1916

It is the unpleasant duty of your secretary to report the death of two more members of the Class, George B. Howell and LeightonW. Rogers.

George's death occurred on last October 17 and was more fully covered in the March issue of the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE, as is Leigh's death. George was with us only in the freshman year, and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Although he was really a Cornellian he maintained his warm interest in Dartmouth and the Class throughout the years.

Leigh was one of our most colorful classmates, with an unusually interesting career. He will be remembered in the Class as a prime mover in forming the Balmacaan Athletic Club, and, in his later career, during the Bolshevik revolution, for the episode of the stolen pants. When the Bolsheviks took oyer the Petrograd branch of the National City Bank of New York, of which he was the manager, they made Leigh mad; when they tossed him into jail they made him madder; but when they stole his pants they made a mortal enemy, and Leigh devoted many years and much labor in writing and in raising money for the cause of Russian freedom.

The deep sympathy of the Class is expressed to Mrs. Howell and her family, and to Leigh's brother, Dr. Lester B. Rogers and to his three nieces. Leigh's folks requested that flowers be omitted at the funeral and that memorial gifts be made to the 1916 Scholarship Fund.

To turn from the unpleasant news to the good news: Signal honors have been bestowed by the College on two '16ers. RosMagill has been nominated by the Alumni Council and elected by the Board of Trustees to fill the unexpired term of Congressman Thomas B. Curtis '32 of Missouri, who became a life trustee last fall. Dick Parkhurst received an Alumni Award for Distinguished Service to the College, community and nation, and was the recipient of a replica of the Wentworth Bowl in a ceremony at the Trustee-Alumni Council banquet on January 26. Kay Parkhurst, together with their son, Stephen '52 and their daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and David Sykes, attended the presentation. These occasions were reported more fully in the March issue so I will not dwell further on the achievements of Ros and Dick. They have added greatly to the fame of our good Class and the Class is mighty proud of them.

The opening '16 Dinner of the season in January at the new Dartmouth Club in the Hotel Commodore, New York was a huge success. Twenty-two of the Class attended, - a record-tying number, I believe. All of the class officers, including the chairman of the executive committee and the bequest chairman, were present, with the exception of Stirling Wilson in far away Florida. The subsequent meeting was informal and DickParkhurst read interesting old letters and news articles about Ed Riley and Bones Joy, "which made us very proud as classmates, and also very sad," as Ed Craver put it.

Those present:

Brundage, Cleaves (from Swarthmore), Conley, Craver (from Webster), Cressy, Curtin (from Lynn), DeVoe, Dingwall, Dock, Doenecke, Evans, Fuller (from Washington), Jones, Lowe, Magill, Parkhurst (from Winchester), Pelletier, Pettengill, Shanahan (from Manchester), Freddy Smith, Williams and Wilby Sully. We missed Irving Wolff, who had planned to be there.

Two classmates with two swell ideas: Ed Craver, able head of the executive committee, has proposed that each member start writing to classmates to whom he should have written long since, and exchanging snapshots, new and old. This plan could result in renewing old ties, reviving the lagging interest of some, drawing the Class closer together and stirring up enthusiasm for our coming Fiftieth, which, by the way, is not too far over the horizon. Perhaps many of the snapshots would eventually find their way to the class archives, and that, too, would be all to the good. To the same end Phil Nordell suggests that the members of the Class write short articles about deceased classmates whom we knew well, of whom we were especially fond, and whose memory we would like to recall in the pages of The Newsletter.

With the decks cleared of the 200th Anniversary Development Program, the Class should now be able to get down to business on the Alumni Fund Campaign presently in progress. Our quota has been raised substantially and this should be borne in mind when you draw your trusty Waterman.

James A. Shanahan takes over thismonth as the new Class Agent for 1916.

New Class Agent for 1917 as the 1962Alumni Fund, begins is John W. Saladine.

Secretary, 7 Swarthmore PL, Swarthmore, Pa.

Class Agent, 1155 Union St., Manchester, N. H.