridge with the mail carrier and returned over the ice. On returning to College there was two months' work to make up and the regular classes to attend. It was somewhat of a grind but the Professors were sympathetic and we all passed the final examinations of the freshman year, but few made Phi Beta Kappa grades.

The winters were rugged, with temperatures at 40 below at times. There were no winter carnivals and the snow was so deep that only the top of the head of a person walking in the path across the campus was visible. We did have baseball, football, and a Spring Track Meet with other colleges in our league, composed of Vermont, Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan and Trinity — all of about the same size. There were no inducements of any kind offered to athletes to enter Dartmouth, but there always were plenty of students who wished to make the teams. Baseball was played on the northwest corner of the campus, football on the southeast, and track meets were held along the west side.

Women were non-existent, so far as the students were concerned, but there was a Female Seminary in West Lebanon and my roommate knew one of the students, which gave him an advantage. Once when an intercollegiate baseball game was in Hanover he obtained permission from the Head Mistress to take his friend and one of her classmates to Hanover to see the game. We hired a team, called for the girls, drove to Hanover, and parked in front of the White Church behind home plate, saw the game and returned to West Lebanon. You can believe that we were the envy of the students assembled to see the game.

The one thing which impresses me more than anything is the growth of Dartmouth. There are many reasons for it, one of which is the desire of every graduate to see his friends attend, but I think the outstanding reason is the love for and loyalty to Dartmouth. A Dartmouth man will never concede that there is in the United States any other college which is the equal of Dartmouth in the loyalty of its graduates, and there is a feeling of pride in everyone who can say, "I am a Dartmouth graduate."

Will Charles '90 returned to Hanover in August for his delayed 70th Reunion. He enjoyed relaxing on the lawn of the HanoverInn. Charles is 1890's secretary and treasurer.

Secretary, South Acton, Mass.