College News, 1937-10-13, Vol. 24, No. 02

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The College News
VOL. XXIV, No. 2
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1937    BRcY^yM0AWRRcoLLEEQE�%37     PRICE 10 CENTS
International   Club
Hears Agnes Chen
Speak on Far East
Japan Aims to Keep Militarists
In Power and Quell Internal
Evils by War
4 JAPANESE EXCUSES
FOR A WAR REFUTED
Common Room, October 12.�The
first of-a series of discussions on the
Far Eastern Crisis was held by the
International Club, which presented
Agnes Chen, Chinese graduate stu-
dent, as its speaker. Miss Chen spoke,
"not with the purpose of accusing
anyone, but just to discuss the back-
ground" of the conflict between China
and Japan.
From the Japanese side, the conflict
aims to keep the militarists in power,
and to quell Japan's internal diffi-
culties by diverting the country's ac-
tivity to outside complications. The
speaker explained the composition of
the present Japanese government: the
Mikado chooses the prime minister
and the ministers of the army, navy,
and air forces are chosen directly by
the military class. Two hundred and
sixty thousand families comprise this
privileged group. A state of "mili-
tary feudalism" exists, Miss Chen
stated, which completely dominates
democratic Japan.
Miss Chen refuted four Japanese
excuses for the war. One, that the
Chinese were ''anti-Japanese,", even
though when China applied for mem-
bership in the League Council in 1931,
Japan acted as sponsor. Chinese
hatred as a * result rather than a
cause of the present war. Japan's de-
si re for colonies is her second reason.
> Yet her colonial possessions already
exceed the size of Japan. The third
Japanese claim is her over-population;
yet China is equally crowded. Miss
Chen also explained that since China
has no immigration laws, Japanese
and other foreigners are free to come
in at any time. Fourth is the Jap-
anese assertion that China, with its
internal strife, is an "international
nuisance." Rather than give her own
opinion, Mjs.s Chen referred to the
statements   of   the   neutral   English
.desman, Lytton, who declared that
Chin> was unified before Japanese in-
terference.
Miss Chen continued with a review
of Chinese-Japanese relations of the
past 26 years. During this time there
has been a constant struggle between
the Chinese and Japanese and between
the militarist and democratic factions
within Japan herself. Present devel-
opments have been a continuation of
the struggle and an attempt to realize
the Second Mongolian Empire.
Miss Chen concluded with a short
account of the present situation. China
is at a great disadvantage in the
North, the scene of fighting. Here,
the soldiers have been unable to ma-
noeuver in the past four years because
Continued on Page Three
Science  Club  Started
Again at Bryn Mawr
Elects      Officers      and       Discusses
Plan  to  Meet   Monthly
Pembroke East Showcase, October 6.
�Members of the new Science Club
gathered to elect their officers and dis-
cuss plans for the coining year. The
group intends to meet once a month,
and faculty members from the four
Science departments will be invited
to speak on topics of general inter-
est. In the Spring the club hopes
to cooperate with the Undergraduate
Entertainment Committee in bringing
an outside speaker to the college.
Entertainment Committee to bring an
outside speaker to the college.
A similar . club existed at Bryn
Mawr about six years ago. For the
past two years many science majors
have felt the need of an organization
to correspond to the Journal Clubs
which are attended by graduate stu-
dents and members of the faculty,
but nothing was done until last
Spring; At that time many people
signed up for the club and it started
this yeafwith a large enrollment.
To insure a* balanced program
which would interest majors in the
different sciences a planning commit-
tee, was chosen consisting of the presi-
dent, vice-president, one member from
each department, and one from the
large group of non-science majors
who have  joined  the  club.
The officers are: President, Kitty
Hcmphill, '39; Vice-President, Doro-
thea Peck, '39. The Planning Com-
mittee is: biology, Abbie Ingalls, '38;
chemistry, Dorothea Heyl, '39; geology,
Christie Solter, '39; mathematics and
physics, Helen Hamilton, '39; non-
s ience, Mary G. Wood, '39.
The first formal meeting of the
club will be held on Wednesday eve-
ning, October 27, when Miss Mary
Gardiner, of the Biology Department,
will speak on genetics. The lectures
will not be too technical for general
enjoyment, and the club invites anyone
interested to attend.
