College News, 1931-11-17, Vol. 18, No. 07

              The College News
Vol. XVIII, No. 7
WAYNE AND BRYN MAWR, PA., TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1931
Price, 10 Cents
Synge Play Presented
Here By Abbey Players
Interpretation   Has   Depth  and
Poetry,    But   Dialect    Is
Hard to Follow.
COMPARED  TO  CONCERT
One of the largest audiences we have
ever seen in Goodhart attended the per-
formance of the Ahbey Players on No-
vember 10, and the many who had been
attracted by the promise of "musical
speech" could not have been disappointed.
For the Irish dialect with its falling
cadences and pure vowel sounds was a far
cry and a welcome one, from the "snuf-
fling nasality" of a vitaphone age. Per-
haps the most outstanding characteristic
of the Irish speech is its power of con-
veying sympathy, through its flexibility
and softness. Then, too, no opportunity
for variety of tonal color is lost, although
the key is always minor. Many of the
words, as, lor example, the name Flaherty',
have 00 accentuation, and so heighten the
flowing effect of the whole. Listening
to the players, then, was like listening to
music, but unfortunately there are other
reasons for drawing the analogy between
the performance and a concert; for often
the dialect was as vnid of literal associa-
tion as is a piece of music. By that we
mean simply that no words could be dis-
tinguished. Of course, we have always
the acoustics of Goodhart to blame, but
even these do not normally muffle sound-
in the middle of the first section. What
we have most to regret in the present
case is the fact that a play was not'chosen
whose language would be more under-
standable to those unacquainted with the
Irish idiom. For instance, such sentence
structure as "And it's lies you told,.let-
ting on you had him slitted, and you
nothing at all," is not easily grasped, but
when it is combined with such words as
"loy" we can hardly be�expected to gather
how a nian killed his father, or even that
he did at all. And the fact that the "Ris-
ing of the Moon" was. given almost in
total darkness was of little assistance to
us in following the plot, since very little
of the action was visible. Moreover, no
play, and certainly not this one, which, to
us at least, is sentimental without the re-
deeming Irish qualities of wit and imagi-
nation, can be made to depend on lines
alone, however melodious the voices may
be. And we were disappointed not to find
in these the naturalness which one would
expect from a company which has been
playing together for a long time, and
which is so necessary to the establishment
of whatever atmosphere there is in the
play; Mr. F. J. McCormick was stiff
even for a sergeant, and showed none of
Continued   on   rage  Seven
Drs. Fenwick and Wells
Speak Armistice Day
War    Result    of    International
System; Co-operation of
Nations Necessary.
FUTURE   UP   TO   YOUTH
On Armistice Day last Wednesday
there was a special chapel in Goodhart
conducted by Professors Fenwick and
Wells. Dr. Fenwick opened by ex-
pressing the belief that it is the inter-
national system not the heart of human
nature that is all wrong, and Dr. Wells
said that it was up to the present gen-
eration to remove the "shadow of war
from the face of time."
"It is thirteen years since the end
of the World War." began Dr. Fen-
wick, the end of four years of suffer-
ing when 10,000,000 nun were dead or
dying and 20,000.000 more were dead
of hunger, disease and privation. The
tragedy of the war was the-tragedy of
nations honestly lighting in self-
defense. There was much glamour
connected with the marching troops
going toward death but the real feel-
ing of the people at the time is illus-
trated by the following incident: A
peasant woman was weeping in a trol-
ley in Berlin and as she had difficulty
in untying her handkerchief to pay the
guard her fare he a.wked her what was
wrong. Her answer was simple but
it held all the misery of despair as she
said:  "My ,ytfui   is   gone  to the war."
The view of a suffering human was
that war took from her the one thing
that made life worth living.
One cannot believe that the heart
of man is all wrong, yet it is bad when
you get people killing each other con-
vinced that they arc lighting in defense
of their own liberties. There must be
something wrong with the whole sys-
tem that allows Midi tilings to occur.
How can we remedy it? The day can
come when we will .say to each nation
"You shall not be the judge in your
own case." At that time a whole Com-
munity of nations in common council
shall take control of the nations.
In 1914 the interest of each country
was its own worry but we now sec
that on grounds of material and eco-
nomic interest other countries must be
considered. Down in the hearts of
people such interests that cut across the
national lines draw us together in a
bond. "In conclusion," said Dr. Fen-
wick, "I suggest that we give ourselves1
to this cause and realize that individual
self-seeking must give way to a new
order of co-operation."
Continued  on   1'uge   Four
				
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Alwyne Recital
President Park and the Direc-
tors of Bryn Mawr College take
great pleasure in announcing
that Mr. Horace Alwyne is giv-
ing a recital to the college and
its friends on Monday, Novem-
ber 23, at 8:20. The recital
originally to be given in the
Music Room will be held in
Goodhart Auditorium in order
that a larger audience may, be
accommodated. No ticket is re-
quired for admission.
