Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-05-22
AkiMAs CITY GRADUATES.

Wednesday afternoon graduating
| exercises were held at the Animas
| City school, and were attended by par.
ents and friends of the pupils. The
| graduates were Ruby Alexander, Wal
ter Cooke. Annie Compton. May Hug.
gins and Henry Conner. The class
| colors were blue and white and the
diplomas presented by Mrs. Pulford.
| county superintendent Of schools.
were tied with blue and white ribbon.
The exercises were interesting, and
Professor Brlnegar, the principal, ex-
pressed his pride for the high stand
Ing attained by the class. Mrs. Pull
ford made a little speech, which Is
herewith given:
The pupils OF this graduating class
have now successfully taken the first
step on the road to become useful
American citizens. The teachers and
parents nave worked together to
bring about this happy result. And
| as I see before me these smiling, in
telligent faces | feel that here we
have one of the most encouraging
sights In the world. the true Ameri.
can boys and girls.
The whole world is interested in the
| American boys and girls Should you
ask me to define what | mean by the
| typical American ooys and girls, |
should say those who are filled with
| the American spirit. Maybe then you
| will ask what ] mean by American
spirit. We. school teachers, are fond
of dividing subject under heads and
| arranging the various parts. Now,
The American spirit may be said to
have four parts: A spirit OF indie
pendence, a spirit of investigation. a
spirit Of humor and spirit OF pro-
gress. Let us see what we mean by
each. Independence Is glorious
| thing and In contrast to our European
neighbors We have proved again and
| again that any one can become any
| thing they choose. Honest work en-
| obles every man and woman. No
| menial work can ever make the doer
mean. 1t is poor soul that thinks
less OF one VINO must dig and wash
/ and scrub Let him who would be
| greatest among you become your
| minister" and remember that minis
ter is equivalent to servant. | have
especially in mind this afternoon one
OF the graduates from our Durango
High scnool. The girl to whom | re
fer had brilliant mind and strong
body: when she finished our High
school she was ambitious TO secure a
higher education. | had serious
| talk with her on the subject and told
her was sure could find her a
place TO do housework where she
should put herself through college
but that she must remember tnRt peo
pie who might employ her would have
a right to expect honest work fol
what they gave her. To remember
little less than was expected OF nel
was the way to make success of hel
work. And above all TO remembe
that the true American spirit Is no
afraid OF any honest work.
| Next month this young lady is u
| ItftlNt iioib Nh' uh''''
sity that she has attended and re
| celves the highest nonOrs Of the clas
and has earned golden opinions from
all the faculty.
We hear people continually cor
demned for curiosity. Now this
only our spirit Of investigation gon
wrong. This faculty Is = noble ont
Edison, Peary. Burbank are fine e'
amples OF this same curiosity right
applied. Scientific curiosity W
might call 1t. Curiosity applied I
electricity, to finding the north poll
to developing new fruits and flower
y Remember then instead Of invest
eating your neighbor's AFFAIRS, inve
tigate the problems nature gives 20
and the power becomes an enoblin
instead OF degrading one. Nov
:. above all. remember what constitute
humor. Be sure that you laugh witt
not at, people. When Charles Lam
stood watching the paving Of II