The Belles of Saint Mary’s
The Belles
OF SAINT MARY’S
Published every two weeks by the stu
dent body of Saint Mary’s School.
Editor ....
Exchange Editor
Faculty Adviser .
Nancy McKinley
. . Gale Lamb
. C. A. P. Moobe
STAFF
Sue Harwood
Anne Dunn
Alice Bell
Hannah Bell
Carol Cobb
Ann Castleman
Helen Ford
Mary-Gene Kelly
Kathryn Norman
Sybil Piver
Martha Newell
Ida Qulntard
Ann Seeley
Bunny Stribling
Margaret Swindell
Elizabeth Toepleman
Mary Frances Wilson
Sophia Redwood
Mary Tayior
Olivia Anne Smith
1939 Member 1940
Plssocioted Golle6icile Press
N. C. Collegiate Press Association
HOW DEAE
A FEIEND
In our selfish pursuit of life we
often fail to realize how provoking
and importunate we sometimes make
the plight of our friends. Without
a confidant who will generously con
cern herself with many of our petty
affairs, the lives of most of us would
be characteristically void. Yet few
appreciate the constant efforts our
closest friends make to avoid feel
ings of impatience and annoyance as
they listen to our endless harangues,
for we actually expect them to solace
our troubled hearts or champion our
forgotten cause though the case we
present is often distorted. And so we
are led to say rather, too melodra
matically, perhaps—shame on all us
selfish downtrodden ones who never
consider that other people have cares
too.
For if we are to judge the value
of a friend, let us consider first her
feelings, attitudes, and understand
ing, and last of all, our own inherent
need for a friend. Let us recognize
that selfishness and thoughtlessness
will not keep for us a “mutual
friend.”
CIIATTEEING
CHEETAHS
All Saint Mary’s girls have had
the opportunity in their homes of
learning the fundamentals of good
manners. Then why is it that these
lessons sometimes slip our minds?
Yo one is rude intentionally, yet it
amounts to rudeness when we con
stantly chatter in assembly while
teachers or speakers attempt to gain
our attention.
Assembly is held for the good of
all students, and if they only would
cease their talking and studying dur
ing the few minutes that it is in
session, they might find much of
interest to them, either in announce
ments or programs. If we picture
ourselves in the leader’s place as she
tries to deliver her say over the din
arising from the four corners of the
auditorium, we can well sympathize
with her task. An honest effort to
keep the tongue in the cheek would
improve this situation immeasura
bly.
HOW NOT TO STUDY
Everybody is running around con
tributing to the already motley col
lection of ideas on the subject of
“How to Study.” Not knowing any
thing about that, I have to limit
myself to that side of the problem
with which I am most familiar, and
that is “How Not to Study.”
The best way yet found not to
study is to stretch back on a pile of
pillows (probably borrowed), and
place a picture of your O. A. O. at
a vantage point where, when you get
to the top of a page of Economic
Principles, Problems and Policies,
you can’t miss the opportunity of
looking into his eyes, whether they
be blue, brown, or grey. I can guar
antee that once you do, you will
never get to the bottom of the page.
The radio is the second best dis-
tractor because it leads to a murmur
of “Mmmm, my favorite. Christmas
vacation I always danced that with
him. That was our piece.” This
short remark leads to a lengthy
discussion of Christmas vacation,
and it is so much more interesting a
topic than exams that the discussion
may be prolonged until midnight.
Listening to the radio also gives that
feeling of luxury which in turn leads
to fixing fingernails and eyebrows,
and if you are really bored, just try
screwing your face into the latest
poses of Hedy Lamarr in a recent
movie mag. (Boredom guaranteed
to vanish.)
Comfort is a password in the art
of how not to study. Get undressed
and thoroughly comfortable, and
then crawl on the bed and pull up
that satin quilt and relax. Wait
about six-and-a-half minutes (Bu-
lova Watch Time), and you will be
well on the way to the land of Nod.
If you don’t like solitude go into
a three-girl room and make up a
foursome for a brilliant game of
bridge. You may never hold any
thing higher than a nine, but it’s a
very good way to waste time because
one game always leads to another.
In conclusion: don’t pick up a sin
gle book, don’t seek solitude, and
don’t be quiet. Play all of the bridge
you can because it’s an excellent way
to improve your game, if not your
grades. Answer all of the letters
you owe, and write to people you
don’t even like, and don’t make the
mistake of concentrating, because if
you do, all is undone. You might
learn something if you aren’t care
ful.
LILY PONS, MET SOPRANO,
IN CONCERT, FEB. 7
(Continued from page 1)
Regiment, an opera which has not
been presented at the Met since 1919.
Mile. Pons is very small and has
to eat quantities of potatoes to keep
her weight up to 105 pounds. She is
pert, naive-looking, with brown eyes,
reddish hair and wears a number
two shoe size. Her voice has a trill
ing, bird-like quality that keeps the
audience both entranced and amazed
that so small a person can sing with
such ease.
