Omaha daily bee., 1896-06-12
COMMENCEMENT AT LINCOLN
Graduating Exercises of State University
Largely Attended.
HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN DEGREES GIVEN
Annual Address by Henry Estay
brooS-Rcccption by Chancellor
and Mrs. MncLcnn-Cndct
CSsnmissions.
HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN DEGREES GIVEN

ment OF the University of Nebraska wero
begun early this morning and finished be-
fore noon. The time set was 1912 a. m,
and at that hour a long procession filed
up Thirteenth street from the university
buildings to the Lansing theater. 1t was
headed by the University band, and under
command of Captain Guilfoyle. The first
sections comprised undergraduates, and in
front of the theater they halted, opened
ranks, and the board of regents, orator.
chancellor, faculty and the candidates for
degrees marched between them into the
building, followed by the classes.
Within the auditorium the university
colors were handsomely draped In profusiou,
Never has an audience so large packed tho
Lansing theater. Ex-Regent Henry U
Estabrook of Chicago was the orator, andl
although his speech was one previously de-
livered in New York. Abraham Lincoln"
1t was appropriate to the occasion and the
place. eloquent, and with a most interest.
ing prelude in the speakers best vein,
Following the rendition of the march,
National Guards" by the University orr
chestra, prayer was offered by Rev. Lewis
Gregory of this city. On the stage, thanking
Chancellor MacLean, were adjutant Gem
eral Barry and Aid-de-camp Frederick
Miller in full uniform, Captain Guilfoyle
of the University cadets, Regents Morrill,,
Weston Haley, Dales and Rosewatet,
Champion s. Chase, for six years a mem.
Der of the first board of regents, Editor
Charles II. Gere of the Lincoln Journal
Judge NJ. b. Reese. dean Of the law faculty,
Dean Bessey and other members OF tho
faculty, Secretary of State Piper. Land Com,
missioner Russell and many of the pronfr
inent citizens of Lincoln and the alumni
of the university.
Mr.. Estabrook prefaced his Grafton by
vivid description of the perusal of Buls
wer-Lytton's well known ghost story Of
THE House and the Brain" He said that
he had smuggled the book into bed while
convalescing from serious illness and
had read it at midnight, surrounded by all
the proper appurtenances to a successful
ghost story, and that so graphically was il
written that he glanced up at the ceiling
and could distinctly see a huge, humafi
eye watching him. He had then fed up
stairs to his wife for protection.
Now, If one human eye" he said could
create such terror in my soul, what must
be my sensations when now confronted By
so many thousands? / can only voice tho
sentiments of Tom Hood when he gazed
into the eyes of 600 people, and the pupils
of ZOO eyes" , u
Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
born in the same month of the year and
linked together in such common ties of
patriotism, were the twins of destiny. Yet
Washington had been an aristocrat, and
Lincoln q plebeian. For his subject the
speaker had chosen the latter He REF
called incident when he had stood In
Lincoln Park, Chicago and looked for the
first time on the heroic statue of Abraham
Lincoln, grand in his rude impressiveness, a
rugged, wrinkled, gnarled and splintered
subject with the bark on, struck from the.
genealogical tree of man. He had observed
n stranger looking upward at the figure Of
Lincoln and had seen tears gather in his
eyes as he stood at the base of the pedestal.
He had asked the stranger If he had known
the president in life.
II never met him." was the reply.
But you appear visibly affected by his
statue"
Sir" replied the stranger 81 was born
in Kentucky and expect to lay my bones
beneath the blue grass of the common-
wealth of Kentucky. Had my state gone
out of the union / should have gone with,
it. l was taught to hate the man and
when the news of his assassination was
flashed across the wires l hailed the in,
formation with delight. But, sir. l have
lived to know that Abraham Lincoln was
one of the gTandest men who ever lived,f
and / shall ever, as l now do honor his
memory" J.
"Then and there" said Mr., Estabroolri
Nebraska and Kentucky clasped hands
across the bloody chasm. while the great
bronze statue smiled down benediction."
Lincoln was liberty's Messiah. He had
lived through four long years OF strife, and
when he had counseled peace. friendship
and Charlty 10 ALL ne uau DeeH lOully dS-
sassinated to the wild, inappropriate cry1
Of "Sic semper tyranns" Lincoln was
never tyrant. and the word was strangely
applied to one so gentle.
CONFERRING OF DEGREES.
Following the Grafton came the con.
ferring of degrees by Chancellor MacLean.
the addresses to the candidates being de1
livered in Latin. In all 1l5 degrees were
conferred as follows:
The college of literature, science and the
arts. For bachelor of arts, forty-four:
bertson Abbott. Lincoln; Clarendon Edwin
Adams, Superior; Ernest capron Ames, Lin
coin; John Beaumont Barnes, Norfolk; Mrs.
Ellen Hart Bentley, Lincoln; Ernst Athearn
Bessey, Lincoln; Amy Celeste Bruner, West
Compton. Lincoln; Frank Farley Cook, Lin
coin; WILDER Theodore Elmo.c, Talmage;
Columbus; Gilbert Hoke Hall, Verdon Har-
vey Horace Harmon. Auburn; Helen Cook
ma oss sy aRPPGr ra
Jasper Hunt, Lincoln; Jessie Belle Jury.
Lineoln; Henry ReT1s Re9noS6 ts2yitt omaha;
Lucas Falrbnry; Adm HerRisSn AMIeMplIen.
vey Ellsworth Newbranch Lincoln; Will
liam Henry Pillsbury. Fullerton; Charles
Clarence Pulls; Bertha Bertha Emqiine PnkertGGn.
bert Marion RandoIph Lin,eon; Minnie
Marie htetZ Nuiltr
Rhodes, Hebron; Ena Katherine Ricketts,.
Lincoln; Eyalena Pearl ROlofson. Lincolnj
James William Searson, Grand Island;
Amelia June Smails Fremont; Sara Vore
Taylor, Lincoln; May Cynthia Whiting. Linz
coin; Burton Wilbur Wilson Lincoln
The Industrial college. For bachelor OF
science, twenty-seyen: Billings Grinnell
Almy Greenwood; John Edwin Almy.
Greenwood Rola Kent Beattle Bethany:
Harris Miller Benedict, Lincoln; William
Edward Benjamin, Cheyenne, Wyo.; Ed-
ward Athearn Bessey Lincoln Emma Jane
Boose. Falls City; Fletcher Hale Bradt,
New Marion Ind Charles Eick Frtts. Linz
coin; Francis Bowen Hadley, Cedar Rapids;
Harvey Clay Heald, Osceola; Mary Alzora
Horne, University Place; Timothy Francis
Mccarthy. Aurora; Eugene Odell Pace, Lln-
coin; Alfred Olaf Peterson. Omaha; Charles
Westcott Philpott, Lincoln Emil podlesacs
Milligan Nelson Levi Pollard Nehawkai
Edward Youngs Porter Lincoln; William
Dickey Reed. Lincoln; william Colfax Rob-
erts Lincoln; Walter Ellsworth Rowcs
Greeley Center; Charles Frederick Schwartz
Lincoln; julius Parker Sedgwick, York:
Charles Alfred Turrell. Clarks: CLANCY
Dixon Warner, Red Cloud; Myrtle Isabelle
Wheeler, Osceola.
Mr. William Edward Benjamin OF the
above class is very bright young colored
man OF Cheyenne. Wyo,. and the first coli
ored man to graduate from the University
of Nebraska. He was greeted with im4
mense applause from the vast audience
when Chancellor MacLean presented him