1915
Snow, snow, snow! Starting on a mid-February Sunday (or was it Saturday?), New York City came up with some 17 inches of the white stuff and was still breathing heavily a week later. Most offices closed up for the start of a business week and the rest of the week was still quite a struggle. The weather bureau first forecast 3 or 4 inches, increased it later to 6 or 8 inches and ended up completely "snowed under." Deliveries? Nil! Laundry pickups - a week later! Anyway, we were clean minded"!
Echoes from other areas were much the same — if not more so. Eben Clough reports they were without heat for 18 hours, but "lit the gas stove and were then plenty hot. Some nearby folks were stuck without power for two days - ice on the wires did the damage." Eben is nothing if not expressive. Reporting on the annual Boston dinner, he says the weather was so bad there were only 400 present. After a few beakers of cold water flavored with spirits of Frumenti, they "tiptoed" over to the dinner and teamed up with Kike Richardson, three '14ers, and two '16ers to form table #2. According to Eben, Dale Barker "stepped into an empty step and sprained his ankle, so didn't make the dinner."
Eben further reports a nice note from Tex Doe saying: "A lone Doe wants to express her gratitude for the comfort 1915's letters, notes, and cards have given her." He further reports that Tom Connelly andJen invited them to "have a stew spiked with a touch of his home brew, and what a brew he can come up with!"
A lush card from Howie Fuller down at the Sheraton Resort Hotel at Miami reports a change in their plans and, instead of an ocean voyage, they are stopping there until April. The view from their apartment overlooking Biscayne Bay is out of this world!
Sid Crawford, reporting on the Harvard Yale game last fall, opines that, with their stars graduating, maybe we can come back next fall. He didn't specify if he meant against both of them! Sid says that, in a moment of weakness, he accepted the chairmanship of the local Red Cross which should keep him out of mischief this coming year. He reports the Max Wilcoxes are at Daytona Beach for the winter but, on returning, hope to move into the new highrise apartment building on Eastern Boulevard in Portland, Me. He wonders if Eben and Kike managed to get any venison on their trip last fall.
A brochure on the christening of the tug "Walton" in Boston last fall pictures the Chan Fosters' son-in-law, Capt. Donald B. Russell, vice president and general manager of Boston Tow Boat Company.
George and Charlotte Simpson were scheduled to make their annual trek south to Fort Lauderdale along in January and it is hoped they found their sojourn there as fruitful and satisfying as of yore.
We second Duze Lounsberry's suggestion in his February 16 communique to send in "family news to Dale and Phil!" Dale and this scribe team up to avoid duplication of class news in the Frontiersman and the ALUMNI MAGAZINE - and usually accomplish that aim! Duze comments that "it's amazing how often birthdays roll around" and revealed they were trying to get a plane to Mexico, pointing out they were "so deep, deep, deep in snow we can just see out."
Without naming the source, the so-called orchestral music coming over the radio on a late February afternoon sure produced a conglomeration of discords that would do justice to a bunch of pussycats running wild over the keyboard.
A phone from Bob Fredericks, up at Hastings-on-Hudson, says he's still on the job but tapering off gradually. Bob is still his old resilient self - and more power to him!
And so, as we wind up this column - written late in February — we find reference to our 17-inch snowfall here in New York far outweighed by the more recent 30-odd inches up in New England - remindful of the old song: "Whatever you can do, I can do better"! Being born and raised in New England, this scribe is somewhat obfuscated as to just where his allegiance belongs! Happy Patriots Day!
Secretary Apt. 7-G, 245 Avenue C New York, N. Y. 10009
Class Agent, . Deer Isle, Me. 04627
