1911

Although the summer months produced no class news, a noteworthy item was the fact that for the first year in recent memory, the 1911 roster remained intact. The only statistical change was in the address of Frances (Mrs. Clinton W.)Elwell to c/o Amebury, Cotuit, Mass., 02635.

The hot, humid weather that pervaded this area of the country during most of the summer brought to mind a summer 68 years ago which was an eventful one for me. I believe that the summer of 1911 posted heat records that still stand for sections of this country and much of Europe. Early in July, my brother Harold '06 and I embarked on a European tour. We traveled second class and the individual boat fare was $50 plus gratuities. Our first destination was Paris. There, we visited the Louvre and viewed the famous Mona Lisa painting a few days before it was stolen (it was later recovered in Italy). While in Paris, we purchased second class railroad tickets which took us to Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Dresden, Berlin, and London. The price was $55 a ticket. The hotels we patronized were not of the plush, international type, but they were clean and acceptable and averaged a dollar or two a room. The food was good, plentiful, and correspondingly cheap, but the rather heavy German fare in the excessive heat of that summer was probably not what present-day advocates of physical fitness would have prescribed. In London, we had our first cool day since arriving in Europe. There, we met up with John Pearson and Mac Rollins, who were also touring Europe after shipping out of Montreal as helpers on a cattle boat. That was a popular way to get across the Atlantic in those days. We frequently dined out at a posh Lyons restaurant, where a full course dinner cost about $1.25. In later years, Burt Burbeck became an executive of this concern and served it until retirement. Needless to say, after encountering John and Mac, considerable celebrations ensued, which were resumed a short time later in Liverpool, where we were all held up for a week by a dock strike. From this point, we went our separate ways — they heading for Montreal and my brother and I taking off for Boston. This trip, taken at a youthful age and under conditions prevailing three years prior to World War I, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it will always remain a cherished memory.

43 Deering Street Reading, Mass. 01867