College News, 1941-12-17, Vol. 28, No. 12

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The College News
Z-616
VOL. XXVIII, No.  12
BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1941      BWp",tZ, t?"&1'"   PRICE  *? CENTS
War Emergency
Causes Hospital
Reorganizations
Fire Fighting Mechanisms,
Staff and Jbquipment�
Are Prepared
The Bryn Mawr Hospital Board
in cooperation with the* Southeast-
ern Branch of the American Red
Cross has organized equipment and
staff for emergencies.
The hospital has organized
equipment, staff and fire-fighting
mechanism for war^emergency. An
emergency lighting system, to be
used in case of blackout, has been
installed. The medical staff of the
hospital has formed a committee to
organize its work in case of an
emergency. Operating teams have
been formed. The Nursing Staff
consists of 23 supervisors, 12 gen-
eral duty nurses, and 88 student
nurses�a total of 123. In addi-
tion, 39 probationers are available.
About 40 girls from Bryn Mawr
College, who are thoroughly famil-
iar with the layout of the Hos-
pital, are equipped to run errands,
make dressings, and so forth. Some
20 to 30 Haverford students are
willing to serve in carrying pa-
tients.
Calendar
Thursday, December 18 .
Christmas   parties   in   the
halls.    6:00 P. M.    Choir
Carolling.
Friday, December 19, 12.45
to  Monday January'5
9 A.  M.
Christmas Vacation.
Tuesday,  January  6
Current Events. Common
Room, 7:30 P. M.
Thursday, January 8
Vocational Committee lec-
ture, Mr. Albert H. Aron-
son. Civil Service. Dean-
fry, 7:30 P. M.
Saturday, January 10
Dr. Leslie A. Chambers.
Influenza as a Problem of
Physics. Tennent Memo-
rial lecture. Dalton, 8:15
P. M.
Sunday, January 11
Mr. Andrew John Kauff-
man, Harvard, '42.' Lec-
ture on Harvard Moun-
taineering Club Expedition
to Peru.   Deanery, 5 P. M.
Aronson To Lecture
On U.S. Civil Sereice
Mr. Albert H. Aronson will speak
in the Deanery on Thursday eve-
ning, January 8, at 7:30 P. M., on,
opportunities in Federal Civil Ser-
vice and in the State merit sys-
tems recently established under the
Social Security Act.
Mr. Ai-onson is chief of the State
Technical Advisory Service of the
Social Security Board. Since op-
portunities in Civil Service are
increasingly great, his speech
should be of particular importance
at this time.
B. M. and Haverford
Choirs Render Carols
With Spirit and Power
Goodhart, December H.�In the
Christmas service this year the
combined choirs of Bryn Mawr and
Haverford showed the results of
thorough training. The tone of the
sopranos has never been purer,
more effortless. The tenor section
was  strong with  unusual  control.
The first two selections, Shep-
herds, shake off your drowsy sleep,
and Htish my dear, lie still and
slumber, with a solo by Mary
Rambo, '43, were particularly suc-
cessful.
In Vaughan William's dynamic
Fantasia on Christmas Carols, the
choirs   showed   excellent   training.
The service was conducted by the
Reverend Andrew Mutch, Minister
Emeritus of the Bryn Mawr Pres-
byterian Church. Using for his
text a quotation from a speech by
Queen Elizabeth, "Human dignity
and kindness shall not perish from
the  earth,"
Mrs. Flower Analyzes Fall 'Lantern' Issue;
Finds 'Theft' and 'Rock Arch' Especially Good
Specially contributed by
Margaret Flower
Two good things in the Novem-
ber Lantern are Hester Corner's
poem, "Rock Arch" and Margaret
Hunter's story, "Theft."
"Rock Arch," in blank verse
which calls to mind the cadences
of "The Dry Salvages," is a com-
plex and serious piece of work.
