The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1899-06-09
TH|RTY.THREE GRADUATE.
And Now Go Out Into the Larg.
er Sphere of Life.
Interesting Exercises at High School
Commencement
CO0per's Address.

came down steadily for several hours,
there was an audience which nearly
filled the opera house, out to witness
the graduation exercises of the twenty
fourth class to go out from the high
school, But the storm outside did not
in the least mar the proceedings inside
and all passed off smoothly and we'll.
1t was about $50 o'clock when the cur
tain rose and the exercises according to
the program were begun, The mem
bers of the graduating class are as fol
lows:
Literary Course-Edna A. Gates,
Flora A. Austin, Jennie J. Webster,
Mary l.. Willard, Luella Bishman, AL
frieda G. Magnusen, H. Josephine Cor
nish, Jessie M. Mitchell, Inga johnson,
Pearl M. Boehmer. Grace Holmes,
Anna Brdunlich. Frances Wells,
William Carey, William Pusch.
Latin Course-Jessie Houk, Cora
Scott, Alma B. Cragun, Grace Brews-
ter, A. Bessie Jameson, Bonnie F. An
drews, Margaret Davis, Vivian Mott
weller, Scott Jameson, Richard Jones,
John Isker. Milo Bancroft.
Special Course-Edith Pau, John
Mansfield; Harley Hickok.
German Course-M Mildred Fletcher,
Ella Schildknecht, Harry Reidel.
Rev. Geo. H. Davis pronounced the
invocation, and was followed by the
eighth grade which rendered might"
very finely under the direction of Miss
Deem.
The Statutory was given by Miss Pearl
Boehmer who, in few fitting words,
welcomed the patrons of the school to
these closing exercises of the class, and
expressed thanks to the board of educa-
ton and to the teachers for the many
favors which had been extended to the
class She was followed by Mrs Fred Fl.
Snyder with vocal solo, which so capti-
waited the audience that she was called
back.
Supt. Varney explained the absence
of DR.. Richard Burton from illness, but
said they had been very fortunate in Sc
curing good speaker in his place, and
then introduced President Cooper, of
the Normal school. While taken some
what at a disadvantage by the necessar-
lily short notice, Mr.. Cooper delivered
very practical address, Astounding with
noble sentiment and sound advice to
the young. He spoke on the subject,
1.-THE individual Obligation to Society,""
Space will permit us to give but an out
line of his thought. He said that many
a young man stands before society
with a clenched fist and declares that
the world owes him living. But the
manner which he takes to express him
self often defeats his desires. Many
other men feel the same way, but take
a different manner in expressing it.
They go quietly about seeking every
possible way in which to squeeze all
possible out of society and give as little
as possible in return. They hold that
all that they have and can get belongs
to them until some one else can get it
away from them. He then described
the method they pursue to get along in
business. But this ella do not consti.
tute all of the business world. There
are many who try to render true SER
vice to society in return for the many
benefits they receive from it, but how
many do we find who are simply living
by their wits. He did not refer to
them, he said, with desire to denounce
them, but simply to draw contrast
with what the individual should do. The
idea should not be what does society
owe us, but what do we individually
owe society. What can we do for it?
How can we best repay the debt which
we individually owe it? When we turn
to the civilization which surrounds us
we find that it owes us nothing. We
did not build it and contributed little or
nothing toward it. 1t was built by those
before us, is the product of other gener-
ations and we are its debtors. 1t does
more for us than we can, individually,
return. He then traced the growth of
civilization and the building of society,
from early times, showing how it was
brought about by degrees. Referred to
the great conflicts that had to be waged
to carve out the civilization we now
enjoy and said we could hardly appreci-
ate the hardships that were endured to
gain the results now before us. Refer
ring to our own nation he considered
our obligations to those who subdued
and built it and who earned it and who
carved out home and all it's attractive
surroundings for us here in the west.
He next spoke of the intellectual ad
yancement and what we owe to it. To
inventions and the labor involved there
in. To art and the refining effect from
it, and said our individual obligation to
society for all this and to those who had
gone before uswas great, for left alone
without anything we would be little
better than sayages. He made strong
appeal that in our obligation to society,
la 1aa,, honHo6 6nUn RI J1S