The news & observer., 1897-02-13
WAKE FOREST ANNIVERSARY.
The Young Men Deliver Eloquent Ad-
dresses on Live Subjects.-A Memor-
able Occasion, with n Big Crowd

able Occasion, with a Big Crowd
Wake Forest, N. c., Feb. 12-(SpeciaD
The anniversary day of the Literary
Society of Wake Forest opened gloom
lily. 1t is coincidence that almost every
anniversary day brings either rain or
I snow, so the regular rain of the morn
ing did not in the least abash the older
students and the citizens of the hill.
Toward noon, however. the rain ceased.
and the train came in loaded with visi-
tors. At three o'clock the crowd resorted
to the Wingate Memorial Hall, where
they were entertained some three or
four hours by the discussion of the que
ry: Resolved, that civilization is able
to cope with the evils attending it's pro-
gress."
| Mr.. W. r. Sykes, president Of the de-
bate, called the house TO order, and
made few remarks concerning the pros
perity of the societies i'm the past and
! mentioned the manner in which the pre-
sent debate was to be decided. Mr. G.
NJ. Mcintosh, secretary, then read the
proceedings Of last anniversary, which
were approved; and the first speaker,
Mr.. W. d. Burns, of the Phi Society
was called.
/ Mr.. Burns is a very graceful speaker,
and held the attention of his audience
He announced at the outset his intention
of speaking right on" without any at
tempts at witticisms or the flowers of
rhetoric. He defined the terms "eivili-
zation," and "cope." The latter, he
said, means simply to strive against,
and not necessarily to exterminate He
said that civilization has been able to
strive against all evils and what it has
done it can do. The great ally OF civili-
cation is science, and the progress of
science is constant. Science and edu-
cation are so closely related, that one has
now become necessary to the other.
Through education, and through it a.
lone," said he, will civilization be able
to cope with the greatest evils" He
made many historical references, spoke
of the abolition of slavery and the weak
ening of the power of intemperance; and
took his seat amid great applause.
The next speaker was Mr.. III. III.
Mashburn, of the Eu. Society The
most interesting thing about the oratory
of this gentleman is its extempOrane-
BUSINESS. He was listened to with close
attention and frequent bursts of applause
and laughter. The axis of his speech
was Judge the future by the past" and
he referred to all the civilizations OF the
past and showed that their death was
not due to slavery or any external evils,
but to inherent causes which lie deeper.
The same perils which overcome these
by-gone civilizations, threaten ours of
to-day, and the same causes will pro-
duce the same results.
The music was furished by the Dur
ham band, which now played piece to
refresh the crowd.
Then the second debaters were called
upon, and first Mr. J. s. Snider, of the
Eu Society. He is O very forcible
speaker, and argued the question on
general principles. The continuance of
civilization depends upon the development
of the individual. Poverty in our great
cities and elsewhere is no evidence OF
the decay of our civilization, for the poor
we have and always had with us. The
civilization Of Greece, Rome, Phoenicia,
and Judea are not dead but live with us
to-day.
The last speaker was Mr.. w. NJ. John
son, OF the Phi Society. This gentleman
was the orator of the occasion. He has
the power of persuasion, he is truly elo-
quent, and from the beginning to the
end he will hold your attention in spite
of yourself. His speech was logical, but
the logic appeared to be only frame
work ON which to support his oratory.
lie was often interrupted with enthusi
tic applause.
Here the band again refreshed the au-
dience with "Oyer the Waves waltz
and the reply speeches were in order
These were pithy, and interspersed with
sparkling witticisms. The debate was
decided by n rising vc.e and resulted in
favor of the negative y a vote of 90 TO
76.
At 7:30 In Ihc rrpl..- g the people came
together agair 81 cial train came out
from Ralpteh O'Clock and swelled the
numbers a.;@. Is the banners Of
the two a0cipt 80 wt"n carried up the
aisles by the marshals. the house shook
with tremendous applause. Mr.. A. b.
Cannady, Phi orator, was introduced by
a few graceful remarks by Mr. III. b.
Folk
Mr.. Cannady last year made a great
reputation as speaker, and on this oc
casioD his reputation was to express ii
tamely, not injured. His subject was,
Cuba and Her Cause" and he handled
il with the power of an orator. He has
the art or creating enthusiasm. Every |
face in the audience wore wrapt ex-
preston Certainly his appeal for the
struggling patriots of Cuba, if delivered |
all over the country, would create an
irresistible sentiment in favor of that |
oppressed people.
Mr. r.. X Cooke introduced Mr.. II. NJ |
Smms, Bu orator, whose subject was;
"The Crusade OF the Nations" He |
said he did not mean the crusades of |
history, but the march of the people |
whom God loves He treated his sub |
feet with much insight into the trend of |
present events. The common people, the |
laborlng class, Is a very popular subject |
nowadays, as evidenced by the brilliant |
campaign OF Hon. w. j. Bryan; but the |
popularity of his subject did not make his |
Grafton succensful--it was delivered in a /
most eloquent manner.
after the mratiomm the society halls !