1

Ne

~ THe COLLEGE NEWS

' said Miss Skinner.





2-615
~ VOL. XXIX, No. 6 BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1942 __,Copyright, Trustees of PRICE 10 CENTS





Cornelia Skinner

Gives Workshop

-Father’s Costumes



Beautiful Costumes With
Historical Interest
Donated



Theatre Workshop, Octover 31.
—The presentation of many of
Otis Skinner’s costumes to the Mrs.
Otis Skinner Memorial Workshop
was made by Cornelia Otis Skinner

“on Saturday afternoon: Among the

costumes is a Crimson velvet suit
trimmed with black which Mr.
Skinner wore as Earl of Leicester
when he played with Mme. Mod-
jeska in Mary Stuart in 1893.

An orange velvet jacket and
trousers worn by Mrs. Skinner in
the part of a young boy are among
the interesting items included in
the collection. Displayed with a
group of fabrics are authentic lin-
ens which Mr. Skinner wore, made
for Spanish matadors by a Madrid
concern. The whole collection, in-
cluding’ some of Miss Skinner’s
costumes, is beautiful as well as of
historical interest to theatre en-
thusiasts.

President McBride introduced
Roland Young and Miss Skinner.
After Mr. Young’s tribute to the
great actor, Miss Skinner remin-
isced about her father’s stage ca-
reer. She told how Mme. Helen
Modjeska, the famous Polish ac-
tress, had introduced her protegee
Maud Durbin to the handsome
matinee idol who later became her
husband. A cloak given to Mrs.
Skinner by Modjeska is included in
the collection.

“T can’t think of a place where
I’d rather have these costumes,”
Her mother,
walking past the old barn which
has been transformed into the
Theatre Workshop, had often ex-
pressed the wish that_a little the-
atre could be built there.

Commenting on a dagger which
Otis Skinner used in Richard the
Third, Miss Skinner related the
story of her only appearance in a
Shakespearean play with her

Continued on fage Four

Busy Week-End Spent
By B.M. and Princeton
Harvesting Fall Crops

On the weekend of October 31st,
Bryn Mawr and Princeton collabo-
rated in a farming expedition to
the College Farm Settlement in
Willow Gréve, Pennsylvania. There
they debated, with a group of
Princeton students on the problems
of post-war organization. Satur-
day and Sunday the group worked
harvesting the crops.

Ten Bryn Mawr girls took the
local to the Broad Street Station.
There they met Ted Pollen, who
had been asked. by the Princeton
students to conduct a discussion on
Friday night.. The Bryn Ma
contingent arrived at Willow Grove
slightly after seven o’clock. Eight
Princeton boys were awaiting their
arrival with a highly appreciated
station wagon. Half of the group
promptly went on to the Farm
three miles away and helped fix
supper, while the car returned for
the rest.

There was supper with Mr. and
Mrs. Peters, and then clean-up

squads took care of various jobs.

After this, Mr. Pollen led the de-
Continueé on Page Four

Speakers Planned by

Vocational Committee







In order to determine what voca-
tional speakers students would be
interested in hearing, the Voca-
tional Committee, in cooperation
with the Bureau of Recommenda-
tions, is sending out cards to dis-
cover the immediate intentions of
Seniors and graduate students as
to jobs and where the major voca-
tional interests of the campus lie.

The Committee plans to send out
two _cards.- Besides-a general_vo-
cational interest blank, there will
be a War Course card sent to
Seniors and graduate students, ask-
ing them whether they intend to
go into war work or war training
courses immediately, rather than
begin a specific career. From these
blanks the Committee expects to
formulate plans for the year’s vo-



cational speakers.



B. M. Students Work for Country’s Cause
As Our Armed Forces Jitterbug at USO



By Elizabeth Watkins, ’44

Last Sunday night saw Bryn
Mawvr’s first direct attempt at bol-
stering morale when a troup of
girls invaded the U.S.O. Center on
Locut Street in Philadelphia. The
vanguard consisted of ten brave
maidens who were invited for sup-
per. Hallowe’en seemed to be the
theme of the decorations so chow-
mein was served. The girls were
greeted with indifference and a
mere show of newspapers, but their
tactics must have been successful,
for the forty girls who arrived
later were greeted with whistles
and cheers. :

The men immediately swept the
girls off their feet, but it was soon
discovered that hot jitterbugging is
not B.-M.’s “forte.” An attempt
at rhumbas and the like was pre-
vented because the victrola seemed
capable of playing only I’m Dream-
ing of a White Christmas and
Praise the Lord and Pass. the Am-
munition. The yells and stamping
of feet that greeted the latter made
it a very disrupting element.

