College News, 1938-01-12, Vol. 24, No. 12

              The college News
VOL. XXJV, No. 12
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY  12, 1938
Copyright TRUSTEES OF
BRYN   MAWR  COLLEGE.  1938
PRICE 10 CENTS
Vienna/Gioir Boys
Display Fine Sense
Of Music, Comedy
Solemn     Faces    Metamorphose
Into    Getnutlich    Viennese
Charm   in   Operetta
VERSATILITY OF TENORS
ASTONISHES  AUDIENCE
Goodhart, January 10.�For those
of us who thought of the Vienna
Choir Boys as a select group of little
angels, their performance here was
something of a revelation. For they
proved themselves not only excellent
musicians, but actors, too, with a fine
sense of the comic. Their program
was varied, opening with- a group of
four ecclesiastical works, continuing
with an flnCM operetta, and ending
with selections of Mozart, Strauss, and
German and Italian folk songs.
For the first third of the program
they retained their nomenclature as
choir-boys, dressed in black robes with
white embroidered stoles, and stand-
ing"with folded arms and very serious
angelic faces. They were" particularly
seraphic in Mozart's Laudate Domi-
num, which combined an exceptional-
ly fine soprano solo with the sensitive
support of the full clwjir^ The open-
ing selection, Haec Dies of Gallus
was perhaps a bit unfinished in tone
quality, but this criticism cannot ap-
ply to any other part of the group.
The choir concluded the religious sec-
tion with another work of Gallus, the
Ascendit Deus, an encore sung with
finesse and considerable appreciation
of its  cpntrapuntal  intricacies.
In the second part, everything
changed except their voices. The
smallest boy, aged nine and a half,
who looks like a rabbit that has just
been pulled out of a hat," turned into
a coquettish girl; another, whose grav-
ity in Part I had concealed a dimple,
became Mizzi, a vivacious and utterly
appealing heroine. They gave On the
Beautiful Blue Danube, "Operetta in
One Act; Music by Johann Strauss,"
and while their musical director, Vic-
tor Gomboz, played the piano in a cor-
ner, Lilliputians danced and sang.
But their acting was as sophisti-
cated as that of the D'Oyly Carte,
and twice as imaginative as Grand
Opera. Herr Hecht, the rich, ugly,
stuttering fisherman, who could not
Continued on Page Two
Mrs. McAneny Advises
Theatrical    Aspirants
Experience, � Willingness   to    Start
Without Pay Are Assets
Common Room, January 11.�
"There are no jobs for college girls
in the theater," said Mrs. Herbert
McAneny, speaking at a vocational tea
this afternoon. "I visited many of my
friends on Broadway during Christ-
mas vacation, and this is what they
told me." Nevertheless, she added
that in spite of the discouraging ad-
vice of people who are successful in
various fields in the theatre, new tal-
ent does constantly enter the theatri-
cal world, and she suggested the
most practical methods of beginning
careers in acting, directing, technical
and executive work for the stage.
Experience is the most valuable
asset in applying for any kind of a
job. The ambitious beginners must
prepare to work for a considerable
lciiKth of time without pay before
finding a secure position. Mrs. Mc-
Aneny got her first theatrical job
when assisting Miss Minor White
Latham teach playwriting at Colum-
bia. A friend who was doing play-
reading for the Actors' Theater gave
her part-time apprentice work, and
later an introduction to Gilbert Miller
which led to her engagement as regu-
lar playreader. "This man," said
Mrs. McAneny, "met Mr. Miller on h.
boat coming back from Europe;
played shuffleboard with him or some-
thing. He knew the day Mr. Miller
was arriving again from England
with lots of new scripts, and he also>|
knew he had fired his playreader be-
fore he left, so I arrived just at the
right moment and got the job."
