The Good Old Days?
IN the 1880's Dartmouth was so different from the 1960's as to be almost another world. In an unpublished diary W. G. Bouton 'B5 describes undergraduate excitements: cracking walnuts, swinging dumbbells and Indian clubs, coasting on sleds, skating on Mink Brook, and prayer meetings.
Fond of debates, students chose such topics as: Should Congress forbid immigration? Was Lincoln a greater benefactor of his country than Washington? Is conscience in all cases a complete moral guide? Was slavery in America an
In recent years peppery freshmen win tugs of war against lethargic sophomores abetted by jaded juniors and foxy seniors who tie the rope about ancient elms. In the 1880's the freshman-sophomore rush was centered on a cane to be transported to Reed Hall from the campus. After 45 minutes of battling, September 26, 1882, the 62 sophomores won against the 76 freshmen presumably because, stripped to the waist, the sophomores had anointed their torsos with oil.
The Delta Kappa Epsilon initiation dinner of 1882 might have been a touch more romantic than one in the 1960'5. Starting for White River Junction by horse stage at 9, the brothers had "a splendid moonlight ride." At 10:30 they "feasted sumptuously." Bouton caught the horse stage for Hanover at 1:15 which got him back in time for bed at 2:30.
Bouton mentions church, prayers, and "biblicals," though he never seems particularly religious, and never alludes to girls, liquor, gambling, or wild parties. The reason may be that he worked hard on Latin, Greek, French, and Math to earn his Phi Beta Kappa key or that his wife, who presented the diary to Dartmouth College, cut out many pages.
Interested in athletics, Bouton cites figures which may make the younger generation wonder whether before 1900 legs ran faster, chests inhaled deeper, shoulders tackled harder, and fists drew more blood. The Dartmouth Rugby Football Team playing Harvard in Cambridge lost by a score of 19 touchdowns and four goals to nothing.
If the Big Green athletes of the 1882 track meet could take on the Little Green athletes of 1967, the Big Greeners would lose the polevault by a margin hardly to be called slim: 7' 4". The 1882 man won with 7' 8" and Harris Wagenseil '67 did 15 feet even against Boston University in February.
In these days of increased specialization at Dartmouth, Wagenseil, more than a track star, was president of the UGC, winner of a Dartmouth Public Service Fellowship, a Rhodes Scholar, and a Senior Fellow rubbing elbows with Peter Walton and Bill Hay, the football players.
Nonetheless, just because the College is in an era of increasing specialization, emotional comparisons about the ruggedness of past or present ignore important criteria. With casual coaching and even more casual equipment the wonder is that athletes in the 1880's could do as well as they did. The contrast between times and distances in the 1882 track meet and those chalked up in College records is not to be explained by larger chests, longer legs, and more muscular arms. Beginning in high school, athletes now spend more time on their specialties. Coaches keep a closer eye on track surfaces, proper warm-ups, sensible conditioning, and morale. Almost as important as a dedicated and experienced coach, like Ellie Noyes, is the equipment itself. Properly fitted shoes may win a race. What sort of a mark would Wagenseil set with an 1882 wooden pole or even a bamboo one? A fibre-glass pole with scientifically computed flexibility is what catapults him up into regions undreamed of 75 years ago.
Here is the scoreboard:
1882 Track Meet
100 yard dash 11:00 440 yard run 0:59¼ 880 yard run 2:20 One mile run 5:35¾ High jump 5' 2" Broad jump 17' 3¾ " Shot put 30' 10¾" Hop, skip, & jump 38' 5½"
Dartmouth College Records
0:09.4 Gerald Ashworth '63, 1962 0:47.8 John Hoffstetter '37, 1936 0:47.8 Thomas Holzel '63, 1962 1:53.3 Douglas Brew '57, 1956 4:10.6 Donald Burnham '44, 1943 6' 8" Chester Halka '69, 1966 24' ¾ " Donald Blount '41, 1939 50' 2" Anthony Geniawicz '37, 1934 53' 3¾" Vilhjalmur Einarsson '56, 1956
