Swarthmore College Alumni Bulletin 1942-11-01

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WASHINGTON LETTER
October, 1942.

Dear G. L .:
The W ashington legend, via the New Yorker, any amount
of newsprint, and that very effective means of communication
now fallen into official disrepute— the word of mouth, has
become so fabulous that we feel a Swarthmore chapter should
be compiled for the record. N ot that we would have our
alma mater repudiate her habit of unobtrusive Quaker gray
and claim to be making any special splash in the W ashington
picture. But for our private information there’s no harm in
noting that a considerable portion of the overcrowding of
W ashington buses is due to the influx of Swarthmoreans.
Just what they all do in addition to riding buses is a little
more difficult to ascertain. N o complete and accurate record
would remain so for more than a day: there are regular de­
partures for army and navy posts, and almost daily new
arrivals; job-changing is as fast as a good game of puss-inthe-corner, and only experts at hide-and-seek can keep track
of locations and addresses. But even a laggard record is im­
pressive and full of variety, and will doubtless be a surprise
to those of us who have known W ashington chiefly as a good
week-end from Swarthmore. In other days we danced at
W ardman Park, swam at the Shoreham, browsed over seafood
at Hogate s, chinned with the Halls or the Browns or any of
the other hospitable Washingtonians. Now a Friday-night
arrival makes for the nearest phone-booth to telephone all
available class-mates and ex-faculty about jobs and more jobs.
To begin with news of the faculty, some of them are
doing the week-end in reverse: Clair W ilcox and Richard
Crutchfield now take their week-ends off from O PA and Pro­
gram Surveys, respectively, to teach seminars at Swarthmore.
Then there are others who don’t even have that doubtful re­
laxation: Pat Malin, who exports and imports for the O P A ;
Bob MacLeod— recently shifted from Program Surveys to
something horribly secret in OSS; Howard Jenkins in the
Navy Department; Brooke W orth in the Army M edicine;
Bryce W oods in the State Department. Sam Aspinall, who
resigned from our chemistry department last fall, is travelling
far and wide for the N D R C , but keeps his address— and his
wife (Jane Klaer Aspinall)— in Washington.
In terms of competition for the valued services of
Swarthmore-trained assistants, M r. Leon Henderson and his
cohorts at OPA win hands down over all the other agencies.
At last counting, which we’re sure is incomplete, their score
went over twenty. Among those present, including the
doughty M r. Henderson and the above-mentioned faculty-onleave, are Bill Blaisdell, Ellis Bishop, Hugh McDiarmid, John
N ixon, Jim Perkins, Kermit Gordon, Tom Reynolds, Frank
Gutchess, W eldon Welfling, Emanuel Scoll, Irving Schwartz,
W illiam Rossmore. Nora Booth, Mayo Goodwin, Helen VanTuyl, Elizabeth Goodrich Kalkstein, Mary Weintraub. In
reporting on this roster, N ora Booth, who is in the personnel
office and ought to know, claims that the Swarthmore record
is clean and creditable: no cases of mental, moral or financial
delinquency yet reported.
In numbers the local contingent in W P B probably comes
next. Joe Coppock, with commendable consistency, has done
a bit of production on the home front (David MacKenzie
Coppock, born in Ju ly ), while busying himself with the very
important matter of getting off vital shipments to our allies.
Frances Reinhold Fussell’s job sports the mysterious and
alluring title of "Stock Piles and Shipping/’ Then there

are Ben Moore, Dick Lippincott, Paul Strayer, Peter Nehemkis, Ralph Fisher, and W alter Timmis— all with labels im­
pressive and unrememberable.
One staunch little nucleus of Swarthmoreans is at a loss
as to how to identify itself. Theda Ostrander Henle, Betty
Earll, Dorwin Cartwright, Pat Alban Shepherd, and Richard
Crutchfield, are all engaged in a fascinating sleuth-organization
known as the Division of Program Surveys. This unit was
conceived, reared, and nourished in the Department of Agri­
culture, but now draws its paychecks from O W L Psychologists
always were devious in their ways, so we’d best let it go at
that— as they do (so long as the paychecks keep com ing).
In shifting to the secretive ranks of OSS, Bob MacLeod
has joined the company of Helen (Mata H ari) Crosby and
Helen (Lupescu) Fisher. And if we’re wrong in casting this
aura of glamour over their activities, it’s only because they’re
so loyally close-mouthed that we jump to natural conclusions.
For further information you may try Bea Beach MacLeod,
Dagny Hoff— who rooms with Crosby and otherwise does
occupational therapy at W alter Heed, and Pat Malin, who was
Helen Fisher’s boss in her European years: but none of them
can tell you anything because they don’t know either!
A couple of other good secret-keepers are Frank Porter
and Richard Storr, both civilian employees— Frank with the
Army Signal Corps and Dick with the Navy. Their respective
wives, Mary Ellen Herrick and Virginia Vawter, are now
among the suburban housewives of Virginia. They doubtless
rub noses in the A. & P. with Bobby Weiss Cartwright, Bar­
bara Jenkins Blaisdell, Dotty Shoemaker McDiarmid, Gertrude
Gilmore Lafore, Patty Robison Bishop, Renie Lewis Hill
(when she isn’t otherwise engaged with her job at Psycho­
logical W a rfa re ), and probably a host of others. Jim Hill
is a gentleman of importance with the B E W ; and Libby
Thomson, star boarder with Renie and Jim, maintains the
family perspective by holding down a non-government job
in a law office.
A glance at the list of represented agencies indicates
that Swarthmore has done its best to cover the available terri­
tory in friendly and impartial fashion. Tom McCabe has been
given a leave of absence from his post as Deputy Lend Lease
Administrator, but he has been such a vital part of war-time
W ashington that we still consider him one of us. W ith Mary
Fairbanks at Civil Service, Jacqueline Parsons at FCC, Ed
Macy at FH A , Syl Garrett at W L B , Mary Ryan and Jimmy
Crider at OEM , Frank Blumenthal and Russell Shepherd at
AM A , Mary Rice and Mary Painter brooding over problems
of Alien Property, and Justine Garwood librarying at OWI,
we come close to exhausting even the governmental alphabet.
The prospect of trying to investigate what service men
are at present stationed here, and why, is too appalling even
to consider. Bob Lafore has a Virginia address; Guy Henle
has been seen in uniform hereabouts all summer; Bill Carroll
was stationed at W alter Reed on a nutrition study but seems to
have gone on. Captain Bob Kintner, Army Intelligence, main­
tains a W ashington address but hasn’t been seen for some
time.
To the less temporary (we still hope) phases of Wash­
ington activity we have a number of distinguished contributors.
The brothers Pearson, Drew and Leon, continue to cover all
fronts with the well known W ashington Merry-go-round, and
manage to keep an ear flapping for any bits of Swarthmorean

