The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1907-06-21
GRADUATION LAST NIGHT,
Auditorium Crowded to Hear Address
by Ora E. Butterfield of Detroit.

An audience which crowded the au.
ditorium enjoyed the graduation eXcr.
cises last night. The front of the stage
was decorated handsomely with ferns,
laurel and flowers, while overhead was
suspended the class motto, Better Faith
full than Famous. Leitsinger S orches.
ira rendered Thomas's overture Ray
mopd and after a selection by 4
chorus of girls came the invocation by
Rev. A. II. Webb. Two more selec-
tions by the chorus of girls with vio-
lin obligato by Clinton Dugan, preceded
the addres by Ora &. Butterfeld of
Detroit. .-.-.. .
At the beginning of his address Mr.. But
terfeld referred to his graduation in 1856,
his selection of life companion from
among the fair daughters Of Brattleboro, ms
native town, incidents of his course under
the instruction OF B. +. Bingham, and other
recollections of by-gone days, and continued:
/ have taken a look backward, but you
are looking forward Your proud hearts
are swelling with red blood and you are
somebody and for the world. The question
is what are you going to do2
Are you going to collegel | think you
should Does some one say that his par
eniS cannot aUOru 10 Se0u ulHl ne an
swer is: Where there is a will there is
way. There are scores of graduates of the
Brattleboro high school whose records will
show you how you can go through college
when your parents can not pay the bills.
time for school work, and it is the rule that
the college man or woman will make bet
ter living and make it easier than one who
has not had that advantage. There are
prominent exceptions but l say it is the
general rule.
Does some one say that he has always
found it difficult to keep up with his class
in the studies and that he does not purpose
to continue the unequal struggle through
college courseG If so, let me tell you that
there is no place on earth where mere bril-
liancy counts for so much as 1t does IN
school. In the restricted arena of the high
school, the brilliant scholar is likely to
achieve distinction and to do SO with ease;
and his prominence may dishearten and
discourage his mates until they resolve that
if they ever get through the high school,
they will abandon books and teehnicalities
and select vocation where they may avoid
the comparison with their more sparkling
neighbors to which they are forced to sub
NIT in the class ROOM But it is certain
that if the brilliant scholar, after his gradu-
alton, relies upon his brilliancy alone. he
will soon be far in the rear of the slow but
sure plodder, who is obliged to rely after
graduation, as he was before, upon per-
sistent industry.
You can never tell with certainty by
what a boy or girl aecomplishes in school
what he or she will amount to in middle
age. Brlliancy should not be mistaken for
genius. While we may not all agree with
some one who has said that genius is moth
ing more than capacity for hard work, it is
certain that no one has sufficient genius to
accomplish anything really great without
hard work Genius often develops where it
is least expected. 1t needs no special field
r;eh tuin rrnu rpha
it is cultivated
In the parable of the sower, you know it
was the seed that had no deepness Of earth
that sprang up first but it was the first also
to wither in the sun. So, often, with the
brilliant scholar, he may not have depth Of
mind and may therefore fade in the light of
post graduate competition.
You need not be surprised if in ten years