1918
'18's BOSTON ALUMNI DINNER. Genial Chaunce Hood thoughtfully sent us a list of those attending. A good gang turned out. Taunty looking Ken Jones, old resident of New Hamp. Hall, Mr. Boston Edison, who had as roommates Ivan Prowattain, Ax Proctor, John Sanborn (deceased), still one of the choice bachelors in the class was there, also the man who keeps cemented '18's splendid relations with Harvard '18, namely Dick Cooley, roomey of Dooie Doolittle, Dr. Curt Tripp, Pres. Mass. Medical Assn. and Don Axtel (deceased). Stubby Stanley (another eligible bach, and 2 yr.-roomey of Reed Montgomery),Eddie Ferguson (old roomey of Speed Savage,Bob Munson, Karl Hutchinson — last two are gone), and who in his 25th year Anniversary Record, in reply to the question, "Were you an athlete?" snidely answered: "Yes, if Earley was one." Chaunce Hood's son Bill was there and Reed Montgomery, who has distinguished himself as president of Boston Beer Co. as well as Pres. of the Mass. Brewers Assn.
Also there with "his shining Siberian mustache" (honest, George, that isn't our coinage - a great admirer of yours cast that on the ether) was George Von Kapff who made the pilgrimage of his life in '49 looping all over Mexico, Canada and back. There, too, was our distinguished Harvey Hood (there still are tongue waggings that he was the man creating all the raucous after midnight at the last reunion, after everyone had gone to bed) and Bob Drake whose wife is Dwight Sargent's sister (Bob has done a great job in Winchester, Red Cross, Deacon of First Congregational Church, Croix de Guerre in France, 2nd Lt. USAF), Nipper Knapp down from Vt. (Chrmn. of the School Board, Poultney, Vt.), and Tom Shirley of whom Eddie Ferguson said, "Tom is a hard worker and highly respected citizen who gives a lot of his time to community needs and contributes happily much of his time to the Newton-Wellesley Hospital." It's been some time since Rear Adm. Paul L. Mather attended one of these gatherings, - but regarding "The Admiral," Gerry Geran tells of an experience Paul had in Africa:
"A Sheik, with an army of his own, entertained the high brass of the U. S. Navy - and as the Sheik received his guests, he would dip into a huge bowl at his side and come up with a dainty morsel of one kind or another. This was an honor reserved for high ranking guests. It indeed would be an insult not to immediately eat the morsel offered. The Admiral stood 3rd or 4th in line, and having noted that the morsels the Sheik took out of his huge fish bowl were sheep eyes, the Admiral prayed he would run out of eyes - but when he got to the Sheik, he was gifted with an eye the size of a pullet egg. The Admiral said he had hoped he could invoke some of the powers of the great Houdini, but not being able to, he had no choice but to put the sheep eye in his mouth and pray while he swallowed hard. He had the feeling the eye winked at him as he put it in his mouth, and then he could feel it bouncing around in his bread basket. Ask Stanley Jones about his story of the man who put his glass eye in a glass of water each night when he went to bed."
Ethel Knowles, Bob Knowles and BillChristgau set up one of '18s greatest reunions in N. Y. City on last Feb. 23rd. Total attendance, husbands and wives, 45; '18s Hanover reunions; 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th as well as the 30th and 35th, brought out, respectively, with wives and children — 67, 146, 76, 259, 99, 197, and again 197, so the N. Y. City reunion had about 14 of the largest reunion ever at Hanover. Enjoy this Feb. N. Y. City reunion another year and make plans now to attend your 40th reunion in June 1958. "The reunion you miss may be the last" (Stirling Wilson '16). And now Stanley Jones paints the portrait of '18's great reunion of last Feb. 23rd at the D. Club, N. Y. City:
When better parties are built, 1918 will build them. Stone by stone. This was one of the best. Tiffany & Co. appraised it at 22-carats with 103 facets to the stone.
