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JlUGUSTANA OBSERUERVOL. XXVIII AUGUSTANACOLLEGE ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER21, 1929 No. 11

Fiftieth Annual Presentation ofOratório Recalls First Rendition

Augie Presents "Messiah" forFirst Time in April of

Year 1881.

When Dr. 0. Olsson left RockIsland in 187!) íor a trip in Eu-rope probably no-one knew whatfar-reaching efíects that tripwould have on the musical his-tory of Augustana, of the tri-eit-ies, and of the Middle West. Astudy of the history of theHandelOratório society reveals an inter-esting story.

Dr. Olsson was a great lover ofm u s i c and was a thoroughly

,/>trained musieian in his own right.Therefore,when in London on thisEuropean trip of 1871), he did notmiss the opportunity of hearinga performance of George FredrichHandePs oratório "'The Messiali"at the Crvstal palace. II is lettersfrom London reveal the great in-spiration he received at this ren-dition. in one he wrote "Thereis more Christianity in 'The Mes-siah' than in numerous heavy vol-umes on Theology." Upon his re-turn to Rock Island he zealouslyworked for the organization of asociety whieh should present "TheMessiah," and in 1880 tlie Ilan-del Oratório society was founded.It is interesting to note liere. also.that at this time the college or-chestra was started, for the pur-jiose of aecompanving ''The Mes-siali" performances. Now, after alapse of some years. the collegeorchestra will again play for"The Messiah" at the fiftieth an-nual performance at Augustanacollege. In April of 1881 "TheMessiali" was presented in Mo-line and Rock Island for the firsttime in this seetion of the MiddleWest. The following year CariSwensson of Bethany college bor-rowed the chorus and music anddirected a performance at Linds-horg. In succeeding years theOratório society was invited togive "The Messiah" in Omaha.Minneapolis, and in numerouslowa towns. Thus "'The Mes-siah.'' with ils profound Chris-tian message, became heard in aliparts of the Middle West.

Probably thousands of peo])leare indebted to [)r. Olsson for theprivilege of hearing "'The Mcs-siah" and oí receiving inspirationfrom it, due to his enthusiasticpioneer work in 181!) and 18S0.Proof of the good of his work isfound in the fact that -'The Mes-siah" has been presented everyyear sincc. and will he presentedfor íniiiiv years to come.

AUGIE ORCHESTRA TOPLAY FOR "MESSIAH"

Last Monday evening the Au-gustana college . orchestra re-hearsed witli the Oratório societychorus whieh will sing in thepresentation of HandePs "Mes-siah" at Augustana on Dec. (>.(ireat satisfaction was expressedhv various auditors. In previousyears the Messiah Orchestra hasheen whol lv r e c r u i t e d fromsources outside the institution.This year the plan is to useabout ten memhers of the collegeorchestra as a nucleus for the"Messiah" orchestra and to (illthe necessary mimber by procur-ing talent from outside the school.Tliose members of the college whowill play at the "Messiah" per-formance are Prederick Swanson,Clara Florin, Rachel Branticon,Francis Sackville, Ray Anerill,Leona Peterson, Mabel Peterson,violins. Erland Borg. bassoon,Elenor Krebs, cello. and HarryOlson. cornet. They are rehears-ing twice a week in preparationíor the concert.

AUGIE WOMEN AREINJURED IN AUTO

ACCIDENT SUNDAYMiss Lydia Olssou of líock Is-

land. assistant librarian at Denk-mami Memorial library, Augus-tana college, and Grace Stevensof Rock Island. a student in theAugustana academy. are in theLutheran hospital, Moline. suf-fering from injuries received lastSundav morning at 11 :4õ whenan automobile, after a collisionwith another machine at lhecorner of Forty-third street andSeventh avenue. bounded over thecurb and struck them as theyvvere returning from St. John'sLutheran church.

M i s s O l s s o n , bes ides m i n o r i n -juries.received a deep sealp woundand suffers from a general nerv-ous conilitio.i caused by the shock.Miss Stevens was cauglit hetweenthe render of the car and a waterhvdrant, according to her mother,M rs. Clarenee Xorquist of 3922Kighth avenue. Rock Island. Sheincurred injuries to her right sideand thigh and a deep cut on oneknee. Both are being attendedliv Dr. Joseph de Silva of RockIsland, and their condition is im-

('onlinuni mi IKige lliri'i'.

Geology Department ExhibitsBoné of Prehistoric Elephant

Well Preserved Fóssil FoundIn Peat Bog Near

Geneseo.

An enormous leg boné of a pre-historic elephant. recently un-earthed near Geneseo by Mr. FredII. Wills of that city, has beenloaned to the Augustana depart-iiient of geology for an indefiniteperiod. as a paleontologieal 3pe-cimen.

