Calhoun School - Ink Pot Yearbook (New York, NY)

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ink pot gone with the wind by MARGARET MITCHELL THE overwhelming enThusiasm Thai greeTed GONE WITH THE WIND is an asTonishing reacTion since iT is MargareT Mi+cheII's TirsT novel. ITs overnighT populariTy obviously gives rise To The query. whai' is The cause Tor This unanimous approval? IT is quiTe safe To use The word unanimous, because up To daTe liTTle, if any, adverse criTicism has been voiced. The firsT quaIiTy ThaT people ascribe To Miss MiTchell is her power of human characTerizaTion, especially ThaT oT Scarleff. The obiecTion To This sTaTemenT, however, in endeavoring To answer The query mighT be ThaT a characTer such as Oliver Alden in SanTayana's IaTesT book, THE LAST PURITAN, is beauTiTuIIy porTrayecl, yeT did noi' receive The boisierous acclaim ThaT ScarleTT won. My opinion is ThaT ScarleTT has characTer- isTics ThaT people find in Themselves, aIThough They may be IoaTh To admii iT, and consequenTly under- sTand her beTTer Than They do Oliver, whose ThoughTs and ideals had IiTTIe in common wiTh Those oT The general public. The conclusion arrived aT, There-:Tore lassuming good characTerizaTion on The parT oT The auThorl, is ThaT The Type of characTer porfrayed wins popuIariTy for a boolc. JusT whaT is iT Then ThaT makes ScarleTT dilifer from oTher heroines? ScarIeTT O'Hara is conceded To be selfish, aggressive, and viTuperaTive: yeT her moTives were clear, and The goal she was so earnesTly Trying To reach-ThaT of re-aTTaining a secure posiTion in liTe-is a direcf resulT of The Civil War, and as such is To be admired and sympaThized wiTh aIThough her meThods were wrong. AlmosT any girl oT sevenTeen, wiTh ScarleTT's inexperience, who is suddenly Thrusi inTo a posiTion oi as greaT imporTance and responsibiliTy as managing a planTaTion, would have hear head Turned and would become bossy wiTh The acquisiTion of power. ScarIeTT's iealousy of Melanie because of Ashley, her disregard of convenTions, her asTonishmenT when RheTT probed inTo her deepesT ThoughTs, her feeling of superioriTy when she made her daily Trip To The mill, The charms which she Turned on Tor The boys' beneTiT, and her na+uraI desire To be The belle of each parTy To malce The oTher girls iealousz These are undersTandingIy dealT wiTh by The auThor. So, Too, are The TraiTs which malce her dislilced: her indiTTer- ence To her children, her selTishness in wanTing Carreen and Suellen To geT ouT oT bed before They Tully recuperaTed from Typhoid so Thai' The pIanTaTion would prosper more quickly, and her venaIiTy in marrying Franlc Kennedy, wiThouT loving him, when he was engaged To her sisfer. The ending of GONE WITH THE WIND did naT deTracT Trom iTs appeal because people realize iT' To be The only sensible one and The ineviTable one. ScarIeTT only loved Those people whom she was unable To order around, as is shown in her devoTion To her moTher and To Ashley. IT she ceased loving Ashley aTTer she was sure of his love, iT is only consisTenT To presume ThaT she would do The same To RheTT. The name of ScarleTT O'Hara has become a synonym Tor GONE WITH THE WIND, for she is The greaTesT TacTor in cleTermining iTs popuIariTy. Miss MiTchelI deserves The recogniTion she received, Tor she labored Ten years wriTing This book. IT MargareT MiTchelI is noT Too preoccupied, in The near TuTure, wiTh The movie version of her book, I hope she will wriTe a sequel To iT ThaT will be equally successful and equally worThy of public acclaim. BETTY BARON, '37. an american doctors' odyssey By Vicior Heiser, M.D. SIMILAR To The Time-worn Tale oT The roving Odysseus who soughT sancTuary from his suffering, we Tind an even greaTer advenTure depicTed upon The sTirring pages of This modern medico's biography. His liie was devoTed To The accomplishmenT of one ideal, The applicaTion of his lrnowledge of medicine To The prevenTion of disease. VicTor Heiser was possessed wiTh The TorTiTude, deTerminaTion and inTelIigence required oT a slcillful surgeon. BuT his noble characTer soughi no personal glory. To serve his Tellow men To The besT oT his abiliTy was all This modern Odysseus aslced of life. Vividly each phase oT his resTless exisTence has been recorded, and one Tinds a Thrilling advenTure, Tense in iTs realiTy, wiTh every new chapTer. As a governmenT agenT, Heiser's worlc led him inTo TorTy-'Five disease-infesTed Toreign counTries. Washing up The OrienT, prevenTing EasTern plagues Trom ravaging The WesTern world, and inTroducing sgfniTary meThods and prevenTaTive medicines The world over-all have been a parT of his unrelenTing e oris. Dr. Heiser has been a medium Through which ignorance and supersTiTion have been dispelled in iavor of inTelIigence and science. AN AMERICAN DOCTOR'S ODYSSEY is a TiTTing TribuTe To a magnanimous individual. CAROL KADEN, '38. TifTy

