Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-06-26
public school celehrntton.

anu boys Standing IN the WINDOWS
A large number stood in the yard,
and still larger number went
away altogether. A crowd which
a is thoroughly uncomfortable cannot
3 be expected to be very orderly, and
there was a good deal to mar the
enjoyment Of the evening.
We think an apology for this
state of things is demanded, and we
) make it on the part of the board
and the teachers. Our excuse was
that a public demonstration was
neither intended nor expected, and,
of course, preparation was not made
which such expectations would
have required. Even the pieces
produced were very little beyond
the ordinary school exercises,
and scarcely more than the
ordinary time and attention
given to their preparation. 1t was
anticipated that the parents Of the
children would besufficiently inter-
ested to attend, and very few out
siders. No public advertisement
was made, and the whole affair was
intended for an opportunity offered
the parents for testing the proficien-
cy of their children in elocution.
Well, it turned out very differently,
and we plead guilty to the blunder
of having expected to make pub
lie school exhibition a private affair.
The blunder will not be repeated.
If anything of the sort is attempted
next year, it will take place in a
larger building.
Thus much by way of apology for
the school authorities. For the
scholars we have none to make.
They do not need it, for their part
of the entertainment was all that
could be desired as evidence of
good honest work done by scholars
and teachers. 1t consisted, as
usual in such cases, of chorus and
solo singing, recitation, dialogues,
original essays and calisthenics.
Wew speak first of the singing:
The choruses were excellent in time |
and tune. They went like clock
work.
Walter KincannOn sang a senti-
mental duet with Miss Bette Ru-
dOlph, i'm which both lady and gen.
tleman sang with spirit and express
sion.
The comic quartette of the ODE
diahs introduced fun as well as
music, both of which were well
sustained by Walter Naylor, Char
lie Beaumont, Miss w. Bradbury
and Miss May Keesee. By the by,
we fear we shall not hear much
more of Charlie BeaumOnt's very
sweet soprano voice; we thought
we detected symptoms OF its break
ing and fear that in few more
months his boy voice will be gone,
and he will be anxiously awaiting
u DdNo NOACC dAAN u AAAOhoNtACAACs " |
like him better as he is.
Charlie KincannnOn is the coined
ian of the school. He acted capt.
tai scene in conjunction with Charlie
Smith, Percy Perkins, and Willie
Gilbert. The gist Of the piece
turned upon the imprudence of pre-
mature cigar smoking. The young
comedians entered thoroughly into
the spirit of the piece.
The OratOry proper was entrusted
to Charlie Smith and Willie Gill
bert. Charlie, whose powers of
eIocution are rapidly improving,
gave, with excellent effect,a ex-
tract from one of Col. Houses old
speeches on Christian charity, de-
Iivered when he was pleading the
cause Of the Tennessee Orphan
Asylum, and Willie gave in a caus-
tic-humOrOus vein TRADE on the
iniquity of taxation, the original of
which we believe to have been by
the English writer William CObbett,
but which has been modified by
some one to suit American ideas.
Both speeches showed good elOcu-
tiOnary training.
In the spectacular line we had
beautiful floral piece, the Summer
Queen" by the children of the sec
ond grade, interspersed with recita-
ton and calisthenics, and a splen-
did finale, by the elder girls, in an
allegorical style. entitled "The God
dess of Liberty" The Rotations
of Misses Hula Lowell, Ianthe
Woods, Dora Current, Ida Jackson,
Mary Bates, May Keesee, Susie
Pearce and Beulah Roth, in this
piece, were received with deserved
enthusiasm by the audience.
And the little tots of all, Mrs.
brigade, won all
hearts in their A B G roundelay.
Written essays were read by Sam.
Hyman and Miss Amanda Shack
elfOrd. Well expressed and well
delivered, and exhibiting COM
mendable thoughtfulness as to the
matters which were treated of.
But we must close with a tribute
to the graceful self-pOssessiOn and
mOdestsimplicity with which Miss
May Keesee delivered her recita-
ton. The little lady spoke under
very dIscouraging circumstances.
The audience were thoroughly
worn out with the heat and crowd
cd state of the room, and had be-
come impatient. She was for a
moment quite discouraged, but a
sense of duty soon strengthened her
resolution, and she gave the recita-
ton with degree of spirit which
SxtOrted applause even from that
exhausted audience.
We only desire 10 add that, while
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