1916

By the time this can reach you in print, John Stearns' Balmacaan letter will probably have reported the interim reunion which at least seven couples are going to enjoy at Princeton, come rain, snow, or shine. There plainly would have been more acceptances had the party been set up and announced earlier, before many men made competitive plans for the autumn; and more replies, had the card enclosed been prepaid as intended. But let me acknowledge with appreciation here the replies we still received from 75, especially those from five of our ladies — Mesdames Gile, Paul, Steinert, Walker and Wilson — and from the high proportion of men living far away or grounded.

Our Coast contingent checked in almost solid, with greetings from Dan Dinsmoor, Shorty Hitchcock, Ruby McFalls, Roly Wass, Esky, Earl Cranston, Porter Blaney, and Perc Burnham. Good wishes came from the Plains, from Horace Fishback and Watt Wooldridge from Chicago, from Ken Henderson and Dee Stillman; from Florida, from Ed Lindman, Russ Leavitt, Bill Hale, Fred Davis whose new address until further notice is 651 S. Madison Court, Sarasota, Fla. 33577.

Of those mentioning football games, the Newmarks are going to those with Harvard, Yale and Cornell; at least Fred Smith and Ell Brill also to Yale; and Ev Parker, Kay English, the Bill McKenzies, and Paul Davis to the Penn game at Hanover.

Among those adding news of themselves; Charlie Jones is disabled with a second stroke, and Dutch Doenecke is just getting up from another painful siege with foot ulcers that brought him and Eleanore home prematurely from their long-planned vacation on Martha's Vineyard. Old friends may wish to write these classmates. The stoical Jake Mensel reported "feeling fine" after long lay-up with a "highly successful operation." Good news indeed, for this was Jake's fifth such siege since 1952. "Imagine my surprise," added Jake, "when I woke up one day and found Parker Hayden sitting in my room - a real pleasure. He had seen my name somewhere in the hospital record. He ought to be a detective; same old Parker." Parker is indeed good surprise company when you are in dry-dock, as several of us can attest. Parker himself underwent major surgery in mid-September but admitted it only when he was back at practice, within a month.

With deep regret we report the death of Chan Green at his home in West Hartford, Conn., on October 8. Peg has since written her appreciation of the presence at the services of Anson and Leila Bates, Ell Brill and Chan's lifelong friend, Parker Hayden, also of the Class letter, and roses sent to her.

. . . The sympathy of the Class is also extended to Marian Lindman, whose father, Arthur W. Starling, passed away September 30 at his Fair Lawn, N. J., home. A notice for Chan Green and a regretfully less complete one for Gardner Morey, will appear in the In Memoriam section of this or a later issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE.

Our esteemed Cap Palmer has risen to remark that he is still on deck and a member of Sigma Nu, and your secretary, the culprit, apologizes to everybody. The misinformation quoted by Ed Lindman in a recent Newsletter was inadvertently based on our junior year Aegis, which was printed before Cap joined us for our senior year only.

With his usual loquacity, Hiram McClellan writes:

About our six weeks' cruise August 15-September 25, the following are some of the highlights which stand out in my memory: the hula dancers at Papeete, Tahiti; the 'Stone Fishing' show at Bora Bora, where at least a ton of fish were driven into a net and divided among the participants; the green farmlands dotted with sheep and the Waitomo Cave with its underground river and myriad of glowworms attached to the ceiling overhead, out of Aukland, New Zealand; the beautiful beaches near Sydney, Australia, and the prosperous sheepraising country surrounding the town of Dubbo to the north of Sydney; luncheon under huge banyan trees at Hotel Chateau Royal in Noumea, Caledonia; and the "fire-walking' show and Fiji Police Band made up of musicians with excellent voices, at Suva.

Of the many activities on board ship, I would say that, for me, bridge lessons, driving golf balls into a net on the top deck, and the numerous champagne parties were the most enjoyable.

Thanks for the sharing, Hiram.

One of my favorite pictures is an enlarged photograph taken by Leslie Leavitt of the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek which, with Leslie as guide, I visited just before Christmas 1954 as I headed home from a four months' working trip around Asia and the Antipodes. Margaret's grandfather, Daniel Bliss, founded the American University at Beirut which celebrated its centennial early last June; Leslie was long the principal of its International College. But let Leslie tell his own story, verbatim:

Wellesley, October 23, 1967: You asked about our trip to Europe and the Middle East last May and June. It started out most auspiciously with a week in England visiting British friends in Cambridge, Coventry, and Whitechurch. Then on to Beirut, Lebanon, to visit the many friends we had made during our more than forty years in that part of the world. We received a very hearty welcome; and I could hardly walk a hundred yards without being greeted by a former student or acquaintance. It was good for the ego!

Then, at the end of the first week of our projected three weeks' stay, the Arab-Israeli war started and an abrupt change took place. Anti-American feeling ran high, intensified by Abdul Nasser's accusation, repeated continuously on the radio, that U. S. planes were helping Israel. Classes at International College and the University of Beirut were discontinued, and the commencement exercises and all other activities cancelled. The government imposed a blackout and a curfew; mobs took to the streets. What would happen next?

At two a.m. on June 7. a college friend phoned to say that things looked bad and that we had better get down to the evacuation center on the campus. We joined the several hundred American men, women, and children who had been assembled and waited our turn to be taken to the airport under military escort. By ten o'clock we were in the air, bound for Athens. We felt so heartsick over what was taking place in our "second home" that we cut short our trip and came back to the States.

There are always two sides to any big problem, of course, but perhaps one has to have lived in the Middle East to begin to appreciate how very strongly the Arabs believe that they have been made, with the help of the United States, to suffer great injustice.

Incidentally, I sometimes recall with some amusement a remark made by George Ray Wicker in 1916 when I informed him that Russell and I were going out to Syria to teach. "Good! But it's too bad you aren't going to a more exciting and vital part of the world."

Here's wishing each one of you and yours a memorable Christmas and the best of New Years with the hope that Santa leaves some ink in your stocking.

Secretary, 2-C Swarthmore Apts. Swarthmore, Pa. 19081

Treasurer, Singletary Ave., Sutton, Mass. 01527

Bequest Chairman,