48   CHILDREN   ENJOY
B.  M.  SUMMER CAMP
GERMAN   CLUB   PLANS
DEUTSCHER TAG SKIT
COLLEGE CALENDAR
Thursday, October 14.�Meet-
ing of the A.  S.  U.    Common
. Room, 7.30.
Friday, October 15.�Lantern
N.ght.    7.30.
Friday, October 15�Sunday,
October 17.�Alumnae Weekend.
Monday, October iS.�Second
Flexner Lecture.
Tuesday, October UK � Mr.
Fenwiclt will speak on Current
Events. Common Room, 7.30.
International Club meetirig,
Common Room, 8 p. m.
Wednesday, October 20.�In-
dustrial Group Supper. Com-
mon  Room, 6.30.
Thursday, .October 21� Tea
in French  House, 4.30.
Friday,   October   22.�Senior "
Supper.
Mondty, October 26,�Profes-
sor The Svedborg will speak.
Lantern  Night  is  Part
Of Alumnae Week-End
Simple  Program   Will   Allow  Time
For Informal Talks
Novelist Finds Lack   �
Of Peace Literature
Miss     Brittain    >D>fines    Need
For Impartial Anti-War
Writing Today
SHOW PEACE INFLUENCE
German Clabroom, October 11.�
Plans were laid tonight for the rep-
resentation of Bryn Mawr at .the
annual Deutscher Tag, to be held at
Wilmington on October 29: Approxi-
mately 30 members will present a
song-and-dance program of the har-
vest-time, which is being planned by
president Mary Howe DeWolf, '38,
Erika Simon, graduate, and secretary-
treasurer Ruth Mary Penfield, '40.
The first meeting of the German
Club, held on October 5, shows a
marked increase in enthusiasm and
membership. More than 60 people ex-
pect to join. Many plan to attend
weekly conversation groups, Mon-
day German tables in Pembroke, and
Friday night singing at the German
House, which are features of the
club.
A Christmas play, to be presented
shortly before the holidays, and a
play in conjunction with the. Haver-
ford German Club in the spring, are
highlights of the year's program.
(Especiajly contributed by Anne
Ferguson,  '39.) �
During the winter of 1936-1937, the
Bryn Mawr Summer Camp Commit-
tee sponsored both the nightly sand-
wich selling and three successful
square dances. Also, a musicale of
undergraduate talent was a pleasant
success and an experience which may
profitably be repeated this coming
year. From these varied events about
350 dollars was made and added to
the money given to camp by*.the
League's Annual  Drive.
This money entirely maintained a
total of 48 children at Stone Harbor,
N. J. The children of the _first and
youngest group came from St
Martha's Settlement House in South
Philadelphia. This group of children
remained at camp for three weeks
There were 21 girls and boys between
the ages of four and five. The other
section was made up of 23 Main Line
children of Irish, instead of Italian,
extraction and five sent to the camp
by special request. They stayed for
two weeks.
A tidier appearance was given to
the camp by the new boys' suits made
for us by the Main Line Branch of
the W. P. A. Sewing Project free of
charge. Another new contact was
made last winter with the Main Line
Federation of Churches which helped
get one group of children together
for the camp from the Bryn Mawr
neighborhood.
Twelve undergraduates volunteered
their services as counsellors and with
Mrs. Frank and the two head work-
ers, the staff cooperated in an effici-
ent manner. It included the ^follow-
ing: M. Howson, '38, D. Peck, '39,
M. Whalen, '38, M. Wood, '39, M.
Gill, M0. M. Ma comber, '40, J. Lud-
wig, '38, E. Washburn,.'37, L. Morley,
'40, M. Diehl,J39, and S. Miller, '40, E.
Reed, '37, chairman of the College
Committee, was assisted by K. Bing-
ham, '38, and A. Ferguson, '39.
Goodhurt, October 5.�Writers and
thinkers today have not fulfilled their
duty'to think deeply, said Vera Brit-
tain, internationally-known novelist,
speaking on Literature and World
Peace. The >function of the writer
concerned with peace is not to take
sides, but to "direct the feelings" by
impartially portraying either the
horror, the futility, or the foolishness
of all war.
Miss Brittain believes that the
"ivory tower" literature is compati-
ble with "going down into the arena,"
as evidenced by the reform writing
of Stowe, Reade, Dickens, and Kings-
ley in the nineteenth century and
Olive Shreiner and Thomas Hardy in
the twentieth.
