Kansas State Historical Society Topeka, Ks.
Cats, Ladders, 3 on a Match-Not Today, Please
Bv SAM TEAFORD
This morning, being no different from any other morning, I crawled out of bed at the crack of dawn, brushed my teeth, and was making final preparations to leave for school, until I noticed the calendar said today was Friday the 13th.
This was now a situation that required extreme caution. There must be no hapeazard moves, no careless rushing off to class. The best thing to do was to call my friend. Al the summerfield Scholar.
"Al." I said, "this is Friday 13th, as you know, and what's
story behind it—is it serious or not?"
Al explained that Friday the 13th is considered unlucky for two reasons: Christ died on a Friday, and the number 13 is considered a bad omen, because Judas was the 13th man at the table at the Last Supper. A Scandinavian myth tells of one of 12 gods being killed when a 13th crashed the party.
"People who are afraid of the number 13 are called triskaidekanaphobiasts." Al revealed.
It was easy to see that today was going to be more of a problem than I had first thought, now that I knew the historical background. I asked Al if people in the U.S. actually were worried just because the date was Friday the 13th and not Monday the 12th or Wednesday the 18th.
"Did you ever
hear of anyone
being married on
Friday the 13th?"
Al asked. I hadn't.
"The day also
affects business."
Al said. "More
than a few of our
citizens refuse to
important decisions on this day, although it's a fact that others refuse to work or make important decisions on the 13th day of any month, while a few refuse to work or make important decisions at any time, but that's not caused by superstition.
Obviously such a one-day depression must be costly to U.S. business as a whole. Knowing Al had all
the answers, I questioned him about it.
"It has been estimated." Al elucidated, "that American business suffers to the extent of some $250 million in lost commerce and trade each year just because of Friday the 13th. Of course that figure is in round numbers.
Overwhelming was the word for the knowledge of my Summerfield friend. I asked him if he thought I should go to class today.
"One additional point." Al continued, "is that captains of ocean liners will not take their ships out of port until the early morning hours of Saturday the 14th."
"Sure, why not? But remember that all the other superstitions are twice as effectual today, if you're one who believes in these foolish
leftovers from the Middle Ages.
"That means cautious people definitely will not open an umbrella inside a building, break a mirror, walk behind a black cat, or go
three on a match. It also means they'll be knocking on wood, carrying a rabbit's foot, and throwing salt over the left shoulder at every opportunity. Even more important, or so it is considered among the less educated, is to avoid walking under a ladder of any kind."
With due sincerity I thanked Al for his helpful advice, telling him I'd decided to attend class after all.
"Personally, I'm spending the day in bed," Al said, and he hung up.
—Cartoons by Regina Lux
Crafton Says Theater Stays Up With Times
"The discriminating experience of illusion is the most important part of the theater," Prof. Allen Crafton, chairman of the department of speech and drama, said last night in the second Humanities lectures of the season entitled, "The Theater: A Fabulous Invalid."
Prof. Crafton is the sixth University professor to speak in the series since its beginning in 1947.
series since its beginning. Prof. Crafton said the theater through the years has been the most important of the arts. Despite its 3,000-year history, he said, the theater has kept itself apace of its audiences' demands, although at times its "health" has been in the stage of a "tottering old man."
A pair of Walt Disney movies will be shown tonight in Hoch auditorium after 15 minutes of organ music which will begin at 7:15 p.m. The two films will be "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "The Olympic Elk," a true life movie.
He said the underlying principle behind the continued success of the theater has been its ability to enlist the help of the audience in conveying a message without technical realism.
Prof. Crafton cited may periods of stage decline as occurring when the theater tried to overcome its technical handicaps and produce realism which it did not need and which its audience would not accept
"As long as the theater tells truth through half-truths, it is in no danger of dying, although it often may be ill," he said.
"The reality of scenery actually tends to break down audience acceptance of a play. The theater is an art form which exists on imperfection. Attempts to reduce the imperfection tends to lose the approval of the audience," he said.
Although menaced at various times by such art forms as novels, operas, and later technical developments in radio, television, and movies, the theater has survived by its ability to convey an experience to an audience by the use of the audience's own imagination, he said.
Clark Refuses White Case
Disney Films Today
Washington —(U.P.)— Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark refused today to honor a House un-American Activities committee in the White spy case but said he would consider answering any written questions submitted to him.
Justice Clark was attorney general when the late Harry Dexter White was promoted from assistant secretary of treasury to one of a dozen directors of the international monetary fund.
