The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-06-16
Hiob school commencement.

and they were highly complimented a
the close of the proceedings
As has always been the case with thes
exercises the opera house was filed, man,
being compelled to stand. The house wa
tastefully decorated with the class color
and the class fower-the daisy-was il
evidence everywhere.
At precisely eight o'clock the curtain
was raised and the stage of the oper'
house was seen with the girls and boys o
the High School ready to greet thei
friends. The speaker for the evening
occupied front seat and Others In add
ton to the Board of Education who wer'
on the stage were Rev. Richard H. Baker
Rev. James Stoddard, DR.. Richard II
Parsons, Medical Inspector of the schools
William Dick, secretarysof the Philadel
phia Board of Education. George w
Ekings, Professor of Mechanics in the
Northeast Manual Training School, Phil
adelphia, Professor William O. Sullivan
the new Supervising Principal of the
Mount Holly schools. and County Super
intendent Stees.
The opening prayer was by Rev. Mr..
Baker, after which a chorus, Happy
Birds" was sung with much spirit by the
High School girls
Miss Bernadette Alberta Fenton was
the salutatorian, and her essay was well
written and finely delivered. She paid
graceful tribute to the memory of the late
Professor Cook.
1.-THE evils of child labor" was the SUBJ
ject of the essay by Miss Mary Gwendolen
Merritt. This is subject that has been
discussed by many mature minds, but it
was never put In clearer, more concise
manner than it was by the young lady
who had evidently spent considerable
time and study on the question.
Misses Bacon and Ross. two of the High
School teachers, sang duet, when life
is brightest" This pleased the audience
to such an extent that an encore was
called, but the Arrangement of the pro-
gramme prevented response.
Miss Marguerite White read an essay
on ''The eternal feminine" which. while
very amusing at times, contained points
that gave food for serious thought
Another question that has attracted
public attention was "The fallacy of
socialism," but Miss Ray Elizabeth
Robertson had no hesitancY in expressing,
her views on the subject and did SO in
very creditable manner.
The class song by the graduating class
was well rendered.
The subject of the valedictory was 1.-The
primitive man in our midst, and to Miss
Musa Dora Burtis was assigned the task
of preparing and delivering the essay on
this subject. She did this admirably and
was well rewardedwith generous applause
when she had concluded reading very
fine paper.
The speaker of the evening was Fred
Gowing, at present living in Philadelphia,
but who, at one time, was State Superin-
tendent of the schools of New Hampshire,
and was also Principal of the Rhode
Island Normal School. For just twenty
minutes Mr.. Gowing entertained his
hearers. His subject was "higher educa-
tion," and he dwelt upon the usefulness
IF public schools and the broad field that
was open to- them A school, he said,
could be as bad as a community made it
,r it could be as good as a community
made it. He laid stress on the point that
# good schools and good results are ex-
pected, there must be liberality in the
of money to conduct them.
He cautioned the graduates not to get the
idea that they had learned all there was
to be known and not to think they had
completed an education merely because
diploma had been attained. He thought
it much better for them to &C forth with
the idea that they really did not know
much and that there was continual neces-
sity for further education.
Samuel A. Atkinson. president of the
board of education, presented the diplomas
to the graduates, the benediction was
by Rev. Mr.. Baker and the
class of 1908 became a memory, but not
one that will soon fade away.
The Board of Education take this means
of expressing, in connection with this
subject, their appreciation of the efforts
of all to keep up the standard of the
schools during the trying days of the past
two months. Deprived of the valuable ser
vices and advice of the man who had been
so faithfully at his post for over twelve
years there was danger of retrogression,
but each teacher and pupil felt the gravity
of the situation and put forth every effort
to prevent any such result. Consequently
the schools closed with fine record, pro-
motions were made as usual, and the
institution is in excellent shape for the
new Principal who will take charge in
September. This is condition that our
citizens should be proud of. Only those
whose duty has called them to the schools
during the past years can really appreciate
the situation that confronted them in
April. The least faltering, the slightest
indifference on the part of those engaged
in the school work, and the result would
have been something from which recovery
would not have been made for long
time. The faithfulness and interest of
the corps of teachers were given severe
test, but they were equal to the emergency
and they are entitled to especial mention
for the way in which7they grasped the
situation.