Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-06-02
LAST EVENINGS ANNIVERSARY
OF the Alumni Association of the Female
ColleSe.

LAST EVENINGS ANNIVERSARY
OF the Alumni Association Of the Female
College.
The Alumni Association Of the Wheeling
Female College celebrated its anniversary
last night. Mrs. Edward P. Wheat pre-
sided with great grace and dignity. The
evenings exercises were opened BY piano
solo BY Miss Ada Frasher, after which the
President introduced Hon. George W. At.
knson, of this city, who delivered the ad.
dress. He said:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: This i, an age
Of wonderful activity. 1t is beyond ques-
ton an age Of "air lines" and through
trains" If we hope or expect to accom-.
plish anything for ourselves and Our asso-
ciates and friends, we must get aboard the
train. We cannot tarry long. II
We hesitate We may get left
Think Of our wonderful system
of steam navigation; of our trains Of cars
running through these rock,ribbed hills
forty miles an hour; of our telegraph wires
which unite all the nations of the earth,
and place them within speaking distance
with one another; Of our telephones, by
means Of which the voices Of our friends are
recognized more than Q hundred miles
away. Think, if you please, Of all these
recent grand discoveries in science, which
are not only valuable in q personal and
business sense, but, better than all, ere the
means ofwelding the whole world Of man.
kind into q common brotherhood. There
are two things believe above everything
else-they are the Fatherhood Of God and
the Brotherhood OF man. The constitu.
tons and laws of all nations differ. All
systems ofreligion are unlike; but underly.
ing them all is the one grand, central truth,
which all seem to recognize though we can
not tell why, that God is the Father OF man.
kind, and that all, somehow, are sisters and
brothers. God made every one Of us, and
We are one in nature one in feeling, enc in
sympathy one in our aims in lite, one in
destiny.
livery nation has its Mecca. Every home
circle has its consecrated spot. Indeed, all
the world has its sacred places consecrated
to the memories OF the past To the old
rock at Plymouth every New England heart
will turn with anxious longing, from what.
ever part OF the globe he or she may have
wandered. The old hall at Philadelphis,
wherein our nation was born, will be forever
precious to the American heart, and every
freeman will feel toward il as the child will
feel for its earliest home, though he or she
may have wandered to the ends Of the
earth and grown gray beneath
the burdens OF the years agone.
So with the home where we first saw the
light-however humble it may be, or de.
cayed and wasted it may have grown under
the waiings OF the winds or the peltings OF
the storms The old college, where we used
to 60 TO school, is as dear to US as the apple
Of our eyes So have ali Of US Cur ideal
spots where affections cling as the ivy
about the oak; and however much we may
desire 10 do 80, we cannot shake them off
But we do not desire TO forget them. To
these consecrated places cling the hearts
Of the generations as they
pass. 1t is well that it is So
These memories aud affections recall US
from our wanderings and cause us TO feel
that we are interested IN one another welfare
and have common in'eres. ia building up
and beautifying the community in which we
live, and OF which we are AN integral par.
Gel and part. These kind o. attractions are
stronger than wealth, stronger than honor,
my friends. They are God.given, and are
shrines around which we bend in dreams
and in dying.
Why should we not be joyful tonight?
Why should we not render thanks to Him who
caused our lines to fall in such pleasant
places2 Why mott But we are happy to-
night Gathered here are many who have
gone out from these halls Of learning aud
found from experience that life is both real
and earnest, and they have found out also
that, after all, this is beautiful world, and
that the educations they received here have
aided them greatly in making it still more
beautiful What delightful thought,
Making the world better, purer, brighter,
nobler, grander. That is just what You are
doing, trust. And you have been think
ing, too, hope. mean thinking for your.
selves-torging your own thoughts.
II the Wheeling Female College did no
more for you, when you were students in il,
than to teach you how to do your own think
ing, it rendered you service Of incalcula5le
worth.
The speaker continued to talk in the most
interesting manner for half an hour con
cludipg with an eloquent and well merited
tribute TO the retiring President Of the in
and voicing the regret OF the en-.
tire com munity at her coming departure for
a distant but wider field OF work.
Mics Nina Blunden performed piano
solo, and then Rev. DR.. Smith addressed
hose present briefly but earnestly. he was
followed by Miss Taylor, who made her
farewell address 10 the Alumni Society in
mo st tender touching language.
The anniversary was great success and
an occasion OF rare interest. The following
officers we're elected for the ensuing year
Mrs. Samuel Kasley, President.
Miss Louise A. Laughlin, Miss Annie l..
Knapp, Miss Lille d. McGregor, Vice Pres
idents.
Miss Martha p. Harper, Recording Secre
tary.
Miss Mary Ella Dillon, Corresponding
Secretary.