College News, 1932-02-10, Vol. 18, No. 11

              The College News
VAL. XVIII, No. 11
WAYNE AND BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1932
Price, 10 Centt
French Production of
'Knock' Well Done
Originality, Humor, and Cour-
age, Mark Performance
of French Club
Dr. Williams to Give
Flexner Lectures in 1932
STAGING   IS   EXCELLENT
The originality, the sense of humor,
and the courage with which the
scenery committee put a very large
and unmistakably purple cow in the
setting, were characteristic of the
whole performance of "Knock," given
by the French Club of Bryn Mawr
College on February 5. Directed by
Mile. Maud Rey, the play was suc-
cessful from every angle, in spite of
the two great disadvantages with
which the actors were faced, that of
being amateurs, and that of speaking
in a foreign language.
As an amateur play, the acting and
staging were excellent. The long part
of "Knock" Was admirably sustained
by Miss Jarrett, although at moments
she lapsed from the suavity of the
scornful young doctor to a menacing
attitude which recalled Sherlock
Holmes. Marion Mitchell's Dr. Par-
palaid was the best piece of acting in
the play. Miss Mitchell filled her
portly masculine role in an utterly
convincing way, both as regards her
voice, her walk, and her gestures.
Susan Hardin as Mme. Parpalaid, and
Clarissa Compton as La Dame en Vio-
let, played the two gushing women,
one simple and genuine, the other
high-born and artificial, extremely
well. Germaine> Bree as Le Tambour,
and Nancy Squires as Jean, made the
most out of the amusing possibilities
of their character parts. The other
parts were all admirably held to the
same level. The scenery was ambi-
tious and at the .same time had a
substantial appearance, and attention
to detail, especially in instruments of
the doctor's office. The setting of the
first scene especially deserves con-
gratulations, for the appearance of
a real touring car, and for the moving
scenery (including the purple cow in
one of the fields), which visualized
the progress of the car.
By having Germaine Bree, a grad-
uate student from France, in the cast,
an excellent chance was afforded for
judging the diction of the rest of the
cast. They stood the comparison
amazingly well. The audience had no
difficulty in understanding the play,
and the pleasure to be got from it
was not impeded by a noticeable mis-
use of the foreign language.
After the performance Miss
Schenck gave a reception in the com-
mon room to open formally the ex-
hibit of photographs of famous
Frenchmen, presented as "Messages
Francais," to 11 universities and 2
colleges in this country, Bryn Mawr
being the only women's college in-
cluded.
C. F. G.
Dr. Ralph Vaughn Williams has
been appointed Lecturer for 1932. He
will give a series of popular lectures
on "Naturalism' in Music" and will
also work with the second and third-
year music students in groups. He
and Sir Edward Elgar sre acknowl-
edged as the two foremost English
composers. President of the Folk-
song Society, his great interest is in
folk music and nationalism in music.
A whole program devoted to his work
was given by Sir Henry Wood in Ix>n-
don last summer and his two works,
"Job" and "Benedicite," were chosen
by the International Jury for per-
formance at two of this year's Con-
temporary Music Festivals at Oxford.
Dr. Lake Speaks on
'Paul's Predecessors'
Margaret Barker Talks on Stage
While "The House of Connelly" was
running in Philadelphia, Miss Mar-
garet Barker, who takes the lead as
Patsy Tate, came out to speSK ar
Bryn Mawr, where she was a student
in the class of 1930 until she left to
go on the stage. She told informally
what the Group Theatre is doing to
remedy the shortcomings which the
necessity of making money has forc-
ed on Broadway, such as the impos-
sibility of getting on without pull,
and the subordination of a part to
personality by always casting an ac-
tor in the same type of part. The
Group Theatre are considered per-
sons rather than job-hunters, and
hang together as a whole, without
recognizing anyone's superiority in
any one type of part. Their method
of approaching a part is that of the
Moscow Art Theatre, in which each
part is studied with relation to all
the others, and has its own import-
ance, no matter how short.
Apostles' Teaching About Jesus
Conquered World for
Christianity
QUESTIONS  "MESSAGE"
The first of the addresses on ecclesi-
astical history, which is the subject
of the Mary Flexnor lectures for this
year, was given on Monday evening
in Goodhart Hall. The Rev. Kirsopp
Lake, D.D., has chosen "The Apostle
Paul" as the subject for his first
three lectures and "The Text of the
New Testament" for the remaining
ones, because they trouble him, and
it is "problems, not facts, that are
interesting." The very uncertainty of
the task makes it interesting to come
into the workshop of those who are
investigating the text of the New
Testament, while the life of Paul in-
volves the problems of early Chris-
tianity as a whole.
The historian has a picture of a
fundamentally Jewish civilization pre-
vious to Paul, and in the Roman Em-
pire 50 years later Christianity is
one of the chief cults, with emphasis
on ethics and sacrament. Mere names
form the connecting bridge between
these two periods, chief among which
is that of Paul. And it is his prede-
cessors that render hiin intelligible
and enable him to do his extraordi-
nary work.
