The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-06-19
HIGH SCHOOL GLASS DAY
HELD IN SCHOOL AUDITORIUM
 YESTERDAY AFTERNOON.

Grafton by Israel simon kieineF-snb-
 ject, "what Benjamin Franklin Ibid for Ihe wOrid"-CIass Poem by Herr bert Lewis BeardsIey-CIass HtsIOries-
 Music and Planting Of Ivy-Ohcers
 and commIttees-List of Members of School.
 Hillhouse high school class day was
 observed with proper ceremony in that | schools auditorium yesterday after l noon. There was a large attendance and everybody greatly appreciated the
 splendid programme prepared by the committee. The address of welcome
 was given by the president of the class,
 Frederick Raymond Shanley. He spoke | briefly of the influences, for good, that I the school had had on the class during their sojourn there and said that it was | with feelings of regret that they would
 leave their old associations. He also | heartily welcomed all present to the l SAEIClSCSs W Hell IEC COIlGlGuGN LiC HH~S loudly applauded. During the exercises 1 the entire cass sang some fine selec- 1 lions, under the directions of Professor | Jepson, who has given them careful ! training. Glass histories were read by 1 Rosabelle Wells, Carl Frank Speh, William Sheldon Whittlesey, Francis Hally Riley, Gwendoline Roberts and ! Herbert Daniel Ackley. The histories ! were all carefully prepared, exceeding ! ly funny, and were very creditable to their authors. The class poem was | very good and was written and read 1 by Herbert Lewis Beardsley.
 1 The class oration was delievered by Israel Simon Kleiner and was entitled | What Benjamin Franklin Did for the l World" It was as follows:
 WHAT BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DID FOR THE WORLD.
 In the history of these United States | there is not a more unique public char | acter than Benjamin Franklin, the first famous American. He has been called ''the many-sided Franklin and my ar | gument to-day will, I trust, show you 1 the fitness of this epithet as well as the ! many services which Franklin rendered | his felloWmen.
 l In Europe he first became well known | by his scientific studies. In 1746 Frank l lin received from England certain in- struments for electrical experiments, 1 which aroused the interest not only of | his townspeople, but of the world. It was not Franklin's habit to do what
 every one else did. and for that reason
 he was ahead of his time and of ours, l too, for that matter. He studied, ex | perimented and thought. Then he put 1 his thoughts on paper, One of his es- says on the sameness of lightning with | electricity" as Franklin called it, was read in the Royal society of London and was laughed at. Later Franklin ! had the satisfaction of seeing his theo- ries accepted; moreover the Royal so- ciety made him a member and gave him 1 the Copley medal. Those papers on electricity led to the famous kite eXper- iment, which, according to Franklin. was proposed, but was not first tried l by him. In science, therefore, he ren- l dered great service by advancing the ! ories which gave a great impetus to sci | entific studies and hastened the time of their application to mans service. Were it not for Franklin we should not | to-day be to-day be enjoying the thou- | sand and one benefits which we derive l from the use of electricity
 l As to Dr. Franklin's influence in poli- tics, there has already been enough l said, and to do this justice would re- | quire the entire afternoon. It is suffi- 1 cient to note that in colonial and na-
 tional politics he was great factor
 and was the first American to become | famous as a statesman abroad. In his Albany plan of union had been accept
 ed there would probably have never
 meen any Revolutionary war. In polit- l ical as well as all other matters he I showed a remarkable depth of thought l and an unswerving determination to do
 right. He was politician in the high@
 CT sense of the word and set America
 noteworthy example of high-minded-
 ness and unselfish devotion to the cause.
 | As a political economist he eXerted a
 potent influence over his countrymen. The wise proverbs which he inserted in 1 OoI lGlClIdIN louShI Il4ClIl industry and frugality. Franklin stud jed his readers. He saw that the al-
 manac reached every one--even to the poorest and most ignorant. For that
 reason he put the sayings into a form
 which would strike home and be re- membered. The essay "The Way to Wealth." which combined these sayings into sort of sermon, came at time ] when taxes were heaviest and people l extravagant. "The Way to Wealth.
 showed the application of these pro- verbs to everyday life. Not only has it been powerful in America, but it has been printed in seventeen different lan- guages and Franklin's place as an in- fluential and original political econo- mist is assured.
 But Franklin was not man to say one thing and do another. He came to Philadelphia almost penniless, and by his industry, shrewdness and economy he eventually acquired a comfortable fortune. Here he did another impor- l tant service to the world by living up
 to his own preaching and thus proving
 that by thrift and judgment man may honestly acquire a competence. While member of the Pennsylvania legisla- ture he was offered bribes on many oc- casions, as he had great influence in the assembly. But Franklin declared,