THE SALE MITE
Re^leotlOHl..
Once, long ago, in a far away country, on
top of a green hill, shaded by green trees, was
a little green schoolhouse.
Every morning 28 little children would skip
and jump up the smooth green hill and every
afternoon they would skip and jump down the
smooth green hill.
While they were on the smooth green hill,
they were in the little green schoolhouse. They
learned things there. They learned about sub
tracting and Columbus and Alice in Wonder
land. They learned these things in the sun
shine and when it rained. (But the sun shone
most of the time in that country).
This may seem strange. A little green
schoolhouse may seem strange, but there was
one thing that was stranger than either of
these things. These 28 tihildren had never
seen a mirror. This may sound strange to us,
but it was the normal thing in that country.
There were no mirrors in that country. Not
one.
A wise, wise king had had all the mirrors
broken 182 years before. You see he was the
cousin of the Sleeping Beauty’s father and he
was wise about mirrors. He was wise and you
shall see why.
One day the 28 children were reading the
story of Alice and the March Hare. The
teacher was seated quietly at the shiny desk
waiting to answer questions. She knew the
children would have questions. They were
anxious to understand things. They were
anxious to understand and not just to read.
She smiled at their serious faces as they
quietly turned the pages.
She smiled because just a few minutes be
fore they had been laughing at two squirrels
playing in a tree outside the window. They
could be gay and they could be serious. They
were happy children.
All of a sudden there was a “knock, knock”
at the little green door. The children looked
up and the teacher smiled. “Come in,” she
.said.
The door slowly opened and there stood a
handsome young man. He was dressed all in
red velvet. He wore tight red velvet pants,
a red velvet shirt, and around his broad
shoulders was a flowing red velvet cloak.
He stood in the doorway and smiled. The
28 children and the teacher smiled.
He did not speak. He did not have to. The
happy children and the quiet teacher in the
green schoolhouse enjoyed just looking at him.
He stood there smiling for a second, then
from under his red velvet cloak he took a
large flat package wrapped in red paper with
a black ribbon. Then he turned and walked
away from the little green schoolhouse into
the green forest.
The happy children and the quiet teacher
eagerly opened the package. There, under the
red paper and black ribbon, was something
they had never seen before. There was a
huge mirror Avith a gold frame. “Oh,” said
the happy children looking bewildered. “Oh”,
said the quiet teacher, looking worried.
She knew. She tried to fold the paper over
the reflection, but then a strange thing hap
pened. The paper became red dust in her
hands.
She did not know what to do. She did not
know what to do.
Then the little girl with the long curls saw
her blond curls for the first time. She liked
what she saw. She touched her blond curls.
The little boy with the brown eyes saw his
brown eyes. He liked what he saw. He
touched his brown eyes. He did not like blond
curls because there were blue eyes with them.
She did not like brown eyes because there
was brown hair with them.
Slowly the children saAV their hair and ey^
and noses. They liked what they saw. They
did not like the other hair and eyes and noses.
The teacher had tears in her eyes as the
little girl with the blond curls and the little
boy with the brown eyes walked out of the
little green door into the green forest.
They said as they walked' slowly away, “I
shall go to a place where all children have
blond curls.” “I shall go to a place where all
children have brown eyes.”
Soon the green forest was full of wandering
children and the teacher stood in the green
door with a tear in her eye.
®t)E ^alemite
Here And There
By Freda Siler
Last week Communism was very
much in the news. At home Mc
Carthy raged against the army and
nearly everyone raged against Mc
Carthy. Abroad the Communist
question concerned the war in Indo-
China, a big sale in Russia, and the
failure of peasant cooperation in
China.
The war in Indo-China, which
has been going on for over seven
years, may soon come to an end.
At least it will if the French can
make it. The French now realize
that they cannot triumph over the
Communist forces, although they
are .strong enough to keep the Com
munists from winning.
In preparation for the forth-com
ing Geneva Conference, the French
have announced that they will ne
gotiate. They say, however, that
they cannot accept a cease-fire that
will turn Indo-China over to the
Communist forces. How this will
work out we can only wait and see.
The U. S. is now financing this
war up to 70% of the total finan-
icial cost. This aid has been sup
plied mainly in the form of weap
ons, but we have also sent 250 Air
Force technicians to Indo-China,
We are fighting Red aggression
there in ..munitions as we did with
men in Korea.