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The Fall Homecoming — November 21st
Dear Alum ni:
Another Haverford
Game and two more
top notch Americans
are scheduled for our
reunion this Fall.
W e have invited as
guests:
Hon. John J. McCloy,
the Assistant Secretary
of W ar — "Jack M c­
Cloy,” to the Army—
and
H o n . T hom as B .
McCabe, former Depu­
ty Lend J.ease Adminis­
trator, now on leave of
absence — our own
"T om ” to Swarthmoreans.
AicCIoy and AlcCabe
— what a team!
The
names alone make the Axis tremble. They have promised to
come to Swarthmore that Saturday, barring only possible pre­
empting demands of the Nation on their time.

M cCLO Y
I had drafted an introduction of McCloy to you for this
letter, which I though was good. It was written in journalis­
tic style— not legal— which is difficult for me. It really told
something about this great New Y ork lawyer whom Howard
Cooper Johnson godfathered at an early age and sent to
Chauncey Shortlidge’s School at Concordville, and who al­
most came to Swarthmore, but who made the mistake of
going to Amherst instead.
Tom McCabe read what I had prepared and wrote me as
follows:
"After reading the draft of your notice for the Garnet
Letter, I have come to the conclusion that Henry Luce has
made a mistake in not having you as editor of Tim e.”

M cCABE
If ever there was a man who could juggle more balls in
the air at once than Tom can, I have still to meet him. And
yet it is not juggling. It is common sense, character, genuine
ability and hard work. Until recently Tom has been Acting
Lend Lease Administrator in W ashington while at the same
time carrying on his duties as Chairman of the Board of the
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and President (on
leave of absence) of the world-wide organization of the Scott
Paper Company. He has won the admiration and confidence
of official W ashington with a rare capacity for self effacement and whole hearted devotion to public service.
His
career in the business world is well known to all of us.
Tom graduated from Swarthmore in 1915. His record
as an undergraduate was enviable, president of his class,
varsity football player, member of student Executive Com­
mittee, and all the rest. The Halcyon said of him :
"I work eight hours, I sleep eight hours, that
leaves eight hours for love.”
W ell, Jean was worth it and he still has had much left over
for his Alma Mater. His most recent generosity in the gift
last Spring of that exquisite Arthur Hoyt Scott Memorial
auditorium was one of the most notable additions to the
campus of Swarthmore College.
Just a personal word in conclusion to each of you. This
is my second and final year as Alumni President. Few ex­
periences have given me more enjoyment. I have become
acquainted with you more intimately than I could have in any
other way. It will be a great pleasure to see you on Novem­
ber 21st.* Swarthmore means more to all of us as each suc­
ceeding year rolls by.
Sincerely yours,
AMOS J. PEA SLEE

President, the Alumni Association

I was basking in this flattery and dreaming of fame as
editor of Time, and of spending some of Henry Luce’s
money, when a red hot wire from McCloy came in reading
as follow s:
"Your material absolutely out of question. In many
cases totally inaccurate and embarrassing here. Please say
Assistant Secretary of W ar and no more.”

So there you ate. My lips are sealed on his accomplish­
ments in the W ar Department and his reputation in W ash­
ington. If you do not know them, the only solution will be
to attend the Fall Homecoming, meet him, and form your
own conclusions.
McCabe added a rider to my manuscript which McCloy
has not yet had a chance to censor, which reads as follow s:
"H e is considered one of the most human and friendly
men in Washington and is a great asset in promoting better
relaionships among the various governmental departments.”

That is pretty stuffy compared with what I had written,
but it is all that I can give you now.

