The Portland daily press., 1870-05-23

The class day exercises of the class of 1870
of the Portland High School took place accord
ing to usual custom, Saturday morning, in the
girls school room. The hour announced for
the commencement of the exhibition was half
past ten o'clock, but long prior to that hour a
large crowd OF the friends of the graduating
class, composed almost entirely of ladies. had
gathered before the doors impatiently await.
ing admission, and as soon as the doors were
opened came the tug of war. A ladies' crowd
Is not to be despised. 1t gathers momentum
as 1t pushes onward. There is perhaps not
quite SO much showing as in crowd of the
sterner sex, but there is a steady push all
together and sly insinuaton of elbow on the
part OF some that causes the less eager and
more sensitively organized sisters to give way
to the stronger ones. Watch the anxious
matron whose hope and pride is to-day to APP
pear before an admiring audience; see how
firmly the lips are set, the shoulders thrown
back, and how steadily and stately she presses
forward to the desired goal, easily thrusting
aside the youthful maidens that stand in her
path.
Once the crowd has attained the school-room
itquickly fills it to repletion and every availa-
BILE nook and corner, top of desk and window
seat is occupied. Precisely at the appointed
hour the tinkle of the school-bell is heard, and
Mr.. Stone ascending the platform announces
that the first part of the exhibition will be
enacted by the young ladies, and the subject
of the piece, "The examination of graduates of
the High School by committee of seven
witches of the time of Macbeth"
To Slow opd colop,, ,,,,s;o
sorcery and incarnation seven beings ascend
the stage $50 wild in their attire that were
it not for the youthful beauty that would not
be disg uised beneath their heavy locks. we
might be tempted to doubt that they were
other than they seemed. With weird dance
around the magic cauldron they throw in the
Observed limbs and ponderous volumes be.
longing to those venerable Greek and Roman
parties who have been such an annoyance to
them in the past. including the elephantine
brain of Cicero favored with the essence of
Francis Wayland to make the intellectual
cruel thick aud slab. Then the unhappy can
didates for graduation, attired in funeral black,
form circle around their inquisi,ors await
ing the dread ordeal in fear and trembling.
And then such fearful questions as are pro-
pounded. We gained information that will
prove invaluable to us-that Linneus was "fa-
Their OF his country, that "porko was conpiu-
gated porko, riggery salt, saltum," that
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet and also Shoot
all of which we were glad to learn. 1t was a
great relief to us to learn that all h I'D passed
satisfactory examination and that all "receiv-
ed medals to avoid hard feelings VIII ich were
large enough to satisfy tho most ambitious
cravings.
The second part, performed by the boys, was
Roman trial and was case of hydrophobia IN
future Caesar VS. Canem Ciceronis." The
stage was occupied by the officers of the Court
arranged in good old Roman style and accord
ing to the traditions handed down from anti
guilty. The only Improvement we would have
suggested was in the disposition of the prison.
err, "the unfortunate Tiber" To the general
public he was invisible. Orders might have
been given to one of the ictors to elevate him
in such q way that he could be easily seen by
all. The plaintif-great C@sar-clamed that
he had been bitten by the dog which was the
property of Cicero and demanded that the
brute should be exied. Earnest and powerful
testimony which, or something similar, (bar-
the speeches of Cicero, Cornelius-the Sinner
Mark Antony, etc., was introduced by the
witnesses The defence was that Caesar had
aggravated the noble Tiber by pinching his
tail while pretending to scratch his back The
decision was rendered with true Roman jus.
tce, that Tiber should be turned over to a
sausage factory and turned into sausage meat.
The costumes were very appropriate remind
ing one in some instances of Falstaff brigade
The third. and closing part, participated in
by the entire class of sixty-fo members,
was scene from Spanish History illustrating
the Surrender of Granada by Boabdil to Fer
dinand and Isabella. The costumes were very
elegant, being Moorish in the first scene and
Spanish in the second, and were well calculat-
ed to display the youth and beauty of the
school. The exercises closed with the singing
of the Glass Song, the words of which are as
follows:
GLASS SONG OF 10.