1914

No opening poem this month. We report with deep and lasting sadness the sudden demise of Theophilus Thaw of East Pitchfork, N. H., long a contributor of more-or-less deathless verse to this column. "Theo" drove his ox team up Main Street, turned the Inn corner, got his first look at Hopkins Center and collapsed murmuring, "Funny tunnels." Doctors at Mary Hitchcock Hospital pronounced him "extremely dead on arrival caused by sudden and violent irritation of the ulnar nerve resting against the medial condyle of the humerus." That's the funny bone.

Our loss is mitigated somewhat, however, by the gallant offer of Theophilus' grandson, Theophilus Thaw II, also of East Pitchfork, soon to take over grandpa's great work. He's younger - and more inured to shock.

But anyway, we have a cordial handshake and birthday congratulations for: Breslin, Buckley, Cook, Fahey, Fairfield, French, Gould, Morse, Smith, Snow, and Woodman.

Al Richmond reports a very pleasant visit in Hanover with Dr. and Mrs. Lord. This is a friendship that dates back to Al's undergraduate years when he used to take his violin over to the Lord's house for an evening of music. Those were the days of close relationships between student and faculty and I am sure they still continue in many cases.

A very warm note from Daisy Hands still living at 23 West Park Place in Rutherford, N. J. Daisy is greatly sustained by the thoughtfulness and constant attention of their son John '41, who lives in Montclair, N. 1., and keeps in close touch with Daisy. It is John's 25th reunion in Hanover this month.

Remember?

Often in the still, dark night, When one lone lamp was burning, You'd hear the lofted, haunting chant Of lonely wight to Reed returning - "Hell-o-o-o, Rosie!" Whereon that lighted pane above Would clatter up with sudden shove, And out upon the midnight clear Would ring the cry I still can hear - "Hell-o-o-o, Papa!"

What did it mean? Whence did it come? The answers, I fear, are lost in the misty, distant past. Can anybody with a long memory shed any light on this merry custom of our carefree youth?

Don Burnham, the retired plate glass magnate in Sewickley, Pa., reports that his activities have hardly changed, but that his pool game has improved to the point where it is no longer a financial liability. He says, that it is also not much of a financial asset. However, his daughter Barbara, who for some obscure reason married a Yale man, has provided the Dutch Burnhams with four grandchildren, ages from 14 down to 5. Dutch also says that this family lives in Greenwich, Conn., so "we are able to miss them terribly." The Burnhams planned to be in Barbados in March and we hope they made it. "Sweet are the uses of adversity."

Mrs. Jack Conners writes comfortingly from Candlewood Isle that she keeps busy with her gardening, her sewing, her six grandchildren, and community projects. Jack Jr. '50 lives in Fairfield, Conn., and is a chief engineer for Jenkins' Valves. Their daughter Natalie lives on Long Island and, fortunately, all the grandchildren converge on Candlewood Lake for happy visits with grandma.

Sometime when you're driving near Providence, R. I., why not take a little while to stop off to see our old friend, "Chuck" O'Connor? Chuck has been seriously incapacitated for many years, but would like very much to welcome '14ers at his home at 34 Rushton Drive, Cranston, R. I. We have long hoped to accept Chuck's invitation, but so far it hasn't been possible.

When you write to Walter Beach Humphrey asking for information on what goes on with 1914 in Florida, you get an immediate response full of information and written in the most legible hand of all 1914. Here is the way Walt tells about it: "Father Time certainly does not have the shambling pace of an old man; the wings on his back must compensate for that. Here it is two weeks and a half since the happy 'l14 party that the Fullers and the Hazens gave us. It a most enjoyable luncheon on the 9th at the Clearwater Country Club and included Charlie and Jeanette Batchelder, Fred and Louise Davidson, Howie and Mary Fahey Henry and Eleanor Lowell, Rufe and Dorothy Sisson, Paul and Gladis Smith, Betty McCullough and ourselves. As at so many parties, the men gravitated to one end of a long table to talk about old times and class affairs and the women to the other to talk about - well, whatever women talk about Afterward, outside in lovely warm sunny weather, we stood around still yakkins. loath to end such a pleasant party.

It is sad to report that our old friend and classmate, Forrest Blood, has lost his liftime partner, Marian. She passed away April 18 after long suffering from a heart condition. The sympathy of all of us goes to "Forry" and his dear family.

If you have an urge to hunt mountain lion in Arizona, get in touch with Gail Gardiner. This irrepressible westerner sends me a most inviting circular showing him and a group of sharpshooters and the lions they got. He concludes his note with the invitation, "Better come along, Robbie," but somehow or other, lion hunting hasn't been a part of my daily yearning and I think this adventure better be left for youngsters like Gail.

Your Class Treasurer, Charlie Batchelder, comes up with a beauty. Here it is: I still have the stickers THE FAMOUS CLASS OF 1914" and use them knowingly many times. My principal competitor in that line was the Harvard group and that famous triumvirate of Senator Leverett Saltonstall, Judge Robert Gardner Wilson, Imperial Potentate of the Shrine, and Sinclair Weeks, former Secretary of Commerce. At one of the Harvard meetings at the Copley-Plaza Hotel, believe it or not, I posted our green flag at one end of the table, on which it simply had "THE FAMOUS CLASS OF 1914." That green flag stayed there throughout the meeting and many of them wondered 'why the green?' "

Now for the Dartmouth Quiz. 1. Who said, "An education only produces an educated person if it creates an on-going learner. A diploma, whether written in Latin or English, will no longer mask the truth." 2. Who said, "You will not make any lasting impression on the world through intellectual power without the use of an equal amount of conscience and heart." 3. What Dartmouth alumnus founded a famous and controversial community of Oneida, N. Y.? 4. Was there ever a serious shortage discovered in the Treasury of Dartmouth College and what was done about it?

That's all for this time. See you later. And don't forget that we would like very much indeed to have news of you and your family.

Secretary, Farwell Lane, New London, N. H. 03257

Class Agent, 9 Keogh Lane, New Rochelle, N. Y. 10805