Page Foizr
THE TWIG
January 21, 1949
The sixteen seniors majoring
in business were guests Monday
evening, January 10, when Dr.
Estelle Popham, of our business
department, entertained at a
dinner party at her apartment in
the Cameron Court Apartments.
A very delicious meal with all
the trimmings was served by Dr.
Popham, who admitted she had
worked hard with the prepara
tions because she knew several
of us were taking the bride’s
course this semester. She chose!
as her helpers the engaged girls
in order to give them further
practical experience. Special
treats of the meal were the
pickles which came from Mis
souri, Dr. Popham’s home state,
and were canned last summer by
her. Marie Wilson was eager to
get the recipe for the dessert,
and Dr. Popham jokingly told
her all that was required was a
can opener.
Later in the evening, Becky
Lynn Griffin presented Dr.
Popham a green fitted make-up
kit as a going-away gift from
the seniors.
After a very interesting and
informal evening of rare stories
and tales, we returned to Mere
dith, happy about the gay
evening, but sad because we
knew Dr. Popham would not be
with us next semester. We are
going to miss her in our depart-!
ment, but we wish her great
success in her new work at
Hunter College in New York
City.
—The Senior Business Majors.
THE NJfiONAt FOIINOAIION HR INFANTIIE PJRSUSIS
fflANtiUN 0. fiOOikVfi.r, fOOHOiff
ALPHA RHO TAU
On the rainy evening of Janu
ary 5, the Alpha Rho Tau
members gully-washed their way
into the hut and held their
fourth regular meeting of the
year.
They were greeted by a fire
and an invitation from advisers
Mrs. Ream and Mr. Reynolds to
experiment in finger-painting.
After a due number of finger-
painted dead dragons and
storms-at-sea were completed,
the members decided to try their
luck in the progressive drawings
suggested by vice-president,
Marjorie Joyner. The drawings
were progressive in that each of
the ten members present had a
share in every composition.
Among the more successful of
the resulting composites were:
Feathers in the Fog, Rain Storm,
Dream Man, and the award
winner. Blind Date. The prize
winning qualities of Blind Date
were generally attributed to the
wealth of personal experience
which went into the picture’s
make-up.
It is hoped that at the next
meeting of the Alpha Rho Tau
more students from various de
partments will be able to attend
since the only requirement
exacted of the club members is
that they have a genuine interest
in art.
Above is the official 1949
March of Dimes poster, which
will spark the annual drive
against infantile paralysis. The
poster girl is Linda Iris Brown,
4, of San Antonio, Tex. Linda,
left, was a victim of the 1946
polio epidemic. Now she plays
actively and rides her tricycle
like other girls. The National
Foundation for Infantile Paraly
sis will conduct the March of
Dimes from January 14 to 31,
1949. The Junior Chamber of
Commerce will sponsor Ra
leigh’s campaign.
GRANDDAUGHTER’S CLUB
An annual event on the college
calendar is the coffee-hour given
by Miss Mae Grimmer in honor
of the senior members of the
Granddaughters Club. The coffee
was given after dinner on Janu
ary 4, in the faculty parlor.
The guests were greeted by the
hostess, who introduced them to
the receiving line composed of
Jennie Lou Newbold, president;
Rose Marie Yarborough, vice-
president; Dorothy Sadler, Doris
Thomasson, Marie Wilson, Jean
Gaddy Freeman, Nancy Hall,
and Katherine Lewis.
The table was covered with a
lace tablecloth, and a bowl of
red carnations flanked by red
candles was the centerpiece. Mrs.
L. A. Peacock poured coffee and
was assisted by Anne McCrack-
Williams Opens
First Exhibit
MARGARET WEBSTER
COMPANY PRESENTS
SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY
Those who have resisted en
tering the “closed” art gallery,
finally saw on Friday evening,
January 14, the best work of
Marjorie Williams in her grad
uating exhibition.
Although it was her first ex
hibit here at Meredith, Marjorie
has shown her work at the Wom
an’s Club in Hendersonville and
at the North Carolina State Fair
where she won a blue ribbon.
