The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1891-06-26
OREGON AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
CLOSING EXERCISES OF THE TWENTY FIRST
ANNIVERSARY.

Fr;dav and continued until Wednesday.
The commencement exercises properly eh-
braced only the programs of Sunday, Tues
day and Wednesday. Although the "ea'h'
or all this time was not promising ye'
there was not enough rain to mar the
pleasure of any day. A large numoer OF
tho alnmni. patrons and friends OF the
school from abroad were In ateenoance.
The entire week was much enjoyed by all
present. Altogether there has never been
a more prosperous year OF the agricultural
college. tnan this, now closed py lts Zis'
annual commencement
Friday evening the Hesperian and Dla'
lectic societies held union meeting. The
programme consisted of essays, recltatlons'
tableaux and pantomines alternated with
well.selected music. A cornet solo, by
Miss Fannie Meserve, was very nicely rem
dered. George Paul recited, with credit,
Sparticus to the Gladiators. The belle and
beau Of the college were represented by a
bow and bell. A tableau, the sleeping
beauty and the guardian angel, was simply
divine, but the encere produced only
ridiculous burlesque with "post no bills
in the foreground. The difficulty OF max
ing love to two suitors was well acted IN
dumb show. The old witches journey to
the black forest and scene in dentists
Office were the subjects of shadow panto-
mines. Miss Dorthy Nash's essay on
music showed acquaintance with the sub
iect. which she presented in an interesting
manner. After the literary exercises were
over the students, faculty and graduates
adjourned to Jobs Theatre where the re-
mainder of the evening was passed in
dancing. This party being confined as 1T
was to She school was the most enjoyable OF
the entire year.
Saturday evening Miss Smell gave an
afternoon tea to the members of the junior
class. senior class and post graduates. ln
all about twenty were present. The lnten-
tion was to have given lawn party but on
account Of the rain in the morning 1T was
confined to indoors. After an hour OF
pleasant conversation the classes were in
yited no stairs to Miss SHELLS room and
served with strawberries and cream and
chocolate and cake, prepared by the young
ladies of the cooking class. This. the last
of a number of suppers given this winter
will live long in the memory of those pres
ent.
On Sunday the Baccalaureate sermon was
preached BY Rev. G. G. Stratton, ID. d., oil
Portland University, to congregation
which crowded the assembly hall. DIR.
Stratton took as text the eighth verse OF
the third chapter of PHILIPPIANS which he
handled in his usual masterly style, making
the sermon intensely interesting. In his
introduction he showed first that we are
all in the pursuit of knowledge, either in
one way or another, and then how this
knowledge is obtained. That we are never
absolutely certain of our knowledge through
sensations, but that it must be made more
certain by reason. Whether or not we
should accept the advice of man who
lived eighteen hundred years ago and who
gave the advice of the text, would be a
very proper question. The discussion OF
this question occupied the remainder of the
sermon. It would be impossible, all but,
to give a synopsis of the sermon, since each
sentence, from beginning to end was pre-
cept full of thought, well formed and the
whole SO nicely connected in logical Sc
auence, that the hearer was carried along
the train of thought unawares. Well
selected and appropriate SMILES, examples,
etc., were freely used, yet not superfiuously,
each bearing directly on the points to be
illustrated.
In bis remarks to the graduating class
after closing, he congratulated them. on the
knowledge they had already obtained.
They had knowledge, he said, of the
flower before them, of the sciences and OF
the world in general but there was still
another to be gained, the knowledge ex'
cellent. While congr ratulating them on
what they had done and obtained he
wished to impress on them the importance
of obtaining that higher knowledge leading
out to the relm of God, with which they
had an assurance Of eternal life.
Monday evening was occupied with the
exercises Of the junior class. The programme
exhibited preparation and was Of marked
literary merit. The first was instrumental
music by Miss Leon Louis. Her selection
was well made and the piece perfectly ex-
ecuted. Miss Minnie Waggoner's address
of welcome was short. appropriate and to
the point. Miss Anna Denman in an essay
on solitude dwelt on the benefits to be de-
rived from passing hours in solitude and
studying the works of massive minds. Ir
thus doing we forget ourselves and rise fai
above IN literary world of thoughts. The
effects ef work in solitude are the literary
gems of our masters. The words of the
class song were written by Miss Rose Hor
ton and adapted to that song, familiar Ii
eastern colleges "Upidee." Miss Lois
Stewart, as class oracle, pictured the junior
sd senior classes as they will appear fift,
years hence. Each paragraph was briu