1909
(Note: "The Morning After," a verse submitted by Jim Everett '10, that appeared in the December Diddings ('09's newsletter), attracted favorable comment. As a companion piece, Jack Richmond, also '10, has been inspired to voice poetical sentiments of a wife who speaks as follows):
The Night Before
My man's the life of every party.
His smile is wide, his laugh is hearty.
With song and jest and imitation (And drinks to give him inspiration) He keeps them shrieking till at last I whisper: "Time is fleeting fast Our home is far; the dawn is near It's been a lovely evening, dear."
And so I nudge him toward the door, For he's no youngster any more.
Alas, I hate to cool his fervor, But I'm the party's "life preserver."
The young man whose photo accompanies this piece is John Whitney Richmond, better known as "Jack." He was a prominent athlete at Exeter (track and football) and later engaged in these activities during his freshman year at Dartmouth, after which he left college.
In New York, where Jack made his residence, he was a star track performer for the New York Athletic Club of which he is still a member. He ran the 220 and the 440 and was a member of a record-breaking relay team. In the photo, Jack was wearing a heavy green-gray woolen shirt, "because it was so cold on many of those early spring days, even though some thin grass and foliage had already appeared." Since those days, the "foliage" on Jack's cranium has thinned down considerably.
Jack retired in 1951 as vice president, director, and senior deputy administrator. Irving Trust Company, New York, after thirty years of service. He maintains an apartment at 333 West 56th Street, living there by himself since the death of his wife, Adele, in 1959.
As the years accumulate, a guy no longer indulges in strenuous exercises, but he can continue to exercise his vocal chords. The proprietor of a booming bass, Jack is a singer from way back. He recalls one session at the Reserve City Bankers' convention in Colorado Springs when he joined a pick-up quartet that sang at the convention banquet. Besides him were Phil Alexander '15, lead and harmony; T. Reed Vreeland, Yale, first tenor; Clarence (Big Boy) Capes. Yale, a high baritone. These guys set the convention on fire with renditions such as "Trees," "The Whiffenpoof Song," "I Had a Dream Dear," "On the Banks of the Wabash," "Down in the Red River Valley," and ending up with "My Old Kentucky Home." They were cheered to the echo, and that shows what an impact good harmony can have on listeners, even when they're stimulated by spirituous libations.
Naught Nine's Jiin Hitchcock, a versifier and harmonizer of note, impressed Jack with his new words to an old favorite, Aura Lee. Jack and a group sang them at a wake given in honor of the late Harry McDevitt '07, the noted tenor of his day; another time, Jack sang them to a guy who was sick in the hospital. He and John Hale Chipman '19, the author of the recently published book, an Index of Top Tunes published during the first half of this century, recently got together in New York for a musical talk session. John, a piano man of consequence, was publicized in the January issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE by his contemporary. Gene Markey 'lB, a well-known public figure.
John Chipman is in the midst of a project to record for posterity the type of singing Dartmouth guys have done and are doing in past and present generations. The records, when completed, will be preserved in Hopkins Center. Hal Braman '21, another piano man, has written a series of articles on Dartmouth music that are now appearing in the MAGAZINE. Be sure to give them your attention.
As Jack, John, and Hal say: "Without music, both vocal and instrumental, this would be a drab old world." To this, I say, "Amen."
No grass is under Dudley's feet, For he's a lad who can't be beat.
He's on the job Fund dough to raise, And earn Naught Nine deserving praise.
That's our boy, Ben Dudley, head class agent, who has his divisional class agents lined up and is getting set to go, go, go! The lucky classmates who will contact their classmates are: Jock Adams, Hal Clark, Reggie Colley, Cad Cummings, Horace Fleisher, Bill Holzer, Eliot Howard, Al Newton, Mike Ready, Curt Sheldon, Art Sporborg, Jim Tuttle, Gordon Weinz, Heinie Whitcomb; and Toni McLoud for the widows. Ben points out that this is the same gang that did so well last year. And he says, "Of the eleven classmates who died during 1962, only one was a contributor of $100." This year, Ben is encouraged by a generous contribution from George Oliphant. He hopes others will give realistically when solicitation time comes around.
Talk about Dartmouth loyalty, it can't be exceeded by that of three members of the class of 1900: Bob Jackson. Ben Prescott, and Dr. Arthur Wallace, all in their 80's and rugged individuals. They sat through the chilling storm at the Yale game. Bob wonders if representatives of earlier classes were on hand. It'd be a safe bet they weren't and he can write it down that many men, much younger, didn't show.
"It was easily the roughest weather," said Bob, "except for the 1934 Princeton game, in my experience. Ben and Arthur attended every Dartmouth game this fall, except those at Cornell and Princeton, motoring from Milford, N. H., and they appear good for a dozen more autumns."
Bob owns a unique record, footballwise. He belongs to a fast-diminishing and select group for, as a small boy, he saw his first Dartmouth game in 1890 and three years later, he saw the Amherst game. All told, he has seen 71 of Dartmouth's 81 teams, and that, friends, is a record that no one, surely, can tie. If anyone can, speak out!
Reminiscent of the '25 Dartmouth-Chicago football game, I was talking to Bruce Eaken '26 who played saxophone in the band that made such a favorable impression during the game and at the banquet that night at the Drake. Funds to meet the band's expenses were underwritten by a Chicago alumni committee, headed by George Leach '11. Bruce said the band came on the in Michigan, the populace had the impression the band was the football squad. Not to disappoint the admiring natives, big guys were introduced as Swede Oberlander, Nate Parker, Dutch Diehl, and other members of the team.
And now a word of caution to our readers, if any: "Don't let March winds blow you off your feet."
Class Notes Editor, 141 Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio
Secretary and Treasurer,: Sandwich, Mass.
