October 24, 1952
THE TWIG
Page three
Adventure and Exeitement
Characterize Trip to England
Any topics discussable may be
discussed here, and you
can
By MARJORIE BLANKEN
SHIP
Last summer many Meredith
I girls were reminded of the
never know what will crop up friendship and interest the fac-
in this corner. Everyone is set- ulty has for them when they re
tied into a something that is ceived postcards from the three
callpd routine and the campus Meredith teachers who were
whirligig is whirling. My brain traveling in England, Miss
was wmrling the other night—Lvlary Lynch Johnson, head of
I suppose you’ve run into this the English department; Miss
problem, too. In an earnest at- Norma Kose, Professor of Eng-
tempt to make some sense out of iish; and Miss Leslie Syron,
some confusing scenes of Shake- Professor in sociology. The
speare, I read and re-read while postcards contained enough for
my industrious roommate under- eign flavor to transplant
took the task of assisting two *Vieredith girl’s mind for a few
music education students. Here’s minutes to the land of Dover
a sample of the composite my cliffs, towering spires, ruins of
brain formed from the prattle | medieval castles, and charming
and print:
“Now what news?”
“What flat is after G?”
“Barbara, where are you?”
The muffled voice of my suite-
mate came back, “In the closet.’
At this point the hall door
opened, admitting the head ol
Lib, who airly remarked, “Sh
I’m in love!” and withdrew again
Chesire cat fashion. The con
versation resumed. “How do you
spell browsing?” “No ‘z’.”
country villages.
When the faculty members,
together with Miss lone Knight
of Chapel Hill, embarked on an
Irish freighter that carried
Mem first to Nova Scotia and
Men on to Dublin, Ireland, they
oegan an 88-day adventure that
;arried them over a great part
of Ireland, England, Shd Scot
land.
When most of us think of
traveling abroad, we think of
it in terms of a pleasant — but
“She^ gave us sixteen of the expensive — dream. However,
things.” ;he faculty members disproved
I don’t think there are that | chese former ideas of traveling
abroad with the accounts of
T . 1 , 1 , j i. ou 1 I their own economical trip.
soLS^lMin"^ ^fljSr^^llte King h’^®'’^ baggage consisted only of
Richard! being iSected. died.'®l““ '=“8 apiece,
“See there? She’s got ’em
too!”
T want a coke when some
body goes for ’em.”
many.
[Because they were “traveling
on a shoestring,” they hiked
much of the time and were thus
able to see much of the natural,
unspoiled beauty of the English
‘A flat minor. One, two, and countryside that escapes most
a half.”
“G. I got it.”
“Well, are there seven flats in
the minors?”
tourists. Many of the nights were
spent in youth hostels and with
Lnglish countryfolk.
“That is except for one twist
UA j V. n i+iof fate Mat added immeasur-
“And you shall say indeed it Uiy ^ our summer,” Miss Rose
he time . • • added quickly. “We were pasa
We talked about seances Lng through the small country
history today lets have one. gf Somerset on our way
I looked up, gravely an- see a fifteenth century
nouncing, “Got to get this king church at Stogursey. The day
killed.” was hot, and having eaten our
My roommate announced, standard lunch of bread, cheese
Got to write a letter.” and tomatoes, we wanted to
Then the seance-instigator stop for tea. As we passed down
agreed ’“Oh, well, we don’t have the street a woman stuck her
a card’table anyway.” bead out of a window and in-
This ended one of many epi- vited us in for tea. • This, in it
sodes in the study life of 221 self, was amazing, but there
Yagn. yet a greater surprise. We
When and if you are con- had not been there ten minutes
fronted with such a situation, before our hostess, who had re
grin and bear it. It really is fun. ceived her Ph.D. from Heidel-
A serious note: Busy signs berg University in Germany,
aren’t used frequently, so please offered us the keys to her win-
respect them when they are. ter home in Hampstead Heath
La solon de Senoritas Swan- in London. We all agreed that
zey Wells has come out of any suppositions we had heard
mourning. Chaunticleer, their about the English people’s
parakeet, died, but now that being cold and unfriendly were
time has lessened their sorrow, certainly squelched by this in
they are planning to get a new cident.”
bird. His name will be Phoenix, They had no set schedule, but
in order that he may be eternal, rather chose to travel at will.