Sabatini Speaks on
"Fiction in History"
Vanity,   Propaganda,   Ignorance
Influence Historians to
Create Fiction
LOGIC   IS   ONLY   TRUTH
On Monday night, November 16th,
Rafael Sabatini lectured in Goodhart on
"Fiction in History."' We art- too ajit,
Mr. Sabatini said, to take the word of
the historian as sacred. An investiga-
tion of how history is writtciv^v'ill show
us bow to read �'it, realizing how nuich
must be discounted in view of the human
failings of the writer. Sometimes suf-
ficient work alid research is lacking in
the writing of history, sometimes judg-
ment, and often breadth of vision. One
of the resulting fictions in history is
mystery, which is of three kinds: genuine,
which is deliberately created, synthetic,
which has gradually "Town up, a
transparent, whicn is clear thfOUgythe
logic of events. An example of trans-
parent mystery is the death of Darnelly
whose house was blown up but whose
body was found after the explosion, at
some distance .from the bowse, strangled.
The attempted murder by explosion, es-
cape of Darnelly. and hasty change of
plans become* obvious in the logical
course of events.
In the creation of a genuine mystery,
some fact or document always escapes
suppression. For example the unexplain-
able defeat oMhe Duke of Brunswick by
the French at the Battle of Yalpiy in.
1792. which Napoleon afterwards pro-
nounced to have been impossible, was
proved by later events to have been
bribery of the Duke of Brunswick,
whereas historians had laid it to the fierce
demeanor of the French. Quoting his-
torians who were not contemporary to the
action, or who were far from the scene
of the action, is a dangerous practise, and
there are too many people who do not
dare openly to doubt anything that is
written by a historian. Lord Act
writing on the election of Rodrigo Borgia,
ioiind evidence 'of the number of voters in
eaeli faction in a- former history, and ;is-
Slimiltg  that  the writer  had  used the of;
ficial records as hi- source, mentioned
them as his own source. Examination of
the records show that the election was
unanimous. This show;, \fchat additions
are made to history by stating an as-
sumption, not as an assumption, but as an
established fact.   Another source of acrc-
( 'ontinued  on  I'ncr  Hiislit
College Council Discusses
A meeting of the College Council
was held on Wednesday. November
11. The questions which have been
brought up in the News of allowing
more time for milk lunch and of allow-
ing victrolas and radios in the stu-
dents' rooms were discussed. No de-
cisions were reached but both subjects
will be considered again in the Coun-
cil and the suggestions regarding milk
lnnr.il will be brought before the faculty
at its  next  meeting.
Michael J. Dolan and F. J. McCormick in 'The Rising of the Moon'
It was announced that Radnor has
acquired an electric orthophonic vic-
trola, and the graduates are planning
a series of informal musical programs
to be given on Saturday evenings. The
undergraduates are cordially invited to
attend.
Arrangements will be made to put
the name of *thc subject under the
pictures in the reading room of the
library. Hereafter the cups, in the
students' washroom in the library, are
to be furnished free.
Miss Park's Chapel on Reasonable Ways of
Giving to the Unemployment Fund Is Applied
Recommended Luxury Tax  Is  Adopted  as  First Step  Toward
Budget Slashing, and Other Money-Making Schemes
Range from Skits to Breakfasts.
EMERGENCY     JUSTIFIES     PERSONAL     SACRIFICES
Miss l'ark addressed ,the student
body in a special chapel last Friday
morning, on the unemployment situa-
tion and what she feels should be the
reaction of Bryn Mawr- students to it.
She spoke first of "the reasonable ways
of giving" by which students in the
past have met certain responsibilities
for organized outside work, such as
Bates House and the summer school,
as well as occasional emergencies'
which can be met by a single timely
gift. Any spectacular giving is im-
possible since "that great educator, the
cast-iron allowance." does not put most
of us in control of much money.
The present situation does] not "fall
into regular organized college giving
nor individual college giving. ... It is
too big and too sudden. . . ." An ex-
cellent parallel may be found in the
family budget, where sudden and great
expenditure caused by ay accident or
an illness completely upsets the neat
apportioning of the income to the
needs of normal life. Such an emer-
gency must be met at once, and is
met by a slash in every item on the
budget. Mimcicnf in all to make up the
discrepancy between the normal allow-
ance for medical care and this greatly
increased* expenditure. The slashing
may be unpleasant and pleasures may
have to. be-sacrificed, but the adjust-
ment must be made.
Statistics on the unemployment in
Philadelphia alone show -that of the
8W.000 I'hiladelphians usually em-
ployed in paying positions. 250.(10(1 are
out of work, and have no prospect of
finding it. Of these 75.000 many are
heads of dependent families. In many
m" these families? early savings, loans.
forced sales, all possible sources of
revenue have been exhausted, There
simply is no money�and, therefore no
coal, no food, no rent money, no medi-
cal care and no clothing. There is no
time to argue about cau-c- and reme-
dies, or right and wrong. There arc
people who will fall ill. starve or freeze,
unless immediate assistance is brought.
