1921

It is sad to read some of the comments in the Dartmouth Review that seem to be devoted to tearing down the image of Dartmouth College. One would assume from the tone of this paper that Dartmouth College never had any serious differences of opinion amongst the trustees. Evidently they never heard of Daniel Webster. May I quote from a talk that our distinguished classmate, John Sullivan, delivered to 1921 at the time of our 46th reunion:

"Our half century as Dartmouth men has seen tremendous strides in the affairs, purposes, and accomplishments of the College. This period has not been without its moments of crisis, and it would be rash indeed for us to believe that our beloved Dartmouth, like every other human institution, will not face further crises in the years to come to bedevil our president and the exceedingly competent dean, Thad Seymour. As these develop, I hope all Dartmouth men will remember that loyalty to our College when all is serene is commendable, but loyalty and support when the going gets rough is more than merely admirable it is the supreme test of true allegiance."

Any graduate who thinks that Dartmouth's history will flow along as gently as the River Afton of Bobby Burns can be assured now that it will never happen. But the price we pay for freedom of thought should never lead to warring factions that divide our great college.

A short but very informative letter came from my sophomore roommate, Frank Lambert. His two sons, William and Robert, graduated from Dartmouth in 1950 and 1953, respectively. Robert is now on the Alumni Council.

Frank's granddaughter Robin graduated from Dartmouth in 1976 and proceeded to acquire a Ph.D. from Oregon State College in October 1981. She is now working for Weyerhaeuser in Washington. A grandson, Lance, graduated in 1979 and is now at the University of Illinois Dental School in Chicago. And another of Frank's grandsons, Bryce, is a Dartmouth senior. Please let me hear from any classmate whose progeny can beat that record at Dartmouth. But Frank, you didn't tell us anything about your own brilliant record in the business world, especially with the A&P food chain. Tell us about it in your next letter.

Amongst those happy classmates who attended our 60th were Betty and Lorin Goulding. In reply to my letter asking Lorin how he happened to leave the lovely Conways of New Hampshire for the chaos of our cities, Lorin has given us a complete synopsis of his business career. Starting with Swift and Company, he moved to inspection work for a group of insurance companies. In December 1923, he joined the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company - again doing inspection and production work throughout the East. In 1931, he was transferred to Buffalo to handle production for fire and marine business. On December 1, 1964, Lorin retired from the insurance business, but he didn't tell us how his talents have been employed since then. I am certain that will follow.

In 1923 Lorin joined the Blue Lodge of Masons in North Conway. He was a dues-paying member who never attended meetings, but after 50 years, he was made an honorary member - no dues required.

Finally, Lorin tells us that he and Betty have seven great-grandchildren, with another due soon. Is that a class record? I am certain if the men of our class remain silent, the wives will not, and we shall learn if the Gouldings hold the undisputed record.

One classmate who spent his entire business career with one company is Tom Griffith; J. C. Penney had the advantage of Tom's retail ability. He left Penney's in 1960, and in 1965 Tom settled in Rutland, Vt., where he still resides. He does confess that the cold winters are getting to the Griffiths. The chances are that they will have spent this winter in Florida as they have many of the past winters.

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