College News, 1925-03-04, Vol. 11, No. 17

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The College News
Vol. XI.   No. 16
BRYtf, MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY. MARCH 4,1925
Price 10 Cents
1928 GIVES AMUSING
SHOW ABOUT ALICE
Inhabitants of Wonderland Appear
in the Rabbit Hole and Palace
Amid Modern Conveniences
COSTUMESARE EXCELLENT
"Alice to be Tried for Murder," present-
ed by 1928 to 1926 in the gymnasium last
Saturday night, was both a delightful
reunion with old friends and an exciting
revelation of our dreams. Rarely in all
our years of research in the pages illus-
trated by Tenniel and Rackham, have we
gone so far into Wonderland and grown
so intimate with its people. It was pleas-
ant and reassuring to tind them almost
the same as ever, things in just the same
disorganized condition, still no time for
washing up between times, still watches
dipped in tea. "Off with her head" has
evidently had no effect as yet on the crime
wave of Wonderland; for the cook looked
sinister enough for the French Revolution.
The Duchess and the Queen of Hearts
swqpt about in a really imperious manner
in gorgeous robes and headdresses steep
and stiff enough for Queen Mary herself.
Dormouse, Mad Hatter and March Hare
had their true baffling personalities and
were beautifully dressed; the Hatter's
embroidered white waistcoat and the
March Hare's blue coat with brass but-
tons were" only less alluring than the feet
of the Oyster Chorus, the nicest lot of
flippers we have ever seenr In fact, a
great deal of the show was an interesting
study from the knees down, especially
because one of the most popular dance
steps was .a kind of circular collapse of
the knees. Not that the dancing was
poor; it varied from the fine toe-dancing
of Fan to the mute, vigorous clogging of
CONTINUED  ON   PACE   2
ARE YOUR REASONS SINCERE
ONES? QUESTIONS MR. HARRIS
Young Minister Fears We Justify Our
Ways by Tortuous Thinking
"There is not a single great issue in the
world today on which Christians, as Chris-
tians, do not take opposite sides," said Mr.
Erdman Harris in chapel last Sunday eve-
ning. v
" 'They did not understand what Jesus
said and they were afraid to ask what he
meant.' Jesus' early followers did not
understand what He was driving at. But
do we, being so divided on great issues, uiv-
derstand any better?
� "In politics, for example, followers of
Davis, Coolidge and La Follette all believed
that their candidate embodied the principles
for which Christ stood.
"In economics, the capitalist and the
Christian radical both believe that they are
standing for things to hasten the kingdom
of heaven.
"In the use of money, Christian opinion is
equally divided. Bill Simpson works as an
itinerant shoeless carpenter, refusing to take
money for his services, and believing that
in a life of poverty, he is doing the will of
God and expressing the spirit of Christ.
Other sincere Christian gentlemen feel that
they are doing the will of God by going to
Florida to rest
"On the matter of war, Dr. Coffin and
Dr. Fosdick, both Christian ministers, dis-
agree diametrically.
*�        CONTINUED ON PACE �
TWO PORTRAITS MAKE TRIP TO
EXHIBITION WORTH WHILE
Portraits Best of Dull Exhibition; Other
Genres Copy Past Success
"It has been a long time since anything
has been as dull as the Exhibition of the
Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts," said
Miss_ 0. (!. King, professor of history of
art at Bryn Mawr, speaking in chapel
last Wednesday. "Two things which I
-will mention later are, however, quite
worth the inconvenience of the* trip."
"As a class, the portraits were best. But
portraits bear perhaps somewhat the same
�elation to other painting as sermons toother
forms in literature�they are things apart
which do not alter with the style. A portrait
must do three things," continued Miss King.
"It must give pleasure; it must give an ac-
count of the sitter for those who come
after, and it must give a not ignoble account
or criticism of human nature."
The portrait of Irvin S. Cobb and his
daughter, Elizabeth, and the portrait by-
.Roy H. Collins both ignore the third re-
quirement. The former is appalling; it is
in the realm of satiric comedy. The lat-
ter approaches intimate vulgarity, not ex-
clusively the painter/s nor yet wholly the
subject's. Agreeable and expensive were
the portraits of children. In general, how-
ever these must violate the third require-
ment, since they cannot give the germ
of what is to be.
