Birmingham state herald., 1897-06-17
GREENSBORO.
Commencement Exercises Attract the Attention of the People-Address Be fore the Literary Societies.

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 ! Greensboro, June 16.-The contest for the junior medal came off last night, and six nlembers of the junior class contend ed for the prize. which is gold medal of fered by the faculty for the best written and best delivered original production by members of the class selected by the faculty. The following arc the names and subjects of the six contestants :"The Spirit of the Age by George Stone. Wy lam; "American Union" by Wm sld- fdon, Bowling Green. Miss; "Divine su- perintendence in Nature" by M. J, Wil- Hams, White Plains: Henry w Grady" by E Ws-Berry of Turkeytown; ''The Col 3eg'e Man as Citizen T.. F. Ormondi ssAchievement, the Everlasting Monu- ment of Man." by H. M. .Dobbs, TusKa- 1eosa. All the subjects were handled with ability, and showed great research and well trained minds on the part of the young rnen who handled them. As pr. Keener once said. in commenting upon these Yoratfons, it was matter of pro- found astonishment, how young men, who had come from their homes but a few years ago, with bronzed faces and the dust of the fields upon their shoes who, as he expressed it, were as green as graSs-could, in so short a time, put Into language so appropriate thoughts which would do credit to older heads. But itswas the result of the mental training which was given them in the Southern university, where the brain was cultl- l&ated, and not the muscle, as in some ethner ins nstitutions. He believed mental tfaining should be the end and aim of institutions of learning, and that the de- velopment of the muscle should be only an incident in their collegiate course. Why, look at me-" said the doctor, tiwhen l was receiving my education sthere was not a gymnasium in ore thou sand miles of the college, and yet I do not look to be very cadaverous, do I?" The doctor only weighs about 300 pounds, and the audience were ready to respond, "not very cadaverous."
 The, doctor did not reflect if he had taken a severe course in gymnastics his form might now rival, in it's exquisite proportions, that of the Apollo Belvidere; which only proves there are two sides to every quest ton, and that the doctor miss ed the opportunity of his life in not be- ing made, whilst a student, to pull the oars, as. they do at Yale and Harvard or to sl1icls the foot ball, as they do at the State university.
 Today Rev J. D. Simpson, president of the Female college at Tuskaloosa, de- Hvered the address before the Alumni society. He started out by saying he had no subject but it soon developed that he had one, which he handled with effect and ability which,. combined with pleasing address, held an attentive au- dience for nearly one hour Forces That Go to Make Up Character was his theme and they were "B4ood," or "Heredity," 'fTfarly Training and Our Environ ments." Under ,these heads the speaker streated his subject, and enforced his ar .guments with well-timed incidents and dhsstratfnns,s and interested his audience by the rlarra tive of several well selected Stories After he had taken his seat Dr. Keener arose to introduce the next orator, but before doing 80, he jumped with all feet upon the heredity theory, took issue with MT Simpson, and stated that this doctrine, as promulgated by some of the best writers of the day, had idone incalculable harm. When the doc tor strikes out from the shoulder he hits some hard blows. and in this instance he sustained his reputation.
 ~RIT. S. A. Steele, of Nashville, delivered the address before the literary societies. His theme was HThe Young Men of the South To day.1 He took the broad ground that the men of the south had made this gover1lmen and that all the territorial acquisitions except that of Alaska, since the foundation of the government, had been made 'by southern men, and under southern presidents. He illustrated and sustained these positions by reference to history.
 The speaker had a fine field for the display of his powers of oratory, and we venture the assertion no man ever deliv- cred a speech in the college chapel which was listened to with closer attention or which produced more profound impress sion upon, the audience than the one de- -livered today by Dr. Steele. His tribute to southern womanhood was grand be- yond conception, and his encomiums upon the southland exceed d in beauty and fin- ished rhetoric anything it has ever been our good fortune to listen to.
 He Is q born orator, and sways the mind and heart of his hearers with the hand of master. His closing tribute to the land of Dixie set his hearers on fire and deafening applauseSgreeted the close of every sentence. At the conclu- sion of his address the band played Dixie" and such a scene of wild tumult was never before witnessed within the lassic halls of the Southern university.