1915

This column is being written under extreme difficulty. I'm having to think!

Anent the "missing postage stamp" in our initial mailing of questionnaire for the 50-Year Book, your scribe received from one classmate a 5¢ stamp on the back of which was noted in pencil: "The Widow's Mite." Some other comments received I choose to ignore!

Plans for Reunion next June are well under way. Ray King, chairman of entertainment, enters a plea for volunteer musicers, old glee clubbers, mandoliers, guitarists, and the like, to chime in on the festivities. Write to Ray direct — 1387 Main St., Springfield, Mass.

Jeannet te Reynolds, in accepting appointment to the Reunion Ladies Committee, reports that Bill is back home from the hospital convalescing from a pneumonia attack that had bedded him back in August. She reports a happy family reunion on their 45th wedding anniversary over the 4th of July - 22 Strong.

Sid Crawford started his daily dip in the warm (?) Atlantic on May 23 and took his last one on Sept. 30 - "before someone should come along with a net - maybe that's what keeps me young?" Says he sees Max Wilcox quite often and is working on him to take in Reunion. Sid wants to know - with Sonny Liston doing his training in Plymouth - if there's any truth to the rumor that Chink Chamberlain is getting back in shape to be a sparring partner?

Al and Freda Cleveland took a trip to Deer Isle late in September and, resolving to look up Ralph Brown, stopped a guy dressed in khaki pants, sweater and yachting cap and asked if he knew where Ralph lived. The guy answered: "I am Ralph Brown." And so another tie was re-cemented! They tried to look up Duze Lounsberry but he and Helen were off on a trip somewhere. Al seems to think that country up there is a delightful part of New England. Al's letter was part of the "deluge" I received on my birthday!

Doc Noyes gets his name in a column in the Boston Herald with a dissertation on a controversy that is going the rounds having to do with the correct definition of a hitching weight. Without detailing the essence of the controversy, Doc allows as how his knowledge of the matter was picked up while he was domiciled in the environs of Hanover between 1911 and 1916. What profiteth a college education!

Bob Fredericks comes in with a gorgeous color card of good old Quechee Gorge, a spot he visited in mid-Autumn with its glorious foliage - and a spot some of us recall visiting way back when.

About the only thing worth mentioning (in my book) about the late lamented Princeton game in Hanover is that some 30-odd '15ers were seen at said orgy. It seemed to be the consensus that "too much Tiger in the tank" aptly describes it! On the other hand, the Harvard game weekend was a honey, with probably as many '15ers on hand to join in the happy occasion - all the way from the inimitable Kike n' Pearl Brunch party to the many wind-up gatherings of joymakers. Wotta game!

Preliminary estimates of attendance at Reunion next June, received by devious means from hither and yon, and under such varied headings as "Yes, Hope to, Probably, Maybe, Yea verily, Expect to, Lord willing, If I can crawl," and the like, add up to 27 affirmative, 7 non-committal, and only one negative. Sounds encouraging!

Other comments from hither and yon: Phil Alexander - feeling fine, enjoying life; Art Boggs - still firmly rooted in Pacific Northwest, wish they were nearer; RalphBurgess - ailing a bit, but on the mend; Hal Davison - retirement keeping him too busy, can't take it much longer; Bob Fredericks — the gang in Hopkins Center look just as goofy as we did in 1911; John Healy — has not retired yet; Norvy Milmore can't frug, can't watusi, can pay up; ArtNichols - "Say Hello to boys and girls from Charity and me"; Paul Rothery - sojourning in Florida until Apr. 1, pretty hard to take; Dan Strickland - gets to Hanover fairly often, especially in the fall; Jeff Trumbull — feeling better; Leo Burt - recently returned from annual trip including Hanover, figures if they can take care of crowds like at Princeton game they can do as well by us next June; Marv Frederick - now back in New York from their summer home in Galway, trying to get adjusted to city life again; Jack Ferguson - enjoyed Oklahoma's best autumn weather, making Tulsa look like New England; Art Sheldon - Princeton's second half play ruined us; DuzeLounsberry - got a kick out of World's "Serious" and the Olympics, back in circulation sometime in November; Ben Slade — "See you-all in June, if still breathing."

And from a source that remains unidentified come these bon mots: "If you don't think things are as bad as painted, go to one of these 'Modern Art' exhibits" and "Most of the people favoring birth control have already been born."

At this writing (late October), it looks like our 50-Year Book will get off the ground in time for Reunion. By the time you read this, the deadline for its contents is around the corner. Nuff said!

And around the corner is Christmas and the New Year. We wish you all the best of everything for those occasions. May it ever be thus!

Secretary, 245 Avenue C New York 9, N. Y.

Treasurer, 60 Stevens Rd., Needham 92, Mass.