The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-19


 class day of 1907 and saw the president of that class. acting in accordance with this theory of unselhshness, present to the class of 1908 the golden key of knowl- edge for which the class of 1907 had worked so hard With this key of knowl- edge we have been able to obtain access to the infinite stores of invaluable treas ure in the temple of wisdom; and now our hearts desire Is to present this key to the class of 1909 and wish them the joy of its use.
 Now, this key has one remarkable characteristic which I shall be glad to tell you of as soon as I give you short history of the key itself. It Is a special gift of Minerva to the class of 1907 and was presented by her to them on account of their high average of excellence in all their work She presented it, however, on the following conditions. First that 1t should be carefully and discriminatory used second, that it should belong to ehe A. G. l. S. and be used by seniors only, and third, that the class receiving the key. as it passed on to each succeeding graduating ildSS sIOdAd iiSeAoNAS up to the high standard of the class of 1907, and if at all possible the standard of the classes should become increasingly higher.
 The consequence of the violation of any of these conditoinsis that the key of knowledge will disappear and only hard work of even higher standard than we .fN N,nd tT x.f11 Ina to bring this gift back to the A c. l. s.
 Now in view of the fact that this key is so infinitely precious, and that 1t would be such a calamity to the school for it to be lost, it Is very evident that each graduating class must consider carefully before passing this valuable article on to the succeeding class. We were able to obtain the key, and you have heard Minervas letter in which she expresses her appreciation of our years work; you can therefore, un- derstand that we would not wish to be held responsible for our schools losing this precious gift. We must, therefore, consider the merits and de- merits of our successors.
 First, the class of 1909 is a large one and by passing the key to them we could benefit large number, but lis ten, a large number gives greater opportunity of careless use, and we have every reason to fear that it would be used carelessly for more than one of their number have been seen this year reading novels for which neither Dickens nor Thackeray would like to be held responsible, and some of them have shown a love of fine dress, of which Minerva, in her simple robes or amor could never approve. Then, too, if the key were not lost because of the reckless disregard the young ladies mentioned show for the | development of their intellectual ca pacity there are others among the number to whom it is quite as perilous to entrust the key. We refer now to 1 those young ladies who have an in I tellectual greed. They are not satis- fled with the defensive warfare against the studies they are expected to con- quer but wholly against Minervian principles; they attack little of every art and science in school and try to accomplish everything in no time. We surely could not expect them to use the key discriminatory.
 However, the danger we have most to fear is this Everyone acknowledges that the class of 1909 Is large in num- bers, but the members of the class i themselves would fain have us under stand that they are large in many other respects. When this idea takes possession of an individual or class of | individuals you all known how danger ous 1t is to give him or them anything | of value.
 For these reasons the class of 1908 while desiring very much to pass the ! key on to the class of 1909, thinks that such an act would be the height of fol- | ly; and we have therefore decided to entrust this key to MT. E. S. Lyman 1 the treasurer of our school, until, in | the judgment of a committee, which the alumnae will appoint, there ap- pears on the border of seniorland a class worthy of the treasure Class Toast.
 The following is the class toast: In the name of the senior class
 Here's to the A. G. I. S.; she has done a noble work for twelve years past; may her doors be open to the girls of Alabama | for 1200 times P years more; may hel standard of excellence never be lowered l but grow increasingly higher, and may she ever. have such a kindly, intellectual and God fearing faculty to train the young womanhood of our state'
 Annual Concert. | The annual concert given this evening | in the assembly hall was an artistic sue. | cess. Miss Ruth Bush is director of this department, and the programme was as l follows.
 Marche Triomphale .Goria Misses Sellers and Smith 1 Etude, Op 40, No 4..................Cz Czerny Miss Hattie Estelle Garner. | On Wings of Song. .Mendelssohn-Liszi
 Miss Vesta Jones. | Afterglow ............... .......,...... Metcalf Miss Georgia Dawson | Rustlings of Spring .......,.....,.. .Sinding Miss Marguerite Fisher. l Scene de Ballet ...,... ..,..... .Ch. Berlol Miss laura Lyman. | La Rose .......,....,........:..... .Hunten l Miss Sallie Sellers Magic Flute .........................M Mozart Misses Powell, Peterson, Kyle and Falls. 1 Last Hope ................,...... Gottschalk
 Miss, Velma Gaston. Damon .......................... Max Stange Miss Daisy Dunlap. | W aldersrauscnen ...................... LtsZt