A book has been placed in the Reading Room in which all alumnæ visiting the college are asked to sign their names. The list of visitors for February and March is as follows: '83. Elizabeth Lawrence Clarke, '85. Anne Capen, '86. Mary Stebbens Atwater. '96. Elizabeth Fisher Read, Ellen Duckworth Trull, '97. Margaret Elmer Coe, Ora W. Parent, '98. Cora M. Martin, Christine C. Wright, '99. Louise Ballou, Mary C. Childs, 1900. Minnie W. Foster, Margaret Morris, Cora E. Sweeney, Contributions to this department are desired by the second of the month in order to appear in that month's issue, and should be sent to Ruth L. Gaines, Morris House. '86. Another novel, "A Pillar of Salt," by Mrs. Gerald Stanley Lee (Jennette B. Perry), has just been published by Houghton, Mifflin & Company. '88. Marion Dwight has had leave of absence from school for a year on account of health. Mary B. Rayner has been visiting in the East. '91. Rose Garland is studying law at the New York University Law School. '92. Harriet A. Boyd sails for Crete March 16, to conduct excavations for the American Exploration Society. '94. Mary Clark has announced her engagement to Mr. Charles Putnam. '97. Mary Rockwell has announced her engagement to Mr. Edward Cole of Chicago. Mary Bartlett Smith is teaching geometry, trigonometry, and English in the Johnson High School, North Andover, Massachusetts. '98. Josephine D. Daskam had a poem, "The Sons of Sleep," in the February number of Scribner's. Catherine Farwell has announced her engagement to Reverend Edward R. Hyde of Turner's Falls, Massachusetts. Mary McWilliams has been spending a few weeks with President McKinley at the White House. Vera Scott is teaching for the present at Tressler's Orphan Home in Pennsylvania. '99. Helen K. Demond has announced her engagement to Mr. Albert Robinson, Superintendent of Schools in Warren, Massachusetts. Ethel Gilman, Louise Ballou, Charlotte Stillings, and Sybil Shaw 1900, are taking courses at the Boston School of Housekeeping. Kate L. Lincoln is to teach science in the Wakefield High School next year. Alice McClintock is spending the winter at home in Denver, Colorado. Edith Putney is teaching in Dallas, Texas. Ellen C. Putney is teaching in Winchendon, Massachusetts. Mary E. Tillinghast was married last July to Mr. Frederick H. Paine. She is living in Brooklyn. Sarah N. Whitman expects to go to Oxford, England, for study in the summer courses offered there. If there are others going at the same time, she would be glad to hear of it. Address, Simsbury, Conn. 1900. Cora E. Delabarre has announced her engagement to Dr. Hunter of Greenfield. Madeleine Z. Doty is studying law at the New York University Law School. Fanny Scott is traveling with her family in Mexico. Evelyn W. Smith is now teaching botany in Mt. Holyoke College. BIRTHS '95. Mrs. F. O. Fish (Frances F. Curtis) a son, Maxwell, born January 16. '98. Mrs. A. J. Nock (Agnes E. Grumbine) a son, Samuel Albert, born Feb ruary 17. ABOUT COLLEGE Semi-Annual Report of the Proceedings of the Council from September, 1900, to February, 1901: The first meeting of the year was held October 16, Miss Lord, who had been elected President of the Council in June, presiding. The other officers for the year were then elected as follows: treasurer, Council Report Clara Bradford 1903; secretary, Eloise Mabury 1902. During the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the college the Council was called upon to take charge of the students' meeting, to take the initiative in deciding upon a gift for President Seelye, and to present it, and in various ways to help render the occasion successful. The Council has had two meetings with the Conference Committee, at which it was decided that the usual program should be carried out on Washton's Birthday and that the second Sunday in February should be retained as the date for the Day of Prayer for Colleges. As a result of a meeting of the Council with the House Committee, it was decided that the request of the Students' Building Committee for a second Glee Club concert to be given the night preceding the regular concert be refused. Substitutes for this concert were granted, and a donation party, a joint senior-junior debate, and a joint Alpha-Phi Kappa Psi play were approved of. The House Committee further decided that no entertainments and no decorations should be allowed hereafter at the dances given in the gymnasium. It has seemed expedient to the Council that hereafter the junior president shall conduct the first freshman class meeting until the freshman president has been elected; and this addition will be made to the Book of Reference. In accordance with a request of the Council, a telephone has been put up in the old gymnasium for the use of the students both on and off the campus. It is hoped that President Seelye's request that the bulletin board in Seelye Hall be used only for notices directly concerning that building, will be duly heeded. In response to the feeling expressed by the students that there should be another college song beside "Fair Smith," the Council has chosen one kindly written for the purpose by Miss Agnes Hunt '97, which the Council hopes will meet the approval of the college. The Council wishes to express its thanks to the students for their dignified deportment at the college election of the national President held in November, and for their cordial coöperation in the efforts of the Council to maintain order in