1926

Even though we write some 400 class birthday cards a year, we apparently give little thought to the one-year-older status of each recipient. Freud would call it a subconscious resistance to facing unflattering facts. We'd rather blame it on our (typical, we believe) habit of thinking of most of our classmates, not at their present age, but as we remember them in Hanover. We think that accounts for our failure to note that our class ranks have started the march past the sixty mark. Yes, we have six "twenty-six-agenarians": Ralph Boniface, Gob DesMaris,Ralph Upham, Jim Truesdale, Bill Stickney, and Frank Knowles. (Look up their pictures in the "Aegis" or "Green Book," and you'll find it hard to believe!)

Moving to the younger set, '26's most eligible young bachelor, Harold Trefethen, made himself more eligible than ever with his election as vice president and comptroller of Boston's big National Shawmut Bank. The Boston paper notes that Harold has been with Shawmut since he left Tuck School in 1927, and that he served in India, Burma, and China in World War II, with the rank of colonel, as instructor and adviser of Chinese field artillery.

A distinguished-looking picture in the Meadville (Penna.) Tribune accompanies the write-up of a recent speech by Ted Seely, Professor of English at Allegheny College, on the subject of "Britain's Angry Young Men and America's Beatniks". Our clipping tells us that: -

Dr. Seely, who came to Allegheny in 1931, has held a full professorship since 1949. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and did graduate work at George Washington University. He earned his Master of Arts degree from Harvard University and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of lowa.

From 1926 to 1928, Dr. Seely served on the editorial staff' of the Miami Herald in Miami, Fla., and in the two years following held a publicity position in Washington, D. C.

A San Francisco newspaper reports the latest expedition of Ritchie and Betty Smith:

A Treasure Hunt in Mexico was the exciting vacation of Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie Smith, who returned Tuesday to their Orinda home after a month's absence.

It was the second such trip for the East Bay couple, who came back last summer with tales of a hidden lagoon and sunken treasure in an old Spanish galleon off the coast of eastern Mexico. Their exploits were written up in several national magazines.

Already the pair are planning another trip to the area next summer - but it is not the lure of buried gold that attracts them. Everything they find is turned over to the Mexican government and they have kept only a few small souvenirs for themselves.

These expeditions are strictly a hobby for the couple, who also fish and hunt for game as well as skin dive. Mr. Smith is an honorary member of the Club de Exploraciones y Deportes Acuaticos de Mexico (CEDAM), which has been commissioned by the Mexican government to search the ancient Mayan ruins for sacred wells into which the natives threw sacrificial offerings of maidens, gold, and silver.

As we type these final few notes of this (our third) secretarial- year, we find ourselves eagerly anticipating our "annual reward" - the trip to Hanover for Class Officers Weekend, May 13-14. You can read all about it in Chip's next Newsletter. (Have a good summer!)

Secretary, 9301 Hamlin Ave., Evanston, Ill.

Class Agent, 31 Downing St., Hingham, Mass.