The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-04-29
YOUNG ORATORS.
The High School Carries off the
HOn0rs in Friday Nights
Contest.

completely nlled the Normal chapel
and adjacent rooms. The contest
was spirited and so nearly evenly
matched were the contestants that
the audience would have been about
evenly divided had the Judgment
been left to it.
Rev. l. Bergstrom presided. In
the absence of Lieut.. Gov. Ives and
Judge Severance: Hon. E. p. Free
man was chosen to act with Rev. a
R. Taylor and Geo. t. Barr as a judge.
The points taken into consideration
were originality, thought, style and
delivery.
Prof. Jache rendered pleasing in
strumental solo, and was followed by
Normal male quartette which sang
merry Twilight Bells" and when
deseryedly encored gave ''Oh, come
while the stars are shining"
The first Grafton was by Miss Lola
Brown, of the Normal, upon "Wo-
mems Opportunities. She said that
the present is a period of transition
for women, who have been quietly
slipping into one line of work after
another until some one has found
that woman is out of her sphere.
Poverty cannot be done away with,
but woman has the power of alleviat-
ing misery. The number of women
in America surpasses that of men,
and several million are already self
supporting. Every woman must
chose between life of usefulness or
one Of INDECENT pleasure. Work
should not be confined to those who
need support. Miss Brown was gen.
orally considered to have won the
laurels of the evening. Her subject
was well treated, her delivery well
nigh perfect, her manner easy and
her gestures graceful. Like all who
followed, she was rewarded with deaf
ening applause.
Miss May Fletcher, of the High
school, followed upon the subject of
1.-The Battle of Waterloo" She
briefly traced Napoleon's career and
successes, and showed what mighty
interests hung upon this test of
strength. She described the arrange
ment of the troops, the assaults and
repulses ana the sunken road, with
the final victory of Wellington, so
wildly that picture of the entire
scene was present to the minds of all.
The delivery was excellent and the
gestures appropriate.
DR.. Waite rendered "Love shall be
King" in an artistic manner, and re-
sponded to an encore with "When
Sailing over the boundless Main"
abraham Lincoln" was the sub
ject of an Grafton by Alfred Torngren,
of the Normal school. He spoke Of
the unpropitious surroundings when
Lincoln first appeared before the pub
| lie eye, and told of his good words.
History must rank Lincoln among
the most prudent of statesmen and
! the most successful of rulers. The
speaker gave fine outline of the
statesman's character, of the JOY and
gratitude felt over the North at the
termination of the war and the ma
tiOn's grief at the assassination. His
work was done and he passed away in
the zenith of his fame. Mr.. Torngren
is possessed of good voice, his pro-
duction was well written and full of
good ideas.
Samuel Schmitt, of the High school,
spoke upon "The Curse of Our Ma
tion," which he held to be gambling
The morals of an individual should be
looked to, for upon him depends the
morals of the city, state and nation.
The Louisiana lottery draws vast
sums from the laboring classes, de-
bauches city, impoverishes a state
and bleeds the nation. Not an honest
man should rest until the lottery is
driven away from our shores. Specu-
lators who never see kernel of grain
gamble in grain and produce. Pool
selling at horse races is another form
of gambling, and state and county
fairs would be financial failures with
out some form of legalized gambling.
Political rings make the purity of the
ballot box impossible. The spirit of
gambling is in our legislatures, who
cut up states to further the interests
of parties. The people, press and
pulpit are awake to the evil. The
Grafton was well written and full of
meaty thought, and forcibly given.
1t was one of the best on the program.
Miss Florence e. Soule gave piano
Solo.
1.-THE Old and the New South' was
spoken of by w. E. Freeman, of the
Normal. He traced the causes and
growth of slavery and its downfall.
At the close of the war the South
was desolated and every third man
had answered the final summons.
Today the South is on the threshold
of new era-one of prosperity. Her
cOttOn folds clOtha fOllr-fifthS of tho