As in the case of the family, the slash-
ing may entail the curtailment of what
seem necessary pletfsuses, but there is
no choice. The emergency must be
met.
'There is probable no student in col-
lege who is not feeling the strain to
some degree; many of US are limiting
our expenditures to the barest necessi-
ties. College itself is feeling it; the
percentage of partially dependent StUi
dents is raised this year from the cus-
tomary one-seventh to one-third. But
these are only additional reasons win
we should react promptly and sympa-
thetically to the more pressing needs
of the really dYstrfutc. A large number
of Bryn Mawr students, faculty and
staff members are residents of the
vicinity, "but apart from that, all of
us will spend this actual winter going
and coming in the city where this
problem is being faced." ^\n Kincr-
gency Unemployment Relief Fund has
been organized to raise the necessary
funds and distribute them where thej
will be of the greatest service. The
faculty and staff have lent their sup-
port, both in time and in money. Any
further help must come from the Stu-
dents.     It  is  the   problem  of every  in-
f|ivi.iiial   sin.lJMii__and   she   must   settle
with  herself  how   she  is  to  meet it.
To the accusation that college stu-
dents arc unable to grasp the emer-
gency character of the present unem-
ployment relief program, Bryn Mawr
is able to reply by pointing" to the
efforts made by the undergraduate
body collectively and individually to
alleviate the. distress of the coining
winter. 'The peculiarly personal nature
of the drive which was initiated last
Friday seems a more than sufficient
vindication of undergraduate percep-
tion, sympathy and ability to accept
responsibility.
Because   of   the   dithcultv   of   con-
V                                                                                   ,
ducting a drive in a community where
small luxuries and time <fre the only
taxable commodities and where vari-
able incomes are for personal expendi-
tures only, it has been felt that a uni-
form ipooU entailing a fixed pledge is
not satisfactory. 'The nearest approxi-
mation to this method is the 50% lux-
ury tax resolved and carried on Presi-
dent   I'ark's motion in  Friday chapel.
'The -individual halls have" been left
free to decide their own quotas, ob-
tainable by various and sundry means.
Thus. Nk'Hon tops the list, with $400,
"Denbigh. $150. and Rockefeller. $200.
Merion, to supplement individual
pledges, has renounced desserts for the
entire year. Denbigh till after Christ-
mas and excepting Sundays. Rock for
four and I'em for three days a week.
Individual pledges are to be entirely
at the discretion oi each person and
are not to be considered obligatory.
Reminders, however, in the shape of
pads and boxes, are placed at strategic
points throughout the halls, r. g� en
the mail table, by the signing out and
week-end books, and with the cigarette
and candy boxes.
(irotip responses may be seen in the
NEWS which has voted five per cent, of
its total dividends in the league teas
served daily in J'tni at the rate of ten
cents for one. fifteen for two. and in
"The Vilaphone Reproducing Com-
pany." our latest theatrical, venture.
spontaneously created for the purpose
of advancing the fund, and which has
netted $14 on its first performance.
Filially, stand the solitary and laud-
able efforts of Dolly 'Tyler, who serves
cake and orange juice on non-dessert
nights, and of Frances Carter, who
provides breakfast from 8:15 to 9:15
for   the  nominal   sum  of  -S   cents.
Tentative proposals have been
offered to attract  such  pennies  as  may
>et remain. Sublimate, tor exampfe,
the gambling instincts of your friends
and conduct a .series of raffle*. Or,
with popularity ever at a premium,
.indicate yours by dropping a penny in
the box for every letter. If your cor-
respondence happens to he spasmodic.
limited, or suffering from general
debility, distinguish yourself by a
nickel. Also, our chronic and exclusive
bridge devotees are advised to tax
themselves  per  hours  of  play.
Swarthmore has already collected
pledges from 79% of the students to
the extent of $1091.45, and with three
days yet to go. the heads of the drive
anticipate a 100r; response. Likewise,
one fourth of the faculty has sub-
scribed $620.
Although it f- not now possible to
estimate   the   extent   of   Brvn   Mawr's
Elected to All-Philadelphia
Evelyn    Remington    and    Margate!
Collier have been chosen as members
of the Second All-Philadelphia hochey
team.
Dr. Tennent Gives Paper
Dr. Tennent has gone to New HaVen
to give.a paper before the meeting of
the National Academy of Washington.
contribution to Philadelphia's$9,000,000
goal, it will be composed of each stu-
dent's maximum donation. If not all
the steps seeffl OH a very large scale,
they represent a distinctly personal
sacrifice or a diverting of time and of
pleasure which make possible, in the
end. a sum larger than would be de-
revived from direct monetary contri-
bution. It is requested that the pro-
ceeds of the various schemes will be
turned in either to the separate hall
presidents   or   to   lire.   Collins   direct.