College News, 1934-04-11, Vol. 20, No. 19

              The College News
VOL. XX, No. 19
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1934
tojyrtfht  BRYN  MAWR
COLLEQE   NEWS,   VXU
PRICE 10 CENTS
Mrs. Kirk Reviews
Content of Lantern
Editors* Have  Not  Maintained
Policy of Finding Stu-
dent Interests
STYLE    HAS    RESTRAINT
(Especially Contributed by Clara
Marburg Kirk) *
� Xhe retiring editors of The Lantern
in their final editorial,�called, oddly
enongh, Looking Forward,�do a lit-
tle looking backward not only over
their efTortssfor�**he last year, but also
over those ofXtheir predecessors. Two
years ago thevwriting in The Lantern
seemed to these editors "permeated
with the vagueness of impressionism;"
last year the work seemed more defi-
nite, clear and impersonal. This year,
they say, ,"we had as our purpose no
less specific a distinction." The sensi-
ble though somewhat vague statement
that "we have endeavored to convey
our idea that literature derives its
life from being concerned with what
people are interested in" invites one
to look back over the work of the year
to see how the editors have interpreted"
the interests of their readers.
After turning the leaves of the four
issues edited by this board, one cannot
but be impressed by the fact that
only one article not strictly literary in
character has appeared during the
year. That is a brief account of the
International School in Geneva, which
came out in the December issue. It is
true that the editors made a plea for
an expression of "the tastes and ideas
of all kinds of students" in the hope-
ful editorial of last 'November, but
obviously their plea was not answered.
Might they perhaps have taken more
drastic measures and actually solicit-
ed articles on such subjects as, for in-
stance, local politics? The Bryn Mawr
School for Women in Industry, study-
ing in France, or summer jobs? It
seems to me, moreover, that a college
publication which is edited and read
by people whose business at the mo-
ment is study, might reflect more can-
didly the work which goes on in class
rooms. Except for a very charming
essay on Jane Austen, called The
Stricter Mold, one would not suspect
that these writers had anything to do
with class rooms at all. The Lantern
could strengthen and enrich itself im-
(Contlnued  on  Page  Three)
IN   Ml  Hi )l   I AM
Seated left to right: Nancy Hart, Copy Editor; Sallie Jones, Editor-in-Chief.
Standing left to right: Dorothy Kalbach, Subscription Manager; Constance Robinson,
Editor: .1. Elizabeth Hannan. News Editor; Elizabeth Mackenzie, Editor.__________
Varsity Players Will
Present Pygmalion
'nts-ort'm; C.is* !"� Co�pos-d of
Alumnae, Students and
Philadelphians
Miss Park Talks on System
of Lecture Arrangements
President Park, speaking in chapel
on Thursday, April 5, pointed out
that the basic purpose which underlies
the arrangement of lectures is to over-
come the limitations of a small facul-
ty. The committee tries to bring lec-
turers to the college who are a direct
contrast to the faculty. Preference is
given to men and women who have
had recent personal experience in their
particular fields, because they may
present the students with a new point
of view and give them a fresh out-
look.
This problem of choosing lecturers,
which must be faced every year, has a
certain framework in the various
foundations, such as the Flexner
Foundation for lectures on the hu-
manities, and the Shaw Memorial for
lectures on the social sciences. Next
year, the Flexner lectures, which have
covered a wide field, will probably be
in the department of English. Fur-
ther opportunities for having inter-
esting speakers at the college arise
when outside people use Goodhart lor
public lectures. In arrangements of
this kind, the college has been particu-
larly fortunate. This year, for in-
stance, the students have had the priv-
ilege of hearing James Stephens, Sir
Wilfred Grenfell, and the Vienna
Choir, under those arrangements.
Except for the special addresses to
special departments, the other lec-
tures are provided by the Undergradu-
ate Association. Having no establish-
ed arrangement of lectures, the Asso-
ciation should act as a supplement and
supply speakers who differ from the
others in that their subjects are not
so closely related to the college work.
'Continued  od  Pago   Four)
W. COWAN IS DIRECTOR
There has been a great deal of
campus chatter concerning the presen-
tation of Pygmalion by the Varsity
Players, on Friday and Saturday,
April 13 and 14. The principle sources
of this famous attraction are the play
itself, the director (from New York),
and finally the distinguished cast.
