Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-24
COLUMBIAN ALUMNI.
Sons and Daughters of washington's Univer-
sity Assemble at q Banquet.


A NOTABLE GATHERING AT THE ARLINGTON LAST
SIGHT-A NUMBER OF BRIGHT sPEEcHEs-rHE
FUTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY DIscUssEp-A
PROMISE OF GREAT THINGS.
The sons of Columbian University gathered
last night to speak the praises oil the uhiVer
sty and give evidence of their anectlon LOT
their alma mater Some of the daughters were
there too. young women who have won ue-
grees in the schools OF the university 1t was
family gathering at which an account was
taken of the progress made, and all agreed
that the future Of the university was filed with
great promise. Tho occasion was the annual
banquet of the alumni association held at the Ar
lington Before the banquet a reunion was held
in the large reception room and college men
renewed old or made new acquaintance. The
assembly included many well-known citizens,
for Columbian University is largely repre-
sented among the men who take leading part
in the affairs of the city. There were about
$50 present The banquet was served in the
large banquet hall and 1t was generally agreed
that it was one of the most enjoyable banquets
of the year account of the quality both OF
what came before and what followed the
coffee.
The president of the association. Mr.. Theo.
W. Moves. occupied a seat at the center of the
main table, and at his right and left sat a nnm-
Der of the distinguished alumni or members OF
the college faculties.
When the feast was over Mr.. Moves made a
short address and then toastmaster intro
duced a number of speakers.
PRESIDENT MOVES.
NJ. Moves in his opening remarks sounded
the keynote which heard in nearly all the
speeches of the evening. 1t was a note of hope
fulness for the university. Mr. Moves speech,
as well those of others. pointed out the great
possibilities before a university located AT the
| national capital, where it had advantages
in the scientific collections and libraries OF the
government and in the presence of the govern
ment itself. which a most munihcent endow-
ment could not yield elsewhere. Mr.. Noyes
spoke of the home-like aspect of the Coiur-
ban alumni gatherings. referring to the pres
ence of many who are prominent in local
affairs He INDUCED briefly in pleasant
"reminiscences of the old Prep and col
! lege or the hill and the law school.
] He spoke of the distinction won and the useful
| services rendered the community by graduates
! of these professional schools. The local in
tuence of the university was well illustrated by
| the representative character OF the gathering
| that night. Yet the speaker regarded the lnstl-
tuition. with its 500 students and Its widely scat
| tered graduates. rs only in its infancy He re-
! ferred to George Washington's prophetic Keen
ness in foreseeing that Washington was to be a
| great university city, and leaving by his Will
| nifty shares of the Potomac Navigation COM
pany's stock endowment for national
\ university Washlngtons letters indicated how
| dear the national university plan was to him.
He chose the federal city. he said. for the pro-
| posed university because it to be the
| permanent seat of government. because
1t was central, and because it would
| afford students the opportunity OF
| listening to the debates of Congress and OBJ
serving the operations of government The gift
| OIL winch such high hopes were built proved to
| be worthless, but only twenty years after Wash
| ington's death another PRESIDENT of the United
\ States and prominent members OF his cabinet,
lilled with the same confidence in the capital
| university prospects and advantages. were act
| lively assisting In the founding OF Columbian
College. In 1921 President NJ onroe warmly In
dorsed the college, calling attention to Its ma
tional position and relations, and John q
| Adams and John c. Calhoun of his cabinet were
among the contributors to the foundation fund
Columbian University. the speaker asserted
unless 1t avoided its destiny, would surely be
the national university which George Washing
ton had foreseen. national. not in the sense Of
being endowed and controlled by the nationa
| government. but national in the iron
| which it drew it's students, national in the indi
rect endowment of the wealth of educationa
material and appliances collected by the natior
at the capital and available for its use, ma
tional In the breadth of its univer
sity scope national in the reputation o
its instructors, and national as originally
created IN locality, consideration and benefit.
The speaker then sketched the facilities en-
loved by the university. Its library contained
not few Thousand volumes, but over a million
volumes. embraced Ill the great libraries of tn
government, which were accessible to stu
dents. The materials and appliances of tn
scientific school composed the collections o
the government, the main place of deposit fo
which was in the National Museum. Their,
were the seven chemical laboratories of tn,
government also. and Congress had recent,
added to the universitys equipment facilitle
for studying zoology and incidentally com
| PEELED the district of Columbia to meet hal
the expense OF this addition to the endowmen
| of the university. The medical school finds il
the government, through Its medical librarie
and museums and its hospitals. a benefacto
| more muniti cent even than air. Corcoran. Tn
republic the speaker said, had thus alread,
endowed our university. Elsewhere thi
wealth OF material would cost university $50.
90. 100. Not only did the government provide
all this, but assembled here men capable o
guiding the student experts OF worldwide re
nown. What the university needed was III
means to enable it TO take full advantage of thi
great national endowment IL any alumni
Will proceed by devotion to business to accu
. | mulate several millions and lavish one on tn
university. some one already rich would I'M
tate George Washington and leave it an endow
ment fund-in money. however. not In stock
: Columbian will become promptly and thoI
/ oughly the national university, The me-
| branches so loroeI ~. Dr. WelIlng, mt ITnde
J - University had made great STRIDE
toward the national university standard Tn,
brought the president down to the first toast n
the evening, The University" and he calle,
upon Dr. j. C. Yelling, the president Of tn