National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-06-17
Washington Schools Commencement,

Albaugh's Grand Opera House, which is
capable of seating twenty-five hundred peo-
pie, was yesterday called upon to accomo-
date four thousand. At o'clock the house
seemed to be crowded, the corridors were
packed and great numbers surged around
the principal entrance. Arrangements for
the reception Of such a mass of people
might have been made with some view to
ordinary comfort, but they proved TO be as
bad as bad could possibly be. Ladies,
young ana old, with or without reserved
tickets, had to go through something worse
than purgatory to make their way to the en-
trance door Of the auditorium. This abomln-
able crush was all the worse from the fact
thata great many Of the ladies in that opera
house yesterday were those who are the
least likely to be familiar with the habits of
crowds, and who would not have entered
theater except upon such an occasion as
the distribution of educational rewards.
With whom lies the blame we know not,
but we do know that women and children
the persons particularly interested in such
displays-should not be subjected In civil
lied countries, under any circumstances, to
the torture and ignominy OF the pressure
brought to bear upon them yesterday.
However, American crowds are good
natured, and 1t was a sight fit for the gods
to see the smiling, radiant faces Of ladies
inside the amphitheatre who, upon the out
side, bad been engaged in fierce struggle
with adyersity.
And, indeed, the inside of the opera house
presented glorious spectacle. 1t looked
as If all the flowers from thirty, out of the
thirty-eight states, with those from three or
four of the territories thrown In, had
plucked themselves and walked upon their
stalks all the way to Washington TO deck
the pretty faces, hands, frocks, and bonnets
Of the ladies who smiled behind them, to
greet the President and his beautiful bride,
and to offer their homage at the shrine Of
as graceful and attractive an array of grad
uating classes as ever sat upon any plat
form.
Growing warm with the weather and the
| subject, 1t becomes necessary at this point
to drop into history. When Henry NJ
Stanley was making his search for Living.
stone in Central Africa he was Joined by
Mai. Butler, the husband of the famous
painter of battle pictures, from England
On his return to London Maj. Butler wrote
an interesting book, which he called
"Through the Dark Continent" About {
year afterward Mr.. Henry Saunders, also ol
London, made long and careful tour ol
the United States, and on his return to hi:
home wrote delightful book about thi:
country, which he called "Through tn,
Light Continent" He commenced by re
peating Thackeray's compliment: sit is nc
/ credit to be water-drinker In America, a
| the atmosphere acts like champagne upoI
the most abandoned Of water-topers.'
From this the author went on to euloglz,
the women, children, houses, flowers, fruits
vegetables, carriages, horses, wagons, wa
gon wheels, school rooms, churches, chapels
public buildings, and theaters. lie pointet
out the brightness, llghtness, strength
lathiness, and durability Of all, and at tn
close of his book the dullest reader was en-
abled to see clearly why America had beer
called the slight continent"
erillustration of this glorious bright
ness could have been found than the ligh
which Illuminated the opera house yester
day, when the summer dresses of the ladies
and the extravagant richness OF color iron
innumerable flowers, transformed a theater
from floor to ceiling, into a Veitable fairy
land.
But there were flowers OF language and o
melody, as we'll as those which nlmbl
fingers gathered from teeming gardens
Mr.. d. G. Gilman delivered an address upo
"The Love of Books and the Love OF Ma
ture,n which was worthy Of the deep
hearted and broad-mlnded president o
Johns Hopkins University. He referre
with emotion and genuine affection TO til
educating and elevatlng influences Of tn
great books, written In all ages by those Il
lustrious dead "whose spirit lives again Il
minds made better by their presence;n and
indeed, "those dead leaves which keep thel
green, the noble letters OF the dead" coul
find no more ardent lover or expounde
than the friend Of Lowell, Agassiz, am
Charles Kingsley who addressed the gradu
ating classes Of Washington normal an,
high schools in 1886.
The music furnished by the Marine Band
under its present accomplished instructor
Mr.. John Philip sousa, was, as usual, sim
ply excellent, and the xyIophone SOLOS
suffered the penalty of genu
by being encored with an enthusi
asm which only ceased with the en-
trance Of President Cleveland, who arrive,
In time to distribute the diplomas and Ger
tilcates. This was quite a perfunctory op
eration, as the President merely handet
out the parchment to great number o
ladies, who received them gracefully, an,
10 q small number OF gentlemen, who car