Here a ten-cent piece is the symbol
of education, which can buy any-
thing in a Woolworth world�that
is to say, a world where the values
are those of technology; ana" later
it is the symbol of speech, the
means of exchange between sepa-
rate individuals. Miss Corner makes
ingenious use of the devices on both
sides of the dime. Mercury is first
introduced, as the god of commerce,
of messages and of healing, to
represent some of the uses of edu-
cation; later he appears, as the
god who guides the dead, to sym-
bolize our connection with the past
and our need to respect the values
of the past. The fasces on the ob-
verse of the coin are introduced
first with some dismay at their
present-day significance, which is
dissipated by the reflection that
after all "power is what you use it
for" and by a reassuring glimpse
at the motto behind them�E Pluri-
bvs Unum. Later the, fasces reap-
pear as the respect-compelling em-
blem of control. The stamped silver
of the coin represents a kind of
value which is contrasted with the
value of "the rising geyser of liquid
gold." This latter I take to mean
the value of the primitive, of that
which springs freely out of the
earth, as opposed to the value
which comes from conscious culti-
vation. The Arch itself, which
leads into the academic world, is a
short tunnel between difficult, sepa-
rate childhoods and a community
which will break up when its mem-
bers go on to "an incomparably
difficult maturity."
The influence of T. S. Eliot is
present not only in the rise and
fall of the verses and in the short
lines at the ends of the stanzas, but
also in the attitude of the author.
These lines of Eliot's:
"Here between the hither and  the
further shore
While time is withdrawn, consider
tho  future                      ,           ,,
And the past with an equal mind,
say something very like what Miss
Corner is saying in the second half
of her poem.
Margaret   Hunter's   "Theft"
shows real ability�not so much in
Continued on Pan Four
Alliance, Faculty and Students Organized
In Campus and Community Defense Action
Fire Fighters, First Aiders
Organized to Function
In Emergency
Besides air wardens, fire-fighters
and first-aiders, are necessary in
case of air raids. The college is
organizing units to assume this
responsibility. The central Fire-
fighting Committee recently formed
on campus includes: Mr. Doyle,
Miss Gardiner, Miss -Howe, Mr.
Gates, Judy Bregman, and Mr.
Dougherty. There will be a fire
brigade organization in each hall
and a mobile one will be in charge
of the campus. This organization
includes students, faculty, grounds-
men, and servants. The Campus
Committee plans to tie up with any
local groups which may be organ-
ized later.
First Aid
"Every  fourth  girl   on  campus
has had some sort of first aid train-
ing," reports Miss Yeager.    About
85 students, faculty, and staff mem-
Continued on rage Four
Faculty Reorganizes Group
To Meet New Demand
<          Of Emergency
Campus Professors
Assist in Specialized
Emergency Defense
Among men needed in a special-
ized type of defense work are sev-
eral of the Bryn Mawr faculty.
Two professors are leaving college
work to carry on jobs elsewhere,
while two others are adding addi-
tional scientific research to their
college schedules.
Mr. Soper will go to the West
Coast, where he will assist the
Marine Corps as an interpreter of
Japanese. Mr. Michels has already
left the college.
Last spring, Mr. Helson and
other psychologists advised a na-
tional committee on the allocation
of research. Present-day psychol-
ogy in the present emergency was
discussed at that time. At present
the committee waits further organ-
ization in which Mr. Helson will be
involved.
As the gas officer of Lower Mer-
ion Township, Mr. Crenshaw col-
laborates with Dr. Earnshaw.
While Dr. Earnshaw will study the
medical aspects of gas-poisoning,
Mr. Crenshaw will do research in
its chemical treatment, organizing
a group of chemists to analyze
types of gas. The group will in-
vestigate methods of neutralizing
the effect of the various gases. Mr.
Crenshaw had experience in this
work in the last war.
Physics Department
Plans Rearrangement
Due to the absence of Mr.
Michels, the Physics Department
has made arrangements to take
care of his courses. Miss Cox and
Mr. Patterson will take on Mr.
Michels' courses and to fill the va-
cancies, two instructors' appoint-
ments have been made: Miss Hoyt,
who is a graduate fellow in the
department, and Mrs. Paul form-
erly physics demonstrator.
The three Physics Departments
of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and
Swarthmore have discussed the pos-
sibility of further vacancies in the
departments. They have made no
immediate plans, but in case of
necessity they intend to work out
some elimination of duplication in
the three colleges.
At meetings last week, the
Faculty Defense Group considered
reorganization to meet the in-
creased demands of war time. In
addition to the joint meeting with
the Alliance Executive Board at
which the creation of a faculty sub-
committee to co-operate with the
student organization was discussed,
a meeting on Sunday at the faculty
group was divided into two sec-
tions: one to include all civilian de-
fense activities and one to carry on
the educational program.
Miss Gardiner, in charge of the
former, will have as committee
members Miss Linn and Miss
Fehrer working on civilian defense
organization in Philadelphia, Miss
Kraus working with local defense
organizations, and Catherine Clem-
ent as student representative.