Marjorie’s exhibit consisted
mostly of portraits and pastels.
Marjorie has always shown
an interest in art. She was great
ly influenced by her grandmoth
er and her sister who now paints
portraits. Marjorie started her
study at Mars Hill where she was
art editor of a campus publica
tion for two years. She contin
ued her study at the University
of Miami before coming to Mere
dith. At Meredith, Marjorie has
been art editor of the Oak Leaves
and has done some art work for
the Acorn.
After graduation, Marjorie is
moving to Germany and hopes to
continue her art work there.
MRS. MACMILLAN
(Continued from page one)
growing up in the medical world
that polio was not as contagious
as had been previously thought.
One of her greatest aims, this
polio leader said, is to allay some
of the great fear of the disease
so that the work for its eventual
elimination may continue.
On Monday evening, January
17, at 8:30 p.m., the Margaret
Webster Shakespeare Company
presented Hamlet in the Me
mortal Hall, Chapel Hill, North
Carolina. Margaret Webster is
well known for the excellence
and vibrancy of her productions.
John Mason Brown in the New
York Post says of her directing,
“It is at all times original and
with an invention which can
only spring from a profound
comprehension of the text. In
scene after scene it ignites the
action with a fire which I, for
one, have never seen equaled.”
Margaret Webster’s produc
tions are now made available for
the first time across the land by
S. Hurok who has put into
practice his theory that the best
in entertainment should be pro
vided for the greatest number of
people.
A chartered bus carried a
group of Meredith students to
Chapel Hill for the performance.
Miss Catherine Hilderman was
in charge of arrangements.
A Reporter Interviews
Dr. Edwin McNeill Poteat
By Beverly Batchelor
ODE TO A BORROWER
en, Barbara Pearson, Addie El
liott, and Nellie Bostic.
Guests were members and
former members of Miss Grim-
mer’s counsel group, officers of
major organizations, members of
the Granddaughters’ Club, and
all resident faculty members.
Around one hundred guests at
tended.
I think that I shall never see
The dollar that I loaned to thee.
A dollar that I could have spent
For varied forms of merriment;
The one I loaned to you so
gladly.
The same which I now need so
badly.
For whose return I had great
hope.
Just like an optimistic dope;
For dollars loaned to folks like
thee
Art not returned to fools like me.
—The Spectator.
“Just what is the purpose of
this visit. Miss Batchelor? Are
you a member of the F.B.I.?”
A distinguished, tweed-clad
gentleman with a trim mustache
and penetrating eyes ushered me
into his newly-acquired office
at Pullen Baptist Church.
“I’m a little skeptical,” he con
tinued, settling himself behind
the desk and motioning me to a
chair opposite him, “about what
will happen in the next few
minutes.”
I’ll admit, until that moment
I had been skeptical, too—more
than skeptical ■—• but the charm
and self-confidence of Dr. Edwin
McNeill Poteat soon dispersed
any qualms that I might have
felt.
“What is the underlying motif
of all my writings?” he mused
in answer to my first question.
“All my books, all my poems are
simply enlargements of my own
Christian philosophy. To be
brief, each separate work is an
attempt to bring to some
problem the Christian impera
tive, all problems being under
the scrutiny of Christian obliga
tion. Assuming the underlying
force of a life center in God, I
concentrate on the ethical teach
ings of Jesus and what they
mean in life today. For example,
an unpublished novel of mine
involves, basically, the race con
flict. The daughter of an East
Indian native, being in love with
an American engineer, must
combat the problem which
society will force on her, her
husband and, primarily, their
children if they marry. My The
Social Manifesto of Jesus in
volves the economic problem;
the Centurion is the story of
conflict between love and duty.
We are living in a tension
conscious age, and we can best
meet the resulting problems by
a study of how He met the
tensions of the last few days of
His life.”
“As for immediate stimulus,”
he continued at my prompting,
“the New Testament, the gospels
especially, is my primary source.
