College News, 1941-04-23, Vol. 27, No. 21

              The College Mews
Z-616
VOL. XXVII, No. 21
BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1941
Copyright, Trutteet of
Bryn   Mawr  College,  1940
PRICE 10 CENTS
Paul Robeson S^g^^Ji^
In Concert To M\NewStuden�archGroup
ChineseScholarship And Dramatic lnte&ration
QUARTET PLAYS WELL
---------       /
Mr.   Robeson   Emphasizes
American Folk Music
In   Interview
On Friday night Paul Robeson
sang in Goodhart for the benefit of
the Chinese Scholarships Commit-
tee. His voice is strong and
sweet. He can use it incredibly
well, and sometimes does. Although
the first section of his program
was not particularly well chosen,
Robeson put it over because he has
a good voice and because he has
great personal charm. He sang
two spirituals and Encantadora
Maria, a Spanish love song, and
concluded this part of the program
with the effective singing and act-
ing of Oh, No, John, an English
folk  song.
Between his songs the Sim-
fonietta String Quartet, which had
opened the concert with four Eng-
lish airs, played the Tchaikowsky
Quartet in D. The contrast of
RobesonV hearty tale-telling songs
with the Quartet's gentle rendi-
tions was not particularly fortu-
nate.
Mr. Robeson's selection in the
second part of the program was
better. The Russian folk songs
and the powerful, sincere Prayer
were the high point of the concert.
Responding to the audience's de-
mand for encores, Mr. Robeson
sang several favorite spirituals,
and the Ballad for Amercians.
When the concert was over, Mr.
Robeson talked with us about music
�American music. He commented
on the importance of the spon-
taneous songs which have sprung
up throughout the country, and the
value of true jazz as American
folk music. "When a song really
says something," Mr. Robeson ex-
plained,�"not just 'How blue is
the sky'," it's really a contribu-
tion. His greatest ambition, he
said, is "to be able to sing like
Leadbelly." Leadbelly is a singer
of negro jazz spontaneous spngs,
Also Considered
At a meeting- on Wednesday,
April 16th, the College Council dis-
cussed problems relating to war
relief on campus, the work of the
Curriculum Committee, and the
place of dramatic production in col-
lege activities.
War relief on campus is divided,
actual relief being supervised byj
the League, while an active de-
fense group is in the process of]
organization. The character of
this proposed student organization]
has not yet been determined. The
group will be independent of the
faculty Committee but plans to
avoid duplication of activity.
Plans for organization will prob-
ably be presented to the whole col-
lege at a mass meeting later in
the year.
The faculty Bryn Mawr Defense
Group has been collecting funds,
conducting research, and speaking
to outside groups. The Committee
has also arranged to bring Miss
Continued on Page Six
Federal Government
Puts the Screw On
Pennsylvania Regime
Miss Fairchild is currently serv-
ing as chairman of the Advisory
Commission to the Pennsylvania
Bureau of Employment and Un-
employment Compensation. The
commission is attempting to reach
a compromise in the battle between
the Federal Social Security Boards
and Lewis G. Hines, State Secre-
tary of Labor and Industry.
Hines put through 209 promo-
tions last December; the State,
County and Municipal Workers of
America (C. I. 0.) protested,
charging discrimination. Hines is
an A. F. of L. man.
The Federal So~cial Security
Board revoked the appointments
because no adequate merit system
for promotion has been operating
under the Hines administration.
Hines    charged    Ernest    Kelly,
�      Continued �i*P��reTh���-*- "��"--
College Competes With Water Company
For Highest Mailing Average Per Month
By Barbara Hull, '44
Although none of its employees
knew exactly when the Bryn Mawr
post office was established, they felt
sure it was in existence when the
village, formerly called Humph-
reysville, was christened Bryn
Mawr. This was about the time of
the Civil War. The present build-
ing celebrated its sixth anniversary
last January.
The amount of mail received by
the college, 15 per cent of the 200,-
O00 pieces of first class matter en-
tering the post office each month,
is exceeded only by that delivered
to the Philadelphia Suburban
Water Company. The business
office, of course, receives most of
the incoming mail on campus, but
Rhoads stands first among the
residence halls, receiving about one
third more than any of the others.
30,000 to 35,000 insured packages
are handled through the post office
each year, and the college has the
distinction of receiving as many
as are distributed in the whole of
the village itself.
