1916
On all sides I hear praises of the newest Dartmouth history, "The College on the Hill." One classmate writes, "It is something everyone should read or, better, own." My nephew, Jim Cleaves '48 and his wife gave me the book for Christmas, with the inscription "to a loyal son, who loves her."
The feature article on the editorial page of an issue in March of The Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia) was entitled, "St. Peter's Lottery" by Philip Gardiner Nordell and was, in reality, a page from the early history of the city. In the 1750s, because the crowds of worshippers could not be accommodated at Christ Church on North Second Street (called by many Washington's church, because he had a pew and worshipped there) it was decided to divide the congregation and erect a second church in the southern section of the city. Construction was started in 1758 at Third and Pine Streets. Named St. Peter's, it continues to be one of Philadelphia's prized architectural ornaments. Phil remarks that the big lotteries such as this were a far cry from veterans' and firemen's raffles run today. Buildings such as Nassau Hall at Princeton and the old Federal Hall, on the balcony of which Washington was first inaugurated, were partly paid for by lotteries; Yale's only surviving colonial building, Connecticut Hall, was partly paid for by a lottery; Harvard's Stoughton and Holworthy Halls were both paid for entirely by lotteries; and, of course, two were run to help pay for Dartmouth Hall, though the latter two, owing to tight money, didn't raise more than a minor fraction. An article of his on them appeared in the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE back in 1953. Phil has had more than a dozen such articles published, mainly in college magazines, and Baker Library at Dartmouth has asked him to prepare an exhibition at the time of our Fiftieth Reunion of some of the rare and important tickets of the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Heinie and Ruth George returned home to New Hampshire in March from ten weeks in the orange groves of Florida - at Longboat Key, Sarasota; he to arrange for the official opening of Rockingham Race Track on March 5. Heinie, as some of you probably know, was the first chairman of the New Hampshire Racing Commission and served for five years in that capacity until the responsibility encroached too heavily on his Ford business in Concord. When he sold his business a few years back, the Commission appointed him a Racing Inspector, and he spends ten months of the year between the two New Hampshire tracks at Salem and Hinsdale.
Cliff Herold to Roger Evans: "Out this way (Grand Rapids) I am the only '16er and you might say the dean of the Dartmouth Alumni in Western Michigan, which really sounds mighty good. There are close to a hundred alumni in this area." ... The predecessor of the 1916 Balmacaan Athletic Club Newsletter was The Sixteener, which CliffBean introduced in 1921 and of which he was the editor for five or ten years. The members of the original Balmacaan Athletic Club Committee were Bill Brett, Jack English, Gran Fuller, Shorty Hitchcock, Leigh Rogers, Shorty Shaw and Max Spelke. Remember the special train to Lake Morey in the spring of 1915, with such worthies as Jim Coffin riding the engine? ... I am told that Bill Hale got to the Cornell game last fall with a son who lives in Ithaca. I must observe that he didn't see one of the Big Green's better efforts. ... From sources other than from the principal comes word that Cliff Bean recently retired from the directorate of the Blue Cross. He received a citation for his seventeen years of service and a gift of Steuben crystal. ... Grace Nies Fletcher, widow of our Classmate, JockFletcher, wrote me that she was finishing a new book, "What Is Right With Our Young People?" It was to be published by William Morrow. She wrote from Texas and said she had been interviewing people in 20 states, and was then working against an April deadline, with several chapters still to go. Good luck to her in her latest literary effort.
Roger Evans has presented the Class with four bound volumes of The Dartmouth, covering the complete issues for bur four years in College - an incomparable gift. The Secretary of the Class will be the custodian of these until there are no more '16 secretaries, when the volumes will be given to the College. The Class expresses its deep appreciation to Roger for this veritable treasure-house which the Class will enjoy in the years to come. Roger had volumes for other years which he offered to the classes concerned. Needless to say they were gratefully accepted.
By the time you are reading these notes the Alumni Fund Campaign will be in full swing, with our group under the leadership of our new Head Agent, Burt Lowe. He is putting in a tremendous amount of hard work on the job and your Secretary trusts that each individual member will do his full duty to the College on the Hill.
Secretary, 7 Swarthmore Place Swarthmore, Pa.
Class Agent, 50 Rugby Rd., Manhasset, L. I., N. Y.
