1913
Nothing succeeds like success. The plea for notes for the "Tidings" and the Magazine brought unexpectedly good results; ten of the 28 who are still with us sent a letter or card. That is close enough to 40 per cent to be a record, especially since the youngest of us is 87 and the oldest 91.
For the first time since your secretary took over, there is no death to report, for which we give thanks. Now for the news. Our president, Milton Aronowitz, decided to take time off from the practice of medicine to go to the Princeton game. The establishment had given him permission to view the action from the sidelines in a wheel chair. It is doubtful if he had a good time, since the weather was bad and the score was worse.
Our vice president, Bill Davis, can no longer drive a car, so he has moved to the Belknap House in Concord, Mass., so that he can be near the Emersons and the Concord Bridge. He has one daughter, three grandchildren, and six in the next generation.
A letter from Ralph Fischer of Hawthorn, N.J., reveals that both he and Edith are well and still living in their own home. They have help with the meals and other mundane chores.
Fred Page is now the lone '13er on Ripley Road in Hanover. Mildred Conant, our beloved treasurer, has moved to Burlington, Vt., as noted in last month's column. Fred is alone and spends his time sitting, reading, or doing crossword puzzles. On weekends, his daughter Priscilla leaves the Vermont State Library to look after itself while she comes home to Hanover.
Our most faithful correspondent, Steve Perry, who is also a master of the jigsaw, has just completed a 24-by-18-inch puzzle. He says that is his limit — that after sawing out the 4,672 nd piece he was bored.
John Remsen is still busy drumming up trade for the memorial fund. He would be pleased about any help that can be given to him, although he has done fine. Our class was one of the first to establish a memorial gift plan after the Alumni Fund was started in 1914. This year, 1913's memorial gifts totalled $2,989 from 45 donors, and the entire College memorial gifts program brought in $464,062 from 2,746 people.
Lloyd Riford of Auburn, N.Y., writes: "I was with you only freshman year. The South Fayerweather fire took about everything I had. I was practically on my own. I had to stay out a year and then went to U.N.H., as I could meet that situation. I was fortunate to get a fellowship from a western university, hence I have degrees from two universities. I was on the faculty of one, hence have experience in four colleges. But Dartmouth has always been first."
A letter from Oscar Scharrer, our oldest living classmate, relates that when he was in high school he had a Miss Wright who used to come in from the country on a bicycle. He learned that the vehicle was unique — that her two brothers had made it. Their names were Wilbur and Orville. Oscar says that he and his wife are in good health, in spite of his age — 91.
You have learned from the "Tidings" and from last month's column that Elmer Tucker broke a hip while cavorting on the ice last February. But he is now able to get about with a walker.
Your editor has a feeling that Russ Varney sent a card, but it can't be found, so that all that can be said is that he is alive and mentally competent. Excuse our absent-mindedness, please!
Just a thought in closing: "Lest the old traditions fail." We have guarded them for over 200 years, since Eleazar built a college on the Hanover Plain. Traditions are the soul of a college; destroy them and you have just another educational institution, which will be as good or as bad as the teacher behind the desk. But Dartmouth is Dartmouth, neither old nor new.
Dearborn Road Auburn, N.H. 03032