Today, in contrast to earlier civili-
zation when war was localized, the
complete submergence of art and
literature is threatened by war. "The
task of literature is to throw its
weight on an atmosphere of peace."
Lawyers, philosophers, and politicians,
as well as writers have their task be-
fore them. If literature can do this,
"it will not be our world, but war
itself that will pass away."
The functions of any peace writer
are: "To tell the truth about war;
to act as an interpreter between
groups: nation and nation, capital
and labor, old and young; afld to pre-
sent a constructive picture of a new
civilization." It is up to youth to
find the way in which these three
functions should be carried out.
Miss Brittain divided literary his-
tory into six civilizations to show
how the treatment of war and peace
has changed. In the Jewish Civiliza
tion the often-quoted passage from
Isaiah expresses the current belief in
the Messiah as a Prince of Peace.
The attitude toward war in the
Troiadcs of Euripedes is nearer the
modern attitude than that of any in-
tervening literature. Because it ex-
presses the suffering of the victims
of war, its lesson is true today, and
it triumphs for this reason over what
is   temporal   in   its   subject   matter.
The peace of Rome, a peace of dic-
tatorship, produced the Odes of Hor-
ace and the Acneid of Virgil, which
contained pictures of the destructive-
nesg of war, but these pictures were
not as effective as those in the Troi-
ades. In the medieval period, the
church was the main opponent of war.
The De Monarchia of Dante regards
the ruler as the supreme peacemaker.
In  the Renaissance the growth of
the nation and the state produced the
Continued  on   Pace  Two
In answer to many requests the
Alumnae Association has arranged
their second Alumnae Week-end at
the time of Lantern Night. The pro
gram is simple jn order that the for-
mer students may have a chance/to
talk informally wtih the faculty/and
the present undergraduates.
Friday, October  15:
Registration in Deanery on/arrival.
Opportunity to visit classesMn morn-
ing and laboratories and gymnasium
in afternoon.
4.30 p. m.�Class Collectors Meet-
ing, Deanery.                                 v
6.30 p. m.�Buffet Supper for Alum-
nae, Deanery.
8.00 p. m.�Lantern Night, Cloister
Garden.
Saturday, October H5:
10.00 a. m.�Varsity Hockey Game,
Lower Athletic Field.
1.00 p. m.�Buffet Luncheon to
meet members of the faculty, Deanery.
6.30 p. m.�Buffet-Supper in honor
of President Park, Deanery.
8.30 p. m.�Square Dance for Alum-
nae and Undergraduates, Gymnasium.
Sunday, October 17:
1.00 p. m.�Dinner with members
of the Senior Class as hostesses, Pem-
broke Hall.
2.00 p. m.�Coffee .with Dean
Schenck to meet the Graduate Stu-
dents, Radnor Hall.
5.00 p. m.�Concert, Deanery. Ver-
non Hammond, pianist; Frederick
Robinson, baritone.
7.30 p. m.�Chapel Service, Good-
hart Hall. The College Choir will
sing.
Monday,   October   18:
Opportunity to visit classes and lab
oratories.
Continued on Page Two
Mile. Soubeiran Was
Scholar  of  Promise
Was   Studying   French   Poetics
For Doctorat-es-Iettres
At University of Paris
Non-Resident Tea
A non-resident tea was held
in -the Common Room on Mon-
day, October 11, in honor of the
non-resident freshmen. Resident
student advisors also attended.
(Especially    contributed    by    Dean
Srli enck.)
Mademoiselle Madeleine Soubeiran,
who was to have returned this year
to the French Department after a sail
batical leave, died in Montpellier,
France, as the News of last week an-
nounced, on July seventh. She was
thirty-two years old and had already
proved herself a brilliant teacher and
a scholar of the highest  promise.
