Dartmouth College - Aegis Yearbook (Hanover, NH)

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PREFACE-INTRODUCTION- SECRETARY'S REPORT, EXPLANATION 1 AND SWAN SONG. LONG, long time ago there was an aspiring young man who volunteered to act as secretary of his class at Dart- mouth College. It must have been all of five years ago, but I can't be any too sure about my dates. Anyway, he returned to Boston one fine June day with the realization dawning upon him that he had really contracted for something. Only the inter- vening years of experience have been able to unfold just how much it has meant to be a class secretary. Some of the men have felt that it has been a case of hard work, but I promptly object. It's been nothing of the kind. There's been no end of fun in seeing the classmates at meetings, in hearing from them, and in knowing what they were doing and where they were doing it. There have been times, of course, when it has been exasperating to the point of murderous incli- nations when men have refused to answer correspondence or have shown other signs of indifference. Isn't it funny that men sometimes have to be sold, even against their will, on an idea which is distinctly for their own good? Many times I've had men come to me or write to me, saying how glad they were that persistent efforts had succeeded in returning them to the fold. As a matter of fact, the preparation of this Report has been assisted by the inspiration that there are bound to be many men of the Class who will read the Report, and who will realize that their own stories are incomplete simply because they have not taken the small amount of time which would be necessary to send a note now and then to the Secretary. These men are almost sure to return to active participation in Class affairs, and in every case they will experience a keen sense of satisfaction at having done so. To this extent the work, if you choose to call it that, has been nothing but fun.

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14 THE CLASS OF NINETEEN SEVENTEEN It is a source of considerable regret that I found it very, very difHcult to collect complete stories of those men who have died since September 1913. I did want to have this first compilation of their histories represent a complete picture of their lives as we knew them. But, in most cases the College files and our own files are woefully inadequate, and the relatives of these men are, in several instances, quite inaccessible. Here's hoping that a fifteen year report can contain a much better necrology. The individual histories have been compiled from data on file, and from notes which have been made from time to time as someone has reported the activities of another, or from notes which I have made when I have met a classmate personally. Please forgive the rambling style which has been used. Please forgive the stretched imagination which evidences itself in spots. Please forgive the fact that rank is used instead of rating in war records of Navy men. Please forgive errors in spelling of proper names, because I have done my best to interpret hand- writing exactly. And, please remember that many of the stories have been written with only an address or some short note as a guide. The picture record should have been more complete, but natu- ral modesty on the part of the classmates has handicapped my work in collecting the necessary prints from which to make re- productions. I hope that every man in the Class will make it his own personal job to provide a good snapshot of himself for the Class files at least once every five years. A pictorial record is many times more interesting than a written record, and that is substantiated by the newspaper reading public which insists on having its news served up in picture form. lVIore than that, think of the years that are coming when we will want to have a good picture of some man who has gone where Class dues are not collectible and reports do not have to be made to the Secretary. It is with many regrets that my five-year term is completed this June. It means that I will have to read someone else's reports of what the different men are doing. It means that I can no longer attend the meetings of the Secretaries Association in Han-