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

Page 19 text:

The Only Ones That Didn ' t Care A Damn Four weeks after 1920 entered college we had become famous. Not through effort of mind or muscles did we reach this exalted degree, but only through full development of our natural animal spirits. A new era was ushered into Bryn Mawr; the fall of 1916 was marked by the most thrilling incident of the last decade. 1919 voted us Fresh. In accordance with a tradition which for some years past it has not been necessary to revive, they dubbed us beyond the pale of decent society and cast us into outer darkness. Can we ever forget the solemn portent of those days, when Freshman greeted Freshman with awe-stricken whisper, and when only a common bond of misery kept us from complete despair? It was the fall weather, combined with quarantine, that made us so kittenish. In dining room or Pembroke arch, at hockey field or Senior steps, we did everything in the wrongest way possible, till Sunday afternoons buzzed with the tale of our sins. The News opened the formal campaign with a sentimental headline, Our Peg Squelches Freshmen. A series of properly shocked articles followed, and we were informed by the Honorable Editor that Miss Verdant Greene has but little more time to put away childish things before she may be dealt with very stringently. We should have become enraged, and have burnt the editors in effigy. ' 21 has since shown us the correct reaction to such a rebuke. But our overdeveloped sense of humor urged us to give them something to be shocked about. By November the Dirty Seven had gained a decided headwav in their desire to make the campus a snappy place to live in. Their repertoire included all things desirable, from picking up handsome youths in automobiles to swiping Peg ' s B. M. sweater from the sidelines. The climax came with Sloanie ' s and Peggy Dent ' s mad plunge through flower vases out Hel ' s window, and in the desecration of ' 17 ' s banner by six common bath towels. Our tale of crime was quickly told, and retribution was swift and sure. The red and green stood side by side in many firm interviews. In vain Mudge and Marty plead for us — our innocence and our childish pleasure; the hearts of the powers that be were not softened. ' 19 took us to Sophomore Dance with smiling faces, and the next day sent us The Letter. Peg Hutchins staggered into the dining room with that tragedy queen expression, and reduced Phoebe to sobs at the disgrace she, the Secre- tary, had brought upon the class. No words can describe the blackness of the gloom that settled upon us. Peg, overwhelmed by the shock, departed to the Infirmary, leav- ing Phoebe and me to deal with the awful tragedy. With the help of the dictionary we answered ' 19 ' s letter and then miserably awaited the class meeting. The solemn session was opened by the reading of the letter. Phoebe did it well, although she choked over uncalled for actions. The class sat with trembling lips and tragic eyes, as one by one the Dirty Seven stood before them and apologized. I closed the meeting with an impassioned appeal for us to rise up from the ashes of our dead hopes, and to renew the freshness of our youth in the paths of peace. Title supplied by editors. MlLLICENT CAREY 15

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Where There ' s a Will There ' s a Way Our education was progressing famously under ' 17 ' s able supervision, when the time arrived for Lesson Two. It came in the shape of Freshman Show. They told us that you never know your class till you give a play. It would be equally true to say that you do not know the office till then. But before the play is over, you arrive at a working knowledge of its nature and habits — unless you have perished in the struggle. The first hitch in proceedings came when Milly Peacock discovered our animal was to be a Jabberwock. As soon as it had been changed, the committee kept it a secret even from the class, although it did not require a brilliantly inductive mind to guess t hat nimble little Fox made an excellent rhyme to lair among the rocks. After that, our indefatigable committee made eight abortive attempts to compose a show that would not require: a. Too much effort for the class. b. Too much expense. c. Too much tolerance on the part of the Seniors. Finally, P. T. made confusion worse confused by saying that we must give a Noah ' s Ark, waxworks, or a vaudeville. Some master mind — probably Lorna ' s — saw an opening at this point. The show, as presented to P. T., consisted of (a), song; (b), dance; (c), whistling stunt, etc. Then it was presented as a full-fledged musical comedy, while someone in an inconspicuous spot set up the appropriate letters for each feature. P. T., as we had been at some pains to find out beforehand, was not in Bryn Mawr at the time. At the crucial moment, a new merit regulation deprived the choruses of their best voices. This difficulty was easily overcome by slipping the girls in question in as negroes, where detection, to say the least, would have been difficult. The dress rehearsal was a long-drawn-out agony. The singers were flat; the dancers were everything they shouldn ' t be; the spotlight left the principals in darkness, and played erratically over the holes in the choruses ' stockings and unpainted por- tions of the backdrop. Encouraging people told us that the worse the dress rehearsal went, the better the play would be; and then predicted enormous success for the next night. Miracles occasionally happen. Minstrel Show was one, the Circus was another, but Freshman Show eclipsed even these. Gerry alone was worth the price of admis- sion. Even one of The News ' well refrigerated write-ups thawed a little when it came to her. Everyone who had seen the rehearsal was agreeably startled when the choruses began at the same time as the music. Jinks started by captivating the leader of the orchestra, and ended by enthralling the audience. She whistled not wisely but too 17