Mrs. McAneny told this anecdote
as an illustration of the fact that
contacts in the theatrical world are
very helpful in getting auditions, and
in meeting influential people. "A let-
ter to a producer will almost always
get'you a chance to read for him,"
_she said, "but it won't get you a part
unless it happens to be from someone
he is afraid of, like a wealthy mo-
tion picture magnate?' A summer
theater is a good place to make con-
tacts, and study at dramatic schools
such as the American Academy of
Dramatic Arts in New York and the
Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh is
even more valuable. A season at an
apprentice group of a summer theater
Continued on Pare Six
Exhibition of Paintings in Common Room
Includes  Chirico,  Chacal,   Friez,  Suryage
Mr. Howard Gray's Collection
Shows Variety of Subject
And Technique
The exhibition in the Common Room
of paintings from the collection of
Howard Gray of the History Depart-
ment extends in time from about 1910
to the present; in technique, from the
crude realism of Marc Chacal to the
surrealism of de Chirico, and from the
impressionism of one of Cezanne's pu-
pils, OJton Friez, to the abstraction
of Survage. Most of the painters are
familiar in nairie, at least,1 and it is
interesting to see them represented by
works which are perhaps less charac-
teristic than those chosen for exhibi-
tion in museums.
We usually associate Chirico, for
instance, with broken columns and
horses, but here he has painted Le
Printemp8 du Dcstin, in which the
thought of spring causes a tree to
appear inside a room. This is easier
to understand than the usually com-
plex workings of a surrealistic mind,
� but it is not the kind of thing that
could emotionally affect anybody but
the artist To us, a tree in a room
means a tree in a room, and nothing
more,, exen^wlw- -<**�� *i*fc -f ".?", � *
Chirico's rather unusual brush-strokes. *
On the other hand, Marc Chacal's
Soldiers has a sombre brutality about
it that makes it powerful. It is in-
teresting to see that Boardman
Robinson illustrates Russian novels
with the same kind of dark crudity
that characterizes Chacal, and yet his
Keepers of the Light is almost Bla-
yn in its spirituality.
0. Zadkin, Chacal's countryman,
seems to prove the finer-grained side
of the Russian character. We do not
pretend to understand why Russian
Woman Combing Her Hair should be
so out of' drawing; we can only ask
ourselves whether this is a defect,- and
if it is, whether it is justified by
composition or color. We think it is
justified in the Woman at the Win-
dow, who is strangely fascinating with
her flat face and glowing throat. The
third painting, Two Boys, has some-
thing of Chacal's harshness.        *
The Kisling is immediately recog-
nizable because of its extraordinary
transparency, and the clear bright-
ness of it colors. And no one who
heard Katchamakoff last year could
fail to appreciate one of the pictures
that was in last year's exhibition.
His work is different from most of
the moderns, and interesting because
it shows undistorted form by line and
the minimum of shading.
Of the three remaining  paintings,
two   can   be   classed   together   in   a
rough   way:    Survage's   Composition
With   Figure,   and   Lureat's   Land-
� Sea..   Both  have  sym-
-looking women standing against
an   abstract  background.     Survage's
Composition is done in cubistic masses
of color; Lureat's- clouds are a little
like Dali's, but not so finely drawn.
Maria Blanchard's Portrait of a Buy
is ruddy, but, to us, uninteresting.
-     M. R. M.
Philip Jacobs Speaks
On Local Peace Work
Service Committee is in Touch
With Student Organizations,
Labor Groups
PANEL   DISCUSSION    SET
Common' Room, Tuesday, January
4.�Philip Jacobs, in charge of peace
activities in this district, spoke on the
work that is being carried on by the
Peace Section of his organization, the
American Friends Service Committee.
Mr. Jacobs was formerly connected
with the Emergency Peace Campaign
which, however, was only a two year
project to arouse interest in peace.
The work done by the campaign has
now been transferred to the Service
Committee. There are two principle
fields in which it acts, in connection
with student organizations and among
labor groups.
Through the United Peace Com-
mittee which aims for unity in the
peace movement, and with the Na-
tional Peace Conference which is try-
ing to maintain a common program in
the face of varying opinions within
it, the Service Committee keeps in
close touch with the A. S. U., the Y.
W. C. A. and the League of Nations
Association. Students work with them
off a? well as on campus in their
efforts sfqr rural education and are,
says Mr. Jacobs, the most impressive
and effective workers on this job.
Rural education is carried on dur-
ing'the summer by small groups of
students who, after two weeks of
training, go out to various towns for
eight week periods. There they try
to influence the leaders of the com-
munity, Rotary Club, Labor Union
leaders and others, to form peace or-
ganizations and to take legislative
action toward this end. They dis-
tribute literature and form study
groups to continue their work through-
out the' year.
