Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-07-24
THE BELOIT COLLEGE COMMENCE.
MENT.
AN INTERESTING LETTER TO THE PLATTE
WILLIE WITNESS.


WILLIE WITNESS.
To THE PLATTEyILLE WITNESS
Nobody knows why Beloit was so
called except the inventor of the name.
Nowhere in the world was there Be-
lott till it sprang up by the Turtle
Mounds on the Rock river Since then
the sons of Be'oit have carried its name
into many Il new state and territory.
The College IS delightfully."- situated on
the bluffs overlooking the Rock River.
The view from the background up the
stream over the paper mills is especi-
ally charming.
! The Commencement exercises this
| year began with prize Destinations, on
Tuesday afternoon in the Congrega-
tional church. The huge building was
closely filled on its lower floor. On the
broad platform sat President Chaplin,
for 30 years President of the College. A
! quartette from the choir of the "a Con-
I gregational Church of Rockford, en-
/ livening the exercises with songs in
graceful and brilliant style. The outer
doors were closed as soon as a speaker
went upon the platform, and neither
beauty nor rank could pass the portal
till that speaker was through. An ex-
cellent thing for speaker and audience,
and for the outsider. too. Four young
men from each of the two lower classes
were allowed to compete for the prizes.
| did not learn who were the winners,
but certainly VIII Cartons poem =
The Death Bridge of the lay when
Willie was saved because Maggie made
| him lose the train, was rendered in a
wonderfully taking manner. The Al
umni Association held It's public meet
ing at the PreSby terian church in the
evening.
The tornado of last year, by the way.
was u thoroughly undenominational
affair, for it twisted off all the high
church steeples, showing no favor OF
Partially.
Rev Edward Eaton, of Oak Park,
H., delivered the Alumni address, and
fine, stirring thing twas, on christian
Education The Grafton was followed
by Il one-armed soldier-a son of Beloit,
from Vinton, Iowa. Horace Warner,
class of 81. Alumni and guests were
then INVITED to the Presidents house for
moonlight music and ice-cream
Wednesday morning the exercises
were held in the Old Church, which was
crowded, floor and galleries. A fine
orchestra from Milwaukee was in at
tendance. The class graduated fifteen.
| am told that it is regarded as strong
class. Among them our friend S. |.
Hanfort, formerly Of the class of 70 in
the Normal, and in the office OF the
Witness. stands very high in the esteem
of the Faculty and of the whole Col
| lcge. His title was Philosophical Ora
lion-Something more than Facts. 1t
was fine theme, well and strongly put.
! The last Grafton over-the last boquet
delivered the class farewell spoken.
the class assembled on the platform to
receive their degrees, There is always
something in such scene that touches
the hearts of all. 1t carries the old men
back to the days before their hair was
gray; and to the young, the grave words
of The president PRO iRSigHj IN stu
d0 diitgentiG' seems like the mystic
words OF = wizard that open the doors
of the future.
Waiting for the Alumni dinner we
strolled over to the Observatory and TO
Memorial Hall. The Observatory is the
gift Of Mrs. j. S. Herrck as memorial
of her brother 1t is finely equipped
with telescope and all auxiliary instru-
ments-the best of their kind. Memorial
Hall contains the Library and Cabinets.
The walls are finely and appropriately
adorned with tablets carrying the names
of the sons of Beloit who served and
fell in the war of the Rebellion.
The old Indian Mounds-turlles and
beetles in shape are still there, crouch
ing on the College Campus where the
Ancient Mound Builders erected them.
perhaps when Egyptian Thcbes was
still in its glory.
Then came the Alumni dinner. No
body ought to attempt to describe that;
in the gymnasium, in the midst Of par
allel bars. ladders, spring boards and
suggestive dangling ropes, long tables
were loaded with rich viands and sur
rounded with gray heads and youthful
faces. The only way to understand it
is TO send your boy to the College and
so get a ticket to the dinner. Beloit is
a good place for your boy, and on COM
mencement week they know how to en-
terrain visitors royalty. The day closed
promptly at II, midnight, as did the
grand Senior Glass Concert in the
church, where we listened to superb
piano, and orchestral music. For two
days of solid enjoyment and goodly en-
tertainment, try Il Beloit Commences
mrnt.
During the recent session of Congress
more than ten thousand bills were intro
duccd, Of which less than two hundred
became laws. There must be something
radically wrong about the methods by
which such a mass of legislation is pro-
posed and Smothered in the mill Many
of the bills thus killed in the committee
rooms ought to have been enacted into
laws, and might well have displaced
some that were passed.
Col. john A. Martin has been nomi-
mated by the Republicans for Governor
OF Kansas. This is another instance of
a newspaper man coming to the front,
Col. Martin is editor of the Atchison
Champion, aud is sure of an election.
Immense swarms of l7-year locusis
have appeared in various parts of New
Jersey Much uneasineSs if felt for the
safety Of the crops,