THE MICHIGAN DAILY
THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1937
_________________________________________________________ I
_--- ----'- .A-
First Lady, a comedy by Katherine Dayton and
George S. Kaufman. Presented by the Michigan
Repertory Players, under the direction of Valentine
B. Wndt. Settings by Alexander Wyckoff. Cos-
tumes by Evelyn Cohen. At the Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre.
By JOSEPH GIES
This frothily amusing little play is fortunately
more than a satiric glimpse of behind-the-scenes
Washington. It is quickly apparent that the
Dayton influence in the authorship was properly
salted down with the never-miss Kaufman com-
edy technique. The result is a theatre piece of
just enough punch to make good entertainment
-in the hands of a capable cast.
And the cast, led by Sarah Pierce and Virginia
Frink Harrell, does an excellent job with pre-
cision and confidence, and succeeds in bringing
out the best in the play's good lines as well as
managing to hold up the weak ones, which are
somewhat in evidence during the first act.
To Miss Pierce, who in the role of Lucy (Alice
Roosevelt) Chase Wayne, gives that feminine
character a certain robustness which furnishes a
unity for the entire vehicle, and to Miss Frink,
whose portrayal of the classicly hypocritical Irene
Hibbard makes a rather typed character vicious-
ly and satisfyingly authentic, must go the lion's
share of the laurels. If either of these parts had
developed the slightest touch of amateurish in-
sipidity the the comedy would probably have been
sickening, but both of them succeed in sustaining
that charged atmosphere so essential to light
comedy without break.
But the excellency of the leading parts by no
means overshadows several really brilliant per-
formances in the minor parts. Nancy Bowman,
as the president of the Women's Peace, Purity
and Patriotism League, the show's approximation
of the D.A.R., which can always be counted on
for a laugh, does her usual fine work in what
is doubtless her funniest role. Betty Spooner,
with another part that might easily fall into the
rut of triteness, the southern ingenue, is deftly
and appealingly humorous. Edward Jurist
handles a straight sympathetic role as Secre-
tary of State Wayne with sufficiency, while Law-
rence Olson is pleasant as the bluff and western
Senator Hardwick, but chief masculine honors
must go to Charles Harrell for getting everything
possible out of the part of Ellsworth T. Ganning,
nom de piece for William Randolph Hearst.
Richard Orr is convincingly Babbittesque As Su-
preme Court Justice Hibbard, offered the nomin-
ation for presidency. Other minor parts are
uniformly well done.
ITHLE FORUMI
Letters published in this column should not be
construed as expressing the editorial opinion of The
Daily. Anonymous contributions will be dsregarded
The names of communicants will, however, be regarded
as confidential upon request. Contributors are asked
to be brief, the editors reserving the right to condense
all letters of more than 300 words and to accept or
reject letters upon the critera of general editorial
importance and interest to the campus.
John Q. Public Speaks
To the Editor:
Allison Ind's editorial of the July 9th issue of
Ind-X should be answered by at least one mem-
ber of "old John Public" whose attitudes he wil-
fully misrepresented. He identifies "John Pub-
lic" with "vigilance committees, law-and-order
groups, battling Tom Girdlers . . ." Unfortunately
he is partly right, for some members of John
Public are happy to be identified with such extra-
legal groups. But shame be to any intelligent
or even literate individual who assumes that we
are all that sort. The principles of democratic
action have taken hold on some of us. Allison
had better not overlook the fact.
Unless we, John Public, should once more for-
get the lesson we have been laboriously learning,
that a capitalistic industry allowed to resume its
romping "all over the ring" will inevitably again
precipitate a depression, we are not all going to
join with the Allison Inds in vigilante organiza-
tions. Some of us believe our governor has acted
with much more wisdom in his use of the National
Guard to present brutal action on either side
than would be shown if he were to follow Mr.
