College News, 1927-05-11, Vol. 13, No. 25

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The College News
VOL. XIII.   No. 25.
BRYN MAWR   (AND WAYNE). PA.,   WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1927
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PROKOSCH LEADS
DANCE PROGRAM
Cloisterf      Furnish      Artistic
Background  for  New
Interpretations.
PRICE,   10 CENTS
Join Me at Bates
COSTUMES   BY   PERERA
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(Specially contributed by R. Liny, '2.">)
On Friday evening, the sixth of
May, a fairly large audience saw Miss
Gertrude Prokosch's class in some
dances composed and directed by her.
The first, and in some ways perhaps
* the most interesting thing, was the
medieval Dance of Death done in a
series of scenes recalling Holbein's
woodcuts, the Dance of Death told the
Middle Age of the swiftness of death's
�coming and of its coming to all alike.
This was felt by the dancers and they
often expressed it with poignance and
some sense of drajiia. After the first
scene where Death, heralded by
Trumpeters, was shown triumphing
over an emperor, came one of the most
beautiful of all' the dances�that of
Death and the Queen. Miss Hollander,
as the queen, danced with a fine sense
of character; she was gracious and
dignified, and when she and Miss Pro-
kosch, wearing th�0plumed hat of
Death, the courier, danced together,
they combined in a lovely, flowing
movement.
Maidens Were Graceful
The three maidens whom Death sur-
prised at play danced daintily and
gaily. Of them Miss Trask was par-
ticularly graceful. One wondered
whether it would not have made .for a
pitiful contrast had the Lover, Death,
singled out one of the maidens and left
the others to dance a while longer.
Death's dance with the gypsy and
with the jester showed wild and whim-
sical spirits brought to silence. Miss
Perera. as the jester, gave the most
dramatic performance of the evening.
She was very touching as she tried to
divert Death by the tricks and gambols
that had served to divert the king and
her final surrender held nothing of sub-
mission. The abandon of Mibs Glov-
er's gypsy dance was a moment of
pure joy, and life that seemed to have
no part in this tragic play. It was
this, of course, that made it pitiful.
The Dance of Death and the child
gave us a charming young actress in
Miss Elfrida Mahler. In the scene of
Death and the Nun. Miss Phyllis Wie-
gand gave us one of the most pictorial
moments of the eveniqg looking, as
she did, like a piece of late Spanish
polychrome sculpture.
After the Dance of Death, Miss
Prokosch interpreted a Bach Concerto
with a ritual dance of majesty and
grace.
The second part of the program be-
gan with a dance by Miss Prokosch
called "Gold," in which she looked like
a princess out of a Persian minia-
ture. Miss Haley, in a dance entitled
"Silver," which she herself composed,
was graceful, twinkling, brittle. She
was Silver and besides that, she was
wanton spring.
Group Dances Most Successful
The group of dances representing the
elements consisted of two solos, "Fire"
and "Air" and two ensembles, "Earth"
and "Water." The group dances were
most successful�the one being quite
beautiful, the other most ingenious. As
"Air," Miss Alice Glover w a-, like . a
gust of wind in April; anything more
delicate, more spirited, could hardly be
imagined. Miss Prokosch, as "Fire,"
was terrifying, a leaping, flickering
force, a veritable Logi.
The evening concluded with an In-
dian ceremonial which provided an in-
teresting contrast.
The costumes, designed by Miss Per-
era, seemed, to the writer, not qnly
beyond reproach, but an integral part
of the performance. One particularly
remembers the prosey gown of the
queen, the blue gown of one of the
idens, and the veils, like blue flam�sr
e dancers in "Earth." Lovely,
also, were Miss Prokosch's white robes
and golden gown.
