River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-06-13

rons u The Public Schools ,cith Spicy and
Thoughtful ADDRESSES At Opera Haa
Thursday Eeeaing, J,t,e 9TH.
Long before the time for the grad
uating exercises Of the Senior Glass of
the River Falls High School to begin,
large crowd had assembled in Opera
Hall TO greet the graduates and listen
TO their exercises. Such was the in
terest manifested that many had to
leave because they were unable To find
even standing room. Notwithstand-
ing the crowded condition of the hall,
and the warm and oppressive weather,
the best of decorum was maintained
throughout the exercises.
The Junior Class decorated the hall
and acted as ushers in the evening
Ferns, eyergreens and petitioners
were tastefully arranged, and the
class motto, "SUCCEssUs," written in
large white letters was set in a col
umn of eyergreens as "a background.
The monOtOny CT the evening was
relieved by spirited and charming
music from the friends of the school.
The male quartette consisting offs j.
Rasmussen, Gilbert Norseng, Frank
Chapman and Herbert Reed rendered
two excellent pieces of music, one at
the beginning and the other at the
close Of the exercises. Mr.. G.. Il.
Pratt and Mrs. o. 5. Powell furnished
vocal duet which was greatly appre-
ciated by all. One of the most at
tractive features Of the evening was a
duet by Henry Zophe and lnez Toby,
two of the sweetest singers in the
community. Their childish voices
held the large audience in profound
silence until they had finished when
every one went into ecstasies oyer the
sweet music to which they had lis
tened.
After the invocation by Rev. G. III.
Mcintosh, the first speaker of the
evening. Mr.. Charles Ray Davis, step
ped to the front and delivered an
Grafton on the Influence of Science
on Civilization. Mr.. Davis appeared
to have the self assurance that ne had
q message which was worth delivering
ana he spoke i'm clear full tone for
ten or fifteen minutes, showing how
science through the arts and inven-
tiOns had changed the external condi-
tion Of man, and how scientific
inquiry had freed man from super
stitiOn and religious bigOtry.
Mr.. Willis G.. Fuller presented the
history of the class in a spirited and
well written essay. Mr.. Fuller show
ed great skin ia arranging the mate
rials for class history and presenting
these materials in an attractive form.
This history helped to bring the
friends and patrons of the school into
closer relation and better under
standing of the work of the class.
Mr.. Fuller was thoroughly acquainted
with the subject matter of his essay
and read il so distinctly that he could
be heard by every one in the hall. He
possesses the rare quality Of rendering
attractive what in less skillful hands
would be dry chronicle of facts.
Mr.. III. Ray Chinook delivered ali
Grafton on WHO in our government
is responsible for legislatiOnY' Mr..
Chinnock evinced considerable know
ledge of constitutional law and COM
parative politics. He showed that
under our present system of govern
ment no one official and no one de-
partment of government could he
held responsible for bad legislation.
He cited the sherman Silver Act of
1890 and the inability of the Fifty
third Congress to do anything. to
show that no one official or depart
ment could be held responsible. He
suggested the Cabinet System OF Eng
land as an improvement over our
system of government. Mr.. Chinook
spoke with much force and conviction
that something was wrong in our
present system of government. He
showed that he believed that he had
found the chief weakness in our gov
eminent ard the remedy which should
in some way be applied.
The last speaker of the class was
Mr. Emory Campbell who delivered
an Grafton on THE Power of the
Press" Mr. Campbell briefly review
ed the history of the Press, showing
how from a small beginning in the
early history OF our country, it has be-
come the great moving power at pres
ent in all political, religious and social
affairs. Mr.. Campbell also delivered
the valedictOry of the class, by fitting
ly thanking the patrons of the public
schools the Board of Education and
teachers for all that had been done
for the class, and eXhOrting the under
graduates Of the school to not be un-
mindful of the opportunities open to
them, but to come back to school
next year with "a determination 10 get
everything out of their school life
possible.
After a few remarks to the class by
Prof. Ii. l.. Wilson, the diplomas
were presented by G. Il. Morse in be-
half Of the Board of Education.
Mrs. Sarah Tozer and Miss Powell