Motto—“Sail on, Salem”
Volume II. WINSTON-SALEM, N, C., FEBRUARY 6, 1922. No. 10
AN ANCIENT SEAT OF LEARNING
Salem, Jan. 7.—You observe I date
my letter Salem, “which there ain’t
no such a place.” That is, there is
not today, but I recall upon my first
visit here the ancient and honorable
town of Salem had its separate exis
tence as did the newer and larger town
of Winston. For a long time, proua
of its honorable traditions and its de
votion to its “ancient landmarks’
which it will not permit to be removed,
Salem rather looked down upon the
new tobacco and trading town which
was geographically separated from it
by a street and nothing more—except
atmosphere.
The atmosphere was me wide guli
which at that time ran between them
and it was a gulf that seemed impas
sable. Winston smelled of tobacco.
Salem had the atmosphere of scholar,
ship and the quiet calm of a town thai
had not been touched by the moderri
industrial rush and bigness.
What happened to cause the coming
t&gether of the ancient town and th€
new and larger city ? Only one thing;
understanding. With the increase in
business, Winston became an educa
tional town, built good schools and
libraries, and Salem saw that indus
trial prosperity in Winston was a pas
sion because its people believed pros
perity essential to an opportunity fo*
leisure for culture. And Salem men
of wisdom were touched by Winston’s
growth and devlopment and saw that
large enterprise was not inconsistent
with their ancient ways, but could
promote the great educational institu-
tioB that is the center of Salem life
today as it has been for more than £
century. Winston and Salem busi
ness and professional men learned that
all that concerned the best interest;
of both demanded a union.
If Miss Salem was at first shy o.
the advances of Mr. Winston becausc
she didn’t like the smell of nicotine
she soon found that behind the tobacco
were brains and character and
breadth. And if Mr. Winston thought
Miss Salem too quiet and reserved anc
high-browed, he found that beneath
the reserve was sound judgment and a
true woman’s heart and love of reli
gion and learning. This mutual rec
ognition of each other’s virtues given
the “bless you my children” was the
music that gladdened the hearts of the
match-makers.
It was not long after the bans had
been published and the marriage cele
brated before Winston-Salem (neither
place lost its identity) was able to an
nounce that the poulation of the Twin-
City was larger than that of any other
city in North Carolina. It was a sur
prise to many and a shock to Char
lotte. It was a stunner to some. In
fact, Cary Dowd, editor of the Char
lotte News, doesn’t yet quite believe
in the accuracy of the census figures.
Today he was looking around the cities
and seemed to think there was lacking
the cosmopolitan air which marks tlit
city of Charlotte. I really believe th,
Charlotte folks would have demanded
a recount if a North Carolinian, Sam
uel L. Rogers, had not been at the heao
of the Census Bureau when the count
was made. Everybody knew that Sam
would not stand for no juggling oi
figures, and so Charlotte had to con
tent itself with a formal congratula
tion and a promise to itself that b^
1930 it would win back first place.
Two weeks ago I spoke at the Cha:
lotte high school and visited others oi
the public schools, and it seemed to
me that I had never seen so many chil
dren in a city of that poulation, and ]
was led to believe that Charlotte wat
going to overtake Winston-Salem in
the next ten-year period. Certainly i^
it does not go ahead it will not be it;^
fault, for the rule is to go back t.
large families. But yesterday, when i
spoke at the Winston-Salem high
school and saw the big new school
buildings in process of erection to
meet the need for the increasing num
ber of children, I saw that the compe
tition between Charlotte and Winston-
Salem could not be decided by thi
birthrate increase for, with an equal
start, these cities would maintain theii
present standing in poulation. Ihc
winner must depend upon attracting
the most immigrants.
♦ * ♦
This afternoon a large number o.
editors, acecpting the courteous invi
tation of Dr. Howard E. Rondthaler,
president of Salem Academy anc.