After 36 years of Communist rule,
the people of Moscow finally saw
on sale such materials as silks and
satins. These materials, made . in
Soviet textile plants, were rather
high for the Russian people, how
ever. Cost‘of these luxuries: velvet,
$52.50 a yard; flowered silk, $32.;
plain and striped corduroy, $35,
Average Avage in Russia — $175 a
month.
The crowd at the sales, so large
that the militia stood by to keep
order, was awed, both at the beauty
of the materials and, no doubt, at
the prices.
The Communist collective pro
gram seems to be running into
trouble in China. The richer peas
ants don’t want to give up what
they have, so they raise only what
they need. .
The poorer peasants are afraid to
step up production because then
they would be elevated in class and
lose some of their land. The rest
of the peasants think that “social
ism” will solve all their worries, so
they don’t worry, they just wait for
“socialism” to come.
The Communist party also ran
into a little trouble in Italy. In
the Reddest province there, 66 of
the communities — 1,500 registers
party members—turned in their
party cards.
Their explanation: “It costs too
much to be a Communist. There
are too many things we must con
tribute to.”
McCarthy continued his^ fight
against subversive activity in the
army by questioning Private Mar
tin Belsky, a doctor who was
drafted and denied a commission
because he refused to answer ques
tions about Communist affiliations.
He still refuses to answer.
Speaking of McCarthy, President
Eisenhower said, “We are defeat
ing ourselves if either by design or
through carelessness we use me
thods that do not conform to the
American sense of justice and fair
play.”
McCarthy replied, “Far too much
wind has been blowing from high
places in defense of this Fifth
Amendment Communist Army Of
ficer.”
Last week Eisenhower appointed
the first Negro to a sub-cabinet
position,
Chicago Attorney J. Ernest Wil
kins will be Assistant Secretary of
Labor for International Affairs. But
the main thing to note about Wil-
(Continued On Page Four)
Play Review
Published every Friday of the College year by the
Student Body of Salem College
T Subscription Price—$3.50 a year
Editor-in-Chief —— Alison Britt
Associdfe Editor : Connie Murray
Managing Editor 2 : Sally Reiland
Feature Editor 1- Be;'/
Copy Editor Boyd
By Mary Anne Raines and
Connie Murray
In producing “The Member of
the Wedding” last Wednesday and
Thursday, the Pierrettes scored
another triumph. Much of the
credit is due the director, Miss
Elizabeth Reigner. The play is a
delicate one to handle in that its
meaning could be lost by- a group
of amateur actors, reducing it to a
ridiculous comedy. Miss Riegner
did an excellent job in interpreting
the problems of an adolescent girl
trying to grow up.
Laura Mitchell as Frankie Ad-
dams, the unhappy .adolescent, gave
a convincing performance. She
communicated to a responsive audi
ence the fellings of loneliness and
insecurity which so often accom
pany adolescence. The audience
was always aware of her inner con
flicts, because she managed to por
tray them through her actions as
well as her speeches.
With seemingly boundless energy,
Laura was Frankie at every mom
ent. She never lapsed in her in
tensity, whether in a childish action
or an adult realization.
As Berenice Sadie Brown, the^
Negro mammy, Jane Brown gave a
sincere performance. She handled
the role, which could have been
farcical, with such feeling that the
audience really experienced the loss
she felt at the end of the play.
Even in her lines rebuking
Frankie and John Henry, Jane con
veyed the deep love and attachment
which Berenice felt for the child
ren.
As the Negro mammy whose
“glass eye bothered her socket”,
Jane was adequate and typical.
Ten-year old David Parrish, who
played the part of John Henry
West, won the hearts of the audi
ence as the seven-year old cousin
of Frankie. He was aware every
moment of the situation around
him and completely lost himself in
his role. David showed excellent
concentration and timing, and
should be commended for a job
well done.
In the supporting role of T. T.
Williams and Honey Camden
Brown, Don Britt and Bruce Do
well were excellent in their por
trayals of two entirely different
types of Negros.
Mr. Britt played the understand
ing, mellowed T. T. with a sym
pathetic nature. Mr. Dowell as
Honey perfected the shiftless, re
sentful Negro who played the bugle,
and justly rated the title of “Light-
foot.”
The other members of the cast
were subjected to smaller roles, but
should be commended for their in
terest and patience. Though ap
parently insignificant, three of the
supporting characters gave very
significant clues to the actions of
the main characters.
Ginger Dysard was Janice, the
bride; Herb Bunin played Jarvis,
Frankie’s brother, and Doug Carter
was cast as Frankie’s business-
minded father.
