Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-01-25
OLDEST IN THE STATE.
Many College People Attend the
Exercises at the Appleton
Celebration,

| Appleton, Wis, Jan. 20.-[Special.l-
| The exercises in honor of the seml-ceh-
| tennial of Lawrence university opened
! last evening with a meeting at the col
| lege chapel, when the address OF wei
| come was spoken on behalf OF the col
| lege by O. T. Williams OF Milwaukee.
a graduate Of Lawrence in the class OF
| ~. and responded to by Prof. H. NJ:
| Whitney of Beloit college on behalf OF
| the educational institutions of Wlscon.
sin, and by President HI. W. Rogers OF
| Northwestern university, Evanston, III
behalf Of the educational institutions OF
| Methodism. Nearly 200 old students,
alumni and visitors from abroad are IN
the city and the exercises were attended
by an audience which crowded the
chapel as it has seldom been crowded IN
recent years. The chapel was beautiful
ly decorated and refurnished for the Oc-
casion, and the remodeled and RENTED
college building was Illuminated from
basement to dome. The speeches or the
orator were able and eloquent and were
received with enthusiasm, and the initial
meeting Of the celebration in honor OF
the fiftieth birthday of the first Wlscon-
sin college was of nature to insure Tor
the semi-centennial celebration even
greater success than was anticipated.
The exercises of today opened at >
this morning with a religious service at
the Methodist church, led by Rev. Web
ster Millar, 'S2, of Waukesha. After the
religious service, Mrs. Mary A. z. STAINS
bury, 80, of Appleton, read an original
poem entitled "Cpllegium ct Urbs Fesc
tum Diem Agunt.'' Then the address Of
the meeting was made by Rev. c, Fl.
Payne, LII. D., of New, York city,
whose theme was 1.-THE Christian Col
lege a Necessity The title of the ad-
dress indicates it's nature and from every
standpoint it was the oratorical effort
of the celebration. The musical features
of the meeting were an organ solo by
Prof John Sylvester of the musical de-
partment, a vocal solo by Miss Nellie
Waldo of Green Bay, and piano duet
by Misses Bessie Brewster of Appleton
and Miss Belle Case Of Eau Claire.
At o'clock, in the armory, the cadets
OF, the military department gave an ex-
hibition drill under command OF Lieut..
]. O. Green, U. S. A., commandant Of
the department, which was one of the
most popular features of the day. At
2:30 this afternoon in the Methodist
church the exercises were opened with
prayer by President Rufus G. Flagg,
u. d., Of Ripon college. A. L. Smith
Of Appleton delivered an address on
1.-THE College and the City," in which he
sketched the growth Of both from small
beginnings. their progress side by side,
their influence, one upon the other, for
good, and spoke of the advantages of
life in a college town. W. Ell. Mylrea,
Of Wisconsin, spoke upon the subject of
'"The College and the State" tracing
the early history of each, the struggles
of the past, the triumphs of the present
and the needs of the future He dwelt
upon the influence of the schools of the
state upon its material and moral well
fare, paid tribute to Lawrence for her
work in moulding the characters of citi-
Zens in the past and present and fore
cast for her even greater usefulness in
the future. ''rhe College in Patriotic
Service was the subject Of an eloquent
Waukee, who with many others of Law
rence's students left his books to go to
the front for the defense of the Union.
He told of the great war meeting i'll
the college chapel, when professors and
students led the response to Lincoln's
call for troops; traced the careers of
some who went from Lawrence to gain
honor on the field of battle. and others
who with equal honor fill soldiers graves,
and awarded to the college a full need
of praise for lessons of patriotism and
sacrifice taught by her in time of the
nations, peril. Mrs. Fanny Kenisl
Earle. M. S.. ~, of Lake Mills, spoke
of 'The College and its Alumni" and
told of the work performed by gradu-
ates of Lawrence in the broad field of
the worlds action. She showed the eff
fects of Christian education upon the
sons and daughters of Lawrence and
traced the careers of some of the more
distinguished alumni. The musical num-
bers of the afternoon programme were
rendered by Prof John Sylvester, Miss
Ethel Gibson and Prof. Joseph Has
man.
The final meeting of the celebration
will be held this evening at the college
chapel.
After the evening programme ban
quet will be served at Ormsby hall. at
which Rev. John Faville, II, will pre-
side as POSTMASTER. and toasts will be
responded to by number of prominent
alumni and visitors.
At the meeting of the board of trus-
tees and visitors yesterday afternoon
several honorary degrees were conferred,
meeting as follows: Rev. William Law
renee, LII. D.; Duncan McGregor, Lift.
D.; Rev. John Favile, d. D.; Rev Hen
ry Faville, d. d.; Rev. John S. Davis,
u. D.; Rev. Samuel Trousdale, d. d.
The two newly endowed chairs still I'M
named were named as follows: The
Philetus Sawyer Chair of Chemistry and
the Emily J. Witter Chariot Nfathemat-
les. The former is named for ex-Scll-
ator Sawyer of Oshkosh, who gave $25,-
900 to the endowment fund, and has on
many previous occasions been particular
~ generous to the college. The latter is
Grand Rapids. who within the past year
has given $4,000 to the endowment fund
and previously gave several valuable in
truments toward the equipment of the
observatory.