In refusing to honor the subpoena, Mr. Clark cited the same constitutional grounds which Mr. Truman invoked yesterday in declining to testify in the White case.
monetary fund. The present attorney general, Herbert Brownell Jr., has charged that former President Truman promoted White despite FBI warnings he was a Soviet spy.
Woody Herman To Play at Ball
Woody Herman and his band will play for the 31st annual Military ball from 8-12 p.m., Dec. 12 in the Student Union ballroom, Capt. V. F. Gordinier, professor of naval science, said today.
The queen of the ball will be crowned by Maj. Gen. Henry I. Hodes, commanding general of Ft. Leavenworth and commandant of the Command and General Staff college.
Daily hansan
50 Expected For Radio News Clinic
The clinic will study problems related to radio news writing.
Twelve finalists will be selected from the pictures submitted. They will be entertained at a tea the week before the dance.
The queen will be selected from entries submitted by organized women's houses and student groups. Queen contestants are to submit 8 by 10 inch photographs with names and addresses on the back by Saturday noon to Lt. Joseph D. Faull, instructor of naval science.
More than 50 persons were expected to attend the 2nd annual Kansas radio news clinic which opened today in the Union building. The clinic is sponsored by the William Allen White School of Journalism and Public Information and the University Extension.
LAWRENCE. KANSAS
51st Year, No.43
Friday, Nov. 13, 1953
—Kansan photo by Dean Evans
Debaters Discuss Methods Of Fighting Communism
CONVOCATION COFFEE-While debaters from Oxford and KU were going at it hot and heavy this morning, the staff of the Student Union was again entertaining a capacity crowd in both the Hawk's Nest and the cafeteria.
Pro Musica Antiqua Slated In Chamber Series Monday
The second Chamber Music series concert this year will be Pro Musica Antiqua, ancient instrument society of Brussels, at 8 p.m. Monday in Strong auditorium. Safford Cape is conductor of the group.
ANCIENT INSTRUMENT SOCIETY—Pro Musica Antiqua, ancient instrument society of Brussels, who will present the second concert in the Chamber Music series at 8 p.m. Monday in Strong auditorium. Safford Cape is conductor of the group.
The group was organized when Mr. Cape was asked to conduct some of his own compositions on a Brussels radio program. A small string and vocal ensemble gave the concert, but didn't want to stop then. Mr. Cape then decided to keep the group together, expand it, and try to bring back to life medieval and Renaissance music, the history of which he had been studying the past several years.
The first two performances were given with three female voices, violin, viola, flute, and harp. The group then decided to try to gain possession of the original instruments of the period, so ordered three viols of the early type, a discant lute, a minstrel's harp, and four recorders.
Pro Musica Antiqua was heralded and praised in concerts throughout Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and France. In 1947, England welcomed the group for the first time with concerts in London, Oxford, and over the BBC radio network.
Tickets for Monday's concert are on sale at the Fine Arts office. ID cards will not admit students to the performance.
"Treat outlaws as outlaws," argued KU debaters, and British debaters countered that suppression would give Communists a "semireligious halo" in this morning's convocation debate in Hoch auditorium. The debate was on the question of outlawing the Communist party in the free world.
Jack Stewart, second year law, and Kent Shearer, third year law, represented KU. Their opponents from Oxford university were Patrick Mayhew and John Peters.
Stewart compared the Communist party to an army, rather than a political party, with its "headquarters in the Kremlin and a beach head in the U.S." He said the "real danger is from infiltration" by people who are not known as Communists, adding that their "soap-box oratory" was not likely to be damaging.
Oxford debaters pointed out that suppressing communism is like suppressing a religious minority. "Once the first has gone, there's no guarantee you won't be next," he said. "Suppression allows hatred and fear to replace free discussion."
"England has tried to suppress more groups than any other country." Mr. Mayhew said, "and we found it doesn't work." He said it made conspirators stronger and harder to find.
Shearer mentioned the difficulty in convincing Klaus Fuchs, atomic bomb spy, and Alger Hiss, former state department informer, as evidence of the need for outlawing Communists.
Decoration Deadline Set
The deadline for Homecoming decoration registration is 5 p.m. Monday. Organizations that want their decorations judged should register at the office of the dean of men. Judging hours will be 7-11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Judges will inspect again on Saturday if it is necessary because of ties.
Weather
A ridge of high atmospheric pressure gunning from the Great Lakes
so southern Texas fed mild, dry air into Kansas today from the west and southwest. Lowlying fog early today in the eastern section of the state dissipated
rapidly and all Kansas had a fine fall day. Fair weather is expected to continue tonight and tomorrow. Temperatures, which dipped as low as 30 degrees early this morning at Topeka, may not fall to freezing in the state tonight.