Among those present, as filed on the imperishable tablets of Ernie Earley's concrete memory were:
Bill Christgau, Ernie & Mary Ellen Earley, Jawn Francis Hal Clayhane & Marion, Hal and Betty Day, Head Chemist Cassebeer, Curt & Ruth Glover, Tom Groves, Captain & Edith Hanley, Bob & Mary Hebert, Henry Hesse, Dick & Edith Holton, Rog & Ruth Howland, Jack Daniels & Ann Johnston, Bob & Ethel Knowles, Stan & M. O. Jones, Hector (Welcome!) MacBean, Steve & Dot Mahoney, Tobey & Minetta Morey, Dwight & Peg Sargent, Dan (thinks they're going UP) Shea, Famous Lensman Al Street, Jules & Janet van Raalte, Wart (we must change this name) McElwain, Pablo & Helen Miner, and Red & Peg Wilson.
The gentry and their ladies assembled at 6:15 P.M. in the dreary cellar room where the revelry started ... gathered pace and volume ... till the decibels mounted to 22,000 per second.
Tobe Morey put his fingers in his ears. "Too much for me," he screamed, and fled forth into the night with his beautiful frau. Captain Hanley brought Jawn Francis Clayhane to a fast froth by calling him "Hal." (Remember Hal Doty?)
Johnny Johnston bought drinks for anyone in reach - tut-tut, regulations - and fixed the bar's deficit handily. Bob and Mary Hebert were most welcome guests. Mass petition to Bob "I only weigh 165 stripped" Knowles to bring them next time for certain.
Chemist Cassebeer pouted over the wide distribution, lower costs, and higher quality which National Advertising has brought about. Stan Jones disagreed, but not too violently. After all, Fred makes up his prescriptions.
Many scenes of our comparative youth were rushed across the white sheet by, presumably, Manhattan's Premier Chemist. These preposterous figures mugging back at us turned up a prime lot of lens hoggers. Truth must out. Most evident over the years were the following, none of them distinguished for really smashing, come-get-me-girls looks: Our Treasurer, Curt Glover; our Secretary-General, Mr.Earley; Mr. Bemis (he looked best); LangRobinson; Bill Mudgett; George Stoddard; even Doc Syvertsen, who has certainly outgrown this repellent habit by now; Al Gottschaldt & White Owl; Fat Sheldon, of Psi U; and others. Let us draw the curtain of charity over them ....
Dick (Santy Claus) Holton brought a flush to the Donegal features of Our Shamus by saying: "My God, you're getting fat!" Shamus, as all of us know, has been too gently reared to retort in kind.
It was a rare treat to welcome two mates from out of town and seldom seen: Hector"Mac" MacBean, from Syracuse, and Al Street, from New Haven. Al is Yale's official photographer, a very great honor. To both: COME AGAIN AND SOON.
Tommy Groves - mebbe you missed him? He only came up to Pablo Miner's watch chain and is searching, hard, for a teaching post in or around New York. If any of you gents happen to hear of one, touch Tom at the Dartmouth Club.
Mouse McElwain. oldest leaseholder of the Dartmouth Club and a sub sub rosa power in the Chase Manhattan, appeared for a lightning lope around the groaning board. Jules and Janet arrived for the ice cream only, which was a better speed turn than The Mouse made. Come earlier - stay later. We like you.
Red Wilson seems to have a hip flask of the permanent waters of Youth which some Columbus sought in vain. Slim as a bamboo twig, his hair is still mahogany or better and he lacked the unsightly jowl pouches and others to the South which are, alas, the fruit of longevity with most of the members. Peg is a beautiful woman, an honest pleasure to regard.
Glover, Mahoney prominent
Our Treasurer, Curtis (Lens Hog) Glover, was much in evidence. QUESTION: how does Ruth keep that handsome tan year in, year out? If Treas. has bought a big sun lamp, might not an audit be in order?
Steve and Dot Mahoney were there. (Note: yr. correspondent regrets that Steve's modesty will not permit us to add anything to this bald statement. Sorry, but we've tried this before and got our knuckles rapped with a rateholder.)
It was fine to have Hal & Betty Day with us, and the same goes for Rog & Ruth Howland. Hal even managed to creep into the elect Head Table, where he huddled over the corner pocket - sorry, corner - with Mary Ellen (Sugar) Earley. They talked sotto voce at great length. QUESTION: can Earley be using this pretty child as an insurance shill for unwary and unprotected members?
