Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-06-09

Attractive Commencement Exercises Mt tn
Metropolitan M. L. Church,

Attractive commencement Exercises at the
Metropolitan M. 4. Church.
LARGE ATTENDANCE OF FASHIONABLE PEOPLE
| EXCELLENT PROGRAM by THE PRETTY AND
| GRACEFUL scHoLARs-FEMrNrNrrY IN ABso-
Lutte coNTRoL-LIsr OF THE GRADUATES.
Long lines Of fashionable carriages blocked
up ~ street last night in front of the Metro
politan Church. Inside the church every seat
was occupied and fashion and intellect filed
the body and galleries to their utmost capabili-
| ties.
IL was the graduating exercises of the class
OF 1881 Of Mount Vernon Seminary and the
audience had gathered to see fourteen young
ladies started on the second portion of their
careers, that portion not confined by school
walls
Long before o'clock the body of the church
was filed, with the exception of the front
rows, divided of by white ribbons and sacredly
reserved for the children, not graduates. and
the faculty. At each aisle with white batons
daintily trimmed as emblems Of authority. pre-
sided q number Of young ladies, members of
the school, acting as ushers
THE FAIR usHERs, SCHOLARS AND GRADUATES.
Authority for the time was evidently vested
in femininity. One young man in the left aisle
looked decidedly lonesome. The ushers were
Misses Weed, Hurst, Saville, Wilcox, Woodruff
Hyde. Hill, Clapp, Parker, Patterson, Sargent,
Hammond, Hill, Webb, Orendorf, Batchelder,
Templer, Carry and Baird.
About 8 o'clock. marshaled BY the ushers,
about 100 young ladies swept, rustlcd and
1oated up the aisle and occupied the front of
the church. This was the body of the school.
and each member was evidently looking for
ward to the time she would not stop at the steps,
but RlOIlld N the r1latforpn in all the
radiance and glory Of graduate. Closely fol-
lowing the school came another body of young
ladies, also scholars, but at the same time MEM
bers OF the chorus. Behind, with Mrs Somers
at the head, were fourteen embodiments of
grace and beauty clad in pure white and con-
stituting the graduating class.
The platform presented an attractive and
artistic picture. In front sat the graduates,
behind the chorus the white dresses and
youthful beauty being framed in and sur
rounded, not by deep masses of green foliage,
but by light and graceful plants, better suited
to the picture for which they served as q back
ground.
THE ATTRACTIVE PROGRAM.
The program was perfect in every feature,
the musical portion being especially effective.
In full the exercises were as follows: Overture,
by string orchestra, ''Son and Stranger" Men
aeissohn, Wiihelmj Club; hymn Of praise, Il
Waited for the Lord" Mendelssohn; prayer,
Rev. Geo. FL. Corey, DID,; pilgrims chorus,
from Tannhauser Wagner; address to gradual,
ing class, Prof. W. D. McClintock, AN;
chorus, oh, Dewy Morning Land" Rees; con-
ferring diplomas; chorus, Largo" Handel;
benediction-
Every musical number on the program was
as nearly perfect as possible. Prof. kasper
acted as leader, and the fresh, clear voices
showed excellent training by Mrs. Kasper, the
vocal teacher in the school The solo portions
were delivered with clearness and expression,
while the chorus voices melted into one har-
monious volume of sound. At the end of DIR.
Coreys prayer the Lords prayer was sung i'm
pressiyeiy by the full chorus
DIR. n cLINToCKs ADDRESS.
DR.. McClintock in his address showed an
easy and graceful delivery, with faculty of
expressing his thoughts with vigor and force.
He took as his key note the change Of feeling
toward women and dwelt on the fact that in
romance and for work the ideal woman was no
longer the untried and uniformed school girl,
but her more mature sister. Work and ro-
nance Tor women, he held, did not end, but
merely commenced as the school door closed.
The graduating class, he held, should look for
ward to constant increase of power and
interest. At forty a woman's soul was more
complex and therefore more interesting. No
longer let it be said of women, She graduated
and quit work, or she married and quit work.
The speaker drew an interesting picture of the
three stages through which the present realiza-
ton OF the power and worth of women had
been reached
DIPLOMAS TO THE GRADUATES
The diplomas were delivered by DIR. Hamlin.
with a few well chosen and appropriate words.
The graduates were as follows: Anna Coryell
Beebe, Denver, Col; Eleanor Gordon Brush,
Indianapolis, Ind. Phila Lazarus Calder, Viii
mington, NC; Elsa Durand Chamberlain. Den
yer, Col; Mary Chiles Independence, NO.;
Frances Pierson Clapp, Washington, DC;
Grace V.Edwards, Washington, d. c.; Elizabeth
Hardin Field, Denver, Col; lizzie Lunella Her.
rick, Minneapolis, Mimi; Marian Dane Lilly,
Washington, DC; Susie b. Plain, Memphis,
Tenn; sara cambridge Shields, st. Louis, Mo-;
Clara Seipp, Chicago, ILL.,, and Cornelia Harm
den Wright, Washington, DC.