There were three very good portraits,
all of professional men, fulfilling the first
and second requirements: "Rev. "Samuel
A. Eliot," by Charles Hopkinson; "Dr.
William J. Taylor," by Lazar Radii/, and
"Dr. A. J. Cohen." by Albert Rosentlul.
These help to fix a type to which the pro-
fession always tries to attain.
Aside from the portraits, the paintings
just tried to reproduce past successes or
were of minor types. Catherine Priestly
Richardson's "Fuchsia," however, has a
real interest in form and color. "Province-
town in Winter" and "Planting Potatoes,"
by Ross E. Moffet. convey a sense of
reality and life going on. Jonas Lie in
"The Strings of the Lute," "Storm" and
"Dawn," shows a real feeling for land-
scape, sincerity and depth.           �
"The two paintings which made the
trip worth while," said Miss King in con-
cluding, "were Charles W. Hawthorne's
'The Captain's Wife' and Robert Ward
Johnson's 'Woman and Child.' In its
criticism of life, in its experience, and in
the quality of the painting, 'The Captain's
Wife' sums up all the past. 'The Woman
and Child' has the solidity of bronze and,
though pure design, it is tridimensional.
In it is all the future."
ILE DE FRANCE IS BIRTHPLACE   <
OF GREAT GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
History  of  He  de  France Is Sharp
Contrast to Peaceful Appearance
CLASS GYM MEETS APPROACH IN
FIRST TWO WEEKS IN MARCH
Only the first teams will perform this
year in the gym meets which are to be
held on March 6 and i:i at half-past four,
in the gymnasium.
There will be exercises and vaults on
the horse and exercises on the bars by the
class teams, while individuals will do ex-
ercises and vaults on both. As'usual, the
meet will end with the pyramids of each
class, as Miss Applebee has decided to
omit the "surprise drill" originally
planned. Mr. Bishop and Mr. Cromie will
be the judges.
The captains of the class teams are:
1925, E. Bradley; 1926, G. Leewitz; 1927,
M. Cruikshank; 1928, H. Tuttle.
"He de France" was fhe subject on
which Miss Parde, Professor of French at
Bryn Mawr, gave an illustrated^eiturc last
Friday evening, under the auspices of the
French Club.
"This name," she began, "is used to desig-
nate the country around Paris, separated
from the rest of France by tly: Seine,
Marne, Oise and Aisne, which forma rough
square. It is a rolling plain, rich in memo-
ries which *are written in its stones.
"Quiet, unspectacular as it seems, it is
from the point*1 of view of history the cen-
tre of France's life. The Merovingians and
the Carlovingians had their seats here, and
in the tenth century the Capctians of Paris
succeeded to power. Their descendants
ruled France till the last century, conquering
the rest of the country gradually and unit-
ing hVln tn's Portion of Picardy and Nor-
mandy was born the' Gothic style of archi-
tecture.
"A privileged, protected land, it could
develop at its case. We find here a very
dense population, not massed in large cities,
but living in innumerable small towns, qu;et
now and seemingly dead, but once players
of a great role in history."
Miss Parde then showed slides of the He
de France. Pontoise, a tranquil town, wA
once an important seat of kings. Auvert is
celebrated by many artists, among them
Dupres and Daubigny.
Beauvais is a proud city. Its cathedral,
St Pierre, is the last word in Gothic bold-
ness, and the last of the great cathedrals.
Built o'n a breath-taking scale, it was to sur-
pass St. Peter's at Rome. But it was so
vast that it was never completed, and it
stands there as if cut in half, in strange dis-
proportion. The Place Jeanne Hachette,
surrounded by medieval liousA, commemo-
rates the heroine of Beauvais. who under
Louis XI saved the town from the Bur-
gundians.