On the whole, there* seems much to
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VARSITY DEFEATED
AT POUGtiKEEPSIE
Vassar   Wins   in    Exhibition
Tennis by Rapid Playing
,   in Doubles
LARGE CROWD ATTENDS
DE LAGUNA KNOWS
CURRENT EVENTS
European Fellow Keeps Track
of World Happenings and
Wins Contest
FINALS   ON   SATURDAY
Frederica de Laguna, 1987*8 Euro-
pean Fellow and record-smashing
scholar, has added another leaf to her
laurels   by   winning   the   Bryn" Mawr
fifty dollars is the material reward for
this achievement, in addition to the
honor accruing therefrom. We are now
banking; on Miss de Laguna's going on
to win the final beat of the contest.
the winners from 19 different colleges
competing with eatli other on Satur-
day, May 14. The conqueror of this
final field receives an additional *."><>()
from the generous New York Times.
The Harvard student who won the
contest last year has again qualified as
the representative of that institution,
so that Miss de Laguna will have a,
worthy pacemaker.
Cornelia Rose, '28, came a very close
second in the Bryn Mawr contest, and
honorable mention was awarded to
Margaret Perry, '28, and Frances Put-
nam, '28. The contest was in three
parts: a true.and false section: 20
names to be identified, and 20 topics,
each of which was to be written on
for a period of three minutes. The
Bryn Mawr committee consisted of
Dr. C. J. Fenwick, Dr. W. R. Smith,
Dr. M. P. Smith, Dr. Crenshaw and
Dr. S. C. Chew, who both made out
and marked the papers.
Vassar College, by a small margin,
trjumphed over Bryn Mawr in the ten-
nis matches at Pdughkeepsie last Satur-
day, winning the deciding doubles contest
in the last of three hard-fought sets.
The victory, however, in no way de-
cided the championship, as the rules
permit playing with other colleges only
in exhibition matches.
As an exhibition, the spectacle staged
by the Bryn Mawr singles champions,
Miss Pitney and Miss Bethel, was highly
satisfactory. Miss Pitney's opponent in
the singles was Miss Nancy Nicolia, '28.
who in the opening game displayed some
hard, strong shooting which rivalled Miss
Pitney's own. The games was an ener-
getic and lively one on both sides, but
the Bryn Mawr champion's endurance
eventually wore out her opponent. Miss
Pitney won the first sets 6-4, and lost
the second by the same score. But in the^
last set Miss Nicolai was nervous and
erratic, with the result that Miss Pitney,
playing with undiminshed vigor, took
six straight games.
Miss Bethel, who arrived late in the
morning after taking taking a German
oral at   Bryn Mawr, defeated Miss.Vir-
The Lantern Elects J
The Lantern has elected as
Business Manager for the com-
ing, year Gail Sampson, 28; as
Advertising Manager, Edith
Morgan, '28. and as Treasurer,
Mary Gcssner, ':>'.�.
heat of the Neiv  York  Times Current
Events   Contest. �Jw*-htmdre*-arrovt*i^^^--^rWrt1i tittle difficulty, 6-2,
CONTINUED  ON  PAGE
V
Juniors Make Good
Archers, Meet Proves
The Archery Meet, held on Saturday,
was won byv the undefeatable light
blue team�they made 226 hits," scoring
1146 points. Second place went to
'30, and third to '29.
Fortunately for the archers, the
weather was favorable, there being
neither too much sun or wind. V. At-
more, '28, captain of varsity, won the
individuals, with a score of 63-381,
with M. Barber, 29, and J. Paxon, '30,
as second and third.
The teams were as follows:        ^ s
1928�V. Atmore. P. McElwain, M.
Coss, M. Gregson (captain), score�
226-1146.
1930�J. Paxon, H. Seligman (cap-
tain), V. Wesson, H. L. Taylor, score�
164-748.
192!��M. Barber (captain), M. Wil-
liams, M. Bailey, R. Kitchen, score�
146-651.
6-3. Miss Platt, who was suffering from
a strained ankle, was unable to stand up
against the twin's strong and steady
game.
O. Stokes. '30, although in better than
usual form, suffered defeat at the hands
of Miss Reubel, of Vassar. a powerful
player who lives solely on tea and veg-
etables.   The  final  score  was 6-4, 6-4.
In the last of the singles matches
M. Claverius, '28, defeated C. Swan, '29,
the fourth meml>er of the Bryn Mawr
team, by the score of 6-2 6-4. The
match was characterized by less vigor-
ous hitting than in the other matches,
although Miss Swan's forehand drive
was in splendid form.
