1920
Howard and Helen Fullen have been enjoying the Arizona sunshine this winter at their apartment in Tucson, Ariz. By this time, however, they will have returned to their home base in Battle Creek, Mich. They are now veteran grandparents to a wee granddaughter.
Jack and Margele Mayer took off in the middle of March for a visit in Phoenix, Ariz., and ultimately to absorb more sun and rest near San Diego, Cal. The Mayers planned to return to Staten Island before April 15 so Jack can keep a watchful eye over the progress of the Alumni Fund.
Roy Rubel has not only located Tequesta, Fia., for me but he has revealed the lovely location of the Tom Carpenters. Tom is located on the banks of the Loxahatchee River in Tequesta, too. This quiet and beautiful area is but 20 miles north of Palm Beach, near to but out of reach of the hustle and bustle of the city.
Nate Whiteside Jr. and his good wife Mildred have by now returned from their annual trip to Florida's Sanibel Island and other points of interest. It would not be surprising to have them turn up in Hanover about informal reunion time. Nate intimated he might be writing Florence Carey at the Hanover Inn about reservations for those days and for the Princeton game in the fall. Which calls to mind the informal reunion dates, June 12, 13, and 14, if you need a reminder. More on this later via the newsletter Twenty.
Scratch the calm exterior of a quiet man's life and nearly always one finds interesting material for a story. This time it is about a Milford, N.H., lad who played baseball and basketball for his high school before matriculating at Dartmouth in 1916.
At College it was much work and little play—slinging hash at the Commons, jerking soda at Aliens, and tending furnace and doing chores at Dean Laycock's. All paid off but the latter job paid especially well for it won for this young man scholarship aid and in 1918 an appointment to West Point upon the good Dean's recommendation. An abbreviated training at West Point led to a field artillery officers school at Fort Knox, Ky.,—now even more famous as the re- pository of the nation's gold. Resignation from the service in 1921 saw this young man's return to Dartmouth for his degree and in 1923 he grabbed an M.C.S. from the Tuck School. Such, in brief, sketches the early career of John Felli, until he joined the General Motors Corporation, treasurer's office, in 1923.
Those were exciting years in G.M. William Durant had had his fling. With duPont funds to the rescue and Alfred P. Sloan Jr. the chief executive officer at the helm, G.M. began its ascendancy to the top of the automobile heap. It also made a number of investments in the budding aviation industry. John was made treasurer of the Genera! Aviation Company in 5 931 with headquarters in Baltimore. There he met Ann Reding with two daughters by a previous marriage. They married and from this union another daughter Judith was born, Meanwhile General Aviation merged with North American which owned Eastern Airlines and had a part interest in Transcontinental and. Western Airlines. Needless to say, John became treasurer of the merged companies. He travelled much in those days of limited ceilings and non-pressurized cabins.
In 1936 John returned to G.M., as assistant treasurer and one eventful year piled on another. The Korean outbreak brought more problems of manpower and materials shortages and then came labor unsettlements and the delayed but inevitable inflation. John retired on August 1, 1959. He finds retirement life in Southhold, Long Island, very pleasant in his rural bayside setting. In the early days he played handball to keep in top physical shape; then he graduated to golf. Now reading is his main interest other than the usual "sharing of the work in the household." Blessed with six grandchildren and one great grandson Ann and John find life very enjoyable with their families.
With pride and affection John remembers several Dartmouth, men who were once junior members of his staff and have now moved into higher management echelons, particularly John Zimmerman, president of GMAC, and Allen Brush, vice president of finance, also GMAC, both very able men who responded to some very able guidance. He also remembers thoughtfully Dartmouth College, the late Deans, Laycock and Gray, and many others and tries to express his gratitude through the annual Alumni Fund. Occasionally he slips into town to look around and see the developments on campus.
Moon shots, Jupiter shots, and other distant planetary shots have obscured the fact that the time is drawing near for the lofting of a satellite designed especially to study Earth from space—a response to the challenge for greater knowledge of Earth and its resources. For several years the Department of the Interior through its Geological Survey and NASA have worked closely together in the gathering and use of remotely sensed data collected by aircraft and satellite. Soon to be launched will be ERTS (Earth Resources Technology Satellite) with a one year life-time which will fly in a circular, near polar, sun synchronous orbit so that each point on the Earth's surface can be viewed repetitively every 18 days at the same time each day. Equipped with remote sensing devices of various types, images will be relayed to receiving stations on Earth and in turn will be transmitted to a central data center under construction near Sioux Falls, S. D., where they will be made available to government users and other groups.
The Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) program is managed by the Geological Survey with many other participating governmental organizations in addition to NASA. We are about to look at the Earth in its entirety from outer space—about 500 miles distant—from continuous pictures. Through an effective informations system we shall view our own spinning blue globe and be able to study, it in detail. Who knows what we shall uncover.
Working with William A. Fischer, Manager, EROS program in the Geological Survey's team of scientists and technicians, is the son of Bill and Laura Carter, William Douglas Carter '49, who serves as Assistant Manager for Applications Research in the Survey's intricate project in a great cooperative effort by NASA, the Survey, and many other participating agencies.
Secretary, Robert Frost Lane Etna, N. H. 03750
Class Agent, 90 Iron Mine Dr. Staten Island, N.Y. 10304