Agregee des lettres of the Univer-
sity of Paris in 1927, she had spcht
fhe three preceding years at the Ecoh
Xormale Superieure de Sevres, enter-
ing at the head of her class in that
most difficult of competitive matricu-
lations and maintaining her supremacy
to the end of her course. She spent
two years as Professor of French Lit-
erature at the Lycee of Aix-en-Pro-
vence and was assigned to Bryn Mawr
by the French Ministry of Public
Instruction in 1929. Here, her course
in 17th Century French Literature be-
came famous overnight and in the
newly established honor work of the
French Department she found a form
of teaching that was very congenial
to her and highly stimulating to her
students. She declared herself de-
lighted with the results she was able
to get from the best of these young
etrangeres and never failed to take
back to France each spring a pack-
age of papers that she wished to
"show." Her teaching was as excit-
ing to her as to her students.
With the taking over  of a gradu-
ate   seminary   in   1933,
j Soubeiran  began   a  study   of  French
[poetics which yielded results of great
[ interest to her colleagues, to whom she
I reported progress, and of steadily in-
creasing importance.    Her sabbatical
leave was to have been spent prepar-
ing this material   for presentation  to
the  University of  Paris  for the doc-
torat-ex-lrttres.     A   P�P�r   embodying
some   highly   original   work   on   th-
Continued on Page Three
Flexner/ Lecturer
Discusses   Painting
f the Renaissance
Di
mes  Italian   Iconography  as
Divisible Into Three Main
Strata
PANOFSKY TO DISCUSS
HUMANISTIC   TRENDS
In augurating the seventh series of
Mary Flexner lectures, Professor
Erwin Panofsky, of the Institute for
Advanced Study, Princeton, N. J.,
gave the first of six studies on human-
istic trends in the art of the Renais-
sance. He spoke on Meaning and
Methods of Renaissance Iconography,
with special emphasis on the basic
principles of iconography, and the
particular forms it had taken by the
beginning of the Renaissance.
"Iconography," he stated, "is a
field that deals not with form, but
with subject-matter. **. . . Any '
work of art, to the trained e^e,vis>
divided into three strata: the .purely
formal, or primary subject-matter;
the secondary subject-matter, or
iconography in the narrow ^sense of
the word; and finally, the intrinsic
meaning, or Iconography in the broad-
est and deepest sense."
The primary subject-matter, he
went on to say, consists of the simple
forms and expressions of the picture:
the people, landscape, animals, or
furniture that make up the whole.
This is the "world of motifs," and to
interpret it we -need only common ex-
perience. This experience, however,
must be controlled by knowledge of the
history of style. For example, in a
painting of the sixteenth century,
such as Gruncwald's Resurrection, a*
body could hang suspended in mid-air
only by a miracle. On the other hand,
it was common and even conventional
for early medieval miniaturists to de^_
pict whole groups of people going
about their business, apparently
standing in space.
The secondary, or conventional, sub-
ject-matter brings the student into
the "world of images, stories, and
allegories." To comprehend this
world we need, not merely common in-
telligence, but literary knowledge.
But this knowledge, too, must be
controlled by an understanding of
the history of types.
Lastly, the intrinsic meaning of a
painting opens a "world of symbolical
values." This is the broadPst and
deepest kind of iconographical in-
terpretation and is founded on
synthetic intuition, allied with a
knowledge of the history of culture
and phenomena in general.
Classical iconography, between the
fall of Rome and the rise of the
Renaissance, had taken on especially
curious forms. Contrary to the belief
of Vasari, Ghiberti, and other histo-
rians, Classicism never wholly died
out in, the Middle Ages. But it had
disintegrated. Classical themes sur-
vived, but they were not represented
by classical motives; these continued
Continued on Page Three
DENBIGH CONFUSED BY
UNEXPECTED   ALARM
Denbigh, October //.�Utter, utter
confusion reigned among Denbigh's
inmates tonight, and though not eas-
ily amused, they decided to capitulate
this time, as soon as breath returned
to their startled lungs.
At exactly 10.05 p. m., a non-mem
ber of the undergraduate body, the
graduate body, or the faculty, pushed
the fire-bell with unaccustomed vigor,
causing an emergency drill, or A
Breath of Fresh Air. Unfortunately,
Mademoiselle--the front door had been lacked by the
same non-member, and the harassed
Denbighites, sans Fire Chief, sans
runners, sans everything, pushed and
strained in the sacred name of Duty.
With the � door Unlocked, many
laughing females rushed in the line
of least resistance, towels in hands,
to the S'eus office. "We have a
KOOPt" they shrieWd, climbing in the
window. Collegeditors listen..1 sol-
emnly.
r