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THE CAMPUS MIRROR
The Students' Own Publication
"SERVICE IN UNITY"
THE CAMPUS MIRROR STAFF
Editor-in-Chief Nina Charlton
Associate Editors-in-Chief Catherine Addin
Charlie W. McNeill
News Editor- . Gwendolyn Harrison
Associate News Editors Evangeline Few
Marguerite Pearson
Sports and Jokes Carolyn Taylor
Music Editor _ Dora Kennedy
Social Editor _ _ Madeline Patterson
Art Editors - - _ Geneva Higgins
Mary Parks
Ethel Boykin
Lois Blayton
Special Features . Ida Kilpatrick
BUSINESS STAFF
Business Manager Ella Lett
Circulation Manager Del Alexa Eagan
Treasurer ... Charlotte Linder
Secretaries..... Marie Lauray
Barbara Mosley
Marion Edwards
Advertising Manager Eleanor Milton
Exchange Editor Lelabelle Freeman
Faculty Advisor Claudia White Harreld
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
75 cents a year, 10 cents a copy, 40 cents a
semester—Postage 2 cents a copy
Vol. XX MARCH, 1944 No. 6
Editorial
“Women are just catty and there’s
nothing you can do about it.” On many
occasions you have heard those words,
and, strangely enough, from women as
well as men. You laugh it off and say,
“Really, my dear, I wouldn’t know.”
Then, when you go to the beauty shop,
you sit in the booth with burning ears
while you listen to all those remarks
about yourself, your friends and your pri
vate affairs, accompanied by catty com
ments from the narrator. You are made
to wonder whether, after all, you do not
know more than you acknowledged.
Maybe, it was only an hour before
that you were doing the same thing to
someone else, only you might have been
more discreet about where or to whom
you talked. Or you might not.
This, however, is not proof of such a
generalized statement as we have quoted,
although there is need of thought in this
matter.
Gossip is very harmful if for no other
reason than it is often untrue. More
over, it is a disagreeable habit, usually
cultivated for lack of something better
to say or do, as a fancied means of sal
vation from being bored oneself or of
boring others.
Today, in connection with the war,
we hear much about the evils of gossip.
False information breaks down morale
and hinders the offensive campaign
against the enemy. Slogans such as “A
slip of the lip might sink a ship,” “Don’t
talk too much,” and “Zip your lips,” are
in widespread use to prevent the leaking
out of vital information to our antagon
ists.
These slogans might well be applied
CAMPUS MIRROR
to our local group life. There would he
fewer quarrels over something one per
son said about another, which may or
may not have been true. I here would
he less of divided friendships caused by
the fact that one friend got overexcited
in a “bull session and spilled her
friend’s personal secrets. I here would
be no such thing as one girl’s refraining
from speaking to another because of
something that the latter had said about
her.
On the other hand, if there were no
listeners, then the gossipers would have
no one to whom to relate these rumors
and would finally become discouraged.
It is true that it is hard not to listen,
for some of these “stories” are very
interesting, whether true or not. How
ever, using our imagination to put our
selves into the other person’s place might
help us to refuse to give ear.
We have attempted to give only a sur
face explanation of the viciousness of
gossip and so to awaken thought on the
subject but the effect on both the tale
bearer and the listener goes deep. The
turning of one’s interest toward matters
of greater value, toward ideas rather than
mere doings of people, would preserve
the friendly relations, now broken by
this ogre, and give the story of our every
day life a happier ending.
Alumnae Comment on
Campus Mirror
From a member of Class of 1933 —
“The tone is fine and the articles are
most interesting.”
Class of 1937 —
“I spent the better part of one rainy
afternoon reading down one column and
up the next. Many of the names and
places mentioned in the articles are new
to me; 1937 seems far, far back in the
dim past now; but every now and then I
found something familiar. It’s good to
know that there are still a few places in
the world, like Spelman, where life can
go on and can be beautiful. I only hope
that the girls are appreciating all of their
opportunities.
“I have passed the copies on to Mrs.
and she has, in turn, asked whether
she might give them to one of the gradu
ates. So. for all three of us who have en
joyed the news, let me say, thanks so
much.”
Franklin Printing
Corporation
136 Marietta Street
The Firedrake
Elgin Groseclose
Elgin Groseclose is the winner of
the American Booksellers and the Foun
dation for Literature Awards for 1939
for his book Grarat.
The background for The Firedrake is
the city of Boston during the middle
of the 19th century when tliat metropolis
was at its zenith. After having spent
thirteen years in Persia as the wife of
a missionary, Abigail Carfax came to
Boston to educate her children. Because
of her restlessness and the “urge to free
dom by the surge and vitality of the new
world” in which she found herself, Abi
gail began writing novels. With a natu
ral gift for narrative she soon achieved
success as an advocate of the ever-chang
ing desires for material achievement
which reflected the spirit of the day. I he
time for return to the arduous life of
the mission field was continually post
poned as Abigail became increasingly
reluctant to depart from the scene of
her new-found enjoyment.
As time passes there is “slow disinte
gration of her spirit due to a growing
feeling of self-exaltation.” There are
others who have caught the fever of ma
terial gain and they are intertwined in
the story. Charles Piterest, publisher,
discontent with the rewards of publish
ing and ambitious to become a figure of
greater importance in his times; Bismith,
a clever and crafty promoter, fascinated
by wealth and fame; Fenton Sweyton. the
dreamy, unbalanced architect of one of
the greatest clipper ships.
The author has also caught the spirit
of another characteristic of that mo
mentous period, the anti-slavery agita
tion, the tension between the North and
South, the panic of 1857, the California
gold rush, and the railway boom. The
theme of the Firedrake is the story of
the fascinations and influences which
beguile and draw humanity into chaos.
Bond Rally Held At Spelman
On Thursday, February 24, the Spel
man Students Association presented a
playlet entitled “Trial By Jury.” The
playlet demonstrated very plainly how
anyone can very easily fall prey to the
Squander Bug. I think the play suc
ceeded in awakening many in the audi
ence to the fact that a grave responsibili
ty was theirs and that only by serious
thought and by careful purchasing of es
sential commodities shall we be able suc
cessfully to complete the great task that
lies before us.
(Continued on page 7)