Other members of the cast were
Juanita Efird as Mrs. West, Caro
lyn Miller as Helen Fletcher, Jane
Graver as Doris, Ann Mixon as
Mary, Paulette Nelson as Sis Laura,
and Bob Benton as Barney Mac-
Kean.
Special mention goes to Emily
Baker and her crew for the set.
The colors and style were sugges
tive of the whimsical, romantic at
mosphere in which the three main
characters played the kitchen and
yard scenes.
It pointed up the closeness of the
three as they experienced the mom
ents which “even now are passing
and will never come again”.
^ Credit, is also due Martha Thorn
burg for the moody music of the
colored people; Sandy Whitlock
for properties, including a stove,
refrigerator, and sink with running
water; and Francine Pitts, for
colorful, well-suited costumes.
Louise Fike was in charge of the
constantly-changing, atmospheric
lighting, and Ruth Lott headed the
make-up crew which mastered age
■and youth, whites and Negro.s.
By Donald Caldwell
Iodine knew that she would have to accept
graciously. She couldn’t possibly let the whole
school down. Going with Charles Medlin and
Clem Sandresky wasn’t enough to keep her
occupied, so she might as well be president
of the Student Government. She had several
good pictures that could he used tvith her
press releases-—the one of her addressing the
Idle Valley scout troop or the one taken when
she was president of her first grade class?
Oh well it really didn’t matter, the papers
would probably take some new photos in real
executive-looking poses.
Iodine put on her best cashmere and her
new skirt for dinner Monday because she knew
the nomination committee would announce the
candidates for stee gee president Alice would
surely come to ask her if she would accept
before she made the announcement. Iodine
almost choked on her first filet when Alice
rang the gong and announced that the candi
dates for president of stee gee were Bobbi
Kuss and Sue Jones.
Iodine consoled herself Avith the thought
that she had ahvays been the athletic type
anyway. She would really go all the A?ay Avith
the A. A. Salem Avould organize the first a?o-
men’s football team in the Atlantic Coast Con
ference and they Avould play bi-Aveekly games
with Carolina, Duke, State, Davidson and
Wake Forest. Maybe they would get a bid to
the Orange Bowl—anyway, the Shrine Bowl.
Or maybe vice-president of the Student
Government. “Isn’t she Avonderful?” everyone
would exclaim as she introduced Robert Mit-
chem and Montgomery Clift to give a panel
discussion on “What I Like In A Date.” She
Avould really surprise the faculty Avith the ease
she had in discussing Avorld affairs with
Churchill, McCarthy, or BisenhoAA^er.
She had ahvays felt close to Florence Night
ingale and Avould love to carry hot tea (the
price of coffee is rising) to all the poor
broken-hearted girls avIio had just gotten
“dear Joan” letters. Surely she Avould be an
excellent president of the “Y”. Her press re
leases Avould carry pictures of her in the Little
Chapel dusting the hymnals. Everyone Avould
knoAv that she Avas the guiding spirit on
campus.
But AAuth all her originality. Iodine was cer
tain to he chairman of May Day. Her theme
Avould be the Mardi Gras, and she Avould trans
form the May Dell into a typical Nbav Orleans
ballroom. Surely the American Ballet troupe
Avould gladly come to help Avith the dances,
and Rudolph Bing Avould help Avith the sets.
Or maybe she could stage “Kismet” or Ca|i
Can” for those unfortunate girls Avho hadnt
seen them.
Miss Byrd would certainly put up a figkt for
her to be editor of the Salemite or Sights an ^
Insights because of her remarkable literary
ability. She had been the star reporter foi
the Idle Valley High School “Purple and
Green.”
Iodine’s Salemite Avould have an American
Press hook-up and Avould come off the press
tAvice a day. She Avould have Steinbeck an
HemingAvay as guest columnists once or twme
a Aveek. With a Salemite reporter covering
Washington and New York, and maybe a or
eign correspondent in England and Russia, ®
Salemite subscription would double. ®
would pose for pictures seated at a typeAvri er,
talking on the telephone, and waving a penci
in the air. ,,
The idea of the Sights and Insights rea j
intrigued Iodine. She could run full-P^&
pictures of each girl and a double-page pio n
of herself. The theme would be future caree
girls of America—movie actress or house aD
She Avould definitely have to decide
Clem and Chuckle, or maybe she Avould a
a double dedication in her annual. .
If the decision would be too great, o
might have to resort to being president of
Pierrettes. After much protesting she wo
agree to be the star of all the
They Avould build a new auditorium tor
production of “Volpone, The Fox.” 2-
negie and Christian Dior would do the
■f|
, (Continued On Page Four)