The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-07-01
Of greater interest to the men and women

thirty years ago, and setting down in his
fayorite chair. After he pulled off his
boots and had brought him his slippers,
he said to me, Joe have given $780, COO to
Wateryille college,
II didn't fully appreciate at the time
what he had done, but knew that he
was making an investment, that as he did
whenever he made any kind of an invest
nlent he had given it due thought and
consideration and 1 knew that it was
right
Mr.. Colby spoke of the personal
characteristics of his father, of his firm
ness, decision Of character, his business
methods and his uniform courtesy in his
association with men.
He expressed the opinion that the
various Baptist societies sh 3uld be united
and said that saving of $50. 600 year
could thereby be made. He expected to
see the time when all denominations
should unite in this kind of work.
An incident now occurred which stirred
the emotion of the gathering, more per-
haps than any speech made at Colby
alumni dinner ever did. President Butler
introduced as the speaker to follow Mr..
Colby, Hon. j. L. M. Currie of Washing
ton, ex-1ninister to Spain, ex member of
Congress and one of the trustees of
Columbian University in Washington.
Mr. Currie spoke in eulogistic terms of
the State of Maine and said that one of
the two most eloquent men he ever heard
in his life was the late Sargent S. Prem
tiss. After a few words in quiet way
in this line, the speaker turned his face
towards the tablet erected to the mem DRY
of the Colby students who had lost their
lives in the War of the Rebellion, raised
his voice and spoke in ifhpassioned tones
and with rare eloquence: IT rejoice to be
standing here; he said, "under this roof.
I wasfa Confederate soldier, yet it gives
me distinctive pleasure to be able to stand
within the precincts of memorial hall
to men who dared to stand up even unto
death for the principles that had been in
stilled into their very being. do not
want to revive dead issues, but standing
here say that can cordially clasp the
hand that gave me my scars, that can
cheer the old flag and that can shout for
JOY that the stars all remain upon the
grand ensign of our nation"
Continuing still in an eloquent vein,
the veteran diplomat spoke of the bless
ings of a Democracy which accorded to
every man the right to fill the station for
which nature had endowed him.
President Harris of the University of
Maine, spoke good word for the work
Colby was doing. He said that it had
been his pleasure to meet many of the
politicians of Maine during the past
winter, remark which produced a very
audible ripple Of laughter, and that he
had found that they exerted a command
ing influence in the state legislature. He
expressed his best wishes for Colby.
Hon. Leslie c. Cornish secretary of the
board of trustees, referring to the words
of ex-Minister Currie, recalled the time
when Memorial hall was dedicated. MIR.
Cornish spoke of the colleges need of
funds and urged the alumni to do all in
their power to supply this need, declaring
that it was a debt of honor they owed to
he college.
Prof. Anthony of Bates college, brought
He spoke in complimentary way of the
commencement orations of the members
of the graduating class.
The last speaker was the Hon. Albert
W. Paine of Bangor: of the class of '32
the Oldest living graduate of the college.
The veteran lawyer read his address,
of the early days of the college. The
rather unsteady voice of the old man fell
on eager ears, and when he had finished
he was given as hearty an ovation as any
of the speakers that had preceded him.
President Butler then alluded to several
gifts in a small way, which the college
had received within a short time and the
exercises closed with the singing of a
song, composed by some student of long
ago.
The presidents reception in Memorial
hall in the evening closed the events OF
the week, and the seventy seventh annual
commencement of Colby was at an end.
The following honorary degrees were
conferred:
LII D.-Hon. Llewllyn Powers of Houl-
ton; Hon. Alfred E. Buck, '5s, of Allan
ia, Ga.
4. m.-Dr. E. E. Holt of Portland;
Rev. j. A. Ford of PASSPORT.
d. D.-Rev. George B. Illsley of Ban
gor, Rev. Oh. Spaulding Boston, district
secretary of the American Baptist Publ
cation society.
The following degrees in course were
conferred:
A. M.-Everett Flood, 10; A. M. Dick,
'91; W. L. Bonney, Loring Herrick, '92;
Wellington HodgSins, j. B. Slocum, 'e3;
F. l.. Ames, A. H. Berry, J. I. Coleman,
D. T. Hathorn, A. e. Hooper A. M.
Jones, W. l.. Jones, W. f. Kendrick, J.
Kleinhans, G. H. D. Lamereux, r. W.
Padelford, c. W. Pierce, W. B. Tuthill,
H. L. Whitman, Y. NJ Whitman, R. M.
Mailman, V. G. Totman, Clara P Nor
r1ll, F H. Morrill,, Sadie L. Brown, '94.
The following prize announcements
were made:
Senior prize for excellence in compost.
ion. Men s college, Fred Emery Taylor
Woman's college, Annie Lee Knight.
German prizes, Seniors-First, George
K. Bassett; second, Harry B. Watson.
Women's college, first, Mercy A. Brann
second, Tena P. McCallum.
% German prizes, juniors-Divided be-
tween A. H. Page and f. H. Pike. Wom-
ems college, divided between lice Lena