Good to have Henry Hesse with us. He, too, edged crabwise into the haute monde set and occasionally drew a word or two from Hal Day. CURIOUS: funny thing. Ann told us, repeatedly, that she dearly loved Jack Daniels. A 98 lb. minority, to be sure. But what does she see in that big, loudmouthed lug? File suggestions with Editor, Class News.
Pablo Miner had Helen decked out in another new frock. Black & white print. Becoming as hell. Handsome Dwight Sargent - we didn't say it; our wife did, twice, too - was discoursing on a new book coming out soon. It is our impression that he wrote it, but this might be our bad ear or Johnny Walker Black. It was wonderful to have Peg with our noisy group. Next time, too?
And EVERYBODY - COME AGAIN. WITH WIMMEN. They have a civilizing influence on all those save the incurably loudmouthed.
Chris did a perfectly splendid job. He picked a star-bright night, — the following one was ice and snow. " I he shill" reported Hilda andHenry Hesse's two daughters have both flown the parental nest - one is now teaching in Kansas City, the other in Denver as secretary in a law firm. The John Cunninghams graciously entertained her, and then both write the Hesses how much they enjoyed her. Dwight Sargent and Peggy have had an interesting winter taking a course on the understanding of art. Of course Dwight's love is his woodworking. It has been said Dwight has the sensitive face of a Stokowski. How about dropping that hammer, Dwight, for a baton? Cute Janet Van Raalte will hit Mallorca, Algiers, Madrid, and we hope will give us a lecture tour on her return. Maybe Janet will tell us something about her great passion and skill of interior decorating.
Betty and Hal Day have a daughter at Carnegie Tech who will be married this June; the other is a sophomore at Vermont U. Peg and Red Wilson just returned from a California trip, taking in business in Red's official capacity as an officer of the National Association of Securities Dealers.... Marcia Cassebeer has switched her interest from horticulture to painting, at least for the winter months. She is taking a course at the local high school and having a wonderful time. Marion and FrankClahane were mourning the loss of their blond cat they had for many years. ...In the wonderful movies we had at our party, thanks to George Davis, Ruth Glover was seen smoking in the pictures at the 10th reunion. Edith Hollon was horrified, and said no girl smoked then. Ruth's tart comment was, "I've smoked since I was 15 years old." Oh, shame, Ruth! ...
Edith and Dick's Mary Louise, now married, is commuting 3 times a week from Long Island to Columbia U. until June when she gets her Master's degree.... Ann and JohnnyJohnston are expecting the arrival of two more grandchildren in July and August. Badly missed at the dinner were Evie and Pete Colwell, and George and Dottie Davis - whose pictures gave so much pleasure to everyone. Oh! how we hate to think of the styles the girls wore at the 10th reunion. They looked like they were poured into a sack, with a belt usually around the derrière. M. Dior might call it the square look but let's hope he doesn't bring it back. To top it all, they had large, balloony berets worn down to their eyebrows like a Victorian dust cap. Missed were Judyand Russ Smith, whose oldest son is in Newport in the Officers Candidate School there, until next Nov. - then 3 yrs. in the Navy.
Bill Christgau's son Billy is now in training with the Equitable Life. He'll be a good underwriter with the coaching from his Dad: a Metropolitan Life great. New members elected to the Board of the Dartmouth Savings Bank are Judge Amos M. Blandin Jr. and Max A. Norton '19. Showing distinguished personages: "... who Dine, Dance, Dream your way to Europe" in the advertising of the SS UnitedStates, there is a fine picture of our GeneMarkey and Mrs. Markey of Calumet Farms, in some of our leading magazines. A newspaper editor writes, "We always thought Joan Bennett one of the prettiest girls in America, and we're not surprised to see the picture of her daughter, Melinda Markey, on the cover of Esquire."
Bill Christgau '18 (center) presided at the1918 Wives Night at the class get-together atthe N.Y. Dartmouth Club on February 23.With him in the picture are (l to r): GeorgeStoddard, Cap Hanley, Pat Stoddard and AlPiper.
Secretary, 74 Trinity Place, New York 6, N. Y.
Class Agent, East New York Savings Bank 2644 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn 7, N. Y.
