River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-06-09
Sixteenth Annuol Commencement,
River Fo1fs High School.
Other School Notes of Interest.

Prettily decorated by the class Of
| 1905, with the motto of the gradu
ates, Forward" showing across
the stage in the colors of the class
light blue and white, Opera Hall
presented a very inviting appear
ance last Thursday evening when
it's doors were thrown open to admit
the friends of the class of 1904 and
of the school 10 the Sixteenth An
nual Commencement exercises of
the high school. The day had been
"co1d and dark and dreary," and
the evening bid fair 10 be as the
day. Nevertheless the hall was
filled to overlooking, standing room
only, and not much of that, remain
ing, when, at SIS Prof. Ames led
the class out upon the stage. The
class was not the largest ever
graduated from the school, there
being nine pupils in it, five boys
and four girls, but it was as strong
a class as ever went out from the
school, and the program it present
ed was as varied and as good as
any ever given by graduating class
here. The class had, by it's vote,
decided not to present any of the
old, time-worn extras, such as class
history, class prophecy, and the
like, and presented only their theses,
the subjects covering a wide range
and showing evidences of careful
preparation on the part of the
speakers.
Chas. Nicholson discussed the
subject of immigration, showing
that this is country of immigrants,
that the evils of immigration are
greatly overdrawn, and that the
hope of the country is not in the
abolition, but in the assimilation,
of the foreigners seeking homes in
this country. Miss Maudie Rey.
nolds pointed out the work of wom
en- in history, showing that man
has not made all of civilization that
was worth making, but that woman
has done her share, and has done
it better than man could have done.
Glenn Rounsevell showed the pres
ent status of the problem of Aerial
Navigation, the value of such navi-
CATION to the civilization and nations
of the world, bringing out the facts
that scientists consider that the
problem is very nearly solved, and
that the near future is to witness
the general use of this means of
navigation. Miss Bessie Odell traced
the meaning of the word Music"
showed it's meaning to-day, told of
the effects of Music" on the indi-
vidual and the people, and it's i'm
portance in the history and civiliza-
ton of the world. John Knapp took
for his subject one of the burning
political questions of the day, show
ing what has been done in southern
states since the war, and especially
in the last five years, to bring about
the "Disfranchisement of the Ne
gro,' showing how the effort to
accomplish this is not an unmixed
evil, and that the solving of this
problem will be the solving of the
race problem in the United States.
Miss Mabel Scofeld told how Long
fellows writings were inspired and
determined by the events of his life
and the character of his surround
ings, connecting his various writ
ings with his life history TO show
the intimate connection of the two.
Leroy Sweet, taking Socialism"
for his subject gave history OF
the meaning of the word, the growth
of the idea, and showed that, how
ever beautiful in theory Socialistic
plans may be, the difficulties in the
way of their practical operation are
insurmountable. Miss Maggie
Brown, in Poets of America"
showed how natural it was that
American poets should follow and,
in a measure, seem to copy, English
poets, how they have come to make
a poetry distinctively American,
and ended with the prophecy that
the day is not far distant when
American will rival England's and
the worlds greatest in the writing
of poetry. David Smith touched
up the "Grafter" in the worlds
history and the history of the indi-
vidual, showing TO how great an
extent public and private affairs are
honey-combed by this species of
corruption.
The music of the program was
furnished by Miss Ames, Mr.. Snod-
grass and Miss Armstrong, teachers
in the public school, and by Frank
Reid. Oscar Spillcke and Row Imrie,
pupils in the high school, and was
of a high order, thoroughly appre-
ciated by the audience. F. M. White,
of the school board, presented the
class their diplomas, after which
Prof. Ames gave the class and audi
ence short address, closing one of
the most successful commandments
in the history of the local high
school.
Including this years class, our
high school has graduated 104 pu-
pills, ST boys and 48 girls. Of this
number, 81 have graduated since
Prof. Ames has been at the head of
the schools. 33 of them being boys
and FL of them being girls.
Of the class of nine which gradu-
ated five years ago from the high
school, three graduate this year
from higher institutions, one of
them from Wisconsin, one from
Minnesota and one from Lawrence.
Two of the class have already grad