1904
Carl and Marion Woods left Boston January 13 on a seven weeks' tour of South America. They flew to New Orleans, from there by steamer to Houston, Texas - to the Virgin Islands and are on their way to Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. They will fly across the Andes to Valparaiso, Chile, visit at several West Coast cities - returning to New York and Boston via the Panama Canal. Nice trip. Glad they were not on the Santa Maria. Home March 15.
In my last notes mention was made of the death of our classmate The Reverend Oscar J. Aldrich, on December 29, 1960, at his home in Stoughton, Mass., at the age of 78. Oscar was with us for two years. He graduated from Boston University 1904. Later entered the B.U. School of Theology and in 1907 he began his pastoral work and for over fifty years he devoted his life to the ministry.' The Class of 1904 remembered Oscar and Helen with a lovely bouquet in 1954, upon their fiftieth wedding anniversary; the people in Mansfield, Mass., where he served his last pastorate, gave Oscar a wonderful reception upon that occasion. A note from Mrs. Aldrich has been received in which she expressed deep appreciation for flowers sent in memoriam - and in it she mentioned the happy time they had at our twenty-fifth reunion. Though not a graduate of Dartmouth, his ties with the College and the Class of 1904 were a source of real happiness to him — and his loyalty to both never ceased. When a man devotes his whole life to the betterment of his fellow men - What can the Great Master say to him but "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
Another classmate passed away on January 6, our Bill Slayton, suddenly, of a heart attack at his home in Contoocook, N. H., at the age of 83. Your Secretary had received Christmas and New Years greetings from Bill, and his passing came as a great shock. Bill had devoted his whole life to teaching and administration work in the secondary school field in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
He married Marion B. Dewey in 1905 and they had shared their lives together for 55 years. Congregationalism dyed in the wool Republican, and next to his love for his family, Dartmouth and the fellowship shared with his classmates of 1904 were his greatest source of happiness and pride.
In college he was a member of Chi Phi Fraternity. Bill rarely missed any of our reunions or roundups; gracious, kindly, loyal to College and Class, it is with deep regret that your Secretary records his obituary in another section of this issue of the MAGAZINE.
In my last notes, which covered a lot of territory, reference was made of Mose Withey, but without detail. At hand is a copy of the Wisconsin State Journal - with a picture of our Mose back in the Engineering Mechanics Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin, with which institution he has been associated as Professor, Dean and now Dean-Emeritus, retired at seventy, in 1953, bringing to a close nearly a half century of service in Wisconsin, engineering, education and research. Upon his retirement from the university he was immediately drafted to coordinate the university's engineering project in India, which has been carried on for seven years for the United States government; but Mose cannot keep out of the laboratory. The picture mentioned shows him at his hobby, testing the compressive strength of a fifty-year-old concrete specimen. At the fifty year mark, the tests have proven that some concrete and mortar mixes, unlike many other material things, increase considerably in strength with age. Stored outside, where it is subjected to all kinds of Wisconsin weather, it becomes more than three times stronger than it was during the first days of its hardening of fifty years back. In 1932 Mose was awarded the Watson Medal for his significant contributions in this field. He is also the author of bulletins, papers and reports on his long time studies on concrete and mortars. A salute to a brilliant scholar and loyal classmate.
Robbie and Hope Robinson plan to leave for the Royal Park Inn, Vero Beach, Fla., about March 1, for a month.
Happy to state at last report, Our Squid is at home and on the mend - look shortly for his classic class letter; also you may be hearing from our Treasurer, Tom Streeter. With your contributions 1904 will always be a premium class in its support of Class and College.
Secretary, 100 North St., Pittsfield, Mass.
Treasurer, Box 406, Morristown, N. J.