More superficially, however, I
recall one particularly interest
ing situation. At a theater one
evening in New York, waiting
for the curtain to rise, I began
to scribble a sonnet on the back
of a program. I wasn’t especially
interested, but somehow it grew
into two poems, one of which
was published in the Saturday
Review of Literature.”
“But do you enjoy writing. Dr.
Poteat,” I questioned, “or do
you find it laborious?”
“Writing is hard work,” he
smiled disarmingly, “and anyone
who says it isn’t is a phoney.
But,” he hastened to add, “it is
most enjoyable. Writing is like
being in love. Perhaps you want
to think of other things, but
somehow you can’t get away
from thoughts of your sweet
heart. Get an idea for a book or
a poem, and it plagues you until
it comes through in some satisfy
ing way. I spent two years
writing Centurion. Ideas would
come to me in the middle of the
night. I was obsessed with it.
When I had finished, I went
down and read the complete
work to Mrs. Poteat. There was
nothing to cry about, yet, when I
stopped reading, I felt that I
must cry or ‘bust’. I cried like a
baby. Someday I want to write
an article on the psychological
factors of writing. It would make
an interesting study.”
“Do you find it necesary to do
much revision on a work of this
sort?” I inquired.
“An author,” he explained
gently, “never stops revising.
Each writer probably thinks his
style best and wants to keep
polishing up his work. He is
never satisfied.”
“Which of your writings did
you enjoy most?”
He considered my question
thoughtfully for a moment, then
answered, “Certainly I got most
satisfaction out of Centurion.
You see, I was very much in love
with the heroine; she was my
wife! The Last Reprieve, my
most recent publication, wrote
itself in fourteen days. I got a
certain amount of satisfaction
from the fact that it immediately
evoked a good deal of favorable
comment from those who read
it.”
“I suppose that the next ques
tion in order,” I continued,
“would concern ‘advice to young;
writers.’ Have you any?”
“The only way to write is to
write. Writing takes patience and
time, and this is an impatient
world. That makes it doubly
hard. Next, I’d say learn the En
glish language; make a word say
exactly what it means. People
today don’t talk or write care
fully. They make a ‘you know
what I mean’ suffice when all
they need to do to find a suitable
word is to pick up a dictionary.
I’m a great believer in diction
aries, by the way. One should be
discriminating about anything
he writes or says. Take letters,
for example. People don’t write
letters anymore. They dictate
them to their secretaries, and
their secretaries can’t spell, and
the receiver can’t read, and . . .
well, you see what a cynic I am
about this whole affair.” He sat
up with an air of finality, care
fully put his hat on, and began
gathering mail which was scat
tered at random on his desk.
“Thank you so much. Dr.
Poteat,” I exclaimed, correctly
interpreting these gestures as a
dismissal.
“You're welcome,” he smiled
broadly.
SUCCESS EVALUATED
This world of cut-throat com
petition and dog-eat-dog in
which we find ourselves today
sees us sending cheers up to the
person who has triumphed and
won in the battle of rivalry.
It is the man who has won the
most power over his fellowmen,
the man who has obtained large
numbers of possessions, the man
who has the greatest notoriety
that we pay homage to, and
stand admiring his successes.
To the man who has tri
umphed over his fellowmen,
whether it is a success of
athletics, grades, money, posi
tion or possession, goes the world
acclaim.
But how many have risen only
by pushing a fellow man down?
Is the person who has won the
“A” the one to be admired when
he refuses to aid the friend with
the “D”? Is the person who has
won the advantage at the other
person’s expense the one to
extrol? Is it the man who has
won who needs encouragement?
Not to be the apple of the
crowd’s eye, not to be the object
of flashy newspaper copy, but
just to be a person who has done
his very best and has seen the
other man walk off with the
prize and win the goal is deserv
ing of admiration.
To try one’s best and miss the
mark, to give all and receive
nothing, and still face life with
cheerfulness, kindness and opti
mism is a triumph. To rejoice in
another’s success and be happy
in knowing that he has done his
best is the real sign of victory.
The sin is not in missing the
goal; the sin is in not trying.
—The Graphic.
George Pepperdine College,
Los Angeles