Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1900-07-06
ONE HUNDRED YEARS.
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGES CENTENNIAL
ROYALTY CELEBRATED.

Programs for Occasion Carried out with
Success-Doings in Detail.
Middlebury colleges one hundredth
commencement was brought to a close
last evening with a promenade concert
at the town hall under the management
of the graduating class.
On the whole fair weather, a large at !
tendance of graduates and friends, an
elaborate program and well-managed eX-
ercises marked the five days celebration
of the centennial
Guests began to arrive early last week, !
and Saturdays trains from all directions
were crowded The rush continued un-
til well into the present week, and only
the forethought of the entertainment
committee in canvassing the whole vii
lage for quarters for the visitors suficed
10 house them all.
The elaborate decorations of the col
lege buildings was supplemented by a
very generous display of bunting by
merchants and residents of the village,
many stores making finer displays than
have been seen in town for many years.
So far as preparation and the resultant
good effect is concerned, the college and
village have reason for congratulations.
Although the undergraduate classes
and fraternities began the celebration
last week with their annual rides, recep-
tions and suppers, the first number of
the official program of commencement
was the baccalaureate sermon by Presl-
dent Ezra Brained at the Congregational
church on Sunday morning. July l. The
church had been handsomely decorated
through the generosity of the late Mrs.
J. w. Stewart: and other changes
viewed for the first time by residents
lent the impression of a new edifice. The
only floral decoration was single large
vase of flowers from Mrs. Stewart's con
servatory, placed upon the pulpit plat
form, and its simplicity was more strii-
Ing than the most elaborate banking of
ferns and palms. On the platform with
President Brainerd were DR.. Cyrus Ham
lin and Rev. Mr.. Dickens. DR.. Hamlin
offered the prayer and gave the benedic-
ton. The music was furnished by
soloists, a double quartette and chorus.
Mrs. G.. d. Miner presiding at the organ.
DR.. Brainerd'S sermon on "Our lndebt-
edness to the Past" was filled with
thoughts befitting the hundredth ami
versary of an institution whose history
contains so many examples of self-sacri-
flee and unremitting labor. \ resume of
his remarks will be found on another
page of the REGISTER.
The anniversary services of the Christ
ian associations of the college were held
at the church Sunday evening. j. f.
Parker, '0l, the president of the Young
Mems Christian association of the col
lege, presided. The music consisted of
several solos. The speaker of the even
ing was Rev. Samuel w. Boardman, 81,
president of Maryville college, Mary
vile, Tenn. His subject was "The Con-
tribution of the First Century Of Middle
bury College to Christian Progress"
He treated the subject historically, and
noted the many avenues of endeavor fol-
lowed by the colleges graduates and the
prominent names therein to be found.
Only part of his address can be given
in this issue of the REGISTER, and will
be found elsewhere.
Tuesday was perhaps the day of days
for the undergraduate. filed as it was
with those events which will live the
longest IN the memory and furnish more
than one story of college days for the
departing class. The weather was per-
feet for all the outdoor exercises. a
bright sky and a cool breeze.
The first item on the days program
was the class day exercises at 80 on
the campus. Rarely has the old campus
seen so large an assemblage as that
which gathered to greet the class. The
Oedulllui WtdlllGI UlOuSIll Oul lllc SdltSl
of summer costumes. and the assemblage
made kaleidoscope effect as it moved
about with the green foliage of the trees
as background. The procession of the
graduating class in caps and gowns
formed at the chapel and moved to the
new Starr library. where the ceremony
of ivy-planting took place. The remain
der of the program was carried out in
the center of the campus. The president
of the class, Samuel Booth BotsfOrd,
spoke few words of welcome to the
assembled guests, and then introduced 7.
A. Carlson, who delivered the ivy
grafton. Miss Florence lIemenway, class
historian, drew a picture fair of the
wOndrous achievements of the class as
whole and individually. 1t was no doubt
quite as full of surprises to the members
of the class as to the spectators. Miss
Elizabeth Nichols, as statisticlan, un-
rolled some facts, figures and fables
which were not near so dry as those
which emanate from the governments
bureau at WashingtOn-though there
may have been lots of dry humor In
them. The class presents then were dis
tributed by w. T. Barnard. To the
juniors he gave document bequeathing
the favor of the faculty, which he said
was so greatly needed in finishing their
course. TO the sophomores he gave a
package of "condition powders" with
directions for their use. The freshmen
received apparatus and material for gen.
Grating chlorine for use in removing
their verdant appearance. The presi-
dents of the various classes received the
gifts with appropriate remarks. The
class Grafton by Guy B. Horton followed.
His topic was, "The Power of an
Idea" the subject matter being freedom
and progress, which he traced from the
days of early Greece to those of the
latest exemplar-our country. Miss
Eveline Dean, the class poet, read the
following verses:
In golden floods the evening sun Is sinking,
While bathes the land in purple afterglow,
And twilight shadows settle down, begetting
A dreamy reverie of years ago.
Beneath the clustered stars that stud the
heavens,
When lie the heavy shadows long and still,
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