Harcum College - Purple Patches Yearbook (Bryn Mawr, PA)

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Turple Tazfches HE question of roommates is a most vital one in boarding school life, and will continue to be, I suppose, until girls are made perfect. This mingling of personalities is like the blending of colors. To pro- duce a lovely effect, they must not be too alike, nor must they be too strikingly different. f However, when we come to school, we have no time to hunt out a personality that becomes us, so we must take what we are given, and eagerly await the outcome, which may be successful or may not. Time alone can tell! But after all, a roommate -is a kind of semi-annual sister, and so if you like her, number yourself among the few lucky girls who are blessed with such a rare gift. Enjoy her during school, for with spring this 'ggemn will be taken from you! On the other hand if you dislike her, do not spend your time telling her so, but with a virtuous understanding, think with pity of the poor souls who must endure a sister always and silently thank the gods that you are spared such a life-time burden! Now I ask you-isnit that sound logic? BECKY TARWATER. ARE or negligence in our speech as well as in any other matter may become a habit. Those about us play a large part in the formation of this habit. For instance, a small child, if he plays with no children of his age but is constantly with his parents and older people, becomes advanced for his age and speaks like an older person. He hears English spoken correctly and imitates what he hears. School can be a place to influence us into a careless sort of slang. In a group made up of so many girls from all parts of the country it is natural that each should exhibit a pet,' expression that she has brought with her to school. Such expressions if approved quickly circulate about a school, until everyone will be joined in the cult,'. These slang express- ions are not seriously harmful, that is, as long as we practice them only at school. But the great difficulty lies in breaking ourselves of the habit after leaving school, and who would really, truly enjoy saying to her mother on meeting her, O, mother, Ilm so glad to see you, and how? JANE PENDLETON. 6

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Editorial . E ARE overjoyed! Not only are we well aware that Spring is very near, but also We have learned that Mrs. Willis is entirely recovered and will surely be with us to make our Spring term doubly happy. ISS BOTSFORD has left us, and we shall miss her inexpress ibly because of her lovable and generous personality. She is living with her brother, who is the secretary of the Alumni Association of Williams College. Our grief in losing her is purley selfish though inevitable. We are sure that this change will make her life more interesting though it deprives us of a teacher and a friend Whom We loved. BETTY DAVIS. Roommates Y ROOMMATE is my Ubest pal and severest criticf' But then, Why not? We have so many things in common. Take for instance, our friends, in and out of school they are the same, our dispositions-hers is calm, self-controlled, mine is the fiery, quick, over-it-in-a-minute type-types of dispositions that go perfectly together. Her economy keeps me from spending all my allowance three days afterI get it. My spendthriftness prevents her saving hers too much for a rainy day. And then, too, at nights, when one gets talka- tive and the other is sleepy. Do you think the sleepy one forces herself to lie awake for hours uttering feeble uh-huhisf' while the other raves on and on about nothing? Not at all. The sleepy one looks over toward the bed of the talkative one and says, 4'Will you kindly stop that jabbering. Iim not listening to a word you're saying. Now please keep still and let me go to sleep. And the talkative one says, Oh, all right. I didn't know you were sleepy. G'night!', You are probably saying, It must be wonderful to get along so nicely with your roommate. Yes it is. Itfs wonderful. But now that I think of it, why shouldnit we? Weive known each other so long. Iive been studying her every mood for so many years. VVhy, I can even read her thoughts at times. No gentle reader, I am not a mind reader. Iim her sister. J OANNE PENDLETON. 5

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Turple Tazfclzes 6Daily Themed' i Land Ahead! EOPLE in various conditions staggered to the railing and gazed at the landscape. An island was just visible. It was a drab uninteresting green with no signs of habitation anywhere. Oh, hecklv a little child in front of me muttered. Itoo, shared his disillusion- ment. Where, oh where, was the bright sun which had been painted in such glowing colors to me? Where was the tropical scenery? I fully expected to see monkeys chattering away at each other in the date palms, or cocoanuts dropping on warm pink sands. I returned to my deck chair meditating upon several ways to torture the person who had inveigled Mother into purchasing the tickets-I dozed off-Somebody was shak- ing me. Hamilton, Missf' I arose leisurely, collected my various personal belongings and then deigned to look at Hamilton. ' I received a pleasant shock. All the buildings were white. Some communicative person at my elbow' told me that rain water is the only kind of water the Bermudians have to drink, therefore the law requires all the owners to white-wash their roofs. However, I was downhearted, even the white buildings seemed squalid to me. No sun, no monkeys, no cocoanuts, no anything I had anticipated. I did ind some amusement in watching the negroes tie the boat fast when we docked. They called to each other in a sing-song and I gathered that they were recently imported Africans. The loquacious gentleman also informed me that thc population was three-fourths colored. As I descended the gang-plank, I was dazed, and overwhelmed at the number of cycles and carriages I saw. Not an auto on the whole island. I was intrigued by the customs and felt rather important when I had to open my suitcase to show that I wasnit smuggling anything in. After an especially good lunch I went wheeling. The sun came out and some of the charm of Bermuda began to insinuate itself into me. I wheeled by numerous cabbies, and other cyclists, I noticed the queer English names, Trimingham, Shaklefoot,', and Butterball , I admired the almost turquoise sea, I forgot to keep to the left, I snickered at the uniforms of the English bobbies,', I tried to memorize the rate of exchange, I wheeled down the numerous by-paths and discovered quaint spots, I ate some lichee nuts, I nearly ate an unripe banana for curiosity's sake, and I wondered at the fact that both pines and palms rubbed elbows. That evening I returned to the hotel bubbling over with news, and much excited by the unusualness of Bermuda. ELENOR LUST. 7