In the Palestine of Paul's day the
law was a standardized teaching of
the prophets. The prophets were first
regarded as dangerous innovators, be-
cause they taught a new God. They
were martyred, and their teaching put
into writing and neglected until this
generation arose and tried to codify
their teaching into a system of hu-
mans treating one another decently.
This codified law was not practical,
because it made the laws "a -state-
ment of the ideal of human life, and
people cannot live up to an ideal."
It was, as Dr. Lake said," "trying to
do the right thing in the wrong way."
The Jews of this period were quite
taken up with a form of thought
whose emphasis was on the end of
the world. It would be an abrupt
end, and only the righteous would be
allowed to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. The unrighteous man would
go to Hell, and it would be his own
fault. It was, however, never too
late to mend for the Jews. As the
prophet Ezekiel had pointed out, the
responsibility of the individual for
his own acts was paramount, but so
was repentance. A lifetime of sin
could be done away by a single mo-
ment of true repentance.
In the Greek world the Stoics were
trying to produce a code of conduct�
only this one was derived from the
philosophers rather than from the
prophets. The ancient philosophers
had taught that life is logical, and a
code of conduct not unsimilar to that
of the Rabbis resulted with the philos-
ophers. Outside Judea again there
were the mystic religions of the Rom-
an world. There is a paucity of in-
formation on these mysteries, and
ontlnued  on   Page  FJve>
What Are Your Views on Marriage?
In an effort to determine the views of the Bryn Mawr student body,
the College News has made out and is sending a questionnaire to every
student member of the college. These forms are to be filled out, signed with
the student's name, class and hall and put on the door of her room. The
completed questionnaires will be collected Friday evening after six o'clock.
The final statement, analysis and comparison of the statistics obtained will
appear in next week's issue of the News. The following questions will be
in the questionnaire:
1.   Do you prefer marriage to a career?
2.   Do you think marriage and a career are compatible?
3.   If married, would you place marriage or career first in case of conflict?
4.   Would you insist on being economically self-supporting after marriage?
5.   Do you believe in independent vacations for husband and wife occa-
sionally?
6.   Do you believe in the same standard of morals for men and women?
7.   Do you believe in divorce?
8.   Do you believe in divorce on the grounds of incompatibility, infidelity,
. desertion, insanity, alcoholism?
9.   Should divorces granted by the lax laws of certain states be binding
throughout the country?
10.     If you believe in divorce do you consider yourself justified in having a
church marriage?
11.   Would you accept alimony?
12.   Do you believe in companionate marriage, i.e., legal marriage entered
into with a view to permanence, but with knowledge of birth control
and with acceptance of divorce by mutual consent where there are no
children?
13.  Do you believe in trial marriage, i.e., legal marriage entered into tenta-
tively with a view to breaking it off later it* it fails to bring satisfaction?
14.   What is your ideal number of children? �
15.   How many boys and how many girls would you prefer?
16.   How soon after marriage do you want children?
17.  How far apart shoujd they be in age?
18.   Do you think that the basis of bye"is physical or is love based on com'
panionship (mental, social and aesthetic compatibility)?
19.   Do you believe in marrying against the wishes of your family?
20.   Would you marry a man considered socially ineligible?
21.  Would you marry a man without a college education?
22.  Would you marry a-wealthy man whom you liked in preference to a
poor one whom you loved?
23.   What do you consider should be the difference in ages between husband
and wife?
24.   What is the maximum age difference you would consider?
25.   Would you marry a man younger than yourself?
26.   Do you believe in international marriages?
Problems of Industrial
Educators Exposed
Miss Hilda Smith Finds College
Best  Fitted to Supply
Faculty and Control
WORKERS' FAITH GROWS
Ychudi "Menuhin's Recital
Receives High Praise
Ychudi Menuhin's playing at the
recital which he gave at the Academy
of Music on January 27 proved, once
for all, that he is a very great artist.
What . he formerly! accomplished
through sheer genius, as when he
made his sensational debut with the
New York Symphony Orchestra at
the age of 10, he now does�and far
more�by virtue of hard work and
reflection. His tone, always warm
and pure, is now capable of the finest
nuances, and his technique is more
brilliant; but, what is most important
of all is the individuality of his inter-
pretation, which attests the develop-
ment of his own style.
Yehudi set himself no easy test in
his choice of program, and, although
we did not always agree with his in-
terpretation of the Bach unaccom-
panied Sonata in A minor, his playing
was always musical�never, as like-,
wise in the Schumann D mippr So-
nata, sinking to mere virtuosity. It
was perhaps for the latter half of the
program, however, that he is most
to be commended, fpj; by his variety
of treatment and coloring he made
(Continued  on   Pape  Two)
Graton and Drake Lead
in May Queen Competition
In May Day years one begins to
think about spring immediately after
midyears, and the first heralding of
warm, bright days came last Wed-
nesday with the preliminary selec-
tions for May Queen. Tradition re-
quires the May Queen to be beautiful,
to have long blonde hair, to walk
gracefully, to smile winningly and to
photograph well. In the past the
May Queen has always played the
part of Maid Marian in "Robin
Hood," and although there was never
a rule that she should, we hate to
break such an established custom. We
I cannot   help   bearing  in   mind  these
S*
Calendar
Thurs., Feb. 11�Margaret Ayer
Barnes will speak in the Com-
mon Room at 4.30 on "Be-
hind the Typewriter."
