1915 Cedrus Yearbook

The Domestic Science Class NYONE paying a visit to the basement rooms of the library on any Tuesday afternoon between the hours of three-thirty and five-thirty wouldfind the less vacillating members of the above-pictured Domestic Science class more or less absorbed in the construction of garments in various stages of completion. There on the left hand side as one enters the room is Eva Townsley, carefully measuring plaits with unrelenting accuracy. Near her is Ellen Tarbox, just finishing an apron so that she may learn to ply the shuttle. Donna Burns, with thread stretched taut between the forefinger and the thumb, and with the shuttle poised at an angle of forty-five degrees, is about to make the fatal thrust. One can hear her mutter, "Is it above or below this time?" On around the irregular circle formed about the sewing table is a chain of busy girls: Cornelia Bradfute, comparing seam with seam; Hattie Turner, bending her head intently over a slowly growing structure; Bertha Dean, passing the time on some entirely hand-made French lingerie; and Pauline Grindle, laboring with some troublesome French knots—for one finds a smack of Paris where- ever garments are made. Marie Little and Blanche Baumgardner, the inseparable, are decorating some laundry bags with the branching featherstitch; and Eula Creswell is matching colors and plaids, and planning the right combination of shades to harmonize best with the front of that dress. The circle is closed by Mabel Murdock, who is manipulating a crochet hook, and thus creating an intricate design for a dainty lace edge. Out in the other room Ethel Boyd has the at first almost unrecognizable pieces of a pattern, neatly pinned to a long strip of goods, laid on the operating table. Across from her, Ethel McMillam is similarly employed; while at the other end of the table Dorothy Collins has applied the blade and has left great yawning openings, sur- rounded by a mere outline of material to show where the pattern formerly lay. From one busy girl to another flits a figure, pulling wrinkles straight here, sug- gesting a slight change there, picking up a dropped stitch, putting The mark of approval on some dainty workmanship by a "That's fine, now for something else," or suggesting another trial to insure more nearly perfect results. 4. At five twenty-five there is a scurry for wraps, a gathering of needles, measuring- tapes, scraps of goods and patterns—a flick of the light—and darkness settles down, and stillness, even more marked because of the busy chatter which had just been filling the room; for in a sewing class one can have the pleasantest sort of a time talking over currentevents and local happenings. 41. 51