With two singles matches won by
each college, the doubles (although pure-
ly exhibition) were especially thrilling.
Miss Pitney and Miss Stokes, playing
together against Miss Nicolai and Miss
Reubel, lost the first set. won the second,
and after bringing the score to four all
in the third, dropped the las.t two games
amid the cheers of the Vassar grand-
stand. The Bryn Mawr players, consid-
ering their inexperience in playing to-
gether, co-operated very well, and at
first succeeded in foiling the attempts of
their opponents to play a net game. Miss
Pitney's skillful lobbing greatly contrib-
uted to this, and during most of the
match the balls were kept high in the
air. In the last set. however. Vassar's
champions began to be successful in
their attack, and Miss Stokes and Mi-�
Pitney weakened, losing* the set which
decided   Vassar's  su[>eriority
The Bryn Mayr players, interviewed
on their impressions of Vassar, were en-
thusiastic over the accommodations
which were given them in Main Hall.
They   stated   that   Vassar   had   beautiful
GENERAL IDEA OF
RELIGION FALSE
Spiritual Beauty Takes Place
of Religion in Language of
Present Day
BEAUTY    LIFE'S     GOAL
The Reverend Alexander MacColl, of
the Second Presbyterian Church, Phila-
delphia, used for the subject of his ser-
mon Sunday evening. May 8, the words
"Religion is the supreme means of dis-
covery and development of beautv in
life."
Many men and women think of reli-
gion as a kind of puzzle of human life;
a means of appeasing the wrath or win-
ning the favor of an Unseen God. Youth
thinks it adequately described as the
"Mosaic killjoy of the medievals." and
l>ecause young people do not respond to
the age-worn word "righteousness." a
substitute is supplied for them in the
word "beauty;" not only the 'physical
beauty of material things, but the spir-
itual beauty of God and all that He has
created.             ,.
Why did David in writing the twenty-
third psalm say "I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever?-' Because he
loved beauty and knew that there he
could behold visions of God, and intcr-
pretation of the meaning of life, and
look upon untold horizons of opportu-
nity. It is in this very task that the 1
Church often fails; it does not make
religion attractive. It represents it as
concerned with gloomy, forbidding rules
and regulations, instead of with life
itself.
The test of the reality of religion is
whither or not it is making the world
progressively beautiful If it is not. then
ii is not true religion, for "only religion
misconceived can draw us away from
beauty." The task that Jesus found Him-
self confronted with when He came on
earth was to bring about the transforma-
tion of a worjd permeated with physical
ugliness. Everywhere He went He saw
the outward manifestation of an inward
sordidness. In consequence, He showed
the possible transfiguration of sorrow and
the blessedness of poverty; He preached
the nonexistence of death and ultimately
gave Himself that perfect beauty of
character might be "painted upon the
canvas of life."
The task of us who come after Him.
therefore, is to go out into {he common
duties of every day life and by our in-
fluence make them more beautiful. By
doing so we may build up for ourselves
DR. JONES EXPLAINS
CHINESE PROBLEMS
New National Consciousness,
Not Sovidt Influence, Causes
Revolution.
FAITH^  INV CANTONESE
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"I shall try to interpret the present
situation in .China," said Dr. Rufus
Jones speaking in the chapel on Tues- *
day evening in Taylor. "Upon first sight
China would appear to be in "a hopeless
muddle. Besides being all at sea, the
newspapers present only a prejudiced
view pdint. Their over-emphasis of the
Soviet influence in China makes the
situation appear even worse. In reality
this is an uprising and coming to con-
sciousness of a great people. The right
solution of the problem of the Orient is
the most important issue before the
world  today.'
The first thing to get at is the state
of mind over' there, according to Dr.
Joins. In recent years, large numbers of
young Chinese men have gone to Amer-
ican colleges and to missionary schools;
and they have come out with their ideas
of western civilization greatly altered.