Ind's manifest wish to call it out to abet unreg-
ulated industry and its vigilantes. We have been
encouraged by the accomplishment of labor in
biting deeply into the earning of General Motors,
as Mr. Ind put it, because we believe that labor
must get more than mere nibbles of the profits
from their own and the corporation's earning
power if more depressions are not to be en-
countered. But to express this conception of the
cause of depressions is to be platitudinous, be-
cause it has long since filtered into the public
consciousness.
If Mr. Ind wants to risk encouraging "snarling
in the pack," just let him try to herd us into
his vigilantes.
-Elmer Akers.
Our School Of Education
To our Editor:
I should' hesitate to define what is meant by
"news," but I am sure the following item, which
appeared in The Daily of July 13th, is NOT
"news": "Forty-four books and 22 articles have
been written by members of the staff of the
School of Education since the begnnning of
1935, the school's monthly bulletin, off the press
yesterday, revealed. The books total 10,980
pages, and the articles total more than 1,146
nave. mking ltogefnrther 12.126 nages."
On The Level
By WRAG
SCENE: Downtown drug store. Characters: a
middle-aged Negro woman, and a man, ap-
parently her husband. The action took place
around the penny weight machine in the store,
where the huge colored lady mounted the scale
and inserted her cent. Meantime, her husband
had quitely slipped up from behind and placed
his foot on the scale also. When the penny
clinked and the arrow started on its long trail
around the figures, the man pressed down with
his foot.
"Lawd," said the woman, "I knowed ah was
gainin' weight, but dis is de fust time ah evah
put on thuhty pounds in one week!" We wanted
to tell her about the extra foot on the scale,
but her husband was enjoying his little joke too
much.
WE RAN INTO a peculiar sign on the out-
skirts of Ann Arbor yesterday. A none too
imaginative bill poster had glued a political plug-
ger on to a real estate sign-board, and the results
were quite humorous. By reading the entire
sign, one gets the fqllowing buildup, which ought
to have reelected the politician very easily: RE-
ELECT JUDGE TO THE PROBATE
COURT-HOT AND COLD RUNNING WATER
- NATURAL GAS - ELECTRICIT Y--PAVED
STREETS.
* * , ,
PLEASE PARDON the above "chestnut,"
but it helps to lead us onto the next in-
cident which happened when Shakespeare's
"Othello" was playing on Broadway. A huge
electric sign was advertising the play above
the New York skyline, and one night a short
circuit put out the lights in the letters "T"
and "O," thus leaving the shocking phrase
"O HELL" starring down at New Yorkers
from the heighth of some hundred feet.
* * * *
WHILE GETTING a book signed out of the
Main Library last night, we noticed a stu-
dent who was obviously in the middle of an all-
week inebriation. He tottered over to the files,
filled out at least 10 blanks, and then meandered
over to the circulating desk to wait for the books
he had ordered. He could hardly stand up, but
when the nine or 10 books came at his call, he
tediously piled them into his arms, and bravely
staggered out of the place.
We wonder how he will feel when he comes
to sometime today to find about 10 library books
piled up around him.
* * * *
CURIOSITY got the best of us yesterday when
we saw a woman write a note and pin it
to the mail-box at the corner of Washtenaw and
South University. After she had driven off, we
sneaked down to the mail-box, cautiously looked
around, and then read the paper attached.
It read-
* * *I *
"Mailman,
I dropped my driver's license in the mail-
box by mistake. Will you please send it to:
Gloria Rettich, 536 Walnut St., Ann Arbor,
Mich."
We hope Miss Rettich doesn't mind us reading
her notes, but we couldn't resist. We also hope she
gets her license back before they ,pinch her
for driving around without one.
SINCE OUR LITTLE ITEM on the adjacent
A furrier and dog and cat hospital in Dearborn,
Mich., we have received contributions on several
funny signs, etc., that have been spotted. One
turned in to us concerned a sign that hangs on
McNichols Rd. in Detroit. It merely says,
HARRY ARMZ-CARPENTER.