The attraction of the play itself
might be more accurately described as
the attraction of Shaw himself, for
indeed he is in his element. The sin-
gular plot of Pygmalion unfolds, in
five acts, the story of Eliza Doolittle,
a cockney flower girl, who met up
with a professer of phonetics and in
three months was able to pass for a
duchess. To point out the significance
of this plot to the undergraduates of
Bryn Mawr would, of course, be quite
unnecessary. We recognize the influ-
ence of good diction whether we are
aiming to pass as duchesses or just as
intellectual snobs. Though Eliza Doo-
little and her diction make up the
subject matter of this play, the com-
plications that ensue are not only pho-
netic. The ideas and actions of the
contrasting characters give rise to
very different situations, both comic
and serious.
The direction of the play is in the
hands of William B. Cowan. Mr.
Samuel Arthur King:, though not offi-
cially connected with the play, has
been kind enough to offer suggestions
at several of the rehearsals. If his
past record may serve as any kind of
evidence, the excellence of Mr. Cow-
an's ability is already established. He
graduated from Harvard and since
then has done di'amatic work there,
having directed the Cercle Francais,
and also the Footlighters in Cam-
bridge. He has worked with the Unit-
ed Artists in Paris and with the Sut-
ton Players in New York. At pres-
ent, as director of Pygmalion, he has
selected the following cast:
Miss Eynsford  Hill,
Margaret  Kidder, '36
Mrs. Eynsford Hill,
Agnes K. Lake  'alumna)
Freddie   ..........Nathan   Hayward
Eliza Doolittle...Honora Bruere, '36
Colonel   Pickering......James  Lyons
Henry Higgins... .Maurice DuMarais
Mrs. Pearce-----E'.irabeth  Meade, '34
(Continued  on   Paee   Six)
Sea Shore Camp Replaces
Bates House This Summer
The Bryn Mawr Summer Camp,
which is taking the place of Bates
House, is to be located this summer
at Avalon, New Jersey. A large house
has been rented in a. location that
seems almost ideal; it is next to a
very good recreation center and di-
rectly on the best beach at Avalon.
The water there is shallow and there
are two life-guards and a doctor on
the beach all day.
The number of children in each
group next summer is to be reduced
to twenty, all of whom are to come
from St. Martha's House in Philadel-
phia. There will, as usual, be three
groups of children, with four "teach-
ers" to each group. Catherine Bill,
'35, is to head the undergraduate
workers. Old Bates House teachers
will be glad to hear that Mrs. Romano
and Minnie Newton are coming back
again as usual. It is hoped that Mil-
dred Grant, who was nurse last sum-
mer, will return also.
The twenty children will sleep in
three of the large rooms. Cots and
blankets, some china and cooking uten-
sils, and materials for play on rainy-
days are needed. The children will
not require sheets and pillows. About
$300 in all is still necessary before the
Summer Camp can get under way and
the children can return to the wonders
of life at the seashore. We sincerely
hope that there will be at least one
cow at Avalon. No one who ever at-
tended Bates House can forget the
Long Branch cow. One little boy
thought she was a lion; another one
panted with excitement, after a walk
back into the fields, because he saw a
cow "and teacher, he barked at us."
The most famous Bates House stories
are unprintable. We might, however,
mention the highly moral and very
typical one of the little girl who hor-
rified her roommates by starting out
to say "forty thousand curses." She
had been muttering "damn" over and
over again for quite a stretch of time
when one of her teachers decided that
this must not go on. The little girl
was taken into the bathroom; teacher
mixed her up a glass of soap and
water, and sternly commanded her to
drink it, because she must have her
mouth washed out for saying bad
words. The litle girl drank it all;�
then held out the glass and said,
"Teacher, give me some more. I'm
thirsty."
Business Board Elects
The Business Board of The
College News is pleased to an-
nounce the election of Louise
Steinhart, '37, as one of its
members.
Miss Ely Supervises
College Scavengers
Hunters   With   Strange   Spoils
Hear Talk on New Russia
at    Miss    Ely's
TWO TEAMS WIN PRIZES
S. V. Benet Speaks
On Reading Poetry
Poetry Giyes Us Perception of
Hidden Loveliness Seen
by    Artists
READING ALOUD IS ART
At the witching hour of seven-thir-
ty, on Wednesday, April 4, Pern Arch
was the scene of much commotion and
gaiety. Teams for the Scavenger
Hunt stood around conspiring and
planning in excited circles, like foot-
ball huddles, while poor lost sheep
ducked in and out among them to find
a home. Everyone was dressed in that
which allowed >tjje freest action in
BO emergency; there were even some
Bayrischers in our midst.
The M.F.H., so to speak, Margaret
Marsh, rose to her full height on the
steps and finally, after super-human
vocal efforts, succeeded in separating
the captains from their teams, so that
she could give them their lists and in-1
structions. They returned, proudly i
brandishing the former, and, after
more huddles, people began scooting
off in a hundred different directions
by means of any locomotion available.
