The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1899-07-12
MISSISSIPPI MATTERS.
NOTES OF PAST AND CURRENT EVENTS
BY ]. L. POWER.

| Az the CONCLUSION OF tne DEBATE tnt
presiding officer for the occasion, Mr.
J. w. Whitaker, thanked the large au
diencc for their attendance, and ''some
of them for their attention. The loud
conversation in rear of the hall at the
exercises on Sunday and Monday was
SO annoying that President Stone, or
Tuesday, suggested that those who
were SO anxious to talk should retire L
the campus, where they would find
comfortable and well-shaded seats, and
where they would not be disturbed
and could not disturb others. That
suggestion had noticeable effect until
close of commencement
Making all allowance for the thought.
lessncss of some young people, it is q
plain proposition that their absence is
better than their presence on such oc
casions, unless they keep quiet during
the exercises; and especially when the
seats they occupy are vacated by stu
dents in order to accommodate them
At Oxford, during the commencement
sermon in the morning, the noise be
came so intolerable that Chancellor
Fulton announced at the night service
that he had stationed policemen at the
rear end of the chapel, who would see
that order was observed. At the In
dustrial Institute and College the order
was nearly perfect: at Alcorn college
the most perfect quiet reigned, and SC
at other schools it was my privilege tO
| l..
the two leading schools of the State can
protect their speakers, and those who
want to hear, from such unseemly dis
turbance.
Tuesday is Industrial Day at the A.
and NJ. Exhibition and sale of live
stock in the forenoon; exhibition and
shop pra ctice in the afternoon. There
was some blooded and graded stock
sold, and at what was said to be low
prices. All the shops were in full
operation, and students were operating
complicated machinery with the ia
miliarity of experts.
The chapel exercises of the morning
consisted of junior addresses, as fol-
lows: A. E. Reed, What 1t Take to
Make a Successful Farmer" Miss f. Il.
Galloway, The Museum As An Educa.
tional Factor" w. l.. WEIGH, Neg.
lected Factors in the Development OF
the South r. w. Pou, THE Kitchen
Garden;" Miss A. X. Halbert, "Thc
Library AS An Educational Factor" T.
f. Royals, Are We a Prosperous Peo
ple?" |. &. Thompson, ''Amerca's In
ventive Ingenuity"
There was no prize for the best, but
all did well. | CHANGED to hear Miss
Halbert remark to President Stone that
she expected to have been called as No.
8 instead of No. ), and he gallantly
apologized for the mistake by saying,
Il called you when did because | was
SO anxious to hear you" Senator
Money was specially complimentary to
the two young lady juniors. There
were seven other young ladies in at
tendance during tie session.
Five of the twenty-one graduates de.
livered addresses at night, as follows
w. f. Gorenflo, Great Conquerors;" c.
II. Stockard, The Sunset OF Cen
tury;" J. w. Cassell, The Material
Prosperity and Power of a Nation De
ponds Upon Its Industries" G. II. AL.
ford, What Must the Farmer DO to
| Be Saved?" w. |. Stone, Work
A cash prize of $50 was offered by Mr..
Blewett Lee for the best Grafton by
this class. Senator Money, Col. Nor
gan and this writer were the commit.
tee, and decided in favor of Mr.. Stone,
of Carroll county. The committee con,
sidered the matter and manner of the
Grafton. Had there been a second
prize Mr.. Cassell Y have received it
This special prize was offered by Mr.
Lee for the class of 1898, but the class
went into the army, and so it had to be
deferred until 1899
Wednesday was commencement day
The chapel was more densely packed
than on previous days. The exercises
were opened with prayer by Rev. Dr.
Raymond, and then President Stone in,
troduced Hon. fernando DeSotC
Money, United States senator. lie
spoke to a delighted audience for three
quarters of an hour. and was compli
mented with undivided attention from
all parts of the hall. His theme was
THE Full Development of lndivid
uality." While the address was in
tended mainly for the graduates it was
listened to with unflagging interest by
all, and was frequently and heartily
applauded. incidentally he paid a
t,.h t,t1 10, 4 10 L..
Gen. S. ID. Lee, and to his successor
John NJ. Stone. The address added
greatly to the reputation of Col. Money
as an orator and sound thinker.
After the address the medals and dis,
tinctions were presented and an.
nounced. In addition to those already
mentioned in the foregoing were the
following: Presidents medal to the
best allround scholar of the senior
class, Mr.. c. r. Stockard, of Lowndes;
the medal for best speaker il junior
debate, to w. r. S. Wilbourne, of Mont.
gomery county, who represented the
affirmative; and a handsome prize, not
on the program, was presented to Mr..
&. II. Afford, of Pike, the subject OF
whose graduating address was What
Must the Farmer Do to BE Saved?1
This prize consisted of handsome gold
watch and chain from his sister, with
the request to this writer that he pre-
sent it, and among other suggestions to
the recipient he was admonished that
the watch was intended to keep him on
time and chain him to his duty.
The George scholarship for next three
sessions was awarded to r. H. Adams OF
Clarke county. The students eligible
to this scholarship are all regular
freshmen of good conduct who do an
average of three hours a week of work
known as pay work." and who mas the
highest average grade in all subjects
graded in the freshman year.
President Stone then presented diplo-
mas to the eighteen graduates, as fol-
lows: G. ii. Afford, Pike; J. w. Armis-