chapel and in the college generally, especially in President Seelye's absence. ELOISE MABURY 1902, Secretary. On Saturday evening, February 16, the Alpha and Phi Kappa Psi societies presented "The Adventure of the Lady Ursula." College dramatics are always welcomed with enthusiasm, and when it was anJoint Play nounced that a play was to be given by the two literary societies for the benefit of the Students' Building fund, the customary eagerness was greatly increased and the production of Anthony Hope's sprightly drama impatiently awaited. To say that the play was successful is all too little, for it is the universal opinion that it was one of the best ever given in college. The simple scenery, the brilliant costumes, the clever acting of the leading characters, and the finish of the minor parts combined to make the performance a polished whole. Even the servants showed their careful training, and Mary Lewis as Mills was inimitable. But it was preeminently the sustained air of realism which made one forget that the dashing officers and swashbuckling cavaliers were really only girls. Ethel Freeman, as Sir George Sylvester, captivated the audience as well as the Lady Ursula. Every expression and attitude was appropriate, and the interpretation of the part left little room for improvement. Sir George's rather melancholy air belonging to the cynical bachelor, was finely mingled with the steadfastness and nobility of the strong man that he showed himself to be. Eda Bruné, as Lady Ursula, reckless, wilful, repenting and then rushing into new dangers, yet showing the woman through her attractive. manly disguise, gave life and sparkle to the whole play. The rashness tempered with regret, showing the really fond, loving nature of the Lady Ursula, was admirably brought out. Ellen Emerson, the pompous, irritable club man, a stickler for etiquette who feels grossly insulted if it is not observed, was very amusing, and the gay company of the officers of the Foot Guards in their gorgeous uniforms gave a touch of color to the otherwise somber setting of the third act,-scenery in conformity with the period in which the play took place. Sarah Schaff, as the Reverend Mr. Blimboe, was a delightful mixture of platitudes and a natural and worldly interest in the Lady Ursula. The originality of Miss Schaff's acting made her part one of the best features of the play. Selma Altheimer, as the Earl of Hassenden, carried the audience through her experiences by the force of her sympathetic voice, which necessitated the interest all felt for the gallant lover who is placed in a most perilous position by the pranks of his sister, the Lady Ursula. Anxiety and fear for her betrothed, Lord Hassenden, was cleverly interwoven with a piquancy which made May Barta, as Dorothy Fenton, a charming foil for the impetuous heroine. Miss Barta showed the training of her very proper aunt, the part played by Hannah Johnson, where decorum was delightfully neglected whenever she thought she might hear a bit of gossip, her whole attitude then being one of "listening and not approving." On the whole the experiment of the joint play proved to be a great success, and much credit is due to the cast and the managing committees for the play. 66 Eda von L. Bruné It is not very often that the four classes in college have an opportunity to combine in one general celebration, but on the twenty-second of February the whole student body is the recognized unit, Washington's Birthday and the loyal enthusiasm aroused by the day transcends all bounds of class distinction and survives in the mind of every student long after the noise and dust of the rally in the gymnasium have passed away. The first exercises of the day were held in Assembly Hall, where an address on The Conquest of Commerce" was given by General Curtis Guild of Boston, and the Junior Ode, written by Sybil Lavinia Cox 1902, was read by Miss Peck. After the exercises, there was the usual rush for the gymnasium, where a few gallant members of each class had succeeded in accomplishing wonderful feats in the art of impromptu decorating; each corner of the gymnasium bloomed with yellow, red, green, or purple, and in its midst rose the precarious but imposing platform from which each song leader led her class through its varied repertoire. The customary council "stunt" was this year omitted, and instead the classes joined in singing a song, of which the words were written by Agnes Hunt '97 and the music by Ethel W. Chase 1902. "Fair Smith unusually well sung even unto the third verse, and from the mingled sounds which accompanied the usual tramp around the gym, it is probable that no absent class or present celebrity escaped a proper tribute of song. In the afternoon the seniors beat the juniors in basket-ball, and the sophomores beat the freshmen; the captains and coaches were chosen before the games. The Debate was The Senior-Junior Debate was held on the evening of February twentysecond, in the Alumnæ Gymnasium, the question being, "Should Federal Protection be extended to Negro Suffrage?" Judge Bassett, Mr. Root of the High School, and Mr. T. M. Connor, all of Northampton, kindly served as judges, and Laura W. Lord of the senior class acted as moderator. The affirmative side of the question was upheld by the juniors, the seniors defending the negative. The debating teams were composed of the successful competitors in the second trial debate and were arranged as follows: |