Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-05-27
CONCERT AT CLOSE
Commencement for 1904 at Au
gu tana College Comes to
End Last Evening
ALUMNI HOLDS ITS REUNION
Or. y. G. w. Lagerstedt, Swedish
Commissioner, Speaks on
Education.

Commencement for 1904 at Angus
tana college closed last evening with
the annual concert at the chapel
where gathered an audience that filled
every available seat in the auditorium,
many standing during the eXcellently
rendered program. which included vo-
cal solos by Mrs. EGqa Lund, selections
by the chapel choir, Wennerberg cho-
rus and Milo quartet, piano solo by
Prof. 7. i. Peterson, organ solo by
Prof. y. ID. Bodfors, reading by Mrs.
Mary Searles-Penrose and a number
by the Augustana orchestra.
The Alumni association held its an
nuaI reunion and banquet in the col
lege gymnasium yesterday afternoon.
Prof. Y. o. Peterson was toastmaster.
College Honors Race.
DR.. \. q. w. Lagerstedt, commits
sioner from Sweden to the worlds
fair at st. Louis, says that Angus
tana college is an honor to the Swed-
ish-American people. considering the
important results of it's activity and
because it is maintained through
the love and sacrifice of the Swedish
Americans. DR.. Lagerstedt stopped
OFF in Rock Island on his way to St
Louis to be present at the commence
ment exercises.
DR.. Lagerstedt spoke of the three
most important kinds of Swedish
schools at the present time: The sec
ondary state schools for boys, the sec
ondary schools for girls, and the com
mon schools.
With regard to the state secondary
schools for boys, he put forth the
most prominent traits of the very inn
portant reform which, in consequence
of a resolution by the Swedish riksdag
passed the first days of this month. is
going to be carried out in the immedi-
ate future. The study of classical
languages is going to be considera bly,
reduced. Latin may be studied only
during the last four years of the
course instead of six years as hith-
erto. Some of the schools are To be
coeducational. this being the first
time that coeducational secondary
schools are instituted by the state in
Sweden. \ certain amount of liberty
in the choice of subjects for study in
the upper classes viii he allowed the
students.
Steady Growth of Common Schools.
Speaking of the steady growth of
the Swedish common schools. DIR. La
gerstedt held forth what a small per-
centage of illiteracy Sweden has. only
one in a thousand inhabitants. the
Scandinavian countries and Germany
standing foremost in this respect in
the whole world. He mentioned that
the Swedish common school teachers
themselves in our days occupy a very
prominent place as leaders and pro-
moters of the development of these
schools.
The Swedish higher girls schools
of today may be considered as repre-
senting preferably the ideal stand
point in education. the psychological
and pedagogic view. The most prom
inent writer now living on education
al questions in Sweden is represent
tative of these schools, Miss Anna
Sandstrom, principal of a higher
school for girls in Stockholm. If YOU
look for the best and most elaborate
methods and ways of imparting in
struction in Swedish schools. You may
probably find them in some of the
higher schools for girls.
The speaker pointed out the gen
eraI tendencies of present educational
development in Sweden irrespective of
different kinds of schools The first
is a tendency in the direction of unity
as far as regards the lower grades of
schools-the lower grades of the com
mon schools becoming the common
base of the higher grades of these
schools and the secondary schools;