Page Two.
THE SALEMITE
Dec. 8, 1944.
So You Want a Library?
If you were going; to spend a year on a
desOTt island and could take only one book
with you, what would you take? That is a
question which was asked of G. K. Chesterton
and has been asked of most of us at one time
or another. Tt never' seems to become any
easier to answer. Of all the books in the world,
it is hard to narrow our choice to one. We
pi'obably would say when asked, “Oh, if I
could only take twenty-five or thirty! Then
T could have Mark Twain and—”
“Well, just wliich ones would you take if
you -ould take thirty? Save the answer to
that question until you begin making-your
book list for the contest sponsored by our
library.
The annual library contest consists of two
parts, as you know: the booklist contest and
the personal library contest. Because the list
contest allows complete freedom of choice
and because I happen to have been hicky in
the list contest once, I especiall.y want to urge
all freshmen and sophomores to enter.
There’s probably in your mind, as there
was in mine, the question “How do I go
about making my list?” If.it’s going to be a
general list you’ll want the library backbone—
a ’dictionary. Think of all there is in that book
that you don’t'know! Then you’ll probably
remember hearing someone read a poem from
a collection you’d like to own, or perhaps Ed
ward Weeks reviewed a new book .which you
think is worth buying. Something old, some
thing new, books you know, l)ooks you don’t
know and want to know, books to read and
digest, books to entertain, books to bring back
memories—all will be included in your list
before you’re finished—and there will most
likely be more than thirty!
When the time for judging conies, your list
of preferred books will be judged on its con
tents and on your sincerity in telling why
you want the ])ooks.
So if you want to begin a library of your
own. Avhy not begin by selecting your first
thirty books? Then, if the judges like your
selection, you may win a prize and be able
to buy some of the books of your choice. It’s
worth a try!
—Mary Ellen Byrd
I'ublisLed Weekly By The Student Body
Of Salem College
Member Southern Inter-Collegiate Press A.ssociation
ST'BSCEIPTION PlflCE - $2. A YEAE - 10c A COPY
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen Byrd
Assistant Editor Effie Ruth Maxwell
Associate Editor Hazel Watts
Sports Editor Mary Lucy Baynes
Music Editor June Reid
Copy Editor Helen McMillan
Make-up-Editor Virtie Stroup
Feature Editor Marguerite Mullin
Faculty Advisor Miss J(?ss Byrd
Senora Lindsey, Frances Law, Martha Boatwright,
Helen Thomas, Bcrnice Bunn, Catherine Bunn, Jane
Mulhellem, Coit Redfearn, Adele Chase, Janet John
ston, Rosalind Clark, Genevieve Frasier, Margaret
Styres, Lynn Williard, Lucilef Newman, Rosamond Put-
zel, Peggy Taylor, Margaret Fisher, Constance Scog
gins, Maria Hicks, Rebecca Clapp, Jane Calkins, Jane
Bell, Peggy Davis, Sheffield Liles, Lois Wootem, Mar
garet Williams, Sarah Hege, Nell Jane Griffin, Jane
Lovelace, and Martha Lou Heitman.
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Emily Harris Business Manager
Mildred Grarison Circulation Manager
Betsy Thomas Advertising Manager
Betsy Long, Doris Little, Marianne Everett,
Kathleen Phillii>s, Martha Walton, Sheffield Liles,
Lomie Lou Mills, Margaret Brown, Martha Harrison,
Winifred Wall, Mary Farmer Brantley, Nancy Hills
Davis, Margaret Nichols, Mary Frances McNeely,
Margaret Carter, Betty Hennessee, Mollie Cameron,
Norma Rhoades, Mary Stevens, Marion Waters, Sally
Bosewell, Carol Beckwith, Edith Longest, Ellie Rodd,
Ann Hairston, Mary Elizabeth Reimers, Barbara
Watkins, Margaret West, Dodie Bayley, Agnes Bowers,
Greta Garth, Catherine Bunn, Leslie Bullard, Emma
Mitchell, and Henrietta Walton.
Don't Quote Me~'But....
So far this week has been fairly quiet . . . the Old Ladies beat
the Frpshmen as fwas expected . . . tra-la . . . Some of them little
gals really ever more swing a wicked stick. Con.sidering we have
escaped with all the teeth shows it wasn’t such a bad season . . .
We didn’t want that thumb on our right hand, anyway . . .
Lust.y were the cheers of the Juniors Wed. ... we feel sure
there was method in their madness . . . but, dear Ceasar, ain’t we
used to that? . . .
Yes, everything pleases us this week . . . Dean Vardell has
recovered from his escapade among the organ pipes and is now
able to speak in his norma! voice ... Of course we could complain
of tests—do you realize we have had at least one a week for the
past ten weeks—but we won’t.
Ttiere has been some discussion about pie dough and flacko,
or something like that—but w*e don’t get it, so forget it . . .
