Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-02-11

/ the fast cruiser have their Important
| place, but ii has been demonstrated
| that the great factor in the bulldog of
the sea, with its great speed, its heavy
armor andsits powerful armament.
Il take il that no one of you mid
| shipmen would refus9 contest with
stronger and more skilled opponent
I if necessary, but the nation wishes
you to meet on equal terms. This IS
the idea of planning TO construct bat
tleships the equal in all points 10
the great war machines that are being
constructed by different nations AT
this time. If war comes. ] want
our navy TO meet the navy of hos
+ tile power on equal terms.
And now a word 10 you, the
graduates. You are abont To expert
ence the shaking down period. You
passed a severe mental and physical
test when you entered this institu-
tion. The continuance OF these eN-
aminations through your course has
weeded out the weaklings and you
are now n picked body of youths,
equipped for the duties of life and
/ for the service under that flag which
never yet has been sullisd and for
which you must, if need be, fight TO
the last gasp.
You go forth to life full of temp
tations, but to the man of strong heart
and high principle, there need be no
fear of temptations. Remember that
good habits are as easy TO FORM and as
hard 10 break as bad habits. In little
while YOU will hold your commits
sions rs officers in the American
navy, sworn to obey the laws and
uphold the Constitution. | bid you
Godspeed in the new field of activity
into hich you enter today.
Each graduate was then handed his
diploma by the Secretary of the Navy,
who took each midshipman by the
hand and congratulated him warmly.
As each member received his diplo-
mas, generous applause was given him
by his friends among the midshipmen
and others. The midshipmen received
their diplomas in the order of scho-
lastic merit something which has
not been the case at previous cere-
monies. The applause TO the one or
two at the bottom of the list was
particularly hearty, in congratulation
of the close squeeze they had made.
The brigade of midshipmen had
formed in close column and faced to-
wards the stand during the ceremo-
nies, standing at parade rest When
the diplomas had been delivered,
Midshipman Richard 5. Galloway,
the new cadet commando, proposed
three cheers for 'those who leave
MS, +" which were given with Will.
The graduates, upon the call of Mid
shIpman William G. Wallace, the class
leader, then responded with cheers
''for those we leave behind. The
official party then passed out between
the battalions and the graduates were
allowed to mingle with their friends.
Before breaking up their group,
however, the fifty graduates sang their
class song "A stoast for '07, and then
for Navy Blue, with much feeling.
The song was composed by Midship-
man Earl f. Johnson, of Chicago, ILL.,,
A member of the section of the class
which graduated in September, and
is sung to the tune of Germany Land.
AS the audience filed out the Acad-
envy band, under Prof. Charles a.
Zimmerman, payed the music that has
become identified with graduations
..Auld Lang Syne,' ''Ain't | Glad to
Get out of the Wilderness, ''The
Girl | Left Behind Me- and The
Mermaid.
The Secretary of the Navy was
driven to the residence of the Superin-
tendent, where a reception was given
in his honor and for the purpose of
introducing today's graduates.
LIST OF GRADUATES.
The full list of the graduates in order
of scholastic rank is:
1.Wm, q Wallace, WaTrensburg, Mo.
,. Frank II. King, Scottsboro, Ala.
3. Preston III. McCrary, Lonolse, Ark.
4. Bruce X. Ware, Jr., Newton, Mass.
5. William :. Farber, Frankfort, Ind.
6. Archibald ID. Turnbull, at large.
:. u. :. IL. How ard, Palestine, Tex.