The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-02
WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD.
RAIN SPOILED THE ANNUAL "FLOAT"
SEkNE At WELLESLEI.


WELLESLEY. Mass. June 30.-The Wellesley
seniors had bitter disappointment in conncc-
ton with their commencement this year, for
Float" which Is one OF the most picturesque
and interesting OF tho ceremonies. was de-
prived OF all significance by heavy rains.
Many hundred guests had gathered with lively
anticpations OF the pleasures they would have
In watching the boats on the lake and in hear
ing the music over the water They were dis
appointed. but the seniors did all they could
to repair the mistakes OF nature by entertain
ing them to the best ~ their ability indoors.
They played and sang them all their college
songs. and put so much M rriment into the
occasion that their guests and even they them
selves almost forgot that they were not having
| as good time as they had expected
On Wednesday. June u. the students re-
| peated AS You Like It." given n short time
| ago. The colleges for women this year seem
| to have n peculiar fondness for Sh8kespeRrc's
| plays. The most elaborate production. Tho
! Winters Tale" was given by Smith College
| Mount Holyoke College also chose scenes from
Midsummer Nights Dream" as its dramatic
| entertainment for commencement The Hol-
yoke play was given in the afternoon about
| o'clock in a grove on the hill back Of the col
| lege. and Us the actors moved in and out among
| the trees the soft coors Of their costumes
made q charming contrast against the green
| branches behind them. The fairies tripped
through their pretty dance. Pack wrought his
| mischievous tanges and the whole picture was
| pretty and graceful.
The play was only incidental. and was not
one OF the main features Of commencement.
| The girls had been their own trainers and
| stage managers and offered the inlay only as
| one more typical entertainment for the great
number OF guests that flooded the town and
college to catch a glimpse OF President Nc
Kinley. lie did not appear during the after
noon Of the play. But perhaps from tho top Of
Mount Tom he extended his hand in benson
over the actors. and sighed that his days were
| not tventy-tour hours long to enable him to
| visit Smith College. eat his luncheon at Ho
yoke. climb Mount Tom and experience the
novelty OF Mount Holyoke play between the
| limits OF dawn and darkness
The Wellesley girls in AS You Like 1t gave
much pleasure to their audience. The plav is
adapted to an unusual degree for girls to give.
The parts were well taken. the whole couc"p-
ton u the play interesting and the rendering
good, making TIE spectators feel that n ~
always produces such good results. insures for
their guests a very pleasant three hours.
to the seniors by S Ws' Rsa in the
| evening at Woodland Park Hotel, Auhurndale.
one 81 'hS IT, ss hs
they, meet together as class, with perfect
freedom to recall all class "reminiscences. make
| jokes appreciated only by themselves and 10
call to mind all the dramatic events OF the col
lege course. These things will not bear the
outside world ia excluded and the seniors
can say what they please and be as enthusiastic
is wondering what in the world they are laugh
ing bout. or why they are getting so senti-
mental over the memory OF few very or
binary happenings.
COMMENCEMENT proper began with rSeep;;
Cottage. which had a charming postscript in
the Rutse OF garden party In the neighborinE
campus Festivities from that time on crowded
seniors presented their play Escaping from
and Fletcher and proved by the success with
which they handed It that other dramas Be,
On saturday President Irvine gave a recon
baccaiaureae and on 1 Monday lay the Students
again resumed an. active part in CONNIE nce-
meeting Of friends and lite nforma recep,
tions on the college campus With music by the
and afternoon, and the day came to a lifting
end with concert in the evening Tuesday
fpS gSsn be %Tao we're award
The alumnR came to the front on Wednesday.
As a kind OF climax To- commencement.t the day
after GRADUATION is given up the od students
and is called alumnR day, Everything is done
for the com tort OF the old graduates, and they
ley when they reflect that in another college
their Importance would be quite obscpred by
|
deserve all the praise and notice that the fac
n N.Y. and r ptndergrahnats body can bestow upon
to provide an enjoyment fund and have
sp% sred 10 work to make PAX it fact. s u,..
HasTd IS All fn "nf
very reGretuI that it must accept Mrs Irvine 8
excuse OF III health as a reason for hcr resgnq-
ton. Announcement has recently been made
OF the gift OF second scholarship to Wellesley
from, Miss Helen NJ. Gould. She has also pro-
Miss GSud's first scholarship eift to Wellesley
was J the Helen Day Gould scholarship. founded
in 1888 in memory OF her mother.
AFFAIRS AT MOUNT HoLYoKE.
HoLYoKE. Mass. June 80. This year seems
70 mark an epidemic of designations Of college
Not 4n.g men G%oeEes; 6pt III those S
spirit OF change. President Taylor ali but left
Tassar to the tender merces OF successor
him that they have nearly worked thei fingers
to the bone and thar brains to shreds in their
efforts to keep the pledges they made then
executive head; President Irvine: after an
tiop, in which she has successfully guided
Wellesley through some OF it's most critical
term domestic service has been abandoned.
the, college has widened it's courses Of study
and ~ every way has sustained an even we'll
rhs pr m hs %es Of Wd
HoyoE" Soege to take eject in one year 1 A Mrs.
Mead has been President OF the college since
ast chagse may ao E
Wellesley. and the task Of rrorkanizing the old
institution In new lines has been no light one.
When Mrs Mead took charge there were about
300 students. Now there are 400. aud last
wear $50 more could have been received.
There are even now $50 applications for next
fall. Ten years ago the college possessed al
most no endowment but now, thanks to tho
generosity OF DR.; Pearson OF Chicago and also
to the lndefatigabs efforts Of the students to
raise the sum necessary to secure his gift. the
endowment fund OF the college is such as To
, make some, OF the other women's colleges look
upon IL with envy.
Mount Holyoke has been college for about
hye years only. but even in that time It has
done such high grade OF work that 1t has
taken its place among the best women's COL
leges OF the country. The force OF professors
has been enlarged to meet the greater do.
, mands Two departments have been added
and old on strengthened. The requirements
for ad m? slon have grown steadily more rigid
and the degree OF Is 4. has been suhstitui ed
for those OF b. s and Is. l.. Since the
great fire in 1876 which proved bless,
ing in disguise, the growth OF the college
has been remarkahle, The building II which
burned to the ground, and in its place six new
dormitorles have been introduced bringing a
diffusion OF interests. lmpossbe with one
bull ing, and removing the objection to u large