College, enjoyed a visit to this time,
honored institution. It has grown ii.
every way. It was once called “Salem
Female Academy.” There was much
trepidation about changing the name,
for these Moravians hesitate about
making changes in the ways of th,
father. But critical scholars have
thundered so much against the wore,
“female” that at last it was omitted
from the name. “Can there be an>
gender in an academy or a college or
university?” asked the critics. Tech
nically the high-brows are correct, bui
if only girls go to a college is it not
female? However, the high-brows
made their impression and even those
conservative Moravians could no more
hold on to “Female” in the name ol
their school than the Methodists coulc
keep “Female” in Greensboro Female
Academy or the Baptists at Raleigh
could make their university, so-callev
at the. start, show its sex in its namu
How long will there be any colleges
for women alone? There are prac
tically none west of the Alleghanies,
but New England and the South, whiK
taking the word “Female” out of th
name, have not yet embraced the idet
of co-education. I venture to predict
that Salem Academy and College wi*
be among the last to open its doors t
young men. What a flutter it wouk
make if Dr. Howard Rondthaler shouu
greet a clas sin the dignified oi
library made up equally of men anct
women. I wonder if the girls would
like it. Perhaps more than theii
fathers and mothers would approve.
:)r ^
Salem College possesses many in
teresting traditons and none mon
striking than the true story of girlish
loyalty to the Confederate States
which occurred when the Union troops
were marching through the old towr.
of Salem after its surernder to Stone
man.
For precaution al Ithe yoting womsn
students were required to stay withii
the buildings as the troops marchec;
by, but one irresistible Alabama g:r
opened her window on the top floor c
Main Hall, northeast corner, and flung,
out to the breeze a Confederate flag
waving it courageously, if rashly, ii.
the faces of the marching Unior,
troops.
A permanent flagstaff now stand:
above her room and is an appropriate
reminder of the reckless but spiritei
enthusiasm of this young girl.
All day long and all night long the
ancient bell which overhangs Salen^,
College strikes the hours in the belfrj
in which it was placed in the yeai
1802. Ingenious minds lof mathema
ticians have counted up the hundreds
of thousands of strokes on this ancien
bell that have announced the passing
hours day and night without interrup.
tion during 120 years.
The bell itself has a rare and un-
forgetable sweetness of tone which is
attributed to the fact that when it was
cast in 1801, ninety men, citizens of
this early community of Salem, each
cast in a piece of silver as a gift tc
the bell of the community which stil.
strikes the hour. This silvery tone is
rare and musical and invariably
catches the attention of the visitor to
the old college.
Hard against the earlier biulding
still remaining, which dates 1785, there
is rising to early completion the most
distinctive and interesting dormitcry
to be found anywhere in the South.
Externally it is a quaint and faith
ful companion piece to the building
which it adjoins and which has stood
the test and trial of a hundred and
thirty years of use.
The tile rof of the new building
harmonizes with the neighboring tiles
which were hand made in the old com
munity of Salem and have remainea
in place and in use since they were put
upon the roof in 1785. The quaint
dormer windows of the new dormitory
match the ancient dormer windows
and the Flemish bond walls, with their
alternation of red and black brick har
monize with the ancient walls adjoin
ing.
Within, however, this new building,
which so successfully reproduces the
ideals of two centuries ago in its ex
terior, will contain when finished the
last word in modem dormitory con
struction for the convenience and de
light of the new generation of Salem
College students. Every floor and in
deed the entire building is fireproof,
soundproof and even smokeproof,
demonstrating the latest word in fire
prevention and fire safety constnic-
tion.
Every floor contains it kitchenette
for those social delights so dear to the
hearts of colege women. The main
floor contains two spacious halls
A^hich will be furnished in appropriate
colonial fashion.
Salem College is devloping under
modern conditons a campus group of
buildings as distinctive as those of
great English universities.
Salem College library building is
notable in an interesting manner in
view (zf the fact, commemorated in a
tablet, that the first conference for
education in the South, held on South
ern soil, was held in this hall in the
year 1901. I never attended a more
inspiring gathering anywhere.
This conference, known as the Og-
(Continued on page four)
•nT'r ■'HT 'T’ '•■♦••’r' •’jk'up-• nio,-^
SNOW, THE USUAL ACCOMPANI-
MENT OF EXAMS.
More than once have you heard in
the days immediately preceding exams
this expression of rather doubtful
comfort, “Cheer up, exams are yet to
come!” The “weather prophetess”
who predicted snow with the coming
of exam week certainly hit the nail on
the head, for the thickest white
blanket of the season was spread on
Thursday night, January 26th, and in
creased its thickness on into Friday.
Indeed,, for the last four years with
every set of mid-term exams has come
snow. Well may we term it the usual
accompaniment of mid-years.