Mr. Nahm will head the speak-
ers' bureau in the educational di-
vision; Miss Stapleton will contact
other defense organizations, and
Miss Northrop will be in charge of
co-operation with the Alliance. Mr.
Wells, who is chairman of the offi-
cial Bryn Mawr College Council
of Defense, was made an associate
member of the Faculty Defense
Group. A directory of committees
and their functions will be posted
on the defense bulletin board.
Organization   of   Student
Activities Progresses
Under Alliance
At a joint meeting of the Alli-
ance Executive Board and the
Board of the Faculty Defense Com-
mittee, Thursday, it was agreed
that long range training in com-
munity work and education is as
important as the immediate service
individuals can give.
It was pointed out that one of
the greatest duties of women in all-
out war will be the maintenance of
community standards. Charities
must be kept alive, therefore. The
work of the Bryn Mawr League,
for instance, must continue and
cannot be separated from emer-
gency needs.
Several committees of the Alli-
ance are already functioning. Oth-
ers are to be organized immediate-
ly. Volunteer student speakers
have been sent to Philadelphia.
The Writing Committee prepares,
each evening, a digest of confirmed
news reports which is posted in the
halls. Plans have been made for
more Red Cross courses and a For-
um to be held with the faculty in
January.
Medieval Manuscripts
Shown for Christmas
Severe War Damage
Hits British Museum,
Arundell Esdaile Says
Goodhart, Thursday, December
10.�In celebration of the Rare
Book Room, a lecture on the his-
tory of the British Museum was
given by Mr. Arundell Esdaile.
The present war has necessitated
an evacuation of all the irreplace-
able possessions of the Museum to
subways, remote country houses,
and also the National Library of
Wales. There has been some purely
structural damage to the Museum,
but the most/SeTious loss so far
was about 1#000 valuable volumes
on archaeology, law, medicine, and
other sciences.
The history of the Museum is
representative of the "complexity
and continuity of the English cul-
tural tradition." It was founded
in 1793, by an act of Parliament,
following the government's pur-
chase of Sir Henry Sloane's collec-
tion of manuscripts.
Continued on Page Four
"This is an important and im-
pressive collection of mediaeval il-
luminated manuscripts," said Miss
Terrien, who assisted by Marjorie
McLeod, '42, arranged for the Rare
iBook Room's third exhibition with
an eye to the Christmas season.
Flemish, French, and Austrian
manuscripts generously loaned by
Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, are repre-
sented. The most unsophisticated
is an Austrian one of Paul's
Epistle to Titus with glosses, dated
in the twelfth century.
It is particularly interesting to
contrast contemporary Flemish and
French manuscripts, as exemplified
by the initial letter of Nicodemus
Tomb with its paganly decorated
border, and the exquisite French
illustration of Christ's Entry into
Jerusalem.
Air Warden's Office
The Air Warden's Office is
located in the Typing Room
of Rhoads North. It is open
daily from 9-6 and can be
reached by telephoning B. M.
1000.
Christmas Tradition Blooms in Four Halls,
But Withers in the Wilderness of Rhoads
By Barbara Cooley, '42
Thursday, December 18, is a hec-
tic night. The envied few are on
the train for home. Others are
pressing a last -blouse or rushing:
to the village for one more Christ-
mas card. Think again, Thursday
night�oh, yes, Christmas dinner.
To Merion, Christmas dinner
means a wreath on the door, toasts
to faculty, a horseshoe dinner table
and Freshmen muttering lines in a
corner. Denbigh is greeted at din-
ner by a king and queen, ermine-
clad in rabbit's fur, is served punch
by a page, and toasts the king,
queen, page�and punch bowl.
The  Pembrokes get together in
a "hollow square" with all avail-
able exits closed by Christmas
trees; faculty guests are chosen for
their ability to be funny. Rock is
notorious for its carefully prepared
play, this year "The Other Wise-
man," given before dinner in the
dining room. It is the only hall
where the work isn't palmed off on
the Freshmen and Sophomores;
Seniors give the play, trim the tree,
decorate  the dining room.
"The unique charm of Rhoads is
that it has no tradition," says its
president If they had a tree the
Sophomores would decorate it, if
they had a play the Freshmen
would give it, if they had punch the
Seniors would drink it. Rhoads is
also noted for its hors d'oeuvres.

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