1919

Not long ago, we received from GeorgeRand an account of a party he and Marion gave for the Dartmouth men in their Florida neighborhood. And a picture of the '19ers among them. We sent the whole thing to Batch so you could see the picture sooner and with the story. In closing, we suggested to pass the time of day that if he had any sound ideas on putting we'd be glad to have them. He wrote back that he had none—had given up golf for bridge at which he was doing quite well. We were about to be impressed by this when we recalled vaguely that he had taken up golf in the first place because he couldn't play bridge.

A card from Cotty and Kitty Larmon had them with Nick and Dorothy Sandoe in New York City. They are by now (the last week in March) probably seaborne, but their ship was reluctant to take off, postponing things several times. And that Sandoe! Are we having trouble with him? He is about to sue us. His double talk, "take appropriate action to obtain a judicial review" does not fool us any. All because we sent him half of one of those solid, onepiece, indestructible golf balls similar, in some respects, to those made by one of his clients. Acushnet advertises how many millions of dollars are made by pros on tour who are playing their ball; we wonder how he would like to have us print the net of our winnings this winter. Stu and JaneRussell (early report) send a card saying their visiting around Florida has been cut short, and that they have retreated to North Carolina where they watch over Jane's brother-in-law who recovers from surgery. They plan to be back on the Hanover Plain about April 15.

And Jack and Hester McCrillis send a card from Africa (the stamp reads Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania). The rest is written by Hester and what it says is not easy—something about a "wild animal trip" and "these go by the front door." The "these" are, we suppose, elephants for the card shows one about the size of the Yale Bowl. It must be some kind of shock to the oldest living democrat in Sullivan County to see elephants running by the door. BunnyCollins in Sarasota interrupts himself long enough to announce the birth, on January 14, of Clark Collins Blair—great grandchild #2. He also notes that Jim and BeulahCapps are there at this time.

And, with these notes half written, a newsy letter from George Rand, God bless him. "... Rock and Alice Earl Hayes were in Sunday for what Fat Jackson would call a 'touch.' Stu and JaneRussell were here for a few days ... wound up buying a condominium in Seagate Manor, just south of the Hayeses. They were very happy about it and plan to sell their house in Hanover and move to Florida in the fall." He says, too, that Jockand Edna Murray were around for several weeks but Jock is still working. As is DonLovejoy, whom they see. Don is a floor broker and partner in Bache and Co. on the New York Stock Exchange. Gordon Meader, retired, is there also and really likes Delray Beach. The Cogswells, Hayeses, and Rands went recently to Gulfstream to demonstrate their ability to appraise thoroughbred horseflesh—had a fine day, socially.

Yesterday, we remarked that Spider would be home soon and Freddie, our pet fly, went into his imitation of a chain saw. "Where are all these spiders you're always talking about?" he asked. "My mother told me all about spiders; one invited my grandmother into his web and that was the last we ever saw of her." We told him to calm down that this one would never get into his web unless he played golf with him. "Not me," he said, "I watched on TV once and a guy named Nicklaus kept talking about birds and eagles. Doesn't he know those things eat flies like peanuts?"

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