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ink- pol memoirs of a small-town surgeon By John Brooks Wheeler, M.D. M R. WHEELER was graduaTed from The UniversiTy of VermonT in I875, and in The same year began The sTudy of medicine aT Harvard. He has noT only waTched The developmenT of This science buT has Taken acTive parT in iT. ln an auTobiography comprehensible To laymen he has relaTed iTs growTh by relevanT sTories and anecdoTes. in The I870's medical schools were noT graded, nor were sTudenTs. They had a Three-year course and during Those Three years were required To aTTend Two lecTure courses of from Tour To six monThs each. WriTTen examinaTions were noT given, buT aT The end of The second course oral examinaTions were given which consisTed of noT Too severe quesTions. The sTudenTs, who were required To become apprenTiced To pracTicing physicians, were supposed To acquire Their pracTical knowledge from Them. As an inTerne he waTched many operaTions which are The basis for some of his comparisons. ln his Time anesThesia made paTienTs more comTorTable Than They had been prior To iTs discovery in The l840's. Discoveries were being made. buT were Too TrequenTly scoTFed aT. since some which had been Tried 'failed because of TorgoTTen deTails or less skillful Technique. SomeTimes, Too, surgeons were Too sTubborn To vary Their accusTomed meThods. The morTaliTy raTe was Trom eighTy To nineTy-Tive per cenT, since sTerile garmenTs and insTrumenTs were noT known. Surgeons operaTed conTinually in gar- menTs ThaT had become Too old and ragged To wear in The sTreeT. These were usually sTained wiTh pus and blood. IT a surgeon had To inTerrupT an operaTion Tor any reason he would place The insTru- menT'he had been using in his mouTh and Then use iT again. Thereby endangering his paTienT and himse T. DocTors TrequenTly Travelled hundreds oT miles To operaTe on paTienTs in Their homes. The paTienTs had a horror oT hospiTals since The deaTh Toll was so high. OperaTing Tables were erecTed on Two barrels wiTh a board sTreTched across. IT a paTienT's TeeT hung oTT The Table a chair was used To prop Them up. A docTor considered himself TorTunaTe if he Tound a kiTchen Table on which he mighT operaTe on a paTienT. AT one Time Dr. Wheeler was Taking a paTienT To a hospiTal by Train, and since The paTienT had To lie down They Travelled in The baggage car. AT The TirsT sTop a leaky craTe of TrouT packed in freshly waTered grass was puT on. NexT Time Two hounds were added To The group, and The Third Time a large craTe oT squawking ducks ioined Them. Thus iT was ThaT paTienTs Travelled To The hospiTal. WhaT a conTrasT These illusTraTions presenT To modern Technique and hospiTalizaTion. Well- Trained docTors and nurses work quieTly, quickly, and eTiicienTly in disinTecTed hospiTals. The mor- TaliTy raTe has dropped To Ten per cenT. Trained men work in laboraTories daily sTriving Tor beTTer resulis by new meThods. Diseases previously incurable now have remedies. All regions in The body are explored, and diseases in Them TrequenTly cured. During The nineTeenTh cenTury surgeons did noT dare operaTe on The head, chesT, or abdomen. The complain? I have wiTh The book is ThaT Dr. Wheeler apologizes Tor whaT he says and Too oTTen musT admiT ThaT he is noT sure of his TacTs. He could have, in many cases, I am sure. veriTied his sTaTe- menTs. and where he could noT he mighT have omiTTed Them. This gives The impression ThaT he does noT know whaT he is Talking abouT, buT in realiTy The book is a Thorough and inTormaTive accounT oT The growih oi one oT our mosT viTal sciences. BETTY BARON, '37. crimefile on bolitho blane 5 By Dennis WheaTley and J. G. Links C RlMEFILE is The name given To a police record oT a crime. This book presenTs To The reader every clue and iTem oT evidence. exacTly as The police find iT. IT is unique in ThaT, insTead of giving descripTions, iT provides acTual phoTographs: insTead of described clues. The burnT maTch Tound in The dead man's cabin and a paTch of a blood-sTained curTain are given. Telegrams, hand- wriTTen messages, and reporTs are reproducTions of real ones, adding more inTeresT To The sTory and making The reader Teel like a Sherlock Holmes on The Trail. The sTory, beTTer Than The usual run oT mysTeries, is wriTTen by Dennis WheaTley, buT crediT also goes To J. G. Links, who planned iT. As DeTecTive KeTTering geTs The case, BoliTho Blane, wealThy Brifish Tinancier, has been Tound dead in his cabin aboard a yachT oTT The coasT of Florida. Aboard This yachT are The daughTer of Rocksavage, a fake counT, a Bishop, The ever-mysTerious Japanese oTTicial, several guesTs and Blane's secreTary. His hosT, CarlTon Rocksavage, reporTs Blane's deaTh as suicide, and iT is noT unTil The Chief of DeTecTives Tinds a clue in a phoTograph senT him by KeT- Tering ThaT The reader begins To suspe-:T various characTers. I Think ThaT This book, in iTs uTTer originaliTy, will appeal To all readers, while an ardenT Tan of mysTery sTories will Tind iT To be iusT The Thing he has been seeking. LILLIAN FICHTENHOLTZ, '39. TiTTy-one