Seven years ago Lily Pons di
vorced her husband, and is now mar
ried to Andre Kostelanetz, the or
chestra leader. Her home is in Nor
walk, Connecticut.
IN PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE
This business of not knowing how
to study becomes foremost in the
minds of all students at Saint Mary’s
when examination time approaches.
Going down the hall one often hears
girls lamenting the fact that they
“simply cannot get down to some
real, sure-enough concentrated study
ing.” They say they do not know
how to go about studying for this
and that subject, that they do not
know what to study.
It seems as though the main trou
ble with most people is that they do
not know how to use their time effec
tively, and here at Saint Mary’s,
with so many extracurricular activi
ties, time is an all-important factor.
With work piled high on them, many
girls work intensely for hours at a
stretch without letting up, they skim
over their studies hurriedly in order
to start on another subject, and they
worry so much about passing the
day’s work that they become nervous
and unable to concentrate at all.
The result of all this is that one
becomes too tired out and nervous
to absorb the material she ivent
over, and instead of profiting hy the
long hours of study, her efficiency
and good work is greatly decreased.
The necessity for planning one’s
work in advance cannot be over
emphasized. Ample time should he
allowed for play and rest as well as
work, for it has been proved many
times that a person’s best work is
done when her mind is clear and she
is not tired. Staying up until the
wee hours of the night to do an
assignment is, in the long run, use
less, because the fatigue caused by
loss of sleep greatly reduces a per
son’s efficiency and ability to do a
job well.
In order that one may work quick
ly and well, it is essential that she
learn to concentrate. How many
priceless minutes must be wasted
every day when Anne glances up
every time the library door opens,
and when Nancy gets up every five
minutes to sharpen her pencil or get
a glass of water! Although it is
extremely difficult to acquire the
habit of concentration, it may be
done with long practice and a strong
will.
A study of the biographies of suc
cessful men and women of the world
would probably show that they all
make schedules of their work and go
by them! They all make their work
ing conditions as favorable as possi
ble (good lights and a quiet place),
and they all find out the quickest
way to do things. We would do well
to follow their example.
A GIRL-BREAK DANCE
The Order of the Circle invites
you to forget the butterflies and
pigeons which flutter below your
heart and for a few moments be
comforted with the prospect of a
return to normalcy. A Girl-Break
Dance awaits those who have not
succumbed to flu or flunking on
the Saturday night after exams,
to be more exact, January 25.
Come on chillun, ye’s dance!
The way that the world has gon®
haywire in the last sixteen montks
has just about ruined the old get-up
run annually in the newspapers un
der the heading of “Predictions f®^
the Coming Year.” After all of tli«
upsets that have occurred, it
doubtful whether anyone would even
make so bold as to venture to pre-'
diet what day Thanksgiving come®
on.
From what we’ve seen in the la®*
year or so we ought to realize that
we’re lucky to keep up with the
events of the past year without bor
rowing trouble and worrying about
what’s going to happen in the yea’’
to come.
Any far-sighted individual who
had predicted even a few of the
W'orld-shaking events that occurreh
last year would have found himseh
lodged over in Dix Hill with some
of his contemporaries who may uo*
be as crazy as they seem to be. When
people start hearing about thinSj
that they don’t want to face, a wilu
rush is made to throttle the source-
Perhaps the best, though certain*/
the most pro-British of the radio
commentators of the last five year®
was Boake Carter, who figurative/
slapped America’s face and told he'
what was going to happen to t*'®
world. His voice was throttled, fi''®!
by the words that the “opinions o'
.1 • . -.ilV
this commentator are not necessari/
the opinions of the sponsors of 1**®
broadcast,” and then by the cancel'
lation of his contract.
Not being a Boake Carter, either
by inclination or desire, we deal m®
mentarily with the past year.
Roosevelt upset party equilibriu"'
by running for a third term and se
all America on its ear by polli"^
enough votes to retain the office "
Chief Executive for a third sessio"’
France clung desperately to t|'®
shreds of her self-respect among tl*
great powers of the world for a
months, but as though sapped a"
shrivel^ within, she collapsed h®
fore many blows were struck.
David and Goliath were at
again in the personages of
and Italy. Cock-like Premier ®
John” Metaxas mustered his inU“ _
quate forces under General AlcX^®,
der Papagos, and to everyou®
amazement the Greeks hurled stou ^
while a thwarted and temperameu*^^
Mussolini stuck out his aggress'''^
chin, stamped his foot in rage,
bellowed for Adolf.
The national event of the
year was the first national P^^^y
time Conscription Act which u'.;_
yet have a telling effect on the ''
tory of the world. ^
That’s only a flickering back"’Uj^^
glance, hut it’s enough to show
futility of prediction and all the ,
told changes of local, national, ".p
universal importance may occi"'
the short space of days, of weeks,
months.