Shadowy figures flashed down the
paths and across the grass, searching
for Joe Graham. Ah, to be one so
sought after .as he was, that night!
Others, like autograph fiends, patrol-
led the road to the Vill in hopes that
the Lantern Man would appear to
give them his signature. Bicycles
flashed past after pussy willows on
the Main Line, and skates scrunched
in search of Dr. Gray's visor or an
oilcloth skirt. People went hilarious-
ly wild trying to unearth a New York
Times for March 22, and you could see
stealthy souls, architecturally inclin-
ed, feeling the windows and walls of
Tnylor in order to get its plan. Stu-
(I'nts lucked themselves in telephone
booths   and   earnestly   entreated   any
II ale   friend   ti\   pomp   an.l   lie   m:\i\i'   a
feel of in typical Bryn Ma'.vr garl>.
and perhaps bring with him a high-
tt ill glass and an Early-Bird alarm
clock.                                  �
At nine o'clock came the acquisi-
tions, led triumphantly by the heated
hunters. On entering Pembroke West,
you might have thought you were in
a side show at a circus. Long-legged
men were th*re, emblazoned with lip-
stick and clad in sweaters and skirts,
or athletic tunics. One team had even
brought Jimmy, the Greek, from his
native habitat. We might say that
M. Canu and Dr. Flexner looked very,
very well as Bryn Mawr girls, and
that Dr. Fenwick in a white beer suit
TonMnueo"   on   Pare   Four)    �
Mr. Stephen Vincent Benet, in
speaking on "The Reading of Poetry"
Sunday afternoon in the Deanery,
pointed out every man's natural ca-
pacity for reading poetry, the pftper
manner of reading it, and its vitality
for readers and writers today. Poetry
itself he called "a sharpening of the
faculties to reveal beauty we have
never seen, an interpretation of life in
magic speech."
To demonstrate that this speech
could be understood, Mr. Benet turned S"
at once upon the arguments of those
who claim to be unable to understand
it, saying that poetry is a mental se-
cret society to which entrance can be
gained only by painfully recondite
study, or. condemning it as mere silly
mystification. On neither of these
grourids can they rightfully deny com-
prehension, for poetical words are^
written in the same alphabetical char- '
acters that are taught in kindergar-
ten ; the words belong to the same lan-
guage that is printed in newspapers,
and are used for the same purpose as
in stock reports�to say things. The
only difference lies in the fact that
they say things in rhythm.
Yet no human being can offer ob-
jection to rhythm. All his life his
heart beats time, and when that time
falters and breaks, he dies. Rhythm
is man's master, but its sway is most
apparent in children, who have not
had time to become bored by the sound
of words and have not been told what
they should or should not like. To
them rhythm is fascinating; they love
the monotonous jingles of Mother
Goose Rhymes, which irritate more
mature ears; they even memorize al-
phabets and rules by reducing them to
sing-song cadences. In children are
also found all the other qualities nec-
essary for the appreciation of poetry
�love of sensations, an interest in
words for their own sake, and willing
belief.
Strangely, out of all these poetical
children develop many adults com-
pletely deaf to poetry. There are two
reasons for this change. First, in run-
ning after more money and more busi-
ness, men become hard-headed and
have patience only with the strictly
serviceable. They ask of poetry,
"Where does it get us?" True, in
foregoing the reading of it they lose
no percent of their incomes, but they
lose a great percent of the joy of life
�the joy of looking through a door
into a hew world.
Again, lack of education causes this
� Continued  on   Page  Six)
CALENDAR
Thursday, April 12: The
Cotton Shop Sale of Sport
Clothes, Benefit of Scholarship
Fund. Common Room, 2.00-6.00
P. M.
Friday, April 13: Varsity
Dramatics presents Pygmalion.
Goodhart, 8.30 P. M.
Saturday,"* April 11: Pyg-
malion.     Goodhart,   8.30   P.   M.
Sunduy, April 19: Miracle
I'lay, /..   Miriiri   ,!.   TlieopoliiU.
Library cloister; 5.00 1'. M.
Sunday Kvenini' Service. Rev.
Georfe A. Buttrick. DJX,RectUT
of the Madison Avenue Presby-
terian Church, New York City.
Music Room, 7.30 P. M.
Monday, April 16: Miracle
Play at 5.00 in the cloisters, in
case of rain on Sunday.
Thursday, April 19: Chapel.
Miss Ely will speak on "Women
in Politics." 8.40 A. M.
Thursday, April 19: Profes-
sor Blanchard on "What Is
Truth?" Common Room, 5.00
�P. M.
Dance Recital by Jacques Car-
tier.   Goodhart, 8.20 P. M.