In the “Was Our Faces Red” department we found this one—
last Wed. Wo tripped down to the gym early to practice for the
first time When we happened in, it seemed some, little freshmen
wore there ahead of us just waiting for the game. In that we’re
- scared - your - going - to - beat - us - but - we - hope - you - don’t
know - we’re ■ scared - voice we began ribbing one exceptionally bright
looking little girl. Later Miss Averill introduced us—and to our
embarrassment she ain’t a Freshman at all . . . Worse than that, she
is Miss Douglas! . . . h u m m m m
Can you believe it . . . only 14 more shopping days ’til Christmas
. . . and 10 of those include term papers, tests, Christmas cards, tests,
packing, tests . . . ugg . . . then Cl^ristmas . . . back to school . . .
exams . . . registration . . . tests, . . . termpapers . . . tests . . .
• /
spring holidays . . . exatos . . . graduation . . . golly the year is
practically over!
It grieves us to learn that the Gferman Club, hasn’t been given a
chapel program . . . Can’t they possibly be squeezed in? Tt just
won’t seem like ^/hristmas if we don’t hear them sing . . ,
/
To those of you who are operatieally inclined, the operas are
back on tho radio on Sat. afternoons . . , Last week they gave Der
Valkyrie which we had to give up for a bunch of Romanesque
Cathedrals which aren’t half as beautiful . . . This Sat. — Don
Giovanni ... it ought to l#e good ...
With these kind thoughts we leave you now ... be sure and
got the letter off to Santa Claus . . . Instead of leaving him a cup
of coffee and a piece of cake, it’s cigarettes the old gentleman pre
fers . . . heh, heh . . . Good night, children . . .
El sabado, 9 de deciembre, es un tiempo muy importante^ al
colegio de Salem. Las senoritas estaran excitadas a causa del baile
y hara unos pocos caballeros para las senoritas que tienen suerte. Y
naturalmente hara alia las serpientes para bailar con los amigos de
las otras. ‘
Siempre nos gusta el baile de Pascuas porque sea cerca las
vacaciones y hay mucha excitaci6n. Las decoraciones son rojas y
vercles, y el gimnasio es muy diferente de los otros dias d6 la
semana.
Esperamos verlas al baile y tambiSn esperamos que tengan una
cita. Hasta el sabado!
The Christmas Poem
The following poem, written by Elizabeth
Maddox Eoberts of Kentucky, has been read
at every Senior Vespers program for the
last twenty years. Di-. Rondthaler explains
that he reads “Christmas Morning” each year
because it brings Bethlehem and the Christmas
story into our daily lives.
CHRISTMAS MORNING
1
If Bethlehem were here today.
Or this were very long ago.
There wouldn’t be a winter-time
Nor any cold or snow.
I’d run out through the garden gate,
And down along the pasture walk;
And ofi^ beside the cattle-barns.
I’d hear a kind of gentle talk.
I’d move the heavy, iron chain
And pull aw’ay the wooden pin;
I’d push the door a little bit
And tiptoe very softly in.
The pigeons and the yellow hens
And all the cows would stand away;
Their eyes would open wide to see
A lady in the manger hay.
If this were very long ago
And Bethlehem were here today.
And Mother iield my hand and smiled—
I mean, the lady would—and she
Would take the woolly blankets off
Her little boy so I could see.
His shut-up eyes v.^ould be asleep.
And he would look like our John,
And he would be all crumpled too,
And have a pinkish color on.
I’d watch his breath go in and out.
His little clothes would all be white.
I’d slip my finger in his hand
To feel how he could hold it tight.
And she would smile and say, ‘Take care,’
The mother, Mary, would, ‘Take care;’
And I would kiss his little hand
And touch his hair.
While Mary put the blankets back
The gentle talk would soon begin.
And when I’d tiptoe softly out ,
I’d meet the wise men going in.
—^Elizabeth Maddox Roberts
The Front Page
Just in ease you’re curious, the red art on
the front page was not a niere trick of the
linotype machine. The design was drawn by
Lucile Newman and was printed from a
linoleum block cut by your editor.
WHERE ARE THE CIGARETTES?
There have been many theories and assump
tions, some of them false, regarding the cur
rent cigarette shortage. We would attempt
to clear up the situation slightly.
The reasons for the shortage, as explained
by Miss Evabelle Covington,' are these:
1. There are a lot of cigarettes now on
their way overseas, an especially large ship
ment having been sent for Christmas.
2. There is .spotty distribution, and there
are some prevailing black markets.
3. There is a shortage of leaf tobacco, pos
sibly caused by government restriction of
growers’ acreage.
4. There is a shortage of labor, both on
farms and in factories.
5. There is a high domestic demand due to
(a)^ an increase in the purchasing power of
individuals and (b) an increase in smoking
due to restlessness and nervousness.
The last reason seems to rank high in im
portance of the five. Such ■ being the case,
there can be no relief for the shortage until
more tobacco is supplied and manufactured
into cigarettes. Since growers are restricted
in acreage and because tobacco must be stored
approximately twenty-three months before
manufacture, any immediate solution seems
impossible.
Looking the facts in the face, we would
say that now is as good a time as any for
the person who has been trying to quit smok
ing to stop. He has the assurance of at least
a year s adversity in the smoker’s world.