Daily Republican., 1879-05-14
THE y. l.. A.
sixteenth Anniversary Last Even
fnr-HOw the Babe was BOrn-its
Wonderful GrOwth-A Hriiilant
Record-A Happy Gathering.

,iation, it being the occasion OF the
sixteenth anniversary ofthe association,
and although the spacious rooms OF
the club were bright and beautiful, be-
ing decorated in a style that called
forth the unbounded admiration OF all
those present, they were not more
bright than has been the record OF the
in Institution for the sixteen years that
have passed. 1t was an assemblase TO
b. proud of that gathered about o.3o
o'clock to do honor to the sixteenth
birthday Of the club, and each member
present rust have felt a thrill OF salts
faction to SEE his alma mater thus hon
ored. Promptly at nine o'clock the as
was called to order by Mr.
John J. Mullin, chairman of the COM
mittee of arrangements. After tew
words of welcome he introduced the
President of the association, Mr.. Ed
ward +. Kane, who, in his usual pleas
ant manner, delivered the following
shor. address relative to the organiza-
ton and growth of the s. l.. A.
LADIES AyD GKNTLEMEN:-When an
assemblage of this sort gathers to 40
honor to an institution such as ours Is,
it is not only to them as guests, but to
the s. L. A., as hosts, to say ieW
words in reference to the history of that
Association, whose recurring anniversa'
ri-s they are requested to honor, so
that they rejoice or mourn over it, as
the case may require. The Institution
which greets you to night, friends, and
ask you to do homage to the 10Th an
niversary of her natal day, feels a con-
scious thrill of pride, when she can say
to you as she does, that a glance OF re-
trospection into her past, can reveal
nothing but that which is creditable tc
the Association and membership in gen
eral.
In referring back to the inception OF
the Shields Library Association, we
find that sometime in the month OF Au
gust, 1862, a party of eight young men,
while promenading on the banks of oul
ever.beautiful Brandywine, became i'm
pressed with idea that it would be tc
their mutual benefit, did they form
themselves into a club of some sort, 81
that they could meet together period
cally in the evening, have an inter
change of opinions and pass the hour'
that otherwise lay heavily on thel
hands, in reading or conversation, and
in fact, have place where recreation
of beneficial character, might take tn
} place of the baneful influences of th'
bar room or concert saloon.
Having mutually agreed TO organiz
the next important step was to give tn
, organization a name. Now, don't lie
: any one for moment suppose that thl
part of the drama was a trivial one, 10
it was not. The name Of the first borl
5 of almost any well-regulated family
NAV cause some little difficulty, I'll ad
nit, but in cases of this kind, there
generally but one father to be gotte
out of the way, and the cousins and tn
| aunts taking the lives of the saints
the family tree and the almanac, a
e the starting point invariably fix mat
!, ters in short order. But here the cas-
/ was different; here was babe born wit
eight fathers, each feeling that he ha
/ legitimate eighth share in the pre-
il. geny; and was legally entitled to act a
sponsor to that one-eighth. Here, als'
f the sainitly, calendar, family tree,
n Franklin's almanac, were consplcueu
. only by their absence, and llkewls
there was dearth of cousins and aunt
to offer suggestions.
=. In the absence of all records or plan
: the "Famous Eight" finally turned
:, the history of our country to find
), proper title wherewith to crown the
4 progeny which their united wits ha
created-not to the dead history of til
> past, with its grand array of heroe
- worthy and unworthy, however deser
, ing some of them might be, to act
- the capacity Of name giver but to IL
living, acting, breathing history OF tt
day in which they lived, and in loo
!, ing over the bright galaxy of nam
W which the current events of that ev
le n memorable time had brought to Il
~ 10 surface, enc shone out bright and pa
y ~ ticular upon their vision above and /
d yond all the rest, and this was no 9th
than he whose name we so proud
" 0e bear to-day-General James Shield
10 the bullet proof hero of Mexico, an
n. ~ as history records, the only man w
!! had the honor of defeating the bra
L. and intrepid but misguided '"Stol
- wall" Jackson.
Of To Robert Elliott, one of the origir
,a Eight" belongs the honor of sugge
m ing name at the first stated meetir
os held in his house on Klund stree
h Here also the first election Of Office
"a, p was held when the following We
he chosen:
no Prpsident--James Sweeney; Vi
.n7 Presidential. H. Ryan; Secretary
at Kane; Assistant Secretary-John kellt
al Treasurer-John McElwee; the major
m Of whom We are happy to say are st
prominent members.
The child being now christened, t
next step in order was the procureme
of nursery, and the providing Of p
W per nourishment in order that
IS might be kept in it, and that it mig
80 ., thrive and grow. In order to do II
ne properly, funds were needed, and agi
ny the "eight fathers" who were actl
"s as nurses to the infant, set their wits
" " work, and the result was "Cotilll
~ Party" which was held at Halrs.
lei Fourth and Lombard streets, and
y which fifteen dollars were cleared
he With these funds room was rented
en the Mt. Vernon House, kept by \
Krauch, at No. 3oS King street. In t.
room the child was nourished a
members were brought in and at
len remaining here for some time the AS
ia. citation removed to the Devon Buildi1
,ad S. &. Cor. Fifth and Market sire