Faculty Member Killed.
One of the Master of Science degrees was awarded posthumously in
June to Max John Hoyer, an instructor in civil engineering and mathematics. On September 22,
1922, Hoyer was killed in an accident three miles from Potsdam on the new Winthrop-Potsdam
road. He had been assisting some freshmen to elude pursuing sophomores, and at the time of
the accident he was driving in a car with George Harnden, Kenneth Clark, and Carl Kelsey—all
juniors. To make pursuit more difficult for the sophomores, Hoyer was driving with only his
car's dimmer bulbs (parking lights) on.
Driving past the freshmen rendezvous point, Hoyer sought to turn around. Shutting off
the engine, he coasted up Stoney Hill to find a suitable place to turn around. Just as he crested
the hill, he met another car coming toward him, but with no engine, he was helpless to avoid it.
After colliding with the other car, Hoyer's car swerved off the road and turned over. Clark was
thrown through the top, but the other three remained in the car. Harnden and Kelsey crawled
out from the wreckage while the occupants of the other car, Robert Wilson '23 and David
Pelow, went for help. Clark sustained a laceration of the scalp, Harnden received cuts from
broken glass, and Kelsey suffered cuts and a leg injury. Hoyer, however, had been pinned
beneath the car, and killed.
A native of Hamburg, Germany, Hoyer, a 1920 graduate of Clarkson, had taught
mathematics and civil engineering for three years prior to the accident.
Snell Field.
In the fall, the undergraduates petitioned the Trustees for a week off in November
to begin construction of a new athletic field on land to the west of Holcroft, donated to the
College by Miss Annie Clarkson. It was heavy manual labor, but the students made good
progress this first year. Work continued on the field for four years.
"Beechnut."
The December 1923
Integrator
contained the following letter from an unusual
member of the Class of 1927.
1 Hot Dog Alley
Kurrville, N.Y.
Dog Days
Fellow Techers:
By way of introduction, my name is "Beechnut." I don't know how I ever received such a horrid
handle except for the fact that I was born and received my early, indeed very early, education in
Canajoharie where are located the large Beechnut factories. I am known by nearly every Techer in
school. Perhaps I won't recognize you when we meet on the street but just speak to me, and of course I
won't be so rude as to fail to answer. I expect that by now I am the most popular dog that ever attended
Clarkson. Of course I don't want to convey the impression that I am self-struck.
At last I have reached the goal for which I have striven since a mere pup. I am attending college.
And on top of that, I have made a fraternity. You see, I was induced to come to Potsdam by four Sigma
Delta men so I rode right up with them. I was a few weeks late and it was feared that my tardiness would
seriously impair my chances of passing my term's work but I want it understood that I was not a
common cur. I have already caught up on all my work and in fact am ahead of schedule. I was taken in
wholeheartedly by the Sigma Delta men at once.
I met but one serious obstacle in entering Tech. It was thought, for a time, that a lady should not
enter a technical school but as I am only a young innocent girl, I was at last allowed to register.
