College News, 1935-10-23, Vol. 22, No. 02

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The College News
VOL. XXII, No. 2
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1935        8oP^LlloEBNKws*fAwM          PRICE 1 a CENTS
Bryn Mawr, Princeton
To Present "Messiah"
Combined Glee Club, Choirs Will
Sing In Princeton Dec. 15,
Goodhart Dec. 16
WILL  REPLACE  CONCERT
The combined Choir and Glee Club
of Bryn Mawr College, under the di-
rection of Mr. Willoughby, will tread
new paths of glory in the performance
of Handel's Messiah next month with
the Princeton University Chapel
Choir. Two performances are sched-
uled, one on the night of Sunday, De-
cember 15, in the Princeton Chapel,
the second on Monday, December 16,
in Goodhart Hall. For many years
the choir has aspired to sing the
Messiah, but has been unable to find
a suitable male chorus with which to
combine on any of the possible dates.
The choir is indeed fortunate to find
at this time such a well-trained col-
laborator from such a similar institu-
tion as Princeton.
Because of the magnitude of the
undertaking and the proximity of date
and purpose the Messiah will this year
replace the usual Christmas Carol
Service, and also the concert usually
given by the Glee Club during May
Day years, instead of a Gilbert and
Sullivan production. The twenty-two
choruses of the great oratorio are en-
tirely new work for the choir and
glee club. In so far as those in
charge have been able to ascertain-,
the production in Goodhart on Decem-
ber 16 will be the first full-length
concert performance of the Messiah
ever to be given on the Main Line.
The members of the Princeton tenor
and bass choruses will number ap-
proximately sixty, � and the number
of Bryn Mawr first and second so-
prano voices will be approximately
eighty. Mr. Ralph W. Downes, Or-
ganist and Director of the Princeton
Chapel Choir, will be the conductor
at Princeton, and Mr. Ernest Wil-
loughby will conduct the performance
here. Thirty-five members of the
Philadelphia Orchestra will play for
the occasions. There will be, in addi-
tion to the two collegiate choruses,
four professional soloists whose names
will be announced later. Financial
backing and arrangements have not
yet been completed, but will also be
announced later.
Rehearsals were begun here a, week
ago and are proceeding extremely
well. " The interest and enthusiasm of
the singers themselves have risen te
unprecedented heights and promise the
most triumphant success in the history
of the Glee Club.
College Calendar
Thursday, October 24: Mass-
Meeting of Self-Government.
Goodhart, 1.30 P. M.
Friday, October*!*: "Faculty"
performance of Cymbeline,
Goodhart Hall, 8.20 P. M.
Saturday, October 25: Var-
sity Hockey vs. Ursinus, 10
A. M.
Sunday, October 27: Dr. John
W. Suter, Jr., will speak in
Chapel in the Music Room^7.30
P. M.
Monday, October 28: Second
Varsity hockey game vs. Ger-
mantown C. C, 4 P. M.
Lantern Night Ritual
Is   Oldest   Tradition
The Cloisters, October 18.�Tonight
Bryn Mawr's fifty-first class received
its lanterns of learning from the col-
lege. Yet the college, in giving, re-
ceived in turn a gift from its fresh-
men. It gained a confirmation of its
oldest tradition. The ceremony of
Lantern Night, although long spoken
of as traditional, earned its first right
to that name tonight when the latest
of fifty-one consecutive classes shared
in its rites, performed for the fiftieth
time. There is a hoary and ancestral
dignity about half a century of ex-
istence which not even forty-nine
years can claim or merit. Forty-nine
is still growing; fifty is old.
But however old the custom, it was
new to the freshmen who filed silently
into the pitch-black cloisters. Only
wonder and excitement at a strange
experience could have kept them so
breathlessly quiet as they formed an
unbroken black crescent about the
courtyard pool. Even when the
sophomores entered, carrying lanterns
and singing "Pallas Athene," the cres-
cent never moved to show that it could
hear. Of the sophomores, nothing
could be seen except a line of green
lanterns moving slowly from both ends
of the cloisters. The voices of the two
lines were not quite in unison, but the
echoes and undertones caused by this
fault were lovelier than faultlessness
could have been.