'The schools and colleges are fav-
ored by better service, having three
deliveries  a  day  to  the  village's
two. Of the 24 men employed by
the post office, five deliver mail to
the campus. The most faithful of
these is Patrick Ryan, who has
been bringing letters to Bryn Mawr
students for 25 years. He likes his
job and although they've tried to
put him "inside," he won't change
his position.
"Everyone works with me," he
said of the students. "I've seen
'em come and go, and come back
again married."
"College girls don't get married,"
said one of the clerks with a twin-
kle in his eye.
"I see 'em come back with kids,"
continued Mr. Ryan, undaunted.
"One of the girls took my picture
once under Pembroke arch. It
was put in the college paper," he
went on proudly. "Two of my sis-
ters went to school there. They
might be mad if I told you what
years they were. You know, they
might be touchy about their ages.
One is a tutor there now, Mrs. T.
J. Spillane, and the other one, Mrs.
D. Noonan, lives in Seattle, Wash-
ington." He twirled his cap in his
hands and smiled happily. "Yes,
everybody cooperates so good and
the girls is always nice to me."
Calendar
Thursday, April 24
Spanish   Club   Tea,   Com-
mon Room, 4.30 P. M.
Friday, April  25                    .
Pirates of Penzance, Good-
hart, 8.30 P. M.
Saturday, April  26
French Oral, 9-10.30 P. M.
Pirates of Penzance, Good-
hart. 8.30 P. M.
College dance, Gymnasium,
10 P. M.
Sunday, April 27
Miss Mary .McGeachy and
Mrs. John F. Lewis, Jr.,
Women in Defense, Dean-
ery, 5 P. M.
Chapel, Mr. Cleland, Music
Room, 7.30 P. M.
Tuesday, April 29
Current Events, Miss Reid,
Common Room, 7.30 P. M.
Wednesday, April  30
Open Meeting on Defense,
Common Room, 7.30 P. M.
Miss Park Reveals
Bryn Mawr Budget
Delicately Balanced
This week the Bryn Mawr Col-
lege budget for 1941-'42 is being
perfected in the office of Mr. Sandy
Hurst. The budget is drafted at
the March meeting of the Board
of. Directors and is voted on in May.
The deeper intricacies of budget
making and some financial facts
will be presented in next week's
Netvs, but in view of certain rum-
ors concerning the financial status
of the college, the following in-
formation from Miss Park is of-
fered.
The financial turnover at Bryn
Mawr during the college year is
somewhere around one million dol-
lars. The surplus at the end of the
year approximates fifteen hundred
dollars. As Miss Park explained,
this is an extremely narrow mar-
gin, but to date the margin has
always   existed.     The   two   main
sources of the college income are
Continued on Pace 1 wo
Defense Organization
Offers Two Speakers
Miss Mary McGeachy, who is in
charge of Publie Relations in the
War Trade Department of the
British Embassy, will speak in the
Deanery on Sunday, April 27,
under the auspices of the American
Defense Bryn Mawr College Group.
Miss McGeachy will speak on
women's defense work in England.
Mrs. John F. Lewis, Jr., chairman
of the Women's Home Defense As-
sociation of Philadelphia, will talk
on women in defense in the U. S.
Tea will be served at 4.30, day-
light saving time, and the speeches
will begin at 5.00.
Demetrious   Christopolis
Demetrious Acropolis
Christopolis has arrived in
our midst from Athens to put
before us a plea. Demetrious
is being raffled off. He par-
ticuarly wishes to remind us
that the money from chances
will not be used for the de-
structive for.ces of war, but
rather to relieve the hunger
and hardship of the civilian
population.
Who is Demetrious? He is
the Greek soldier doll that
has been in the bookshop for
the past few weeks. Buy a
chance and help make his
mission a success. Chances
may be charged.
Alternate Courses
Offered Next Year
Friday   Afternoon   Schedule
Instead of Saturday Classes
Finally Decided
Goodhart Auditorium, Monday,
Ajyril 21.�Dean Manning, at an
open college meeting, announced
new courses to be offered next
year and explained the changes
which the new schedule of Friday
afternoon classes will bring. Most
of these classes will be in first
year courses, with second year
courses scheduled for other after-
noons during the week.
The largest innovation in the
curriculum is the presentation of
two alternatives to the Sophomore
English survey course: English
Literature of the Renaissance, to
be given by Miss Roller; and Mr.
Chew's Literary History of the
Bible, which has been expanded to
a full unit course. Miss Stapleton
plans to give another Sophomore
course on English thought in prose
and criticism the following year.
The regular survey course will be
given by Mr. Herben, supplemented
by reading conferences with other
department members.