A. magician, who is a chemist in
“Ardmore on the side, entertained
with such thrilling acts as fire eat-
ing. Dancing was also varied with
bridge in which, of course, the girls
excelled. We are proud to say,
however, that the men ‘held their

own in poker and pool. There was
also a choice between comfortable
leather chairs and ping-pong equip-
Lment. After all this exertion, re-
freshments were served. This time
the Hallowe’en theme was adhered
to in the form of the traditional
cake with favors inside, and ice
cream. and cider.

Three British Marines and Miss
Raymond caused the most excite-
ment. The reason for the marines
is fairly obvious, yet we are sorry
to say that thevold line of teaching
slang was tried again. -Miss Ray-
mond’s position as an ensign in the
WAVES. was disturbing. The
presence of an officer was not al-
lowed according to the rules, but it
was undecided whether this ap-
plied to a woman or not, All cries
of “Throw her out!” were promptly
quieted.

Never has the U.S.O. been so
well stocked with women. We will
not commit ourselves on the ques-
tion of whether the girls concen-
trated or circulated. There was a
conflict between the instruction to
circulate and the instruction to
“give one’s all.” It was up to the
girls to'make their choice. Need-
less to say, their efforts were ap-
preciated — only a few heartless
men remarked on the “cold intel-
lectuals.”





Calendar

Saturday, November 7
Rockefeller Hall Dance.
Non-Resident Dance, Com-
mon Room,

Sunday, November 8

. Chapel, The Reverend
John W. Suter, Jr., Music
Room, 7:30.

Monday, November 9
Air-Raid Wardens’ Meet-
ing, Music Room, 8:00.

Tuesday, November 10
College Council, Presi-
dent’s House, 6:30.
Current Events, Common
Room, 7:30.

Wednesday, November 11
Spanish Club Tea, Com-
mon Room, 4:00.

German Club Tea, German
House, 4:00.







Co-ops Play Big Part
In Coffee Rationing



Controversy Between Co-ops,
Broadcasting Companies
Now Rages



By Barbara Hull, ’44
The growth of the Bryn Mawr
Cooperative from an original mem-
bership of 89 in March, 1939, to
430, is indicative of the spread of
the Co-op movement in this coun-

try.

Cooperatives are largely respon-
sible for the coffee rationing order
which goes into effect November
30. The Eastern Cooperative
Wholesale was the first large con-
sumer organization to urge indi-
vidual rationing. The present
method of coffee distribution on
the quota basis of 65 per cent of
the amount distributed a year ago
penalizes Cooperatives and other
fast-growing distributors. Letters
and petitions from individuals and
Cooperative Societies flooded Leon
Henderson’s office in the OPA. In-
dividual coffee rationing is the re-
sult.

The Co-ops are now engaged in
a serious controversy with the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company and
the Columbia Broadcasting Sys-
tem, which refused to sell available
time for a coast-to-coast Coopera-

|tive radio program. The program,

“Let’s Get Together, Neighbors,”
“to awaken America to the value
of Consumer Cooperativés,”’ was
scheduled to go on the air October
11 for thirteen successive Sundays.
Thousands of consumers had con-
tributed funds, an _ advertising
agency had been selected, producer
and author chosen, and the first
broadeast recorded.

KDKA, in Pittsburgh, owned and
operated by Westinghouse and rep-
resented by NBC, first objected to
these programs. CBS’s _ station
WJSV, in Washington, also ob-
jected, and Columbia said that time
could not be given because the
program was “controversial.” On
technical grounds, NBC declined to
accept ‘a contract.

Deciding that effort and money
would be wasted without the im-
portant coverage controlled by
NBC and CBS, the board of the

Cooperative League postponed the
‘program.



Freshman Elections

The Class of 1946 takes
pleasure in ,announcing the
following elections:

President, Elizabeth Hor-
rax.

Vice - president, Elizabeth
Potter.

Secretary, Ellen Brooke.

Song Mistress, Margaret
Hilgartner.











New Plan Established
For Payment of Bills
At Inn and Bookshop

The Book Shop and Inn accounts
for 1942-43 will no longer be in-
cluded in Pay. Day collections.
Patrons are requested to pay cash
at time of purchase, and a mini-
mum of 25 cents may be charged
at the Book Shop. Purchases of
less value than this amount are too
expensive to record and collect.

Accounts will be closed at the
end of the third week of each
month, and the amounts owed by
each student will be posted on Hall
and: Non-resident bulletin boards.
They should be paid on or before
the tenth day of the month. The
charge privilege will be withdrawn
for any student whose account is
not paid by the 15th, and will not
be resumed until\the overdue bill is
paid.

