Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-06-24
Class Day Exercises.

Inc clasS-day exercises OF the class o.
1886 Lancaster High School was crowd
ed out of our account of commence
ment. The exercises were very inter
esting, and we should be glad to publish
! all the productions if space permitted
| We will give, though late, a brief &C
count of this pleasant occasion.
AT eight o'clock good sized audienc,
assembled in the school chapel. Mis-.
Marie Book, as president of the class
presided, and announced first song by
by the class, after which she delivered
the following address:
1t has been our purpose in coming
together this evening not to make al
exhibition of ourselves-we did thai
this morning-but to give our friends 9
better acquaintance with the doings Of
the nine forlorn specimens of humanity
who, far back in the aforementioned
ages, began their uneventful career, to
render our last recollections of oul
school life here those of pleasure and to
bid FAREWELL lingering, hopeful fare
well-to the scenes of most of our joys
and sorrows for so many years.
We stand tonight on the brink of
that great ocean on whose treacherous
waves SO many barks have been wrecked
so many young lives lost. We do
not make pretensions to extraordinary
powers. Indeed, the class has been in
no respect remarkable, unless it be per.
1 in 10 1apa in k,a,
of its female members. Truthfully
speaking, the class does not feel over
whelming sorrow at quitting the insti-
tuition where they have experienced
trials and vexations as well as pleas
ures. With an experience of curious
satisfaction adulterated with a variable
quantity of regret these nine new barks
start out 10 battle with the storms OF
time. Step by step with logged deter
mlnation we have in turn mastered the
alphabet with its mysterious A-B-C's
threaded our way through the treacher-
GUS quicksands of algebra, surmounted
the mountains of difficulty in philosophy,
fought valiantly with Caesar and the
Gallo legions, till finally we have COM
pleted the course prescribed by this
school and turn to labor in other fields.
We have finished the first act in the
great drama of life. Before us lies the
future, a serene and sunny landscape
overhung by a calm blue sky, On whose
beautiful expanse no cloud has yet APP
peared. Behind us-the past, already
shrouded in dark shadows, whose seem
ingly impenetrable gloom | will leave
to be pierced by our historian.
The History of the class of 1886, by
Miss Kate Doyle followed. She stated
that this was the largest class that had
graduated from the High School, their
combined length being 4S feet, 81
inches, and their combined weight
1908 pounds. Their ages. with an
average of Is, amounted to 1862 years.
Six of the nine were born in Lancaster.
In religious views they differ, two being
Episcopalians, two Catholics, one Bap-
fist, one Congregationalist and three
agnostics. In politics they are unani-
nous, all being good Republicans.
The prophesy by Miss Clara Rhodes
was very humorous. She honored the
one young man by giving him priority,
and after disposing of him as a eight
ning-rod dispenser" she started Miss
Murphy in the flower business. Miss
Schreiner was to be musician, Miss
Doyle professor of German at Vassar,
Miss Trowbridgc follows Bergh in the
prevention of cruelty to flies. Miss
Woolstenholme marries western ranch
man, Miss Thomas becomes a writer
of sensational stories, while Miss Book
relinquishes the comforts of civilization
and becomes a missionary to the canni-
balls of the South Sea Islands.
A piano trio, the only exercise on the
program not furnished by the class, was
then given by Miss Bertha Morse and
Mr.. Joe and Miss Carrie Nathan 1t
was well rendered and received with
applause.
The essay on the class motto, "Step
by Step" by Miss Alice Thomas, was
characterized by her usual thoughtful
earnestness and was production well
worthy of reproduction, but to abridge
it wo9ld be impossible.
The original poem by Miss Trow-
bridge and the advice to under-gradu-
ates by Miss Woolstenholme, were full
OF wit and caused much merriment
among the pupils and the audience, but
perhaps the most amusing part of the
program was the presentation of me-
mentoes to the members of the class by
MIR. Frank Buchner. Miss DOYLE, class
treasurer, received purse; Miss Wool
stenholme q jar of pickles; Miss Trow-
bridge fly-trap; Miss Schreiner a
floral ladder; Miss Thomas large let
ter G, with arequest to ind in it pearl
Miss Murphy set of bangs; Miss
Rhodes an Alpine staff and Miss Book
testament. Each gift had point in
some popularity of the one receiving it,
or some allusion to the subjects of their
graduating essays.
Miss Schreiner's piano solo was well
rendered and she responded to an en-.
core.
Miss Murphy closed the exercises with
a valedictory essay in which she spoke
in feeling language of the parting of the
members of the class, and thanked
teachers, school-board and janitor for
their assistance in the past
At the close of their program the
president called on Prof Wood for some
remarks. He spoke briefly on the ad.
vantage of education and contrasted the
class as it appeared Friday with the
way the same pupils would have APP
peared had they left school ten years
ago. He also commended the class fol
their prompt and regular attendance
good department and studious habits
Prof. Harper was then called on. He
spoke of the work of the schools in gen.
eral and of Lancaster in particular and
said this school would compare favor
ably with many that make greater pre-.
tensions; that as an examiner in Grant
County he knew something of the
results of the work and that during the
last four years Lancaster had taken .
long step upward, Then he spoke Of