The main trouble is that China has just
become aware of being treated differently
from any other nation in the world. The
Chinese see their autonomy held by for-
eigners, their tariffs being collected by
other nations, foreign warships up their
rivers, foreigners making their own
laws, and the natives being atrociously
treated. They did not use to resent this
interference and bad treatment; now
they   feel angry and  humiliated.
Five great revolutions are under way
in China. The most striking is the po-
litical one. The change is from a mo-
narchical system to one of complete
self-government. Next in importance is
the literary one: hitherto their ideals
and aspirations have had to be expressed
through the old classical language, now
CONTINUED  ON   PAGE   3           v
a weapon against which any form of ug-
liness will have little effect. For "Beauty
is the goal  of the Christian life."
tennis courts, and a large audience to
watch the games. Saturday was Vassar's
annual  field day.   and  the   Poughkeepsie |first ,)Iace   man is cndowed with the fac-
World Needs Faith and
Individual Happiness
"The sure foundation of a Golden
Age lies in the satisfied condition of the
individual," said Dr. Cadbury speaking
in chapel on Friday, May 6. But it is*
almost impossible for us, who live in
a country free from such discomforts as
sand storms and intense tropical heat, to
visualize the difficulty of attaining such
condition.
We. of the present day and^ge, are
living at a time when men areVapidly
losing all faith in human nature. One
of the distinctly detrimental elements is
the influence of the newspapers, which
do not. in the least, remind us that we
have any means at hand of making life
worth while.
Science Is Disillusioning
Science, ever a disillusioning factor in
life, is contiually giving us an extraordi-
nary view of our own insignificance. And
then again, the realistic literature writ-
ten ar present attempts to portray, not
what is l)cst. but what is worst; in man.
What, then, are the achievements that
man   should   hold  before   him?   In   the
campus was a scene of great animation.
Second Varsity Defeats P. C. C.
Bryn Mawr's second* tennis squad
played the second team of the Philadel-
phia Cricket Club on the home courts on
Saturday morning, while the first team
was playing at Vassar, and defeated them
,sVceplag5V; wryn mawr " representa-
tives, Palache. '28; M. Hand, '27; Sling-
luff, '30, and B. Humphries, '29, won
every match. E. Poe, '29, was also
scheduled for a match, but her opponent
did not appear
Coss, Latane and Channing Are
Top Notes of Next Year's Glee Club
Glee Club has elected Margaret Coss, '28. President; Elinor I.atane, ':!<>.
Vice-President; Barbara Channing, '29, Secretary, and Polly McElwain. *2&
Business Manager for next year.
Miss Coss ha^ been in Glee Club for three years and had a part in the*
Mikado and the Gondoliers:,she is also Class Song Mistress for 1028.
Miss Latane is Class Song Mistress and received the George Bates Hop-
kins Memorial Scholarship in Music this year. She will be remembered as
"Marion" in The Truth About Blayds.
Miss Channing is Class Song Mistress, has !>een in Glee Club for two
"years and sang the part of the Duchess in the Gondoliers.   She is also Secret
tary of 1929 and Secretary of Self-Government.
Miss McElwain has been in choir for three years and is Business Man-
ager of the College News.
Because nexftea1,:is mg iAkj Day year we shall be deprived of our
annual Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, as there will be no regular Glee Club
performance. But there will be a concert some time during the first semester,
and Senior Choir will, as usual, sing Christmas carols on the night before
vacation.
*
ulties of judgment and ability for which
employment be found if a condition of
complete satisfaction is to be attained.
Secondly, man needs a sense of disinter-
ested moral integrity and virtue. And
thirdly, there is a tremendous need in the
world for persons of understanding and
sympathy.
The general feeling of the sagacious
is that man is not progressing jg the
realms of character as! he has progressed
in the realms of science. We are able to
fly more swiftly than Icarus and fight
with more efficiency than Achilles, but
our "moral integrity" cannot begin to
equal that of Socrates. Mankind would
never have believed in the possibility of
a perfect character had not Jesusu Christ
lived on earth.                          ^
Wh�; v.. ._._ ..�...,� fof, then, is 4u>(\ '
disclosure of the secrets of the earth and'
air. as much as for the revelation of
God; a revelation lucid enough to be
lasting and definite enough for complete
understanding.