THOMAS B. McCABE, T5

«Reservation Card for Buffet Supper and Meeting enclosed— return by November 16th

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. . from the President . . . .
OR T H E first time in its
history Swarthmore Col­
lege has had a summer ses­
sion— not just a conventional
and abbreviated summer term,
but a full semester of four­
teen weeks. It was hot, and
everything became sticky, and
the mosquitoes came out in
greater numbers than the old­
est inhabitant could ever re­
member before. Many of the
seniors are now half way
through their last year and
will receive their degrees in
February. Last year’s sophomores have attained half the wis­
dom of juniors; last year’s freshmen are now half-baked
sophomores. Even a goodly number of incoming freshmen
are well on their Swarthmore way.
H alf the student body returned for the summer semester.
(I f you can think of a better name for it, let me know. I balk
at 'trimester,’ and both 'summer session’ and 'summer term’
smack of the old-fashioned playing at study for a few weeks
to relieve the tedium of the summer months.) The other half
are returning to college as I write this letter. That means that
we have eight classes instead of four. If we admit a third
freshman group in February, it will take no one less than an
insurance man to figure out the class and status of the mem­
bers of the student body. I ’m thinking of investing in a slide
rule for the deans. N or is it easy to set up a curriculum of
courses. There was a time when some subjects came in the
freshman year, others in the junior, with almost the regularity
of the laws of nature. It is still necessary to know some math
before tackling physics, to take certain work in chemistry
before doing certain other work in zoology. Even with a
relatively large faculty it is impossible to offer every subject
every, semester. W e are adopting a number of dodges and
devices to make the best of an awkward situation. Notable
among them was the introduction this summer of double
courses— that is, the concentration into a single semester of
what used to be a year course. Such double courses take onehalf of the student’s time. In some subjects, particularly in
the languages, the concentration works w ell; in others it is a
pretty large dose.
W hat matters, however, is not the difficulties, but the
results. From that point of view the summer semester was a
great success. There were enough students back to make the
place seem like a college. I must confess that there were
times last spring when I was worried. A hundred or a hun­
dred and fifty students would have been lost in our halls and
dormitories. It would have been difficult to maintain the
atmosphere of a college. But three hundred and fifty—
roughly 250 men and 100 women— plus fifty special students
studying radio made a sizeable group. Instead of feeling
sorry for themselves, they felt sorry for the other half that
stayed away. And what is even more important, they did ex­
cellent work. There were the inevitable pessimists who warned
us in advance that we could not expect good academic work
from college students in the Swarthmore summer climate. I
make no brief for that climate, but there are a good many
business men and women, Swarthmore alumni among them,
who work right through the Philadelphia summer as a matter

of course. I am happy to report that the students confounded
the skeptics by doing just as good work as they have ever
done. W ill they be able to keep up the pace throughout the
winter ? I do not believe that eight semesters of work crammed
into three years or less constitute so good an education as the
eight semesters in four years. There is a limit to the amount
one can absorb in any given tim e; and while summer vaca­
tions, old style, may have been too long and leisurely, they
played, nevertheless, an important part in the total educational
process. I still believe that the accelerated program, for all
its disadvantages, gives the students more than they would
get without it.
W hile I am on this subject, let me add another word of
warning. N ot only will students on the accelerated program
learn less, but also the faculty will teach them less. W hen it
became apparent that we should need to operate this summer,
the members of the faculty almost to a man volunteered their
services. About two-thirds of them were needed here this
summer. It is a common illusion that faculty members have
a soft life because of the long vacations. It is overlooked that
most members of the faculty spend the summer vacation in
studying, research, and writing, and that the opportunity to
do this kind of work is very important if they are to keep
as fresh and alive and vigorous in their teaching as they
should. If we continue to operate throughout the year, we
must find some way of rotating the summer teaching of the
faculty or its quality will inevitably go down.
It was a real experiment to operate the college for a
semester without benefit of endowment. Normally the in­
come from endowment covers half the cost of the educational
program (as distinct from the hotel aspects of board and
room) of the college, the other half coming from tuition fees.
N o method has yet been discovered for squeezing an extra
5 0 % out of the same endowment funds, although the U . S:
Treasury is working hard in that direction on the income of
the individual and corporate tax payer. Many items of the
normal academic year were not recurrent in the summer term.
W e did not have to heat the college; .the care of the grounds
was provided for out of the normal budget; repairs to college
buildings and equipment did not increase by 5 0 % . The
faculty, as I said, offered their services. In return, the college
agreed to divide up among the members of the faculty what­
ever was left after feeding, housing, and otherwise providing
for the students. It was not much, but it was more than I had
dared hope it would be. I think you all should know that
the accerlerated program was made possible by this generous
and loyal action on the part of the faculty. It means some­
thing to be connected with an institution where such things
can happen.
The prospects for this coming year are anything but
certain. At the moment we have too many rather than too
few students. Last spring Dean Hunt and I went over the
draft status of the men. Their prospect of remaining in col­
lege did not look very good. W e felt obliged in the interests
of the college as a whole to take a pessimistic view. As a
result Palmer, Pittenger, and Roberts Halls (the old Prep
School buildings) were turned over to the women, and Dean
Blanshard was asked to take fifty or sixty more freshmen
women than she normally would accept. Even so we thought
we would be smaller this fall than any time in years. As it
has turned out, we were more pessimistic than we needed to

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VARSITY SWARTHMOREAN’S
Once uopn a time there
was an era known as
"Swarthmore in the twen­
ties.” In retrospect it was
a lovely, safe time. Girls
wore ankle length skirts
one year and shot them
knee high the next. They
wore sweaters with Peter
Pan collared white blouses
. . . and belts that circled
their hips. Figures were
pancake flat and perma­
nent waves were fuzzy. If
you smoked on Swarth­
more Campus you were
subject to immediate ex­
p u lsio n a n d D u c k i e
TESS SLESINGER DAVIS, e x ’27
Holmes, in black Trilby
and opera cape, opened your mind to the winds of tolerance.
It was all very good.
There was a girl named Tess Slesinger at Swarthmore
then. She had brown hair, blue eyes, the whitest teeth in the
world . . . and a tremendous urge to write. She is much the
same to-day. W iser, of course. Kinder, as let’s hope we all
are. And her urge to write has developed into a prose that
sets hardboiled critics agog and makes the box-office-wise
studio men plead for her work.
Here is her own "quickie” of h erself:
"Ex-Swarthmore 1927. Graduate Columbia University.
Stories in New Yorker, old Vanity Fair, Redbook and so
forth. Published The Unpossessed, a novel, in 1934 . . .
and Time the Present, a collection of short stories, in 1935.
Came to Hollywood in 1935. First picture . . . "T he Good
Earth.” Subsequent pictures to mention a few "G irls’ School,”
"Remember the D ay,” ' Four From Coventry” (the latter in
collaboration with husband Frank D avis). Now working on
Somerset Maugham’s latest novel "The Hour Before the
Dawn.” Husband, Frank Davis was a producer when I mar­
ried him but gave it all up to come home to dinner nights
. . . which led to collaboration as one of Hollywood’s half
dozen husband-and-wife teams.
Son Peter, aged five and
three-quarters and daughter Jane aged four and a half. Live
six miles from Hollywood on an almost ranch. Do all our
work at home, dislike cocktail parties and studio life. Love
working on pictures which now includes working on govern­
ment propaganda films on the side without pay. And now
that I ’ve seen the tell-tale dates in this autobiography, am
horrified to see that I haven’t published anything in almost
nine years.

Life today is lived under heavy pressure. Every day the
tension tightens. The question is not so much how to suc­
ceed, hut how to succeed and keep our souls alive.
This question bothered rugged, swarthy, sharp featured,
agile Bob Ogden for many of the forty-six years of his color­
ful career.
He wrote about it in 191 4 in his Freshman themes for
exacting Miss Gorham. He thought about it as he looked
through the train window upon the snow covered, New
England hills en route to his fraternity convention in Canada
and on Lacrosse trips. He dreamed about it in France when
off duty as an ambulance driver, as Lieutenant of Infantry and
as a student at historic University of Grenoble. It welled
inside as he heard Herbert Hoover in the commencement
address to his adopted Class of 1920 tell about education be­
ing that promotion of the natural evolution of man which
fits him for his destinies as shaped by his needs and fore­
shadowed by his capabilities. Then for nine years more this
question deviled him while he was competing with "Happy
Homes Fink” in the eighty-year old Ogden real estate and
insurance business of his father and grandfather in Elizabeth,
New Jersey.
It was now 1929- Bob Ogden could look back upon his
life with satisfaction. A t Swarthmore he had been Managerelect of football, Captain of lacrosse, member of D. U ., Y e
Monks, Kwink and Book and Key. He had enlisted in 1917
one m<5nth after war was declared and had been cited for
bravery with the 142nd Infantry. H e had returned to Col­
lege to graduate in English. Surely he had been lucky in
love, having married popular, attractive Mary Campbell, ’20
of Hopkinsville, Ky., immediately following graduation. He
had a profitable business and his home was an old farm house
filled with antiques. Average Swarthmoreans might have let
it go at that. But not the Ogdens. There wasn’t enough time
and opportunity to hunt and fish and read and write.
So Bob liquidated his business. This was 1929. H e had
located a sort of "deserted village” called Landgrove adjacent
to a stream in the mountainous part of Southern Vermont
several miles from Londonberry. There were a half dozen,
more or less, dilapidated old houses on either side of what
was once the village street. These were inhabited only by
two old men. As a boy, Bob had spent summers near there
visiting a school chum. The Ogdens bought these properties
and a few acres of land.

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T hat’s about all. W e work. And go to bed at 9 :3 0 .
And I rise uncheerfully at 6 :3 0 to nag at my children till
they somehow get out of the house to school. Peter is a
kindergarten man now, and the school bus is the social event
in all our lives. Janet attends nursery school and will con­
tinue to as long as gas rationing is in effect. After that the
Davises will move en masse to a convenient loony bin.”
By AGNES GO W IN G FERRELL, ’25

SAMUEL ROBINSON OGDEN, ’20 AND FA M ILY

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GOV. W ILLIA M E. SW EET, 90

NORRIS JONES, ’26

"Sometimes there wanders
here across the earth,
Almost unguessed,
Some selfless soul of truer,
finer worth
Than all the rest.
This friend who walked
among us for a while
Was such a one.”

HE
recent
death of
Norris Jones, ’26, fol­
lowing a serious surgical
operation has left a vacancy
in the Swarthmore faculty
which will be hard to fill.
His youth, enthusiasm, and
earnest endeavor to stimu­
late better student work
will be greatly missed.

ILLIA M E. S W E E T of
Denver, Colorado, and
of Swarthmore’s Class of
’90, brought from his west­
ern home to the Eastern
College of his choice, a vig­
orous and delightful per­
sonality. His was a well-rounded college life, with many en­
thusiasms, ranging from the classroom work of the old classi­
cal type to outstanding work on the athletic field. Many
honors were his in those days, culminating with the Presi­
dency of the Class in the Senior year.

Norris Jones came to
Swarthmore with a fine
equipment of artistic and
architectural talents and he
gave generously of both to
the welfare of the College.
A t first it seemed almost
impossible to fit these abili­
ties into the scheme of a botanical department, but with op­
portunity offered, he found such a plan was feasible and made
it work. The work began with an elementary course and was
later extended to advanced work.

W

These college experiences were a fitting prelude to the
life that followed in the larger world, where he took his
place in the business field and as time passed, "Civic, social
and religious offices and honors” came to him. W e are told
that "the two he cherished the most were his earned election
as Governor of the State and his unanimous election as the
National Moderator of the Church he loved.” He was the
"soul of integrity.” His work was always, as one of his
friends so aptly expresses it, "fo r the physical and spiritual
betterment of human life among all classes of people, regard­
less of race or color.” As in college days his was always an
active life, eloquent with the applications of righteousness
in all its walks.
His devotion to Swarthmore was unwavering. He was
a frequent campus visitor although living many hundreds of
miles from the College. Shortly after M r. N ason’s inaugura­
tion Governor Sweet arranged a meeting of all Swarthmoreans
in his section of the country so they could meet the new
president. His loyalty to the College will be a monument
in our memory of a great Swarthmorean,

Students working with M r. Jones soon acquired a tech­
nique which was recognized as superior. The New York
Scientific Supply Company entered into a contract for scien­
tific charts, of which about 35 have been finished. The work
on these charts was largely done by Mr. Jones’ pupils.
In addition to his work in his special field Mr. Jones
found ample opportunity to expand into other parts of the
college work. His knowledge of architecture was called on
time and again by the College. He assisted in the biological
laboratories and gave generously of his time and ability to the
Arts and Crafts groups of the College.
Norris Jones applied his artistic talents also to illustra:
tions and his work on the Tunicates with Dr. Harold H.
Plough of Amherst and the paintings of the Habrobracon for
Dr. and Mrs. Phineas W hiting of the University of Penn­
sylvania were examples of the accuracy in detail and artis­
tic effect of his work. Small colleges have seldom had the
opportunity for such development, and Mr. Jones’ passing
will be felt greatly both by the College and by his friends.
SAMUEL C. PALMER, ’95
P rofessor Emeritus o f Botany

A BB Y M A RY HALL ROBERTS, ’90

Program for Homecoming Day
8 :1 5
Meeting— Clothier Memorial
2 :0 0 P.M .
Swarthmore-Haver ford Football Game
Swarthmore, Pa.

Informal Addresses by
John J. McCloy, Amherst 1 9 1 6 ; Harvard 1 9 2 1 ;
Assistant Secretary of W ar
and

6 :0 0 - 7 :3 0

Thomas B. McCabe, Swarthmore, 1915

'Buffet Supper for Alumni

Former Deputy Lend Lease Administrator
9 :1 5
Student-Alumni Dance

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ATHLETIC NOTES
By CARL K. DELLMUTH, ’31, D irector o f Athletics

N T H E face of changes imposed on us by the national emer­
gency, Swarthmore’s athletic program is being modified to
meet conditions which we have not known for twenty-five
years. Acceleration of academic work, curtailment of trans­
portation facilities, restrictions on the purchase of new athletic
equipment, and leaves of absence for members of our staff,
are some of the problems we have grappled with already—
what we must face in the future is problematic. Indeed, some
argue we should dispense with intercollegiate athletics al­
together until life returns to normal. W hile this opinion is
shared by a very small minority, conditions beyond our control
may force us to face this possibility in a realistic frame of
mind. However, until these conditions become real rather
than threatening we intend to pursue our policy of athletics
for everyone on a more intensive basis than ever.
T o o ’bften we suppose participation in athletics is a guar­
antee of good health. Actually we all know there are other
factors of greater importance. A sound program of physical
education should not concern itself with games alone, but
should consider the more far-reaching problems in the build­
ing of healthy bodies. To accomplish this end, the responsi­
bility must not fall on one department alone— it must be
assumed by the college community at large. The facts in this
case are indisputable. College students today are being called
on to perform multiple duties. Roughly forty percent of the
men of last year’s senior class are na,w in the armed services,
another thirty-five percent are in industry; of those remaining
many are awaiting induction, and some are doing graduate
work; but all are busy. But this is a more strenuous kind of
being busy. The new rules demand rugged well conditioned
physiques, whether a man is working endless hours in the
laboratory or whether he is assigned to rigorous overseas duty.
Athletics, to a greater extent than ever, will help these men
prepare for what’s to come— but before athletics can do an
effective job the individual must realize certain foundation
work must be done, and done religiously, before lasting bene­
fits can be realized.
W hat, then, are these "foundation” factors? First and
most important is proper rest. Young men need sleep, regular
sleep and generally speaking not less than eight hours of it.
Furthermore these eight hours should begin before midnight.
College students sometimes think otherwise and as might be
expected many Swarthmore students claim affinity for this
school of disbelief. According to the very best medical testi­
mony, vigorous exercise will impair the health of a constantly
tired body. Rest therefore is absolutely essential. Second: Prop­
er eating habits. A man who sleeps through breakfast, eats a
hurried lunch, then tries to make up by overeating at the eve­
ning meal is asking his body to do double duty. Fortunately
the college dining room is supervised by a most capable
dietician so the normal consideration of following a well
balanced diet is not a serious one. Third: The prophylaxis of
medicine. Folks generally and many college students in par­
ticular disregard the warning signs of an ailing body. Much
damage can be done by "the little things” which aren t con­
sidered a real sickness but which in their insidious way tear
down a man’s body at an alarming rate. Sore throat, chronic
upset stomach, a small infection which doesn’t get worse but
doesn’t get better, and occasional chest pains are but a few of

I

the warnings most frequently disregarded. Swarthmore has
adequate facilities for attending to such conditions before
they become serious. Undergraduates are examined regularly
but they must help in this battle to keep well.
This list of factors could be lengthened, but from this
point on their acceptance as important might be challenged.
By no means is this a new formula,— but at this time it needs
repeating and repeating again. Once it is followed, the bene­
fits to be derived from highly competitive sports as well as
the purely recreational variety will increase many fold

FO O TBALL PROSPECTS: In addition to losing Head
Coach Lew Elverson to the U. S. Navy and Assistant Paul
Stofko through a special assignment with the Federal Govern­
ment, the squad has been seriously depleted for reasons other
than graduation. Eight men who were 'reasonably’ sure of
being on this year’s varsity are now in the armed services.
Nevertheless, if our present seniors are allowed to stay in
school most positions will be filled by experienced men. The
schedule is a difficult one beginning with Wesleyan and end­
ing with Haverford at Swarthmore on Homecoming Day.*
SOCCER PROSPECTS: Coach Bob Dunn, starting his
twenty-first year at the College, is blessed with the return of
last year’s undefeated freshman team. He may get some addi­
tional real help from a few of the incoming students, as well
as the handful of returning lettermen. In any event, the team
promises to be composed largely of underclassmen. If they
come through, some trouble may be expected for our op­
ponents in the Eastern Intercollegiate League.
CROSS C O U N T R Y : Coach Scudder’s team last year had
its most successful season in a long time— climaxed by a
thrilling one point victory over Penn. Most of that team is
gone. Our guess is we will have tough sledding in the first
two meets but will show decided improvement toward the end.
G EN ER A L:
. . . Due to the change in the college calendar the A th­
letic Committee cancelled the first football game with Trinity
(Oct. 10th) and rescheduled Temple in soccer at a later date.
All of this because College didn’t open this fall until Oc­
tober 12th.
. . . For the first time in five years, freshmen will be
eligible for varsity teams this fall. The freshmen rule has
been abolished for the duration.
. . . Engineering students seem to be very much in the
majority on our varsity squads. It hasn’t always been this way.
. . . Many of our recent athletes now in the service write
to say their military experience has been made more pleasant
because of undergraduate participation in intercollegiate
athletics.
. . . Seven o’clock calesthenics have been changed by
the Men’s Student Government from a compulsory to a volun­
tary basis.
. . . Vernon O ’Rourke, professor of political science, is
helping to coach the football team— that is, when he can
find time to spare from his duties as Democratic nominee for
Congress from the Eighth Congressional District of Penn­
sylvania.

PRESERVATION CARD FOR HAVERFORD GAME ENCLOSED — RETURN B Y NOVEMBER 16th

8

the

garnet

letter

VARSITY SWARTHMOREAN'S

WASHINGTON LETTER

( Continued from Page 5 )

( Continued from Page 2 )

Then followed several years of pioneering and hard
work as Bob, with his own hands, began to restore the village. There was no school, no church, no telephone, and no
newspaper. Bob subscribed to TIM E. ^Vhen it arrived he
dropped whatever he happened to be doing, sat down in the
shade or in front of his six foot fire place, and read T IM E
from cover to cover. This, he said, gave him all the news he
needed. O f course, there was lots of hunting, fishing and
trapping. In winter there were days on days of snow bound
with plenty of time to read and write and sleep. This life
required laying in ample stores.
It also required a black­
smith and woodworking shop to fix things.

news which should be brought to the public eye. Warner
Gardner is— not a but the Solicitor for the Department of the
Interior. Larry Lafore holds down a desk at the State Depart­
ment. Adelaide Emley Ansley inhabits the sanctum sanctorum
of the Archives. Anna Michener, recently featured as a Garnet
Letter personality, is of course with the Treasury; and Mary
Hornaday, we believe, continues to carry a pencil for the
Christian Science Monitor. Janet Brown, alumni secretary at
Friends’ School, reports business as usual— as well it may be
with James Stone as President of the Board. And speaking
of presidents, if this imposing list of names doesn’t inspire
President Tom Taylor of the Washington alumni to hire
Turner’s Arena for a reunion, it will probably be because he
didn’t have time to read this through!

It is 1942. Landgrove by the latest census has a popu­
lation of 64 and Big Sam Ogden, as he is now known, is one
of the most successful men in Vermont. W h y ? Because he
has done a great deal that he wanted to do. He has happily
lived the kind of life he an dhis family planned to live. This
is the best kind of success.
Always interested in sports, Big Sam is still a member
of the Board of Approved Lacrosse Officials; Director of
Amateur Ski Association and President of Manchester W inter
Sports Club.
His interest in the arts and in education was the subject
of an article in the September issue of B E T T E R HOM ES
A N D G A RD EN S. As an amateur musician he was one of
the organizers of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and
President of its Board of Directors. He has an established
reputation as an architect and an artist in wood working and
metal craft. He has done unique work as a teacher of prac­
tical forestry, citizenship, and blacksmithing to the boys of
Newton School. He is Trustee of Bur and Burton Seminary
of Manchester.
In 1932 Sam Ogden was elected Overseer of the Poor
and Constable. He served since 1933 as Selectman and in
1935 was elected to the Vermont Legislature. The Vermont
Constitution, by the way, specifies that "persons most noted
for wisdom and virtue” shall be elected to office. Reelected
in 1937 and 1939, he distinguished himself as an authority on
conservation and the development of natural resources. M em­
ber of the State Planning Board and of the Governor’s Board
of Conservation and Development, he is also director of the
New England Business M en’s Council.
Big Sam s most recent adventure in politics was the sub­
ject of an illustrated article in the August 30th issue of TIM E.
He dared to run as candidate for the Republican nomination
of Congressman in a state that has more Senators than Rep­
resentatives. Ogden lost to Plumley by 3 to 1 in a heated
campaign which view with alarm any change of "horses” in
mid-stream and the awarding of the State’s rarest prize to
anyone but a native Vermonter.
However, not the least of Ogden’s accomplishments is
his literary style. It is evident in his book on "H ow to Grow
Food for Y our Family ’ published in April by Barnes and
Co., New York. But Ogden’s style is best illustrated by his
pungent piece on "W h at They Think of the Girls” which
appeared in the New Y ork Herald Tribune, January 30, 1941.
Bob and Mary have two children,— Samuel Robinson,
Jr., 17, a senior at Exeter where he plays lacrosse like his old
man, and Duncan Grant, age 10.

As our city settles down to a winter of rationed heat,
we think mention should be made of those whose job it is
just to keep the home fires burning. W e predict that Rosie
W alling Tirana will have little trouble on that score: she
seems to be capable of running her family and a hospitably
overflowing household with one hand, while with the other
she dashes off quantities of manuscript in some nook of the
Library of Congress. Marion Hall Holland and her three
children may be seen any of these bright autumn afternoons
picking up sticks in their spacious yard to augment a fine
woodpile-— fireplaces are nicer than oil-burners anyway, says
Marion. The Malins bought a house with a young forest
attached, so Caroline isn’t worrying about the long hard winter
either. Maggie Somerville Mclnerny, Jean Bredin Perkins,
and Molly Y ard Garrett are all involved with present prob­
lems of infant care and feeding. Lois Hall Roberts and Betty
Bennett Sellers have both sent their husbands off to the wars,
but are not brooding about it: Lois runs a flourishing book­
shop and lending-library, and Betty promptly got herself a
government job, identity unknown.
W ith which, exhausted, we close this sprawling letter,
repeating apologies to those whose activities have eluded us.
If it weren’t wartime, with constant admonition thrown at us
to use our telephone sparingly, we might have really covered
the ground. But then, if it weren’t wartime, we wouldn’t be
writing this, and for Swarthmoreans Washington would still
be just a fine place to week-end. Things being as they are,
however, may we modestly submit the suggestion that it
might be both economical and efficient to celebrate Swarthmore’s next alumni day some 120 miles south of Magill Walk?
Breathlessly, apologetically, affectionately,
Y our W ashington Correspondent.

W e will be hearing more about Big Sam and wish him
luck always.
A Boston paper reports he just passed his
physical examination and has been recommended for a Cap­
taincy in the Army Specialists Corps.
The Springfield paper said this about him.
"Only a
man with extremely versatile, quick and dynamic mind could
have undertaken and accomplished so much against odds
that ordinarily would have isolated a man in the environment
he chose to enter or he would have been swallowed up by it.”
By CLARENCE H. YO DER, ’20

A LU M N I-R E L A T E D F R E S H M E N

Stow, Bressler, Gemmill
Cornog, Cupitt, Landis, Bodine, Clarke, Stickle, Moore
Milam, Jackson, Solis-Cohen, Kain, Coombs, Frorer
Martenet, Coles, Miller, Bye, Graham, Porter, Blackburn, Reller

Helen S. Ayers

daughter of Anna Spackman Ayers
(Mrs. Lorenz K .), ’14
T homas Lees B artleson, J r . son of Thomas Lees Bartleson, ’16
and Helen Ickes Bartleson, ’17
Frances B lackburn
daughter of Ardis Baldmin Black­
burn (Mrs. Arthur), ’19
Charles B radfield B odine
son of David Monroe Bodine, ’18
Elizabeth B ressler
daughter of Harper Vaughn Bressler,
’14
D oris L. B ye
daughter of Raymond Taylor, ’14
and Virginia Higgins Bye, ex’17
Cornelia Clarke
daughter of William A., ’17 and
Eleanor Stabler Clarke, ’18
Barbara H. Coles
daughter of Charles B., ’21 and Anna
Moore Bancroft Coles, ’23
Anna H. Coombs
daughter of Marvin H. Coombs,
ex’20
Lindsay Cornog
son of William Lindsay Cornog, ’19
J ean M. Cupitt
sister of Dorothy Cupitt, ’40
Harriet Lou F rorer
daughter of James Robert Frorer, ’15
daughter of James Harold, ex’16 and
Barbara Gawthrop
Ruth Craighead Gawthrop, ’17
Robert G emmill
son of Paul E., ’17 and Jane Brown
Gemmill, ’19
Howard T urner G raham
son of Malcolm Sague Graham, . ’16
and Mary Rebecca Wilson Turner,
ex’18
Mary A. Hartwell
daughter of Ralf Lee Hartwell, ex
’23
T homas H odges
son of Thomas Victor Hodges, ’06
Anne G. J ackson
daughter of Herbert Worth Jackson,
ex’18

Sara K ain
Richard Landis
Elizabeth Landon
D avid Linton
Phebe E. Martenet
M ary Louise Milam
Frank A. Miller
Esther (D ay ) M oore
Helen C. Porter
J ohn M. Pratt
G eorge Reller
Catherine St . J ohn
J oan R uth Seidel
Charles Shoemaker
V irginia Stickle
Paul Markley Stow
Ann Solis-Cohen

wife of George Hay Kain, Jr., ’29
son of Harry Hatman Landis, Jr.,
ex’21
daughter of Frederich Norton Lan­
don, ’22
son of Ralph Linton, ’15 and Mar­
garet McIntosh Linton, ’15
daughter of Clara Frazee (Martenet)
Mitchell (Mrs. Joseph B .), ’12
daughter of Mary Louise Wilson
Milam (Mrs. Daniel Franklin),
’17
son of Glenn Earle Miller, ’l l
daughter of Grace Brinton Moore
(Mrs. G. B .), ex’21
daughter of Helen Biddle Porter
(Mrs. William G .), ’19
son of Car Davis Pratt, ’18
brother of Elizabeth A. Reller, ex’3 5,
Gretchen Reller Kelly, ’36 and
William H. Reller, ’40
daughter of Dorothy Paine St. John
(Mrs. Charles E .), ’18
daughter of Rena Rothner Seidel
(Mrs. Victor I.)
son of W illiam M., Jr., ’17 and
Mary Gawthrop Shoemaker, ’17
daughter of Wimer F., ex’17 and
Ruth Breuninger Stickle, ’19
son of Franklin Pierce Stow, ex’19
sister of Mary Solis-Cohen Keller
(Mrs. George D .), ’39

SW A R TH M O R E-H A V ER FO R D FO O T B A LL L U N C H E O N
H O T E L SY L V A N IA

Juniper and Locust Streets, Philadelphia, Pa.