%f I. * *
W ITH MID-SEMESTERS coming up only too
soon, we thought we'd borrow the following
attempt at poetry from the University of Illinois
newspaper:
JE ME LAMENTE
Oh, if I'd less joie de vivre,
If only I'd cracked a livre,
Quite a few less tall libations,
Several self-imposed privations-
There'll be rumblings from le pere,
And blurby blurbings from la mere,
A note brule-pourpoint from the dead,
A tearful adieu from the queen.
Now I'm full of peur de vivre,
All I do is read my livres.
La raison for these lamentations?
Zaminations! Zaminations!
ten 12,126 pages"-as if the duty of the teacher
was to keep the wheels of the press grinding,
instead of the wheels of the students' minds, or
of his own.
This item is not "news" because it is an ad-
vertisement. As an advertisement it has its
value-and the School of Education well knows
it. It advertises that the staff of the School of
Education is "up and coming," "on its toes," and
concerned with greater things than merely teach-
ing teachers how to teach, let alone what to
teach.
Third, the item is not "news" because it is
scandal. It should have been suppressed at i+s
source; since it wasn't, The Daily committed a
breach of good taste in casting before the public
eye the sins and weaknesses of some other per-
son-or department. In another sense, however,
The Daily was certainly justified in printing the
item--it is, I take it, a sign that The Daily has
not stopped crusadng for what is worthwhile
and honest; that it has not stopped telling the
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIf
Publication in the Bulletin is constructive notice to all members of the
University. Copy received at the office of the Summer Session, Room 121
A. H. until 3:30; 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.
!'
At 4:05 p.m. this afteernoon Dr. H.I of the Theory of Probability."
C. Hutchins of the Staff of the Edu- ______
cational Policies Commission of the Linguistic Luncheon Confer
National Education Association will Dr. Zellig Harris of the Univers
speak on "The Significance of R - Pennsylvania will speak at
cent Reports Relating to America s p.m. today at the Michigan 1
Youth Problem." The lecture will be on "The Alphabet and its Re
in the Auditorium of the University to the Morphologic Structure o
High School. mitic." Non-members of the
The 5 o'clock lecture in the Na- tute are invited also to the lun
tural Science Auditorium will be by at 12:10 p.m.
Prof. Clark Hopkins. His subject' _I
will be "Parthian Influence in Far Graduate Students in Educe
Eastern Art," and will be illustrated. Students who have completed at
- -one term of graduate study ar
Michigan Repertory Players: "First dially invited to a tea to be hel
Lady" will be presented tonight in afternoon between 5 and 6 p.
the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre at the University Elementary S
8:30 p.m. This comedy will continue Library.
through Saturday night. There are
still a few good tickets available for A luncheon for the Women's
all performances. The theatre box cation Club will be held Friday
office is open daily from 10 a.m. to at the Women's League. Each
9 p.m. son should get her lunch in the
-- teria and take it to the Alcove
Luncheon Department F: There Dining Room. All women ii
will be a luncheon for all students School of Education as well as
enrolled in Department F courses at interested in Education are inv
the Michigan Union today, at 12
o'clock. Dean Edmonson will speak All wives of students and in
to the group. are -cordially invited to a tea
given by the Michigan Dames
Stalker Hall: Swimming party and Garden Court of the Mi
picnic today. Meet at Stalker Hall League, Friday, July 16. 3:30
at 5 p.m. Please make reservations p.m.
before noon by calling 6881. Small The activities of the Mi
charge for supper. In case of rain Dames, an organization of wi
we will remain at Stalker Hall. University students, give max
- --opportunity to become acqua
Southern Club: Miss Ethel Mc- During the Summer Session
Cormick, Social Director for the will be bridge parties every W
Summer Session, will entertain the day afternoon and several fami
members of the Southern Club at a nics. The time will be announ
watermelon cutting in the garden the Daily Bulletin.
of the Michigan League at 7 p.m.
