Imperial Valley press., 1909-05-15
AUTHOR AND SINGER
 DELIGHT AUDIENCE Harold Wright Delivers Elo- Quent Address on Education
 at Opera House.
Grammar School BaeeaIaureate Ser vice Occasion of Admirable Enter tainnnent-lmpromptu Musical ReeI- tai By Visiting Singer and Accom-. panlsts Follows Regular Program.

"Baccalaureate" service is an in- novation in grammar school peda- gogics to be credited to El Centro. The eighth grade of the El Centro grammar school held services of that nature at Holt Opera House last Sun day night, and the occasion proved to be an excuse for one of the most enjoyable entertainments ever offered to the public in the county seat.
 Prof. Ragan had the good luck to persuade Harold Bell Wright to de- liver an address, and announcement of that feature of the program caused the Opera House seats to be filled. MT. Wright has been a resident in the valley for about two years, but he has declined all invitations to speak in public and devoted himself wholly to the literary work that he prefers to other modes of expression and that has brought him no small measure of fame-not to speak of substantial rewards
 The author of the Ozark trilogy-- That Printer of Udell's," The Shep- herd of the Hills" and "The Calling of Dan Matthews"-was one of the famous pulpit orators of the Middle West not so very long ago, but he did not find church work, as carried on in these days, what he thinks tt Jhntr1d 6n hn to the title of Reverend" His "call" is to the pen and the brush, and through forms of art he is trying to express the truth as he sees and feels it.
 MT. Wright's first public address in El Centro justified the reputation ac- corded to him in his pulpit days, when he bewildered, not to say scandalized, conventional church people by preach ing christianity instead of creed and dealing with life and humanity in place of dogma.
 MT. Wright spoke without notes, diff. fidently at first, but as he got into the swing of his subject and forgot himself, the eloquence of sincerity possessed him and held his audience in rapt attention. He talked of edu- cation and what it means, and none of his audience ever heard the sub- ject dealt with In the same spirit and so simply and clearly before Wright's eloquence is not that of the elocution- ist, from the lips outward, and his ef- fects are not premeditated. The i'm pression he makes is that of one giv- Ing utterance to his inmost thoughts and convictions regardless of effect and almost oblivious to the presence of an audience.
 At the conclusion of the address, Prof Ragan, thanking Mir Wright, de- clared that he had derived from his words a broader conception of the work of a teacher and could go on with renewed enthusiasm and confi- dence.
 The full program of exercises was as follows:
 Hymn, Come Thou Almighty King. invocation, Rev. Fraser; Solo, Mrs. