Radio Script #809

Little Talks on Common Things

June 1, 1969

Since today is graduation day at Colby College, I want to devote this program to a few Colby items of long ago. Do you remember the picture calendars that were put out by most American colleges fifty years ago? They were common at Colby in the decade just preceding the First World War. The Colby calendar for 1915 ;s one of the few still preserved in a collection of Colby memorabilia. It has a gray. imitation leather cover. with Colby seal embossed in gold and beneath it the words “Colby 1915”. Just inside the cover is a full page photo of President Arthur Roberts.

The next page, containing the calendar for January and February was devoted to the football team. It was a great year for Colby, for the team’s captain was the famous Ginger Fraser, and some of his fellow players were Jack Lowney, Friday Ladd, Ross Stanword. and Tom Crossman.

The page for March and April shows the baseball team and a picture of College Avenue looking south from the lower railroad crossing. That picture shows an unpaved street. Yes, in 1915 College Avenue was still a dusty dirt road. The page for May and June was given over to the track team, whose Captain was Tom Reynolds of Winslow, now the distinguished attorney for the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in Ca 1 iforni a.

The July and August page presented a picture of the combined musical clubs known as the glee club and the mandolin club. The picture shows such well remembered Colby men as Marston Morse, Ralph Bramhall and Ray Haskell. The next page shows two Colby buildings. Chemical Hall that stood southernmost (next to Front Street) of the buildings on the campus; and Foss Hall, now occupied by the Sacred Heart School. The final page showed Memorial Hall and a view of the whole campus, taken from the height at the top of Sanger Avenue. This calendar gives no indication that there were men and women students at Colby, though women had been there for 44 years. Now let us turn to another Colby publication. In 1898 the Colby Echo, which had then been published for some 20 years as a monthly or semimonthly. became a weekly, and Vol. 1, No.1 of what was called the New Series was dated January 20, 1898.

The leading front-page article was a eulogy of a Colby alumnus who had died a few days before Christmas in 1897. He was Col. Francis Heath. whose granddaughter. Emily Heath Hall, still lives in the stately Heath home on Front Street. and whose grandson, Emily’s brother, Francis Heath, is the current president of the Fifty-Plus Club at Colby, an organization of all Colby men and women now living who were in classes at the college more than 50 years ago. For the elder Francis Heath, the title of colonel was no empty honor. He was no Kentucky colonel, but earned his rank the hardest possible way, by active combat in the Civil War. When that war broke out Francis and his brother William, both Colby graduates, set up a recruiting office in Waterville and quickly assembled an entire company of soldiers.

Rising rapidly in rank, William Heath was killed at the Battle of Gaines Mill in the spring of 1862, already commissioned as a lieutenant colonel. The surviving brother, Francis Heath, continued through the war, in rising areas of command. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Brevet Brigadier General, but he always preferred to be called by his combat rank of colonel.

The Echo. after praising the colonel’s war career, noted that he had been prominent also in the post-war activities of business and civic affairs. The paper said: “After the war Col. Heath was successively in the tobacco business. in an iron mine in Virginia. and in the oil trade in Canada. Finally he went into the pulp business and became a large owner in the pulp mills at Benton Falls. Fairfield and Skowhegan. He was a member of the Maine HR in 1881 and a state senator in 1883 and 1885. Col. Heath was a staunch Republican and a constant attendant at the Congregational Church.” The Echo also printed the resolution in memory of Col. Heath that was passed by his college fraternity, Zeta Psi. That resolution was signed by Raymond Pierce, Frank Alden and Warren Hardy.

The editorial in this 1898 issue celebrated the paper’s change to a weekly. It said in part: “A little less than 21 years ago the students of Colby launched upon the sea of college journalism a publication known as the Colby Echo. Once each month it gave to alumni and students the news of the college and its best literary productions. The Echo continued to appear as a monthly, and briefly as a semi-monthly for more than ten years. Then it became regularly a semi-monthly, and shortly thereafter a bi-weekly.

“During this past term the paper was not published, as its business affairs were found in bad shape. The accounts were carefully checked and the amount of indebtedness was ascertained. It was decided that if the Echo were to have profitable circulation, it must be a true campus newspaper and must appear weekly.

“Therefore in presenting itself with this issue as a weekly paper, the Echo places itself in the front rank of publications issued by smaller colleges. The new departure means much in literary improvement, in gain of college interest, and in campus influence. Our purpose is to give to both news and literary departments the full recognition which has heretofore been denied them for lack of space. We shall publish a paper containing the current events of the college, news of interest to the alumni, and topics that are agitating other colleges. Once each month the paper will be devoted to literary matter — the best that has been written by students, and appropriate contributions from the alumni.

“The success of the Echo cannot be determined by the editors alone. Without student and alumni support we can accomplish nothing. A year’s subscription costs only $1.50. We must have enough subscribers among students and alumni to pay the costs of publication. Our advertisers, while loyal and generous, are too few to provide the needed funds.”

When we examine the four pages of that 1898 Echo, we are astounded at the relatively large number of advertisers for that period, 70 years ago. There was a total of 23 ads. running to six of the 24 columns in the entire issue. Let us see who some of the advertisers were.

Aware that in 1898 students had to furnish their dormitory rooms, Redington & Co. called attention to its upholstering and refinishing service~ as well as its large supply of mirrors. James Robinson and Sons offered students 10 per cent discount on men’s clothing. L.B. Hanson at 42 Main Street offered a wide selection of overcoats and ulsters. E.H. Emery, the tailor at 12 Main Street. would repair student’s clothes. Lightbody’s Pharmacy was selling the old box Kodaks. Not to be outdone by Robinson. H.R. Dunham offered a discount of ten per cent. George Dorr, the venerable pharmacist in the even more venerable Phoenix Block, offered toilet articles, perfumes, cigars and pipes. W.E. Chadwick insisted his was the place to go for musical instruments and sheet music. Two Redington sisters had set up as stenographers and typists and would type student themes at reasonable rates.

Not a single restaurant was advertised in that 1898 Echo. but no fewer than three ice cream parlors solicited business. Only one of the three is now well remembered. that of W.A. Hager, who was about to take over an older business, that of C.H. Wheeler. who also had an ad in the same issue. The third was by Mrs. George Healey. Mrs. Healey’s ad said: “An excellent line of confectionery, chocolates. bonbons, fruits, soda and nuts. Ice cream for parties furnished on short notice. Catering for banquets a specialty. Mrs. George F. Healey, 122 Main Street.”

The Wheeler ad said: “We are headquarters for ice cream, candy, soda with all the latest flavors. We manufacture our candies from the purest materials. Wheeler Bros.~ 44 Main Street. We are also agents for Mitchell’s Greenhouses.”

The Hager ad. after pointing out that Mr. Hager was successor to C.H. Wheeler, said: “Manufacturing confectioner, wholesale and retail. Catering for parties and banquets. 113 Main Street.” Although perhaps the other similar places had telephones, Mr. Hager was the only one that advertised such a connection. His number was 31, ring 4.

Who ran that Colby publication in 1898? The managing editor was Bertram Hardson, the news editor T. Raymond Pierce, and the literary editor Edna Stephens. The business manager Wirt Brown was assisted by Fred Lawrence. Raymond Pierce, Wirt Brown and Fred Lawrence, the last of whom died only recently after retirement from a long career as state bank examiner, are names well remembered in Colby circles.

That issue of the Echo contained a directory of college organizations. We thus learn that the Colby Athletic Association was headed by Ernest Maling and that Charles Towne was its secretary. Its faculty adviser and treasurer was the geologist, Prof. W.S. Bayley. John Scannell was captain of both football and baseball. Vice president of the college YMCA was Carl Herrick, later the distinguished preSident of Andover-Newton Theological School. John Nelson, later U.S. Congressman from Maine, headed the debating club.

The women were not entirely neglected. The Echo did note the YWCA, whose president was Lenora Bessey and the secretary Agnes Stetson.

Bear in mind that in 1898 there was no magazine published exclusively by and for the Colby alumni. That is one reason why the 1898 Echo was so different from the Echo today. It contained much alumni news. In the fall of 1911 there appeared the special publication for the alumni, called then as now “The Colby Alumnus”. It was edited by the college librarian, who was also secretary of the Alumni Association, Charles P. Chipman, 1906.

The issue of January 1912 contained the first installment of Chipman’s notable work on the “Formative Period in Colby History”, during which investigation Chipman unearthed long forgotten manuscripts in private hands as well as in the college records and in the Massachusetts Archives. Under the heading “Colby Man in Washington” was an account of the career of George Otis Smith, Colby 1893, as head of the U.S. Geological Survey. Finally let us take a glance at some of the items under the heading “College Life”.

“The cup offered last year to the fraternity holding the highest average rank in scholarship during 1910-11 has recently been awarded to DKL”

“The annual cross country race was held on November 22. The winner was Tom Reynolds. 1914, who ran the distance in 47 minutes, 50 seconds.”

“The students attended in a body the lecture by Dr. Newell Dwight Hill is in the Opera House on December 12. All students were furnished free tickets under the Arthur J. Roberts Lecture Fund.”

“The musical clubs were on a trip during the first half of the Christmas vacation, giving concerts at Corinna, Dover, GUilford, Monson and Greenville.”

Year: 1969