this evening. All Southerners on the Public Evenings at Angell Ha
campus are cordially invited to be servatory: The 10-inch refractc
present. the 15-inch reflector, locatedc
fifth floor of Angell Hall, w
hemisry oloquium4wl mmet available for Summer Sessior
this afternoon at 4 p.m. in Room 303 dents from 8 to 10 .p.m. l
Chemistry Building. Prof. O. K. Rice evenings during the current s
of the University of North Carolina These evenings are:
will be the speaker. Subject: "Re-
marks on the Liquid State and the
Theory of Fusion.C a
H.M.S. Pinafore: Final tryouts for
all those interested in principal parts
in this operetta will be held on
Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. in the Place advertisements with Clas
Mendelssohn Theatre. Chorus re- Advertising Department. Phone
The classified columns close at
hearsals will continue as scheduled o'clock previous to day of insert
with the exception of Thursday. All Box numbers may be securedi
parts, principal and chorus, will be Cash in advance only ic per re
cast by the end of the week. line for one or two insertions. 10
a iin lin tnthrpnrm n inC~
N1
3
ence:
ity of
12:50
Union
lation
of Se-
Insti-
cheon
cation:
t least
"e cor-
d this,
m. in
School
Edu-
noon
h per-
Cafe-
of the
in the
those
ited.
ternes
to be
in the
chigan
0to 5
chigan
ves of
my an
ainted.
there
ednes-
ly pic-
ced in
ll Ob-
or and
on the
will be
n stu-
seven;
ession.'
Friday, July 16.
Saturday, July 17.
Friday, July 23.
Friday, July 30.
Friday, August 6.
Friday, August 13.
Saturday, August 14.
On the first two and last two eve-
nings, the moon will be shown in both
telescopes; on the intervening three
evenings Jupiter, Mars, and double
stars will be shown as available.
Take the elevator to the fifth floor
of Angell Hall. It is useless to come,
of course, on stormy evenings or
when the sky is entirely overcast;
limitations of space make it neces-
sary to restrict attendance to those
enrolled in the Summer Session.
In addition, the staff of the De-
partment of Astronomy will be at
home to Summer Session visitors
from two to five p.m. on Thursday,
July 29 and Thursday, August 5, for
the benefit of those who desire to in-
spect the apparatus in the Univer-
sity Observatory, located on East Ann
Street, just in front of the University
Hospital.
Women Students in Department F:
All graduate and undergraduate
women students majoring in Depart-
ment F. course are cordially invited
to attend a supper at the Women's
Athletic Building on Saturday eve-
ning, July 17 at 6:30 p.m. Reserva-
tions most be made by Friday eve-
ning at Barbour gymnasium.
Swimming: The Physical Education
faculty is sponsoring an open swim-
Saturday evening from 8 until 9 p.m.
Both men and women students are
invited.
Students, College of Engineering:
Saturday, July 17, will be the final
day for dropping a course in the
Summer Session without record.
Courses may be dropped only with
the permission of the classifier after
conference with the instructor in the
course.
A. H. Lovell, Secy.
Phi Lambda Upsilon: There will be
a picnic for all members on the cam-
pus this summer on Saturday after-
noon, July 24. Members of other
(Continued on Page 3)
d DirectoryJ
ssified
2-3241.
Lt five
ion.
at no
ading
Oc per
ting
FOR RENT
reading lne or t ree or mored nserton.
(on basis of five average words to line).
FOR RENT: Cool first floor adjoin-
ing rooms for two or three girls or
young couple. Also single room and
garage. Cooking and laundry priv-
ileges is desired. Continuous hot
water. 426 East Washington. Phone
8544.
LOST AND FOUND
LOST: Kappa Delta sorority pin. In-
itials M.S.A. Reward. Call Betsy
Barbour House, 2-2591. . .626
Mathematics Club: Summer Ses- Minimum three lines per insertion.
sion students are invited to attend
the meeting of the Mathematics Club LAUNDRY
on Thursday, July 15, at 4:30 p.m.,
in Room 301,7 Angell Hall. Professor LAUNDRY. 2-1044. Sox darned;
Copeland will speak on "Foundations Careful work at low price. 1x
11
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