Mr. Cameron, Mr. Carpenter and
Mr. Lattimore will give a unit
course on Greek literature in Eng-
lish translation. Mr. Sprague will
teach a new half-unit course on
the English Drama from the
Restoration to Robertson, which
Continued on Page Six
Changes Announced
In Next Year Staff;
Wardens Are Named
Several changes have been made
in the Administrative Staff for
1941-42. Miss Julia Ward will be
acting Dean of the college for the
year. Miss Schenck, Dean of the
Graduate School will give
the greater part of her time
to the Department of French.
Miss Dorothy Nepper, In-
structor in Spanish, has been ap-
pointed Assistant to the Dean of
the Graduate School. She will live
in the apartment in Radnor Hall
and assist Dean Schenck in the
graduate office.
Miss Hawks has taken a posi-
tion as Assistant to the Principal
at the Shipley School and Miss
Lawson is returning to her In-
structorship in Economics and
Politics at Sophie Newcombe Col-
lege next year. Miss Elizabeth
Wyckoff will spend the year in
study and research at Harvard,
holding the Mary Israel Sibley
Fellowship from the United Chap-
ters of Phi Beta Kappa.
Continued on Page Five
Fenwick Declares
Pan-Americanism
Can't Bring Peace
EXPLAINS U. S. POLICY
Continental Solidarity Not
A Substitute for Law
And Order Today
Goodhart Auditorium, Wednes-
day, April 17. � Mr. Charles G.
Fenwick, professor of politics at
Bryn Mawr College and at present
the United States member of the
Inter-American Neutrality Com-
mittee, who has just returned from
Rio de Janiero, spoke to the college
on Pan-American Relations. He
declared that although since 1933
the Good Neighbor Policy has done
much to overcome resentment
against the United States in Cen-
tral and South America, hemi-
sphere solidarity cannot safely be
regarded as a substitute for peace-
ful world co-operation.
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine, said  Mr.
Continued on Page Three
Labor's Strike Gains
Analyzed by Fairchild
Deanery, Tuesday, April 22.�
Recent strikes must be considered
in relation to labor developments
of the last twelve years, said Miss
Fairchild in her discussion of
strikes and national defense pre-
sented by the Faculty Defense
Group. Those years were ex-
tremely difficult ones for labor, and
the 1929 level of wages and em-
ployment was approximated for the
�rst time in 1940.
.Miss Fairchild summarized five
recent major strikes. At Allis
Chalmers, the workers, already or-
ganized under the C. I. O., de-
manded a closed shop, a wage in-
crease, and improved seniority
rights. Through certification to
the Defense Board, a settlement
was arranged providing for an im-
partial referee elected by both
sides, and a blanket wage increase
to  be  decided  during  arbitration.
A different situation occurred at
the Ford plant. There workers de-
manded wages equal to those paid
by General Motors. This meant
an additional dollar a day. Other
demands were for elimination of
the speed-up, better personnel
practices, and abolition of the
Ford Service Department, a little-
publicized organization of guards
who patrol the plants in civilian
clothing and report to the com-
Contlnuea on Pag* 81*
Hickory Dickory Dock, the Man Ran Up the
Clock, or Time and Tide Wait for No Mouse
By Alice Crowder, '42
Sunday, at 8.45 P. M., the bell
rang. The undergraduate mind
immediately responded. The con-
tents of the Library Reading Room
emptied itself into the Reserve
Room, signed out books for over-
night and disappeared. The be-
wildered reserve room assistant
looked at the clock. It was, indeed,
8.46, which meant that it was really
8.55. She looked at the stacks of
books on the table, sighed with
resignation and laboriously put
them away. Ten minutes later the
reserve room filled again. People
were giggling hysterically, the
books were assorted by the assist-
ant. It interrupted her melancholy
day dream of them all drinking
down their ten o'clock milk which
wasn't there. "Of course, they all
wouldn't subscribe to milk," she
hastily explained later, "but I was
just imagining those who did."
The people, wildly ejaculating to-
ward the clock signed out the same
books and took them away. The
assistant had a sudden thought.
She climbed up on a chair and look-
ed out the window. The moon
shone serenly down on the white
cherry trees. There was no fire.
Elsewhere the reaction was .more
complicated. -"For whom does the
bell toll?" roared an unidentified
voice from Pembroke Arch As the
echo died away, knots of people
gathered excitedly suggesting
births, deaths, and hurricanes. But
it was only Richard's watch�it
was on the blink.