Bryn Mawr College - Bryn Mawr Yearbook (Bryn Mawr, PA)

Page 11 text:

iUntern i!2tgl)t We can never forget our Lantern Night. An unseasonable snow- fall had begun in the morning and by evening it had ceased, leaving the campus white and still. After the good old fashion we formed in a half circle by Denbigh and waited silently. There was a beautiful bright moon, which heightened the outline of the gray buildings against the paler sky and cast firm black shadows on the white snow. Looking away towards Pembroke we could see a cluster of yellow lights and below them dim lines of trees and bushes almost hiding the great arch. Then in the far distance we caught the first faint notes of Pallas Athena. Gradually the sound grew clearer and fuller, now and then there was a flash of light, and at length two dark figures emerged, their blue lanterns swinging at their sides and casting brilliant reflec- tions on the white below. Amid the soft, dying words of the chant the procession, with its line of swaying figures, wound nearer and nearer, till it had formed a second circle within that of 1908. Then with a murmured word of good will each Sophomore handed over her lantern to one of us; and we in our new caps and gowns, carrying our new lanterns, swept slowly away, to cherish actually in our college life that spark of the flame divine which we had received symbolically through this beautiful ceremony. Anne Garrett Walton.

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Mentor i eceptton 1905 « 1908 In October of 1904, 1905 gave us our first college reception in the Owl Hall of Rockefeller. We arrived or were taken in all lengths of best evening frocks — and some of us in gloves! — to a bower never equalled by the pallid effects in the gym. Autumn foliage bid the yellow newness of Rock, and tiny red bulbs everywhere twinkled a jovial 1905 welcome. Patiently we conversed with strange beings to whom our only link was the pasteboard tags they wore, and joyously we ate basketfuls of doughnuts and apples and drank much cider. But all this paled before the stunts on the stair-landing where Freddie Lefevre reigned as a Spanish dancer, while Peggy Ayer hung devotedly over the bannisters. But the hits, the very palpable hits, so far as the Freshmen were concerned, came when 1905 sat on the steps and sang. Individually impressive, as a body in evening dress they were invincible. Then began the bloodless slaughter that left each of us prostrate before some haughty divinity. It was a great night for Freshmen. We were elated not only by the glory of our hostesses but by the sense of our own nascent cleverness. For when we rose to sing our class song, no Hail to thee, Alma Mater ! sounded (in the words of a green freshman alias E. M.) but our own bona fide In praise of thee, oh 1908 was shouted uncertainly, on many keys, but still triumphantly. That was 1908 ' s moment. What mattered our long practising of Hail to thee, or our hasty piratical class meeting at six, back of Radnor? The triumph was ours, we had outwitted the wits. Like good sports, they forgave us; and it was well for it needed united strength to withstand the dread revelations made in chapel Monday morning. Grape stains defiled the bridal newness of Rock. ! No more class receptions to be held in the halls of residence was the edict of the office. Thus passed the first and the last Senior reception that was a thing of beauty. Mayone Lewis.

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Banner iaregentation November eighteenth was the date of our second experience with Gymnasium Dramatics, the occasion being the presentation of our banner by 1906. The whole gymnasium that evening had become Japanese. The parasols and lanterns, the bower where the characteristic decorations were concentrated, the Japanese maidens (whom we could hardly recognize as really Juniors), even the programs, in the form of little fans — this scene, to which we ourselves gave the only Occidental note, prepared us for the performance of The Japanese Nightingale. 1906 had made a charming play from the well-known novel of that name. The leading parts were taken by Phoebie Crosby, who was Jack Biglow, and Lucia Lord, who was Yaki Sani. The other players were Louise Cruice, Jessie Hewitt, Ethel Bullock, Louise Fleischman, Grace Neilson, Grace Wade, and Frances Lyon. After the play, and after refreshment, our eyes were once more directed to the stage, where Lucia appeared, reclining on a gleaming silver crescent. She gave us our banner — then of delicate fresh blue, with pure white numerals. Then the Juniors sang to us the song which is now a legacy to every even class: Two years ago, we as Freshmen. With awed voices we replied, briefly, yet summing up the event of the evening and expressing our aspirations for the future : Juniors, you have brought to us, This our banner fair, Which we now with reverent love, Salute as it hangs there: Our banner blue We receive from you, And to it and 1906 We will all be true. Louise Milligan.