Many of the Labor Unions are not
as yet aware of their stake in peace
or their power to take decisive action
now. There are two groups working
in this relatively new field and the
Committee expects to enlarge its ac-
tivity in it.
In February and early March,' the
United Peace Committee is holding a
conference at Swarthmore composed
of representatives from various col-
leges. Their purpose is to discuss a
program for peace and, since commit-
tees of students and faculty will be
arranged to do preparatory work, the
speakers should be well-informed.
Bryn Mawr expects to send represen-
tatives.
A further program has been planned
by our Peace Council. On March 4,
there will be a Panel Discussion on
the Far Eastern Crisis at which Miss
Speer, Dr. Chang, Chinese Harvard
graduate, and Haru Matsui, Japanese
authoress, will speak. On April 27, at
11 A. Mv a Peace Demonstration will
be held. The speaker will be Vera
Michels, Dean of the Foreign- Policy
Association.
Mr. Jacobs urges that if we can
secure several students to join the
stTmmer" rural education cdmmittees,
it wili have a vital effect on our Peace
Council because of their direct ex-
perience and increased knowledge.
Those interested should give their
names to Louise Morley, Merion.
MISS SWINDLER IS HONORED
The Bryn Mawr Alumnae Bulletin
of January, 1938, announced that Miss
Mary Hamilton Swindler, Ph.D., 1912.
Professor of Classical Archaeology al
Bryn Mawr, has just been made a
member of the Royal Society of Arts,
London. Ordinarily candidates for
election. to the Society must be pro-
posed   by   three   Fellows,   but   Miss
the rule that the Council of the So-
ciety .may waive the proposal require-
ment in the case of "persons of high
standing or whose interests are con-
nected with the work of the Society."
Founded in 1764, the Society is one of
the three oldest learned and scientific
organizations in England.
COLLEGE CALENDAR
Friday, January 14.�Last
day of lectures.
Saturday, Januatgt J5-�Dis-
cussion of consumer co-opera-
tion.   8 p. m.    Deanery.
Monday, January 17.�Mid-
year examinations begin.
Friday, January 28.�Mid-
year examinations end.
Tuesday, February 1.�Begin-
ning of the second semester.
Tuesday, February 8.�Con-
cert by Madame Engel Lund.
Goodhart, 8.30.
Saturday, February 19.�
Freshman Show.
Lash Redefines A.S.U. Aims
At    Vassar    Convention
Advocates     Adoption   ^of     Policy
Of    Collective    Security
Vassar College, Poughheepsie, N.
Y., December 27.�At the National
Convention of the American Students'
Union, Joseph Lash, in his opening
report, redefined the objectives and the
policy of the organization. He made
a plea for unity in the student move-
ment and expressed a hope that in
spite of differences of opinion with-
in the A. S. U., the fundamental
agreement of its members upon some
of the issues would keep the organ-
ization intact.
In respect to peace, he expressed
the desirability ofTemoving the Ox-
ford Oath from the program of the
A. S. U. and of adopting a concrete
policy of collective security. This does
not mean, Mr.JLash said, that the A.
S. U. wants in any sense to involve
the United States in a foreign war,
but wishes to form an actiye peace
policy, rather than to continue to es-
pouse the negative position of isola-
tionism, which the Oxford Oath im-
plies. He proposed, therefore, an em-
bargo and boycott. Mr. Lash also
said that the A. S. U. should oppose
the preparations of the war depart-
ment for a Mobilization Day; support
the Nye-Kvale bill, which abolishes
compulsory R. 0. T. C.; and in accord-
ance with the rest of its peace pro-
gram, should support Spanish democ-
racy in the fight against Fascism.
He urged A. S. U. members to pro-
test the cuts in the National Youth
Administration and prepare an even
stronger drive for the passage of\the
National Youth Act, which extends the
work now being done by the N. Y. A.
and makes it permanent. Mr. Lash
advised students to be in close co-
operation with the trade union move-
ment., and praised the work done in
this field at Harvard, where the chap-
ter has investigated and taken action
in many of the local labor problems.