The boné was turned up by theWills Construction Company, du-ring the exeavation of the BigSlough drainage Canal through apeat bog six miles northeast ofGeneseo. It was scooped UJI bya steam shovel, and diseovered bythe operator, who careíullv re-moved it and turned it over to hisemployer, Mr. Wills.

The fóssil was brought to Au-gustana by Dr. Fryxell, who will

treat it M the inanner necessaryfor lhe preservation of íossilswhieh have liceu exposed to theair, and exhibit it in the geologyl abora to rv . along wi th l he manyvaluable fossils owned by the de-partment. Mr. Wills has agreedto lend the fóssil to the depart-ínent for an indeíinite period, andto give the college first option onthe relic in event he should de-cide to sell it later.

The bone is forty-two incheslong. Jts miniinum circumfer-enee is nieteen inches; its maxi-mum, thirty-one. It is intact ex-cept for a chip whieh has longheen missing at one end, and ascar from the steam shovel. Dr.Fryxell considers it, unlikely thatother bonés of the same animalwill be found, sinme large prehis-toric skeletons were usually wide-lv scattered, separate bonés beingcarried away by streams.

SPEEDS GIVE ANNUALTHANKSGIVING TEA

The Speeds held their annualbenefit tea Wednesday afternoonin the reception room of the girls'new dormitory, the hours beingfrom three until six.

Tahle appointments and re-f r e s h m e n t s c a r r i e d o u t t h eThanksgiving idea. During theafternoon hours vocal and pianoselections were given by EstherIIali and Maxine Anderson.

The proceeds of the tea will beadded to the íund for furnishingthe Speed room in the girls' newdormitorv.

MEMBERS OF AUGIEVARSITY DEBATINGTEAMS^RE CHOSEN

Women's and Men's SquadsAre Chosen Nov. 13, 14

Respectively.

Students have heen selected formembership on the Augustanawomen's and men's varsity de-bating squads. as a result of try-outs held last week.

Trials for the women were heldin the lecture room of the Denk-mann Memorial library Wednes-day afternoon. Nov. 13. while themen met last Thursday evening.Judges foi- the debates were Prof.A. F. Schersten, men's debatecoach: Prof. A. F. Gustafson.English instruetor; and SigfridEngstrom, co-ed debate coach.

The subject this year for thewomen's debate in the IllinoisIntercollegiate Debate league is,"Eesolved, that chain stores aredetrimental to the community."

The question íor debate amongthe men's teams of the Stateleague is "Resolved, that theUnited States should ultimatelyadoj)t a policy of national dis-armament."

Of the women's squad, LinneaCarlson. of Reed City, Mich., andIrene Crosell, of Tampico, werevarsity debaters last year. Thoseselected to complete the squadwere Margaret Kdwins. oí Han-kow. China; Marie Ilankla. Ma-garet Swanson and IíowenaOdenweller, ali of Moline; EileenMcCarthy. oí Davenport, andDorothy Ilanler oí Rock Island.

lloward ('olson and PaulSchweibert, both oí Moline, weromembers of last years teams andforni the nucleus íor lhe men'steams tliis season. Memhers oftlie House oí Representatives or-ganized two four-man teams andheld their try-out in the forni ofa debate. Two other men fromthe college also gave live minutespeeches. Those who were se-lected íor the debate squad areWilliam Berg. oí Tustin. Mich.;Martin Ringstrom, of Bertrand,Xeli.; Emmett Tonn and líoyAnderson both of Iron Mountain,Mich.: and Harry Gersick andWilliam [Ierman, both of RockIsland.

The men will meet the follow-ing colleges of the Illinois Inter-collegiate Debate league: .Lom-ba rd, Loyola, Monmouth, Mt.Morris, Illinois Normal universi-ty. North Central. St. Viator, andWheaton.

SCIENCE CLUB TO HOLDMEETING TUESDAY NIGHT

A group of geologv studentswill entertain the Science club atits meeting next Tuesday, Nov.20 at 5:00 o'clock. Their topic,"Byrd's Antartic Expedition,"should prove very interesting toali who take the opportunity ofattending the meeting.

Students of Ten Seminaries WillAttend Conference at Augustana

WOMAN'S CLUB PARTYPROVES HUGE SUCCESS

The Turkey-Time party heldby the Augie Woman's club lastFriday evening in the girl's dor-mitory was enjoyed by about fortyco-eds. The party was very novelin that the "old-fashioned" ideawas carried out during the entirearfa ir. Ali the girls were dressedin costumes whieh were in vogueduring their grandmother's youth,old-time songs were sung and old-íashioned games were plaved.

Margaret Swanson, sénior fromMoline, was awarded the prize forthe liest costume, and during thegames a príze was awarded toKsther Swenson.

After the social hour a Thanks-giving luncheon was served byAlillicent Dahlsten, sénior fromRock Island, and Evodia Hult,freshman from Portland, Ore.

