Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1883-05-18
Augusta Male Academy Commencement.
A STANTON BOY CARRIES OFF THE
HIGHEST PRIZE.

| Tuesday morning presented busy scene.
! Alongside of it is the grove and spacious
pavilion in which was to take place the
annual commencement of the Augusta
Male Academy. Vehicles were driving
| up every moment and unloading their
| freight of gentlemen and ladies, and the
| grove on the other side of the road was
| full of neighing horses, and comfortable
| family carriages, in which hampers, sug-
gestive to a hungry man, were literally
slowed. Staunton, which has always
! shown deep interest in that school, was
well represented among the visitors, fur
nishing quite one third of the large crowd
ASSEMBLE d. The band from the Deaf,
Dumb & Blind Institution was on the
sweet sounds. AS en- all these annual
gatherings. the crowd was seated and
made comfortable by the polite Marshals
chosen from the ranks of the Academy
pupils.
The final celebration of the
JEFFERsoNIAN LITERARY SOCIETY
which is always a strong feature in the
| Academy commencement. was the first on
the programme The President of the
| Society. g. Fl. Mccormick of Rock bridge,
introduced the speakers. ]. z. nevener.
of W. Va, delivered the salutatory; z. s.
Roller. the final orator. spoke on 1.-The
ligh. of other days." Robt. L. Jones, on
England in the days of the Saxons;" A.
S. Warwick, on "America;" G. II. Bell,
on .'the Bunker Hill Monument c. 5.
Peterson. GU 1.-The Future of America, )"
J. W. McCurdy, ON What we owe to
Athens" e. II. Gllkeson, on the Gen
| tennial Address," and A. e. Miller Oh
| 'Gal fields Memorial" Perhaps the most
sincere compliment that could be paid to
the eff orts of the young men was that
paid by veteran and popular public
speaker we'll know in Virginia and es-
pecially in the SIEVE nth district. whose
surprised comment was-'Why these
Youngsters ale pushing US old fellows, al
ready
The next feature of the day was the
debate on the question WAS Brutus JUS
tiliAble 10 assassinating Cesar" The
affirmative was ably taken by E. S. Sub
lett and John A. Hartman, who were as
ably answered by H. L. Denny and L. j.
Randolph. The Society exercises were
closed by valedic-ory by Nathan Park
ms, who showed such surprising gift OF
pathos that some of the gentle sex present
paid their tears as tribute to the speak,
er's power.
The close of the progt ANNE was the
reading by Prot. G. s. Roller of the list of
pupils, who, on examination, had attained
high grade in their various classes. The
list was long and its length indicates the
general proficiency which characterizes
the school.
| THE AWARD OF MEDALS
then took place. E. S. Sublett, of Staun-
ton, son of P. B. Sublett, Esq took the
highest prize of the school, the High
Scholarship Medal which was awarded to
him for the best general average during
average being ninety-eight and eight
| tenths. The medal is of gold cost
| ing 500 and is of beautiful design.
| The other gold medals were awarded as
follows:-Best Dictator. T. J. Randolph !;
best Declalmcr, A. e. Miller; Oratory, P.
3. Roller, and for spelling to Nathaniel
I Bacon, The having missed the correct
| spelling of but one word during the whole
term.) Three other gold medals were
awarded to W. 7. Slower, Geo. II. Bell
and G. H. Gilkeson whose average scholar
ship was SO or more.
| 4HE ANNUAL ADDRESS.
Col. Chas. T. Ferrall, in an admirable
address to the Jefersonian Society. closed
the days proceedings. We say admirable
because its composition deserves just that
adjective. With just enough of humor to
catch the attention, 1t was full of lofty
lessons for the young, and was so popular
in lis construction that general regret was
expressed when he closed.
Thus closed the ffth annual commence
ment of the Augusta Male Academy and
the third annual celt bratlon of the Jeffer.
sonian Society. There are 43 pupils at the
Academy representing five States, and
eleven counties in this State. The faculty
consists If Ii Sht fey Roller, Professor of
Latin and English E s. Smith, IA grad
uate of the University of Virginia), Prof
essor of Matthew atics, French aud Ger
man, ard W. Ii. Lane. an alumnus of
! the Academy, Prof of Natl ematics
and English. This Furnishing Institution
of learning owes its birth, growth and
success to Prof. Charles S. Roller who.
within the last two or three months, has
become Principal of the State School for
the Deaf, Dumb aud Blind. The fu-
rure Principal Of the Academy is
not yet decided on. but as Prof.
Roller owns the property and also has
a deep interest in the continued sue
cess of work, which it is his credit to
have commenced, the public may be as
sured that the next head of the school will
be fully qualified for the place.
1t would De an objectionable omission
to neglect an acknowledgment of the un-
bounded hospitality shown to visitors
from distance by the citizens of the Fort
Defiance neighborhood. Every stranger
Was sought out and made to feel at home
in the pleasantest way imaginable, and
elegant spreads of family dinners, set out
BY fair hands were fully appreciated.
THE BALL.
On Wednesday night the annual ball OF
| the students came off at the Pavilion
Among the ladies present were Misses
| Virginia and Katie Stewart, Lizzie Wal.
ton, Helen Rid, May Elder. Nettie Eos.
ter. Belle Gllkeson, Fannie Tannehill
Maggie Morton, Ada Smith, Glenn
and Maggie Atkinson, Madge Abby
Bessie Pinkard, Cora Hanger, Katie
McGuffin, Fannie McChesney, Maggie