In the center of the cloister walk,
the two files met and advanced to-
gether out across the lawn to where
the freshmen stood. Making a semi-
circle within the motionless semi-
circle already there, they finished
their hymn, then turned to give their
lanterns to the waiting line behind
them and fled. They clustered togeth-
er again in a corner of the cloisters
to give one last verse of their song;
and there they waited while the fresh-
Continued on Page Four
Musical Rocking Chairs, Laughing Oceans
Are Unearthed by Imaginative Linguists
Every year, twice a year, there come
those grim milestones in the life of
Bryn Mawr undergraduates, the
"Orals." Students flock to the exami-
nations, scattering in their wakes tiny
slips of paper with "Holzgerechtig-
keit" on one side, and "free supply of
wood" or some such touching senti-
ment on the other side. The Oral sea-
son is a sad one generally; but every
now and then there occur some happy
fruits of those little slips of paper
which serve to cheer a professor weary
of marking blue-books.
In the German Oral, the following
statements appeared: "Many times
a pair of gulls leave a forgotten island
in the vicinity, born of a wild desire
for water. ("Manchmal lassen ein
paar Mowen Land in der Nahe ver-
muten, irgendeine vergessene Insel,
die hinter einer. Wildnis von Wasser
verborgen ist;") For: "Der Stille
Ozean ist unbestandig und unzuver-
lassig wie die Menschenseele," "The
Southern Ocean is as unfathomable as
Southern men"; for: Tammerwblk-
chen stehen am Horfzont und nehmen
beim Sonnenuntergang seltsame For-
men an; man glaubt, ein hoher Gebir-
gszug baue sich auf, "Little people
stand on the horizon at sunset�and
one thinks he is climbing a high moun-
tain." "Nirgends eines Dampfers
freundlicher Rauch�,'' produced two
O
desolate descriptions: "Never the
friendly smell of a vapor," and
"Never the friendly roar of a steam-
boat." "The sea is happy and laughs,"
is one translation of "Das Meer ist
glatt und leuchtet." One student
warns: "And one should not put out
on a strange sea in such stillness,"�
(�"Und in nie geahnter" Stille fahrt
man auf einem Zaubersee.") Quite a
homely botanical note was introduced
into the paper which translated
"�mit den Beziehungen der Pflanzen
zu der sie umgebenden Natur,"
"�with the connections of plants to
Mother Nature, to whom they bow."
Imagination and a dry disdain
marked the translations of the French
Oral. "La musique berceuse" became
"the musical rocking-chair." "Ils
prennent la grace au pied de la lettre"
appeared to mean: "They swallow-
whole the politeness at the end of a
letter." "Tout ce qui ne pouvait pas
se dire semblait etre de trop dans
l'ame" pointed out the fact that:
"Everyone who could not express
himself seemed to be too much of a
fool." The list of French Oral Clas-
sics concluded with the rather start-
ling news that: "Ils considerent le
charme de l'expression comme un en-
gagement pour la conduite" meant
"They consider �cbaflR""bf expression^*
like an engagement for a prostitute!"
Anniversary Program *,�
Plans Are Completed
Formal Celebration of Founding,
Thomas Award Presentation
Occupy Saturday
SKETCHES   IN   EVENINGS
- Goodhart Hall, October 10.�Miss
Park reported in Chapel the final
plans for the celebration of Bryn
Mawr's Fiftieth Anniversary, which
will take place on Friday and Satur-
day, November 1 and 2. The Anni-
versary will be celebrated in four for-
ma! programs, though there will be
several teas and other social func-
tions. On Friday evening, November
1, Historical Sketches will be present-
ed. These on the whole will have to
do with the College's fifty-year career.
Cornelia Otis Skinner will give a
monologue portraying the girl of the
eighties, and Margaret Ayre Barnes
will give something illustrating "the
mediaeval period." On Saturday
morning there will be formal exercises
commemorating the founding of the
college. Several leading educators
will speak. Saturday afternoon will
see the presentation of the M. Carey
Thomas Award of $5000 to Dr..Flor-
ence Rena Sabin. There will be a
repetition of the Historical Sketches
on Saturday night.
Because of the many official dele-
gates the undergraduates are not in-
vited to the first two parts of the pro-
gram. There will, however, be no re-
served seats on Saturday afternoon
and students will be welcome. On
Saturday evening students and alum-
nae will be Miss Park's guests. The
invitation cards must be kept as tick-
ets of admission, and all those plan-
ning to attend the performance, be-
ginning at nine o'clock, should be
prompt if they wish good seats.
Many distinguished people have
been invited to the Fiftieth Anniver-
sary celebration. They include presi-
dents of colleges and universities east
of the Mississippi, presidents of
learned societies, the faculty and staff
of Bryn Mawr. College, headmistresses
of the schools that have prepared five
or more students for Bryn Mawr Col-
lege, large donor's to the 1920, 1925
and 1935 endowment funds, represen-
tatives of the alumnae, graduate stu-
dents and undergraduates as well as
the Board of Directors of the college.
There will be also two representatives
of each class in college and two from
the graduate school. They will march
in the procession on Saturday morn-
ing together with two representatives
from each of the classes from 1885
on and two representatives of the
M. A.'s and Ph. D.'s. The represen-
Contlnued  on  "'aae   Klve
Freshman Week Biggest
Success   Of   Any   Year
With Miss Park and Miss Ward
to support us, we can cay flatly that
this year's Freshman Week was the
best that has been known since the
practice was established! It was a
triumph for the Entertainment Com-
mittee which always has a Herculean
task before it. To meet one hundred
and twenty-five odd freshmen, com-
fort the lonely and the lost, supply
them all with the wherewithal to
occupy their minds and bodies, as-
sort them into categories for future
reference, is the business of twelve
upperclassmen who give up a week
of summer in order that the fresh-
men may feel at home on the Bryn
Mawr campus by the time the in-
vasion of the "hoi polloi" begins.
Continued  on  Pa**  Four
Notice to Subscribers
The College News wishes to
announce that the issue on Oc-
tober 16 did not appear because
publication was suspended while
sufficient* subscriptions were
being obtained to enable The
News to continue to be printed.
We are glad to say that the re-
sults were good and The News
can appear as usual every
J^~�         ,  night.
Wins Thomas Award
DR. FLORENCE  SABIN
Mysterious Production
Scheduled   for   Friday
The enterprising members of the
faculty, not wishing to cast any dis-
paraging criticism on last year's
efforts of Varsity Dramatics, never-
theless feel that it is their duty, as
instructors of the young. mind, to
refresh our jaded thespian enthusi-
asm. With this in mind they have
undertaken to turn their dazzling
histrionic talents from the ridiculous
�those inimitable productions Re-
straint Necessary and Much Ado But
Not For Nothing�to the sublime�
Cymbeline.
Dr. Chew has kindly consented to
direct the performance, assisted by
the resourceful Samuel Arthur King.
There has been great difficulty in
selecting a cast from the plethora of
dramatic ability that characterizes
our professors. However, Mr. King
and Dr. Chew, working night and
day, have at last decided upon the
following cast, many of whom will
be remembered for their stellar roles
in the past.
Cymbeline ..........Dr. Bernheimer
Posthumous Leonatus.....Dr. Muller
Belarius   ...........Mr.  Willoughby
Arviragus   .............Miss Fisher
Guiderius   ..............Miss  Ward
Lucius   ............Dr.   Ernst   Diez
Cornelius  ...............S. A. King
Iachimo  .................Dr. Weiss
Pisiano   ..................Dr. Gray
Cloten   .................Dr.   Helson
Soothsayer   .............Miss   Petts
The- Queen.......... Miss Park
Mrs. Manning
Imogen   ..............Miss Donnelly
Mrs. Collins
The first rehearsal will take place
Friday night at 8.20 P. M. in the
auditorium of Goodhart Hall. The
faculty, with customary generosity
has offered to admit the student body
to this rehearsal at the moderate fee
of thirty-five cents. This will con-
siitute a benefit performance for the
Bryn  Mawr Summer Camp.
