1909

A FRESHMAN'S PERSPECTIVE

When we hit the Hanover scene as freshmen, we looked around in wide-eyed wonder. It was a new world, a world that would have its influence on us for the rest of our lives. We were awed by the sophomores who felt their oats and imposed their will on us lowly freshmen. We were impressed by the juniors who had assumed new dignity as upperclassmen. And the seniors! How mature they looked — if only we could emulate them when we reached their exalted state three years hence!

In our days at Dartmouth, the "chinning season" for fraternities took place in the fall, and initiation came just before the Christmas vacation so we could proudly wear our pins home for the holidays. Sophomores did the scouting and if a candidate looked good, he was visited by juniors and then by seniors. The first semester freshman year I roomed in Fayerweather Hall with Emmett Hay Naylor who came on with me from Evanston (Ill.) High School.

The Psi U lads seemed to think favorably of us, for they kept coming back to our room, with practically the whole chapter showing up just before bids were to be extended. It was a thrill to see Dave Main '06, captain of the football team, in his turtle-neck sweater with a big "D" on his chest; and the three seniors seen in the accompanying photo. In this group, "T" Brown was the older brother of our classmate, Buster Brown. Other seniors were Ralph Scott, Trail Ford, Remmie Varick, Bob Wallace. Juniors were represented by Tod Plummer, Cully Pierce, Swipes Andrews, Sam Bartlett, Morris Smith, and P. Young. Sophs who were among the callers were Percy Skillin, captain of the baseball team, George Squier, Cleve (Moon Face) Foote, Jeff DeAngelis, and Clint Bills.

Naylor and I signed up with this group and we were joined by Jock Adams, RussellAlvord, Buster Brown, Max Bonter, Maurice Kivel, Chase Brooks, Cy Wheat, PodJohnson, Spots Lyon, Johnny Saville, CraigThorn, Lynde Tucker, and, later, by DutchSchildmiller who transferred from Cornell right after Christmas holidays freshman year.

The majority of these guys are gone now. Among the seniors, Fat Pratt, no longer fat, but down to 150, is still active in business at 79 and has just survived operations for three hernias. What a man he is! Bob Wallace, I think, is still alive, but retired. Among the juniors, Tod Plummer, Sam Bartlett, and Cully Pierce have survived the rigors of living, as have George Squier and Clint Bills who were sophomores. Six of our freshman delegation are left: Jock Adams, Pod Johnson, Buster Brown, Lynde Tucker, Cy Wheat, and a guy named Childs. A salute to all, past and present.

MEMORY OF "TYPE" HITCHCOCK

Mention of "Type" Hitchcock in an '09 Class Notes refreshes the memory of Ned Kenerson '03 who recalls a typical return from a Type Hitchcock field excursion - "riding in a four-horse tally-ho coach with a keg of cider on the back seat, the driver putting the horses to a gallop, and a man firing a revolver as we covered the short and only paved section of the street in Hanover village."

"Now that the college is supplied with plenty of Phi Beta Kapp's," Ned observes, "and hard courses are still considered the way to develop brain power, I am one to testify that the so-called 'snap' course of Type Hitchcock gave us a knowledge of the earth's formation and how it got that way, that has lasted all of our lives. This from the professor who announced to the class that the Faculty Committee felt he should make his examinations harder. He made this announcement in class and ended up with the triumphant statement, 'But I still correct the papers, gentlemen!' "

"Type" was one of a kind. They don't make them like that any more.

WHO HAD THE MOST FUN?

The years just before and after the turn of the century, in the opinion of Bob Jackson '00, provided an abundance of creative talent at Hanover, as illustrated when the students voted an appropriation to build a sidewalk from Hanover to Lebanon; and again, when they registered and voted for Professor "Tute" Worthen, a Democrat, and elected him to the state legislature. The Republican supervisors retaliated by attempting to collect a poll tax from the voters.

Bob Jackson was present just before Commencement in 1905 when a local police officer grabbed Fat Pierce '05 by the arm and said, "You're under arrest!" "Fat, who was always smiling when not presenting an expression of wide-eyed bewilderment, tried both at once, not quite sure what to expect, but not wanting to appear naive. 'For what?' he asked pleasantly. Tor evading the poll tax,' the cop said, at the same time hauling him from the Inn steps."

At this point, Pierce Senior, whom Bob described as "a highly dignified, meticulously-dressed beneficiary of inherited wealth," awoke to the peril of his first born. "With a shout of 'You take your dirty hands off my boy!' he lunged at the cop wildly, missed, and would have fallen from the steps on his face, had the argument not attracted a crowd that was packed closely around the trio. The father recovered himself and managed to land a blow or two before bystanders interfered. As I recall, they paid a small fine the next morning, and the tax."

In a piece in the '09 Class Notes I referred to Fat Pierce as a "customer's man" in a brokerage firm. Bob informs me he was a general partner in the Stock Exchange firm of Proctor, Cook and Co., of Boston, of which George Proctor, another Dartmouth man, was the head. This firm was the sponsor of the stock of Dominion Stores of Canada of which company Bob was the organizer and the president. Its initial capital in 1919 was $500,000, but today it's selling on the market for $110,000,000, with more than 300 supermarkets throughout Canada and doing a half a billion dollars a year in sales. Bob, who disposed of his holdings years ago, offers this advice: "The big killings are made by holding on to a growing concern."

Are the present Dartmouth undergrads more serious and less inclined to spontaneity and invention that characterized students of the long ago? "Now," says Bob, "their frivolities seem to be less hilarious, less carefree. But, today, a lot of us would have difficulty in getting admitted. My opinion, however, may be the result of the nostalgic astigmatism of age. Strange, we never recognize a so-called 'Golden Age' when we are in the midst of it."

The '09 freshman delegation of Psi Ulooked up to three cigar-smoking seniors: Tubby Blatherwick, Fat Pratt, and"T" Brown. See 1909 notes for details.

Class Notes Editor, 141 Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio

Secretary and Treasurer, Sandwich, Mass.