The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-05-06
THE PRESIDENT DELIVERS THE
DIPLOMAS
PROFESSOR C. T. WINSTON
Makes the Chief Address tn M
Graduating Ciass-The President's
Address short and tn the Point.
Professor Winston Refers to
Dewey, the Hero OF Manila and
Sampson. the Hero &f Santfago-A
Sfrgfnian "a Prize Wf~nner-Incf-
dents OF the Occasion.

Annapolis, Md, May a.-The special
train conveying President Roosevelt
and party TO Annapolis to attend the
graduating exercises II the naval acad-
envy arrived here today over the Penn
sylvania railroad. As the president
alighted from the train he was received
by Superintendent Wainwright and his
aide. Lieutenant II. J. ZieGemyer. A
battalion OF marines. under command
OF Captain Lucas, was drawn up at the
station. The party proceeded in carri-
ages TO the academy grounds.
The president walked across the cam
pus to where the cadets were lined up
and passing down the line, looked each
cadet ~squarely in the f2ct- he was then
presented to the officers OF the academy
by Commander Wainwright.
While this was going on the shore
batteries fired the president 5 salute OF
twenty-one uns
At the sound OF a bugle blast, the
adets stacked gun and marched by
tours to the chapel where a benedio~on
was pronounced by tie chaplain.
In the meantime the president had
been escorted down the aisle by Com
mander Wainwright and was shown TO
his seat on the platform, the battalion
Of cadets. the officers and others re-
ceiving the president standing.
Commander Wainwright then intro
duced DR.. George T.. Winston, a member
of the board Of visitors, who delivered a
short address. He was loudly applaud
ed when he referred TO Dewey as the
hero of Manila and SampsUi, the hero
of Santiago, and at the c inclusion OF
his remarks was congratulated by the
president.
The graduating class discarded their
guns and accoutremcntS and advanced
close to the platform. President Roose.
welt then addressed them, his remarks
being frequently interrupted by APP
plause. The president said IN part:
In receiving these diplomas you be-
come men who above almost any others
of the entire union arc to carry hence
forth the ever-present sense OF respon-
sibility which must come with the
knowledge that on some tremendous
day 1t may depend upon your courage
your preparedness, your keen intelli-
gence, knowledge of your profession
whether or not the nation is again to
write her name on the worlds roll OF
honor or to know the black shame OF
defeat. We, all of us, earnestly hope
that the occasion for war may neveI
come. but if it has to come, then this
nation must win and the prime factor
In securing victory over foreign foe
must, of necessity, be the United States
navy. If the navy fails us then we arr
doomed to defeat. NJ matter what nay
be our material wealth, or the high av,
erage of our citizenship. 1t should
therefore, an object of prime import
ance for every patriotic American to see
that the navy is constantly built up anG
4 n @I~& - t. ~-A -
point Of efficiency both in material and
In personnel. 1t cannot be too often re-
peated that in modern wal and es-
pecially In modern naval war, the chief
factor in achieving triumph is what has
been lone in the way of thorough prep
a~ration and training before the be-
ginning of the war. 1t is what has been
done before the outbreak of the war
that is all important.
"Oficers and men alike must have the
sea habit; officers ant men alike must
realize that in battle the only shots
that our are the shots that hit, and
that victory will lie with the side whose
| shots hit the oftener. Seamanship and
Observation-Disclosures must be the two
prime objects Of your training. both for
yourselves and for the men under you"
At the conclusion OF his address and
the distribution of the diplomas the
president requested that he be taken to
the hospital where Cadet Emery s.
Land, Of Wyoming, a member Of the
graduating class, was lying Ill. Sitting
up in bed the sick boy received his
diploma from the president who made
a few appropriate remarks in WHICH he
expressed the hope h n he would soon
be out.
The president was then gwen an op-
portunity of witnessing the customary
| prank of the plebs throwing the gradu-
ating class out of quarters, which az
forded a great deal of amusement.
After luncheon the president and
party went aboard he tor pedo boat
Gwynn for a mort trip on Chesapeake
bay.
Among the prizes awarded was a Sill
yer medal TO Cadet James Patrick Lam
nm Of Niroinia for Icing fnc chamninn