Owing to the congested fall schedr
ule it is doubtful if the finished pro-
duction will ever be presented in its
"entirety; therefore it is urged that
the afore-mentioned student body
should avail itself of this phenomenal
opportunity on Friday night, to see
even a rough draft of this unusual
spectacle.
Dirndlmadchen Singing
Wins   Prize   for   Drive
l
October 21.�Bryn Mawr tied with
he University of Delaware for first
place in the program competition
which formed part of the celebration
of German Day held by the German
Societies of Delaware at the German
Hall in Wilmington. Since it had been
planned to give first, second, and
third prizes of fifty, thirty, and
twenty dollars, representatives of the
two institutions drew lots. The Uni-
versity won, and Bryn Mawr re-
ceived second prize. This has been
given to the Drive in the name of the
German Department. Washington
College, at Chestertown, Maryland.
w<m Jh* third prize. Haverford was
the fouftn vouvge represented.
Continued on  Page  Six
Thomas Award Goes
To Doctor F. R. Sabin
Celebrated    Scientist    Is    First
Woman To Enter Rockefeller
Medical   Institute
ORIGINAL WORK FAMOUS
The third recipient of the M. Carey
Thomas Award was announced on
Sunday, October 13, after weeks of
discussion by a carefully chosen com-
mittee and much speculation by the
interested undergraduates. The honor
is to be conferred on Dr. Florence
Rena Sabin, of the Rockefeller Insti-
tute for Medical Research at a cere-
mony to be held in Goodhart Hall Sat-
urday afternoon, November 2, as part
of the commemoration of the Fiftieth
Anniversary of Bryn Mawr's found-
ing.
Dr. Sabin's distinguished career be-
gan as a member of the faculty of
Johns Hopkins University in 1902.
She served there in Various capacities,
eventually becoming professor of his-
tology. She held this position until
1925, when she resigned in order to
join the staff of the Rockefeller In-
stitute. As a result of her signifi-
cant research activities she was hon-
ored in 1925 by election to life mem-
bership in the National Academy of
Sciences.
Dr." Sabin was the first woman mem-
ber of the Rockefeller Institute, which
she joined as director of the depart-
ment devoted to the study of blood
disease and tuberculosis. "She was
also the first woman to be "elected to
the National Academy in the sixty-
two years of its existence.
The M. Carey Thomas Award was
first given in 1922 to Miss Thomas
herself upon the occasion of her re-
tirement from the office of President
of the College. The second person to
receive the award was Jane Addams,
the founder of Hull House in Chicago
and a leader in the Women's Inter-
national League for Peace and Free-
dom. The award is given periodically
from interest derived from a $25,000
fund established in 1925 by the Alum-
nae Association and amounts to $5000.
It is particularly significant that
the choice this year falls on an emi-
nent scientist, in view of the Million
Dollar Drive being conducted by the
college. One of the main aims of the
drive is the securing of funds with
which to build a new science building
with all the modern equipment neces-
Contlnued  on   rajfe  Five
Mass   Meeting   Solicits
Backing for Dramatics
October 22.�At a mass-meeting or-
ganized by members of Players Club,
and heralded by posters drawn by
Wyncie King, Edith Rose, president
of the club, called the attention of
the students to the fact that Varsity
Dramatics is not limited to govern-
ment of a few autocratic individuals.
It is an open democratic system. The
Dramatics Board will take care of the
production of the plays which the col-
lege wants to give. The object of the
meeting was to determine whether the
college really knows what it wants,
and is willing to voice an opinion, or
whether it is disinterested.
Mr. Samuel Arthur King evinced
great interest in the demonstration.
He was pleased to see steps being
taken toward an improved dramatic
association. Although Bryn Mawr is
not a dramatic college, it should not
be without some definite organization,
such as Players Club, was his opin-
ion. "It is a vital part of education,
of the development of a spirit of co-
operation, and should be supported
whole-heartedly by the undergraduate
body." He went on to say that it was
unfortunate we had insufficient finan-
cial backing to sustain an experienced
director, yet since we could devote
only a comparatively small part of
our time to dramatics, .we should at
least have the benefit of interested co-
operation from the college.
The meeting dissolved after a show
of hands in favor of a comedy for the
fall play to be given with Haverford
Cap and Bells.