Compiegne was one of the most famous
of the kings' residences and has had a long
and varied history. The present chateau
was built by Gabriel for Louis XV, who
used to conic there often and hunt in the
great forest. Xapolean I also visited Com-
piegne ; but the height of its glory was under
Xapoleon III, when the court was held
there. Interesting also was the tower in
which Jeanne d'Arc was imprisoned, and
the old Cistercian abbey in the heart of the
forest.
Noyon was the capital of Charlemagne.
In the heart of the invaded area, it is in
ruins now. but before the war had an inter-
CONTINUED ON PACE 3
BRYN MAWR TUNES UP
FOR A SPRING DRIVE
Undergraduates Take a   Note
Scale; Enthusiastic Meeting
Agrees to Raise $27,000
In
VARSITY DRAMATICS ARE VOTED
HAMPTON SINGERS  REAPPEAR
MOTON TO SPEAK
A meeting on Race Relations will be held
in the Academy of Music at 4 P M., Sun-
day. March 8. The Hampton Quartet will
sing Negro spirituals. Dr. Robert R. Mo-
ton, principal of Tuskegee Institute, and Dr.
James E. Gregg, principal of Hampton In-
stitute, will speak.
No cards for admission will be required,
but reserved seats may be secured by appli-
cation to the Hampton Tukegee Endow-
ment Fund. Room 415, Stock Exchange
Building.
On Saturday, March 7, at 8 P. M., a meet-
ing will be held in the Bryn Mawr Presby-
terian Church, at which Robert R. Moton,
successor of Booker T. Washington as prin-
cipal of Tuskegee Institute, will speak, and
the Hampton Quartet will sing.
Pledging $27,000 for a note ill the Tune
Up Bryn Mawr! scafcHh'e Undergradu-
ates took their places beside the Alumnae
in the campaign for the Endowment of the
Music Department and the Auditorium,
at a mass meeting in Taylor Hall on Mon-
day evening, February 23.
Miss Barber, '25, president of the Un-
dergraduate Association, who was in the
chair, outlined the students' part in the
drive. Blanks are to be obtained at the
Publicity Office, which are to be filled out
with the names of possible donors; work
under one of the district chairmen can be
done in the spring vacation; and the entire
undergraduate body is to be divided into
districts like the Alumnae regions.
More important than these details was
the thrilling spirit of co-operation among
all Bryn Mawrtyrs, past and present,
reminiscent of May Day, the union of
forces as everyone prepares for the "spring
offensive."
At the same mass meeting* the college
voted to substitute Varsity Dramatics for
tin present system of class plays, keeping,
of course, Freshmen Show and Glee Club
operetta. C. Remak, president of the
Senior class, said that probably Senior
play could be replaced this spring by a
Varsity play given in Roberts Hall at
Haverford College. The profits from this
performance could then be placed in the
undergraduate quota^for the campaign. A
motion was passed that a committee of
five should be appointed by the Under-
graduate Board to choose a play.
LIBERALS HEAR FAIRY TALES
FROM HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS
D. C. Thompson Speaks on Past and
Present of Celtic Folk Lore
Speaking before the Liberal Club last
Thursday night, Mr. David Cleghorn
Thompson, of Edinborough, told stories
out of Scottish folk lore, whieh, along
with other Irish folk lore, has lately been
revived.
They are tales and songs of the fisher-
men in the Erishkay Islands and the outer
Hebrides; some of them are to be found
in the collection of Mrs. Kennedy Fraser,
Mr. Kenneth MacClough and Mr. W. B.
Yeats. Like the Greek an(l English legend*
they have been handed down by word of
mouth in the gatherings round the evening
fireside. Lately, since the men have been
off to the war, and the girls to work in
the world outside, these fairy tales of the
islands have veered from their old tradi-
tions, and sometimes from their old popu-
larity.
But the half-witted village poets have
managed to keep them still in very famil-
iar ways. There is the changeling in the
story of "Michael Scot" and "fhe Priest's
Lassie," the keen-witted dancing fairies in
"The Two Hunchbacks," and, of course.'
the straying kings, the giants who demand
the first born in return for their services,
and the lovely daughters who outwit
their wicked parents. Mr. Thompson
told three or four of these stories with
their properties peculiar to the highlands
and islands."
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