As I flendishly scribbled mar- Sometime these excursions led
ginal notes beside passages of them to well-known tourist
Henry IV, I came across several spots such as Stratford, Dick
lines which I’m sure Shake- gns’ home in London, and Saint
speare intended to be lifted Martin’s church in Canterbury,
from his ponderous volumes and Other times they traveled
placed in The Twig as a per- through little villages made
sonal word to you. Here’s one: famous in the poetry of Words-
The happiest youth, receiv- Lvorth and Coleridge that re-
ing his, progress through, | mained untainted by the last
What perils past, what
crosses to ensue.
Would shut the book and sit collection of poems that will
him down and die.” deflnitely appeal to you. I’ve
I can see him now grinning | included a sample for proof:
through his goatee, (or what
ever it is) and chortling to him-
few centuries. In these rem
nants of a past era in England,
many of the peasants cottages
with their thatched roofs and
brilliant beds of tuberous be
gonia resembleR those printed
on our childhood picture puzzles.
Most these villages equalled the
quaint charm of Clovelly, a
town that allowed no vehicles
and employed donkeys to carry
wares up and down the steep,
narrow cobblestone street.
“Standing on the terrace at
Windsor castle and looking
across at the spires of Eton ris
ing near the river Thames was
one of our most impressive
memories,” Miss Syron recalled.
Because some of Eton was
bombed by Germans aiming, no
doubt, at Windsor Castle, the
contrast of the old and the new
brick is quite interesting. Al
though Eton was not in session,
we did receive an insight into
the school boy’s life at Winches
ter. There, the boys living on
campus are required to wear
black academic gowns. The
other students living in the
Master’s Houses wear straw
hats with ribbons differentiat
ing the class standing. We saw
the dining hall just as the
square, scrubbed boards were
being placed in preparation for
the evening meal.”
When asked about Oxford
and Cambridge, Miss Syron an
swered that Cambridge, because
of the quiet calm and the small
town surrounding it impressed
her much more. “Oxford was
somewhat of a disappoint
ment,” she said. “The busy
town of 40,000 people intrudes
on the peace of Oxford,
the university is made up of
many separate colleges, it is
necessary to pass through
heavy traffic before entering
the seclusion of another cam
pus.”
The tour held personal high
lights for each in the party. For
Miss Johnson, one of these high
lights was renewing a friend
ship with Mrs. Thompson, the
housekeeper of James Barrie’s
home in Kirriemuir, Scotland.
Miss Johnson particularly en
joyed the trip down to Land’s
End, the southwestern point of
England. The beautiful area,
which develops into England’s
majestic white cliffs, is rich
with the folklore and legend of
King Arthur. Another highlight
of the trip for Miss Johnson was
visiting Saint Martin’s Church in
Canterbury, which contains
many Roman bricks, and the
shrine of Thomas aBeckett.
For Miss Syron, one of the
most beneficial points of the
T H E R E 5
117c
IN THE AIR
m
By BETTY MILLER
Music is in full swing now.
From 7:30 in the morning until
10:00 at night, you can hear
pianos and voices competing—
with the organ coming out on
top every time.
The tea which Sigma Alpha
Iota gave the new students
turned out very nicely. The stu
dents who couldn’t come really
missed some delicious punch. We
asked Mr. Pratt to help us wash
the dishes afterwards. He said
he would if we’d go teach his
piano lesson. When we agreed
to teach it, he backed down
very quickly, though.
Here’s a definition I read in
the Instrumentalist which you
might try on Miss Weyer:
Opera: Where a man gets
stabbed in the back, and instead
of bleeding, he sings.
The MacDowell Music Club,
under the leadership of Estelle
Waller and Mr. Pratt, has be
come affiliated with the Music
Teacher’s National Association
as a student chapter. This is
probably the only chapter in
North Carolina. Miss Axworthy
made the recommendation last
Wednesday night at the monthly
club meeting that they join, and
everyone voted to accept it.
After the business, those present
were treated to a half-hour of
Debussy’s music. Those of you
who weren’t there, come and
join with me next month.
Saturday night the Albeneri
Trio opened the chamber music
series for the year. This Trio
is supposed to capture every
audience by a perfect perform
ance. According to a folder
issued by the Raleigh Chamber
Music Guild, even people who
consider Chamber Music high
brow and esoteric will like this
trio. By the time this issue
comes out, we’ll know whether
to agree with the folder or not.