An interesting feature of theevening was the reading of a let-ter whieh was sent to the Wo-man's club by Mrs. Andreen whileshe was in Jerusalém recentlv.

Sessions to Occupy Three DaysBeginning Friday,

Nov. 29.

At least ten Lutheran semi-naries oí the United States andCanada will be represented at theLutheran Inter-Synodieal Semi-nary conference. sponsored by theConcórdia society of the Augus-tana seminarv, whieh will be heldon Zion hill, Xov. 29, 30, andDec. 1. The sessions of this con-íerence will be open to anyoneinterested.

This conference will be the firstgathering of its kind ever heldíor students of the various Lu-theran seminaries. and is plannedwith the hope that it will promoteharmonv. coõperation, and friend-lv understanding among the in-structors and students of the vari-ous institutions.

The conference will open Fri-day morning, at 9:30 o'eloek,

Dr. Paul Buehring of Capi-Ohi

GOOD ATTENDANCE ISFORECAST FOR PLAYSTOMORROW^ EVENINGTickets for the four one-act

plays to be presented by the de-partment of oral expression inthe college chapei tomorrow eve-ning are going last, according toHenrv Stanley, sénior of Roc-kIsland and business manager ofthe production. "'The demand forreserved seats is especiallv great,"says Stanley, "but there are stilla number of choice places left."

The plays to be presented —"Confessional," "Toast and Tea,""Afterwards." and '"A LikelvStory"—are much varied in con-tent and contain highly enter-taining elements oí pathos, coin-edy. love, and tragedy. The eastsare composed of students oí the(lepartment. many of whom areexperienced amateur actors. Finaldress rehearsals are being held to-night. with the assurance thatevervthing will be proj>orly pre-pared for tbe opening curtain 1o-morrow evening.

The plays are únder the direc-tioil iil' .Miss Iva C. Pearce. headoí the department, with LowellDunavin, júnior of Rock Island,as st age manager, and TheodoreMoberg. sénior of Aledo. as prop-ertv manager.

when g ptal university. Columbus, Ohio,will speak on the subject, "TheGrowth. Power, and Influence ofthe Lutheran Church." For theaíternoon's activities, a sightsee-ing trip about the tri-cities hasbeen arranged for the visitors.

Tlie onlv closed session of theconvention will be the fellowshipbanquet, Friday evening, at theFort Armstrong hotel. Kock Is-land. For this occasion the com-mittee has secured as its speakerDr. K. E. Flack. Ilamma Divin-ity school. Springtíeld, Ohio,whose message will lie centeredabout the topic ''The LutheranChurch and World Evangelism."In addition to this address anelaborate toast program has beenarranged. with greetings from alithe seminaries represented.

The executive director of theNational Lutheran Council, Dr.•I. A. Morehead, whose headquar-Ters are located in Xew York city,and who íor years has been activewith ali Lutheran bodies, willfeature the Saturday morningprogram in his address on '"Lu-theran World Consciousness asHxpressed in the Two World Çon-ventíons oí Eisenach and Copen-hagen."

"Cont ributions of the LutheranChurch to American Life, Litera-ture. and Culture" will he thetlienie oí the opening presenta-tion, Saturday afternoon. by Dr.(i. M. Bruce, Luther seminarv,St. Paul. Minn. Dr. S. G. Young-

Conluilicd ali page I iro.

Pugs, Gabs, Local Fraternities,Gain Prominence on Campus

Social Fellowship, Augie Spirit Membership of Gab FraternityAre Main Ideais of

Pug Group.

Ku Klux Klan rule prevailedfor a short while at Augustanaback in 1916, although there isno reco rd of any fiery crosses,Grand Keagles, or mi d n i g h tlynchings, or any other badeííeets. It is probable that noteven any of the dormitory sheetsdisappeared—for the local K. K.K. was merely a group of fellowswith common interests who hadlormed a social club.

Not long afterward they adopt-ed the Greek letters Pi (JpsilonGamma, since the Klan did nothave a very savory reputation atthe time. The initials of theGreek letters suggested the word

Conlinued on pnge iwo.

Totais 120; Includes ManyPromínent Alumni.

Gamma Alpha Beta was organ-i/ed in 1917, with seven chartermembers, "in order to ])romotethe spirit of brotherhood amongthose students of Augustana col-lege desirous of enjoying the ben-efits of congenial social compan-ionship; in order to provide forsocial activities; and in order tofoster the true 'Augie Spirit. '"Sevend of tliose charter membersare still known to Augustana stu-dents, among these being Prof. C.A. Fryxell, associate j>rofessor ofeconomies and commerce at Au-gustana, and Dr. Paul Young-berg, campus physician for men.A third charter member in the

Continued on page iwo.