ROBINSON HALL

The first few months of the undergraduate occupancy of Robinson Hall have been rather critically studied by the College, and there is no longer any room for doubt as to the real force of the impetus which the building has given non-athletic organizations. There has been more vigor and resilience in the various activities this fall than at any time in the life, at least, of the present college generation.

The Robinson Hall Theater was officially opened on November 10, with a series of two plays given for the first time on any stage—"Blood Dark", a curtain-raiser of considerable dramatic force and poetic strength, by J. W. Rogers., Jr., '16, and a three-act play entitled "The Burden of Life", for which a pseudonymous Dobbs Milton was the sponsor. Mr. Wallace M. Robinson, the donor of the building, was the guest of honor at the opening. There was unusual interest in "The Burden of Life", on account of the general opinion that it was of undergraduate origin. If so, it marked an era in undergraduate dramatic effort at Dartmouth, for along with many technical weaknesses the play contained a reasoned philosophic theory, much virility in expression and sentiment, and a variety of appeal.

This was the third complete production for the Dramatic Association in a space of ten days. On October 31, a musical revue "But Is It Art?" developed no small degree of artfulness in Webster Hall, and was the best thing of its kind which the Association had yet done. This was followed on November 7 by A. Conan Doyle's three-act play of ratiocination, "The Speckled Band", presented by an exceptionally strong cast headed by H. C. Court-right '15, C. B. Jordan, Jr., '15, D. S. Page '15, and R. A. Burlen '16. The cast for " The Burden of Life" included J. W. Rogers, Jr., '16, the author of "Blood Dark", who was a revelation to his audience, G. W. Hutchins '15, N. S. Young '17, W. P. Costello '16, D. Richmond '17, C. F. Palmer '18, and D. T. Rogers '15. In costuming, setting, and general background all three productions were well above the standard.

Among the revivals in which Robinson Hall is a factor, may be counted the remarkable energy displayed this fall by the Christian Association. A whirlwind six-day campaign doubled the membership and sent the figures well above a mark of 880 which had been aimed at. A series of piano and violin recitals, to illustrate the development of the sonata, has been announced by the Association to take place in the Robinson Theater on December 8, Jan- 12, February 9, and March 4. Mrs. Wallace M. Ross will be the accompanist to the violin of C. E. Griffith, Jr., 'l5. The tutoring and employment bureaus of the Association have been of very great service to the undergraduate body.

The Outing Club has not been behind the other Robinson Hall organizations. Through the repeated generosity of J. E. Johnson '66, it has been enabled to maintain and extend its chain of cabins into the heart of the White Mountains, and to take a number of more or less extensive trips. A new ski jump and toboggan slide have been erected, and fifty Thanksgiving dinners were served in the three cabins at the expense of Mr. Johnson.

A series of art exhibitions in the Robinson Theater, culminating in a display of the original oil work of Horatio Walker and Arthur B. Wilder is to be chronicled.