1921

When we listen to all the rhetoric pouring out of the speeches of everyone who feels he should be president, 1 am reminded of a Longfellow poem we memorized in grammar school: Sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate!

How well Longfellow expresses what we wish for our country!

One of the most devoted ladies of our class took on the name "Briggs" when she consented to be the wife of Ellis Ormsbee Briggs. A card from Lucy tells us that she expected to spend Christmas in Panama, where their son Everett '56 is now the ambassador. If this son speaks Spanish with the fluency of his famous dad, I can testify that he is a very popular ambassador indeed.

Once on a trip to Montevideo, I walked past a building on which was posted a sign that said "U.S. Embassy." Looking at it for a few minutes, I was struck by the thought that our own Ellis was the ambassador to Uruguay. Hesitating no longer, 1 walked in and asked the receptionist, "May I see the U.S. ambassador?" "I am sorry to say," the receptionist said, "but he left us two weeks ago. We have lost the most popular and capable ambassador that the USA ever sent to Montevideo."

Lucy, I am certain you must have enjoyed your visit.

From our always-ebullient correspondent Flo Barker (Nels's widow), there arrived news that 24 out of 27 Barkers and relatives held a family gathering at Snow Mountain in Colorado.

A star was ordered for Flo from the International Star Registry. Hereafter when any of us look up toward the Milky Way, please remember that Ursa Major Ra 12h 43m 20sd 62° 20' is now GRANNY FLO. "Isn't that fun?" asks Flo.

May I add that Nels's brother, "Obie" Barker '26, was the architect for 80 Fairview Avenue, Brockton, Mass. the former residence of Martha and Harold Geilich. What a superbly talented family!

FLASH! Reports from the great Southwest state that Rynnie Rothschild is still shooting his age at gplf. He is the only classmate left from that championship team that included "Pick" Ankeny and "Ky" Frost.

For those of you who haven't been back to Hanover for years, you will find that the present Hanover is no longer the Hanover of 1921. The wise addition of women to the undergraduate body has introduced a cosmopolitan atmosphere to the town. The stores (and very good ones they are) look no different than Brooks Brothers, Saks, or Lord and Taylor. Would Charlie Dudley have disappeared if Dartmouth had been coed? And, yet, Dartmouth is still that little "College on the Hill" which makes it a privilege to be part of it.

Otis Severance, who lives in Massachusetts, wrote to say that his wife Marion passed away February 26 after a short illness. They were married 54 and a half years. Otis is grateful that they were able to attend our 60th reunion, which was a very happy occasion for both.

Now that the 1984 academic year has closed, I am certain most of the students must ask themselves, "What did I get out of my four years at Dartmouth?" This was the question I asked myself in 1921. For an answer, may I quote Virgil Hancher, who has this to say: "The great value of formal education is that it is designed to foreshorten human experience. It endeavors with ease and economy to bring each succeeding generation up to date with respect to the past and to make it at home in the world. In this sense, it prepares each generation for life."

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