Page 43 - 1917 November - To Dragma

82 TO DRAGMA Ob ALPHA OMICRON PI
time. We are making every effort posible to reach a l l the Alpha O
girls who have recently come to this city f o r residence, or who live
near enough to attend our meetings and j o i n us i n active work to do
our best f o r A O IT. As a result we have five new members, one of
whom, W i l k i e Hughes, is the first to come to us f r o m our new Beta
Phi Chapter at Indiana University. Needless to mention, we are
more than g l a d to welcome her, as we are anxious to get in close
touch with our new sisters at Indiana University.
Our last meeting was an unusually pleasant one as we were enter-
tained by one of the new members, Esther Canaday, at Fortville,
Indiana. The afternoon was spent in sewing for the Red Cross, and
the girls are giving an enthusiastic response to the call sent to us to
do our " b i t " i n Red Cross and War Relief circles. This work is to
be continued a l l winter and we are a l l happy to know that we can
help along these lines.
Indianapolis Alumna? wishes you all a happy and prosperous winter.
BERNICE MITCHELL, Secretary.
NEW ORLEANS A L U M N A
I n midsummer when the chapter members are scattered to the four
comers of the earth, when the thermometer registers ninety-five de-
grees i n the shade, when intellectual activity of meagerest type re-
quires a Gargantuan effort, i t is no easy matter to compose an a l u m n a te-dumming Lohengrin down one imaginary aisle—(Jennie)—jumps
letter. Mental inertia and high temperature, fatal to life or vigor,
combine to produce a chronicle as stupid as the dog-days i n which it
was penned. ' T i s almost a pity, then, that news this time is abundant,
since the consequence is necessarily an account abominably wearisome.
Looking back over the mad chaos o f college commencement, the
A O I I banquet stands out as a closing festivity, beautiful, inspiring.
T h e banquet was not elaborate or costly—on the contrary simple as
arrangements could make i t — b u t b e a u t i f u l because of the genuine
fervor, love, and enthusiasm that characterized it. I t was held on the
verandah of the Southern Yacht Club overlooking Lake Ponchartrain
on Tuesday, June 7th. There were in all forty-three present, the num-
ber including beside actives and New Orleans Alumna?, the chapter
pledges, and Elizabeth Ayres of Omicron. Toasts to the seniors
(new alumna?), toasts to the chapter, toasts to the pledges, toasts to
the old alumna?, toasts to the room, toasts, toasts, toasts to every-
thing and everybody—and then to Lessie Madison, who, chapter
president and toastmistress. had left herself out of the program, unde-
servedly as we recognized. Rosamond H i l l , therefore, t u r n i n g aside
f r o m her appointed toast, surprised Lessie in an impromptu expression
of our gratitude for her good work and influence.
TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OM1CROX PI 83
There were songs, laughter, overflowing good spirit, and a l l went
merry as a .
But hush! h a r k ! a deep sound strikes as a rising k n e l l !
What are Anna, Innes, and Bess L y o n doing w i t h that l i t t l e table
and dinner bell over there? Listen! They say they offer counsel to
those approaching the state of matrimony. " W e d d i n g bells, wedding
bells, wedding bells! Three blithesome, buxom, bonnie, blissful,
beautiful brides!
"Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong!"
Behold them do! a l l three." But what is that on the table, and
why the sword, the flags, the lieutenant's cap and pistol, those pon-
derous books now w o r k is over? Come, see the story u n f o l d as Bess
Lyon (Mrs. Cox) furnishes the brain, Anna Many the voice, Innes
Morris the good looks and the gestures according to the manner of
the most advanced futurists.
T h e first is simple and v i v i d enough—patriotism, lieutenant, intel-
lectual career abandoned; brides small, small, small, grooms tall,
tall, tall. But Jennie and Clara Lee are to have a double wedding,
pray, how is Innes to do that? H o w can one Innes be both Jennie
and Clara Lee? Can one plus zero equal two? A h ! nothing is
impossible to f u t u r i s t mathematics. N i m b l y , g r a c e f u l l y , veil floating
f r o m her head, orange blossoms at her throat, trips Innes, dum-dum-
the space between and "dum, dum, te d u m " down the o t h e r — ( C l a r a
Lee).
This performance was the big event of the evening unless I add the
ghost which we saw in passing the cemetery on our way home.
A f e w days a f t e r the banquet, the final meeting of the alumna?
chapter was held at Mrs. Gillian's. The meeting took place here
because of Georiga Belle, who having been seriously i n j u r e d i n an
automobile accident at Thibodeaux, where she was teaching, was still
confined to her bed. Everyone w i l l be glad to know that she is now
rapidly recovering. The seven 1917 seniors: Rietta Garland, Jean
H i l l . Lessie Madison, Kathleen O ' N e i l l , M a r y Raymond, M i l d r e d
Renshaw, and Mary Sumner, were formally welcomed into the alum-
na? chapter where their sen-ices w i l l doubtless prove as valuable as
during their college life. Several matters of importance were discus-
sed, one of which was the new rule of Newcomb Panhellenic relative
to rushing. T h e alumna? resolved to use their influence t o w a r d making
effective the regulation abolishing all rushing not on the campus, and
toward creating among other alumna? a spirit opposed to rushing. I t
might prove of interest to know that the chapter has decided to make
the annual dues of each member include a subscription to T o D R A G M A ,
except i n the case where there is more than one alumna i n a f a m i l y .