1899
Weary Wardle has made the following excellent contribution to the column in a letter of reminiscence all Will much enjoy reading:
"I can't write a letter that would interest anyone, but I can reminisce to a fare-thee-well. Here is a sample:
"The tale begins on a wild night on the Dartmouth moors, Feb. 16, 1893, to be accurate. There was a couple of feet of snow on the ground, and the drifts had made the streets nearly impassable. Along about 9 P.M. the Hanover fire alarm sounded and of course practically everybody turned out, eager not to miss any excitement. We soon heard that Prof. Louis Dow's house was on fire. It was located on, or near, what I think is now called Occom Ridge. As many of us as could get near it help to push and pull the hosewagon through the drifts, but the house was almost completely consumed before we got there.
"On the way back to our room in Dartmouth Hall, John French and I stopped in at Lou Mead s drugstore and there we got the shock of our young lives. News that the battleship Maine had been blown up in Havana harbor had just been received. The feeling that came over everyone was closely akin to that following Pearl Harbor. A short time later recruiting was started, and drilling was begun mornings on the campus.
"In the meantime Raymond Pearl had bullied Joe Hartley and me into learning to toot into two battered old horns that I think he dug out of the attic over Cobb's store. After a few practices in our fraternity rooms, Pearl marched with Joe and me across the campus one night up to the Reed Hall room of Eddie Skinner and Henry Berger. That was the real beginning of the Dartmouth Band.
"We soon rounded up enough players with sufficient musical ability so that we could play few easy marches. Pearl, even then, was an accomplished cornetist, and a born leader. I appointed myself as manager. Somehow or other we raked up enough money to buy a yachting cap at Davison's store for each man. The only decoration was a strip of white cloth pinned around the band of the cap (a la Salvation Army). Each man had to supply his own white duck trousers.
"Soon came the great day, May 2, 1898, when we had the honor of heading the procession escorting the volunteers to the Norwich and. Hanover R.R. station.
"At this late date, I suppose it is O.K. to put in a plug for the 1900 Aegis. On page 173 is a picture showing 14 of the volunteers as they lined up on the campus in front of the old Wheelock, just before the start of the parade. It was just there that dear old Prof. Frankie Sherman, with his one empty sleeve dangling, presented a Bible to each of the volunteers, among them our own Joe Edwards and Pete Lane.
"On the same page is a picture of the band just as it was starting the march to the station. The drum major was Neal Hoskins, and others of '99 included Kay Pearl, Joe Hartley, Pete Winchester,Tom Whittier, Rastus Wilder and myself, and possibly two or three others whose names escape me now. (A complete roster of the band at a little later date can be found on page 120 of the 1900 Aegis.)
"I quote the following from The Departure ofthe Volunteers as it appeared on p. 185: 'Perfect silence pervaded every line of the column a silence so intense that the occasional order from the marshal re-echoed from the hills. Then came the sound of music, and from Dartmouth Hall issued the band, their bright instruments gleaming, their white trousers keeping time picturesquely. There was no further delay. The band took first position; behind them the college by classes, and last of all the volunteers.... Beyond the bridge the ranks spread out and the volunteers marched through a double row of students, who stood with uncovered heads to let them pass.... As the wah-hoo-wahs followed it time and again, the train passed out of sight, carrying with it the Dartmouth spirit to the war.
"This was the first public appearance of the Dartmouth Band. It has now been continuously in existence for nearly 53 years, to the everlasting pride of the old-timers who had a part in its beginning."
Weary has been hard hit physically and bedridden most of the time since early last summer. Recently he has been gaining strength and is now able to sit up part of the time. He lives at 33 Winthrop Terrace, Meriden, Conn. '99ers going that way, please give him a call. Why not write to him? Following is a letter received from Mrs. Peddie Miller of Black Mountain, N. C.:
"I read the '99 news in the Dartmouth to Herbert and noticed you say 'please' for class news. I'll write some about Herbert, tho' I know ill people are not interesting. The arthritis has reached a point where it is difficult for Herbert to move but he suffers no acute pain and does sit up in bed. He is alert to what is going on and likes letters and news. He often snaps into the conversation with a name or incident the rest of us are groping in our memories for.
"The Korean government last February asked him to come to Washington to receive a citation for service to the Korean cause, on March 1, which is the Korean fourth of July. Of course Herbert could not go so I went as proxy. It was a gay and delightful party at the charming Korean embassy; ten or a dozen recipients stood in line, while Ambassador Wang (you hear him mentioned in the U.N.) addressed us and pinned on each one the beautiful medal the emblem of the Korean Republic. It is the highest award ever given to a non-Korean. The gayety of the party hid the fearful foreboding of coming tragedy. I am sure we did not expect it so soon. It is sad to Herbert and me that the two countries (the other is Czechoslovakia) from which he has received decorations are now under the heel of the destroyer."
Benezet writes from Evansville, Ind., January 19:
"What little news I have concerns my own family. We old folks spent Christmas week with daughter Genevieve's family at Hartford.
"Son Roger writes of his two small sons in Hawaii. He is busy with his architecture but finds time to sit with the Dartmouth Club of Honolulu whose treasurer he has been for the past three years. Son Louis dropped in on us about Nov. 29, on his way to Texas with some Allegheny College alumni.
"I am teaching an English literature class in the day college (Evansville College), a Shakespeare class one night a week for adults (mostly high school teachers) and speaking about once a week to some student group or city organization.
"I have written and published a small book of 70 pages. It is called The Story of 100 Years, a history of Evansville's growth from the time when it was a village of 5,000 people to its present size of 130,000. The National City Bank hired me to do it, and the book is being given to the customers of the bank, to libraries, schools and other national banks in the mid-west."
Spending the winter in the Southland in Florida, Charlie and Mrs. Adams at Daytona Beach; Ed Allen at Bradentown; Joe and ElsieHobbs at Clearwater; the Kendalls at Sarasota (Dan and Mrs. Ford live there the year round); the Sanborns at their home on Miami Shores. In North Carolina, Tim Lynch at the Carolina Hotel at Pinehurst, winner in Class C medal play in a recent club weekly tournament scored 66 handicap???
Rodney Sanborn wrote: "The hurricane last fall did some damage to our home, not too much, but the trees and the shrubs took an awful licking. However one would hardly know that anything had happened by the present appearance."
The last week in January, the Secretary was pleased to receive a visit in his office from Hawley Chase who with Mrs. Chase was visiting relatives in New York suburbs, expecting later to go to Florida for the balance of the winter. Hawley now has a connection with Draper, Sears & Co., members of the New York and Boston Stock Exchanges, dealing in investment securities.
Herb Watson was retired by Stone and Webster, engineering corporation, last fall and then joined Jackson and Moreland, another large engineering company in Boston.
Not forgetting March birthdays Heigh-ho Benezet and Skinner!
Secretary, The New York Times 229 West 43rd St., New York 18, N. Y.
Treasurer, 11 Park View Drive, Worcester, Mass.
Class Agent, 659 Allen St., Syracuse 10, N. Y.
