Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-26
FEMININE ATTORNEYS
CLASS GRADUATED FROM WASH
INGToN COLLEGE OF Law.
One Representative of the sterner Sex
Receives Degree-Program
of Exercises.

Amid the fragrance of beautiful flowers
and the tuneful melodies of the Marine
Band Orchestra the sixth annual com
mencement exercises of the Washington
College Of Law were held in the National
Rifles Armory last evening. and eleven
followers of Chitty and Blackstone were
awarded their passports into the legal pro-
fession. A large assemhlage was present.
comprising friends. relatives and acquaint-
anees of the graduates and students. who
took part In. the exercises.
Precisely at O'Clock to the strains of
Thomas Jefferson March, the undergradu-
ate classes, each wearing the regulation
cap and gown. marched down the aisle
and onto the platform. followed a few
minutes later by members of the faculty
and guests of honor. headed by Mrs Ellen
Spencer Mussey, dean of the school of law
invocation was pronounced by Rev. Chas
f. Winbigier. The cornet solo by Mr.
Frank Todhunter, which followed the in
vocation, proved to be a pleasing innova-
ton.
Judge Stanton j. PeelIe, LID, associate
justice of the United States Court of
Claims, was then introduced by Prof w. J.
Newton as the presiding officer of the even
ing. Judge Peelle responded to the compli-
ments paid him In words BETTING the occa-
sion and paid an eloquent tribute to the
standing Of the bar Of the District of Co
lumbia.
Address to Graduates.
The address to the students was made
by Mr.. j. Holdsworth Gordon, president
of the Bar Association of the District.
Mr. Gordon's address was replete with
eloquent phrases. interspersed at times
with witty anecdotes. He suggested at
times hard. common sense advice" which,
he said, he hoped would aid the young law
yers tn arriving at a solution of the many
practical problems which the profession
would invite He urged that the profess
sion of law was one above all Others free
from sentiment, and that it's laurels were
only attained by the hardest and most dill
gent labor.
Resolution, the speaker stated. would
strengthen the arm and round out the char
acter in its proper place. He alluded to
many figures In the worlds history to
prove the truth of his statement that sue
cess would come only as a result of hard
work
Henry Clay" the speaker added, twas
devoted to the art of public speaking. and
finding his fellow men not interested lis
tencrs. would go into the fields and deliver
his speeches to the swine and horses. You
may not have any horses or swine to talk
to, but before you have made much pro-
gress along the pathway of your profess
sion you will meet some of their relatives
II do not believe" he said with an i'm
pressfve gesture, "that man is any better
than woman 1 look over the world and
see woman at the forefront in the realm of
commerce, in the professions. in science and
almost In every branch of industry. / say.
throw down the bars and let her in. and
let 1t be the survival of the fittest Some
men have the audacity to assert that wo-
men are never first in anything except
SIM The speaker said at this juncture.
amid the merriment and applause of the
audience, that twenty-five years of service
in the marital gardens has not shaken
his belief as to the value of woman.
In closing the speaker told the students
to remember the rights and duties of the
citizen and to remember also that every
citizen should be subservient to the law of
the land. He wished the students happiness
and prosperity. and said that if they could
not by their life work associate their names
with the great men of their time they might
at least have the assurance that If their
work be honest md creditable, they will
leave names that will be honorable in the
sight of man."