In order to further the aims of the
A. S. U., political action in support
of candidates* who are working for
some of its objectives should be taken
by the various chapters. In closing,
Mr. Lash expressed a desire that the
organization of the A. S. U. would
Continued on Page Four
PEACE COUNCIL HEARS
DEMONSTRATION PLANS
Pembroke West, January 10.�At a
meeting of the Peace Council, the
Committee report was made and sug-
gestions were discussed for the new
Constitution, which is to be drawn up
for the Council. The rest of the
meeting was devoted to a considera-
tion of plans for three peace demon-
strations in which the Council is
interested.
On March 2, Miss Margaret Bailey
Spear, Bryn Mawr alumna and dea,n
of the English Y'en-Ching University,
Miss Haru Matsui, Japanese writer,
and Dr. Charles Chang, of the Ameri-
can- Friends of" the Chinese People,
will speak at an open forum on the
far-Eastern crisis.   The second meet-
Lord Marley  Says
Eventual  Chinese
-""    Victory is Possible
Japan   Aims   to   Rule   Asiatic
Mainland, to Gain Outlet
For Their Surpluses
AN ENGLISH-AMERICAN
ACCORD IS NECESSARY
Goodliart Hall, January 5.�"It
is within the rights of interna-
tional law to sell arms to China," said
Lord Marley when he spoke on the
Far East last Wednesday night.
"There are," he believes, "very great
possibilities of eventual Chinese vic-
tory . . . and the only way to accom-
plish it is for the people to join to-
gether and maintain those supplies to
help China defend" herself. ... A
personal boycott has very little effect
on Japanese economy."         �
"It is important," he continued,
"that British and Americans under-
stand one another," for a prejudice
has grown up between them which
can only be eliminated ''by analysis
of the Far Eastern situation from an
objective point of view."
Japan has two aims: The domina-
tion of the whole Asiatic mainland
and the Pacific, thus aiming against
democracy as a hindrance to dictator-
ship in Japan; and the acquisition of
land for surplus population and raw
materials along with a market for her
surplus. "Surplus population," Lord
Marley commented, "merely means the
stupidity of the government in not
provfding work maintenance for the
people. . Japan has no surplus popu-
lation." Moreover, besides being prac-
tically self-sufficient, she has never
been known to colonize any country
except to a negligible extent. After
42 years of control in Formosa there
are exactly 200 Japanese families liv-
ing there.
With England and France as her
imperialistic predecessors she is jus-
tified in seeking some control overseas
since her own resources are inade-
quate. But Japanese intention does
not end here, for, Lord Marley
pointed out with some degree of sar-
casm, "The Japanese do not want an
'open door' in China, but one way
passage for Japanese goods only."
North China, rich in coal, iron, salt,
wool and cotton, is tempting because
of the doubling of the state expendi-
tures since the war with China began.
A further effort toward self-suffi-
Conttnued On Page Four
Mr.' �fenshaw Explains
Discovery   of   Isotopes
Biologists    Use    Heavy    Hydrogen
In Modern Experiments
Swindler was ele... .         -lIiWtWB^ Ajfv*� the Regional  Students'  Peace
Institute at Swarthmbre, March 5, to
which the Council plans to send a
delegation. Finally, the Council has
charge of the annual Peace Demon-
stration at Bryn Mawr, April 22 or
27. Mrs. Vera Micheles Dean, of the
Foreign Policy Association, will be
the chief speaker.
Common Room, December 15.�At
the third meeting of the Science Club
James L. Cienshaw of the chemistry
department spoke on Hea,vy Hydrogen.
He traced the experiments leading to
the discovery of the heavy isotopes of
hydrogen, and explained how almost
pure heavy water can be obtained.
Mr. Crenshaw described briefly a few
of the experiments that are now being
carried out" with this heavy water.
Chemists used to hold two beliefs
that have since been proved false:
they believed that the elements were
unchangeable; and that all atoms of
a substance were of equal weight.
These fundamental assumptions were
completely changed by the discovery
of radio-activity, and by the invention
of methods to measure the weight of
single atoms.
The- radio-active elements furnished
proof that an element may have more
than one atomic weignt. As Uranium
disintegrates it should give lead with
an atomic weight of 206; Thorium
should give lead with an atomic
weight of 208. Usually (he cfiemisa
obtains a mixture of the two kinds of
lead with an* average atomic weight
of 207.2. Two atoms of the same ele-
ment having the same chemical prop-
erties but different atomic weights,
have been/flamed isotopes.
Early-zexperimenters with isotopes
Continued on Pa** Four