Sat., Feb. 13�Freshman show,
"Wrong Again," at 8.15 in
Goodhart.                       ,
Sun., Feb. 14�Rev. Ogilby will
speak in the chapel.
Mon., Feb. 15�Rev. Kirsopp
Lake will speak on "Paul's
Contemporaries" in Goodhart
Hall at 8.15 P. M. This is
the second of Dr. Lake's lec-
tures under the Mary Flexner
Lectureship.
Tues., Feb. 16�Hampton Quar-
tet singing plantation songs,
8.15 P. M. Mr. E. R. Smith
will speak on "Apprentice
Teaching in Progressive
Schools," 4.30 in the Common
Room.
requirements as well: that she
should speak well, and be shorter
than Robin Hood.
Last Wednesday all the possible
May Queens walked two by two
around the gymnasium, under the
gaze of the whole college, and the of-
ficial judges, who were Mrs. Collins
and the athletic faculty. Each candi-
date wore a nightgown, or something
more or less resembling one, unscrew-
ed her knot of hair, and moved at her
most stately walk. In the first group
it was obvious that there had been
great uncertainty as to the limitations
of the word "blonde," but the judges
eliminated according to their compre-
hension of the word and held -a sec-
ond procession of those who are real-
ly "blondes." The college voted on
these candidates and the results nar-
rowed the field to four: Cornelia
Drake, 1933; Sarah Fraser, 1934;
Josephine Graton, 1932, and Anne
Lukens, 1935.
Monday the judges and the college
met in the gym again. Each of these
four came in alone, clothed in the
flowing green gown of Maid Marian,
and spoke a few of her lines. A vote
of the college for the two best leaves
Cornelia Drake and Josephine Gra-
ton. They will be photographed and
their pictures may lighten the im-
mense difficulty of the final vote. We
have unbounded admiration for both
of them, and wish them both the best
of luck.
Last Wednesday afternoon Miss
Hilda W. Smith spoke in the Music
Room of Goodhart on the problems
confronting the Bryn Mawr Summer
School for Industrial Workers, of
which she is the director, and other
\ institutions of its general type. She
spoke first of the questions which are
debated back and forth in the confer-
ences of the governing bodies of such
institutions, and the difficulties facing
the movement. "
There is first of all the suspicion
of the laboring classes, of colleges
and capitalistic propaganda. Labor
leaders, who feel that an ignorant
mass is most easily dealt with, en-
courage and stimulate such sus-
picion. There is also a certain timid-
ity on the part of the prospective stu-
dent, who has been out of school for
several years and views the whole
affair as a difficult and terrifying or-
deal. In this connection. Miss Smith
mentioned the paramount difficulty of
finding suitable teachers to cope with
this attitude: Teachers who have
the necessary education and who can
relate the material forcefully, to the
experience of the worker. The facul-
ty of an industrial school must also
face the problem of selecting a cur-
riculum: shall it consist solely of
studies in economics or shall it in-
clude the liberal and cultural arts?
Shall the worker be trained solely
for his job, or shall he be fitted for
his increasingly long leisure hours.
The future of the movement is un-
predictable. Child-labor acts may
raise the elementary school standard,
and change the whole aspect of it. A
shorter working day may stimulate
the rise of week-end and evening
schools, which will supercede the
summer schools. The possible rise to
power of a Labor party might give
a tremendous stimulus to the whole
movement and lead to developments
that are undreamed of now. The
American group is already branching
out into new fields, sponsoring craft-
shops, office and domestic workers'
classes, college leagues for the pro-
motion of industrial democracy, and
groups for the study of "industrial
peace." The end of it all, no matter
how many and how varied the means
to it, is a condition where, in the
words of a worker, "it will not be an
accident that people like us get an
education."
Experiences in Summer
School Here Related
At' the meeting held in the Com-
mon Room on February 2 Miss Park
first told how the idea for a summer
school at Bryn Mawr came to Miss
Thomas as she was watching a sun-
set over the Sahara Desert;' for the
presence of so much physical beauty
caused her to reflect on the great
lack of spiritual beauty in the world,
and she returned to college with the
resolve to put into effect her plan for
a summer school for industrial work-
ers. With Mis* Hilda Smith at its
head, a committe" was immediately
organized, and the first summer
school session was held. This was
in 1921. In 1926 the board was re-
organized, and it was decided that
the movement should be extended to
other campuses besides that of Bryn
Mawr. Barnard College and Wiscon-
sin University form an affiliated
group with Bryn Mawr, who, however^
is "mother of all the rest." In tht
South there is an independent school
working in the same fie'ld.
Miss Smith, after speaking of our
sense of contact with those for whom
we are asked td leave our furniture
and who occupy our rooms during
the summer, described the organiza-
tion of the schools. Committees
(Continued  on   I'm**  Six)