W ED N ESD A Y, NO VEM BER 18th, at 1 2 :3 0 P.M.
The Swarthmore Club has revised its mailing list and notices are now being sent to home addresses. If you are not
receiving notices and wish to be placed on the mailing list, please notify Monroe Van Sant, Secretary, Swarthmore
Club, 911 Liberty Trust Building, Philadelphia, Pa.

24

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letter

CLASS N O TES — Continued
was an astonishing day up at the New York Times
Lo, P. A., Ferriss, and Linkie, all working there, met
Powers and Lucy Schneider, both coming up to look
bilities. W ith each Garnet Letter we’ll probably be
however.

building when
Grethe Randall
into the possi­
more scattered,

W e probably won’t be able to afford formal inquiries very often.
I hope you 11 keep me informed when interesting things happen to
you. Good luck to you all.

FROM THE PRESIDENT
( Continued from Page 4 )
be. Our freshman class of men is about normal, and the total
number of men in the college is just under what it was last
year. For the first time in several years the number of women
exceeds that of men. The total enrollment is 777, one of the
largest in the college’s history. A certain kind of poetic jus­
tice has resulted: for once all the women are housed in college
dormitories, and the men are taking their turn at living in the
off-campus houses.

Benjamin W est Society Print for 1942
"Pennsylvania Barn”— Wood Cut by J. J. Lankes

AN OPPORTUNITY
Join the B E N JA M IN W E S T SO C IE T Y and acquire a
collection of fine prints. The annual dues of the Society are
Five Dollars.
IN R E T U R N : 1. You receive each year an original
American print: in 1 9 3 9-40, Luigi Lucioni’s etching, "Lake
through the Locusts” ; in 1 9 4 0-41, Lauren Ford ’s etching,
"N ativity” ; in 1942, a woodcut by Julius J. Lankes, "Penn­
sylvania Barn.” (See cut above.)
2. Y ou receive, as they appear, publications of the
Society: "T he Catalogue of W orks of A rt belonging to the
Benjamin W est Society and to Swarthmore College” (1 9 3 3 —
a new edition now in p ro g ress); "Benjamin W est,” an
address by Frederic Newlin Price, with an introduction by
Frank Aydelotte and illustrations of several of W est’s paint­
ings and drawings (published 1 9 3 9 ).
3. Y ou may subscribe, at the reduced rate of $ 3 .5 0 , to
the M A G A Z IN E O F A R T, published monthly by the
American Federation of Arts (regular subscription: $ 5 .0 0 ).
4. You make a concern for the fine arts of Swarthmore
College yours, and cooperate directly with the Department of
Fine Arts and the Somerville Forum.
Among the distin­
guished lecturers which the Society has brought to the College
are John Taylor Arms, Royal Cortissoz, Leon Dabo, George
H. Edgell, Frank Jewett Mather,
Exhibitions under the
auspices of the Society have presented, among others, Early
American Paintings, Benjamin W est/and his School, Quaker
Artists, Pennsylvania Artists, and the work of noted indi­
viduals such as Ivan Mestrovic.
5. Y ou pay honor to the first American Master
Benjamin W est, P.R .A ., who was born in the W est House
on the Swarthmore College Campus. *
6. Y ou ally yourself with other people of vision who are
advancing the fine arts in America— and that means advanc-

At the moment the college facilities are strained to the
utmost. I fear that the situation will not last long. Over half
the senior class will graduate in February. The draft boards
will call others. If members of the Army and Navy Enlisted
Reserves are called into active duty before their time would
normally come— and there is talk of that— we shall be smaller
still. Indeed, the rumors coming from W ashington are dis­
turbing. I call them rumors, for no definite information has
been forthcoming. I think we may expect to see the size of
the college dwindle considerably this year and more so next..
In a sense that is to be expected; it is just one more
aspect of total war. It does not make the problems of the
college any' easier, but the college cannot expect to go un­
scathed through the greatest upheaval of the century, if not of
modern times. The college has the same problems as others
do. How many students will we have, and how can we plan
ahead for them? How can a faculty be kept together with the
present need for able and skilled people? Incidentally, we
have lost 2 5 % through resignation, retirement, or leave since
December 1941. How are we to get materials for necessary
repairs or keep the men essential to the operation of the plant ?
W e have no exemption from sugar, food, or fuel rationing.
W e are not classified as a defense industry!
I say these
things to you not in a mood of discouragement, but honestly
and frankly because you have a right to know what is happen­
ing and what may happen. As a matter of fact, the college
is alive and healthy and far better off at the moment than it
night be. Students have come to study with a seriousness
never known before. There is no one connected with the
college who would not make any sacrifice for it. W e shall
keep going in one way or another, meet the problems of the
emergency as they come, and survive for even greater use­
fulness when the war is won.
JO H N W . NASON

ing hum§nity. To quote a prominent patron of the arts, it
is of evert* "greater importance to take an active and positive
position of usefulness in these fields in troubled times than
it is in normal times.”
A print will immediately be forwarded to you upon
receipt of your check for dues which may be sent to the
Treasurer, Leonard C. Ashton, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.