St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-06-14
OF WHAT THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ARE DOING FOR COUNTRY 4
AND MANKIND.
SCHOLARSHIP AND IMAGERY
ARE BOTH PROMINENT IN THE
HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCE
MENT ESSAYS.
SATIRE AND SARCASM, TOO.
Fine Turnout of Interested Citfs
gems to Witness the Confer
ring of Diplomas.

The Peoples church was crowded
last night at the commencement ex-
ercises of the st. Paul high school. I
On the stage were seated all the
members of the graduating class.
The young lady graduates were all
dressed in white and the boys I'M
black. The girls outnumbered the
boys two to one. AS they all as
cended the platform in body the
large audience applauded.
In the gallery was stationed Sei-
berts orchestra. The exercises con-
sisted entirely of essays by the menu
bers of the graduating class, the ten
numbers on the programme being
presented by young ladies with one
exception-rather good showing
for the new woman, If not bad one
for the coming man. The exercises
were interspersed with few musical
selections by the orchestra and at
the conclusion DR.. Abbott, president
of the school board, presented diplo-
mas to the graduates.
The exercises opened with a selec-
tion by the orchestra. Then follow
ed the salutatory by Miss Amman r.
Hugy, at the conclusion of which she
rendered an essay on 1.-TWO Ideals OF
Womanhood." The salutatory was
brief, being confined to bare refer
ence to school life and some reflec-
tions on the future of those who
were about to emerge from it into
more advanced fields of usefulness.
Miss Hugy's essay directed atten-
tion to the two different ideals Of
woman as portrayed in the work OF
great sculptors and painters-the In
tellectual and the spiritual or relig-
ious type. She thought the latter
the grander of the two
TYPES OF EVIL GENIUS.
'Lucifer, Satan, Mephistopheles''
was the subject of an essay by Miss
Sarah c. Grant. Miss Grant pointed
out the distinct traits that character
lie the natures of these three repre-
sentatives of the evil genius, as por-
trayed by Milton, Dante and Goethe.
calling attention to Ire fact that each
author colored his picture according
to the human imperfes tions with which
the treacherous, revengeful disposi-
ton of the vicious Italian, while Goe-
the gave his Mephistopheles the pc
culiarities of the base element among
the Germans. She said that If an
American were to paint an ideal Satan
II would he man seeking gold even
at the foot of the cross.
One of the best, If not the best essaysl
of the evening was rendered by Miss
Ethel w. Ford. her subject being "SciS
ence in Mother Goose" Miss Ford
started off by saying that the author
ess of Mother Goose" rhymes was not
appreciated as she should be. Her in
nocent, child-like sayings contained
the very essence of science, philosophy,
economy and morality. The speaker
then made a number of satirical COM
parsons to prove that Mother Goose
foreshadowed many things that have
come to pass. In this connection she
got off several good hits on the politi-
clans, woman suffragiSts, the silver
question, and even Coxey's army, add
ing that Mother Goose's rhymes have
too often been neglected by this schol-
arly nation in its search for knowl-
edge.
Miss Ethel c. Brill followed in an
which conveyed a beautiful thought.
Miss Brill sketched a picture of a.
young man Of good impulses and high
ambition, starting out to reach the
goal of his desires. He was first
checked by the sickness and death of a
mother. then by the struggles Of the
great mass who were
FIGHTING FOR ADVANTAGE
to crafty their own ambitions, next
he was detained to assist the afflicted,
and finally before he had advanced
very far on his way toward the temple
of success, he discovered that that
dreaded monster, DEATH was giving
him rapid chase. 1t made him shud-
der, it was such a horrid spectre. Just
as he was about to enter the temple,
his attention was attracted by n suffer-
ing child. Unmindful of the success
that seemed so close at hand, he paused
to rescue the child and sank down ex-
hausted, unable to reach the temple,
when the task waS accomplished.
Just then a strong, manly figure was
discovered bending over him, his face
wreathed in a sweet smile. The pros
trate man realized that 1t was some one
who had come to his assistance, and
asked who 1t was. The figure replied
that it was death, which was not such
a horrid thing after all, and picking
him UP, carried him into the temple.
BOOKS-JOAN OF ARC.
In her essay on "The Book of the
Day" Miss Susanne H. Watson called
attention to the difficulty of choosing
what books to read on account of the
vast number from which to select.
Some books. she said, have always
been popular and always will be.
Among these, the works of Dickens and
Scott stand foremost. But In prefer
ence to these, many read the book of
the day. She referred to some of the
reasons that made certain looks the
books of the day. and said that fifty
years ago it was thought great waste
of time, If not immoral, to read novels.
But now the books of the day are DEAL
ing with the great problems of life and
are destined TO become even greater
educators in the future.
AT the conclusion of Miss Watsons
essay there was a brief intermission,
during which the orchestra played a
choice selection.
Miss Margaret 3 Craig said, In the
course of her essay on Joan of Arc"
that genius flashes into the world and
out like meteor. She then called at
tention to the fact that Bastian La
Page, the celebrated French painter,
had sprung from poverty. She then
gave a fine description OF his great
masterpiece, his loan of Arc" re-
viewing briefly the career of his sub
ject at the head of the French army
and dwelling on the wonlanly bearing