The next group in this series is
the Alden Quartet, which is
scheduled for November 8. May
be the Albeneri Trio will have
made you like Chamber Music
so much that you’ll be at the
Alden Quartet. Who knows. . . .
trip was the visit in London to
Toynbee Hall, the oldest settle
ment house in the world and the
forerunner of America’s Hull
House.
“Although my field is sociol
ogy > I gained a great deal of
knowledge of English literature
by traveling with the three
English teachers,” Miss Syron
laughed. “I was not in favor,
however, of their poetic desire
to see the sunrise on the Thames
when I heard that the appointed
hour for getting up was four
o’clock. However it was well
worth it when we saw a regi
ment of colorful guards pass
along the embankment. An
other unique experience we had
an hour later that morning was
visiting Covent Garden, a Lon
don market, already bustling
with trade for flowers, fruits,
and vegetables.” Miss Syron’s
interest in sociology also pre
vailed in Winchester. “While
the othgrs were busy admiring
the spires of Eton from Wind
sor Castle, I was trying to fig
ure out where the Mudlark
FORMER STUDENT SPEAKS
AT BUSINESS CLUB MEET
The Tomorrow’s Business
Women had a successful meeting
this month with Miss Barbara
Todd, a recent Meredith grad
uate, as the speaker. Miss Todd
entertained the group with her
talk on the enjoyment and the
advantages of being a business
major. Helpful advice about
getting along in the office was
given the students. June Eller,
club president, recognized Miss
Nellie Ellison as the new sponsor
for the organization. Edith
Bradley, program chairman,
served cokes and cookies during
the informal discussion which
followed Miss Todd’s talk. All
business students departed with
anticipation for the beginning of
their business careers.
could have entered the forbid
ding chambers of Queen Vic
toria.”
Miss Syron was also in
terested in the Roman light
house, Pharos, which is located
(Continued on page four)
self, “And if they don’t believe |
it, wait till exam time.’'
Have you heard anyone men
tion Dorothy Parker’s book. Not I
So Deep As A Well? It’s a riot,
and it’s good to read at odd
times during the day. It is a'
Resume
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well Live.
Home Ec. Club
Enjoys Weiner Roast
The special emphasis of the
Home Economics Club this year
is to be on the home. With the
motto, “Foundation of Stone,”
the club plans to think of the
various aspects of family life
which make the home a real
“Foundation of Stone.” For the
month of October, the theme has
been family social life. In keep
ing with the idea of “Hearth
Fires,” the first meeting was
held at the chinmey on October
3. Laying aside all the cares of
the day, the members donned
their jeans to roast weiners over
the open Are and to enjoy potato
chips, slaw, doughnuts, and tea.
As darkness began coming on,
everyone gathered around the
Are in true family fashion to
sing together some old song
favorites.
FRESHMEN SEE RAY OF HOPE THROUGH MAZE OF TESTS
• o
By BETTY HOCKADAY
“What is it with these tests?”
A slang expression, yes, but so
typical of what is constantly
uttered around Stringfield and
Third Vann these days. Now
that we freshman have been
completely orientated into the
Meredith way of life, we are
discovering that tests, unfor
tunately, form a very definite
part of it. Needless to say, we
had the first round of the
dreaded “brain busters” last
week.
No matter where you were on
campus, you must have seen a
biology book with a worried ex
pression behind it, or religion
notes popping out wherever
two or more freshmen were to
gether. And let’s not forget
history! “Were Sophocles and
Socrates the same person?”
seemed to be a favorite cry,
coupled with the usual blank
expression. The halls were
echoing, also, from the practicing
feet of the folk dance students
It’s safe to say, I think, that any
Spaniard, Frenchman, or Ger
man would have shuddered at
the treatment given to his lan
guage during this time, but we
believe that practice sometimes
makes perfect. If the music stu
dents still have that dazed look
in their eyes, it’s only because
triads have proven a little too
much for them. Now about
English and math. ... I think
most freshmen would say, “Let’s
not go into that!” and you cer
tainly couldn’t blame us. You
just try writing a few thousand
English themes and algebra
problems a week, along with an
occasional test, and I dare you
to say that you still get eight
hours of sleep.
In spite of all the frightful
nightmares we’ve had concern
ing big red “F’s” most of us
freshmen are beginning to see
a ray of hope. There are seniors
at Meredith, we’ve discovered,
so we know there’s a chance for
[us.