Checks should be sent through
campus mail, and the cancelled
check will be the receipt. For both
Inn and Bookshop cash settlements,
a cashier will accept payments in
the Office of the Assistant to the
Treasurer (the door to the left of
the water cooler on the north side
of Taylor Hall) from 2 until 4 P.
M. Monday through Friday.

Inn accounts may be settled with
the cashier at the Inn from 2.30 to
4 P. M. every day. Students are
requested to wait for receipts at
the time payment is made.





Watson to Lecture

To B. M. Farm Group

James Watson will speak to the
Bryn Mawr Farm Unit in the
Common Room on Thursday, No-
vember 5 at 7.30. Mr. Watson
is the County Agent for the Agri-
cultural_Board of _the_United
States Employment Service, and
has organized Boy Scouts, College
and Community Groups. Every-
one interested in farming is in-
vited. He will emphasize the La-
bor Shortage in farming now, and
will discuss how we can help. Mr.
Watson will speak about the Trac-
tor School Bryn Mawr will have
this winter.

There is a strong interest in the
Farming Problem on campus this
year, and the Bryn Mawr Farm
Unit has organized corn husking
and apple picking groups through-
out the fall. The Tractor School
will last through the winter
months and crop planting will be





Continued on Page four

Sophomores Give
Lighted Lanterns
In Old Ceremony



Graduates and Students-
Crowd the Cloisters
To Watch



The Cloisters were again the
scene of Lantern Night ceremonies
on Friday, October 30. Friends,
parents, upperclassmen and alum-
nae crowded the parapets to watch
the traditional exchange of lan-
terns between Sophomores and
Freshmen.

The difficulties caused by the dif-
ference in number of Freshmen
and Sophomores present, were
skillfully handled. There were 152
Freshmen and only 98 Sophomores.
It was noticeable only in that the
singing of the Freshmen was rich-
er and more integrated than that
of the Sophomores. It was man-
aged so that every Freshman re-
ceived a lantern without confusion
and complication.

Every year the traditional form
of the ceremony undergoes a few
changes. In a successful innova-
tion the last 40 Freshmen went
through the side arches instead of
following the others out the front
arch. It not only prevented pro-
longation of the ceremony, but also
made an interesting, variation in
the patterns of the lights. The
Freshmen were allowed to wear
socks and moccasins—a complete
reverse from the black stockings of
former years. :

Singing under Pembroke Arch
followed the ceremony. There for
the first time the Freshmen sang
their lyric song and class hymn.
Their rendition of “Sweet and
Low” firmly established their repu-
tation in regards to their singing
ability.



Bond Day
Thursday, November 5,
will be the first Bond Day.
Sponsored by the War Bond
Jommittee under the Alli-
ance, Bond Day. will be the
5th of every month. Agents
of the Committee in each hall
will collect the money al-
ready pledged in the Bond
and Stamp Drive. Receipts
will be given for the money
collected, and will be return-
ed when the stamps are de-

livered to the buyers.









Thirty-Five Years’ Mystery Shrouds Origin
Of B. M.’s Heraldic But Meaningful Banners



By. Anne Denny, °43

For thirty-five years the heraldic
banners have. flown from the tow-
ers of Bryn Mawr on May Day and
Commencement Day. For thirty-
five years they have been taken for
granted until some inquisitive vis-
itor at the Inauguration asked
about their origin. What did they
mean? Was there any particular
reason for dollar signs on Rocke-
feller and lions on the gym? A
wave of curiosity swept the camp-
us, bewildering administration,

students, and alumanae alike. NO- |}.

BODY knew the answer!

There are various rumors and
theories about the flags, and a few
facts. They were designed in 1906
by Elizabeth Daly, ’01, to be used
at May Day. When these originals
became ragged and forlorn and the
19836 May Day approached, Mr.
Frederick Strawbridge donated
new replicas. The only othet fact
connected with the flags that seems
to be accepted by all campus au-



a aos



thorities is that they do mean
something. “Welsh counties, I
think,” is a frequent answer to the
mystery.

Miss Petts contributes the

‘thought that one of them was the

flag flown from Buckingham Pal-
ace when the King of England was
present. Other contributions to
their history include the proposi-
tions that one is St. George’s flag,
and one is the flag of old Scotland.
Another opinion is that King Rich-
ard’s banner is among them.

No one denies that the flags have
atmosphere, that, they have some-
thing to do with May Day, and
that they are completely inexplic-
able. But there are only two peo-
ple who really know: Miss Daly
herself, and on inaccessible old
gardener somewhere in Bryn
Mawr. We look forward to the
day when the mystery is solved and
we suggest a doctoral thsis in Me-
diaeval English History to diyulge
the facts.