Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-15

The First Annual commencement AT
Masonic Temple Last Nighttime An
nuaI Address by Mayor Lester-Ihe
Cadets Roll % Honor.
The first annual commencement of the
Savannah Military Academy took place
at the Masonic Temple last evening.
The heavy rain which fell during the
afternoon and until the hour of the COM
meDeement prevented many from beng
present. but even under these unfavora0le
circumstances the hall was filed TO its
capacity with a brilliant audience OF the
friends and patrons Of the academy and
leading citizens. The stage was appro-
priatelv and handsomely decorated with
huge bouquets and flowers.
AT : O'Clock the exercises opened with
an overture by the orchestra. At its close
the Cadets marched in under command
of the principal of the school, Major b. j..
Burgess. and took seats upon the stage,
and in front Of the audience, where places
had been reserved for them. Upon the
stage were seated the faculty, Principal
Burgess and Professors CrOwther. john
son and Scott. and Mayor Lester The
Cadets who were TO participate IN the
spelling exercise also occupied seats upon
the stage.
Professor CrOwther in announcing the
exercises stated that the spelling bee in
which the Cadets would participate had
no bearing upOn the term scholarship, but
! was simply public test of their ability.
/ The Cadets who were to enter the
/ contest. numbering about thirty, then
| arose and were given a series of words
/ from SwintOn's Test Speller. The exer-
/ else occupied about ten minutes, during
/ which one after another retired, I'M
/ til Cadets FriersOn and Fleming only
remained standing. Cadet frlersOn
I failed on the word sEOlian," and Cadet
[ Fleming remained alone the winner Of
I the contest. The result was greeted with
[ applause by the school and enthu-
I siastic cheers. The winner was then
I submitted to the test of spelling difficult
geographical words, and sustained an adj
mirable examination After some min
utes he was retired on the word ''Balize."
At the conclusion of this exercise Pro-
/ fessOr johnson announced the medallsts
and honor men, stating that while no
medal was conferred in the first class,
Cadet r. L. GOlding was entitled TO honor
able mention. The medalists took posi-
tiOns facing the faculty and were ably
addressed by Col. Chas. ii. Olmstead.
/ The address, though brief. contained a
vast amount of knowledge that could not
fail to be impressed upon the minds OF the
I Cadets and those who were present in the
I audience. The speaker urged upon the
/ class the advantages of close. hard, per-
/ sistent toll and study. Labor
and abnegatiOn were the two
words in which he could recapitulate his
whole address. In presenting the medals
/ he noted the motto engraved upon each,
/ "Pdlad non sine pulUere," and pointed still
I further to the motto which every
! Georgian hOnors, mon Sibi sed Gltis'
/ as the great principle Of every
| true. honorable life. The medals-each
I bearing the inscription, Savannah Mill
tary Academy, 1881 and on the reverse
side the motto, ''Pdlad non Sine Pull
rere''-were then awarded TO the follow
ing Cadets:
Cadet Conner, for excellence in pre-
] scribed course in second class.
Cadet Rogers, for superior excellence IN
/ partial course in second class.
Cadet FriersOn, for excellence IN regu-
lar course in third class.
Cadet Owens, for excellence in regular
course in fourth class.
Cadet Fleming, for superiority in the
I spelling contest.
/ The presentation was concluded, and
the winners OF the various medals were
/ greeted with loud applause,
After music by the orchestra, Professor
Z Crowther introduced Hon. Rufus T.. Les
ter. who delivered the annual address as
follows: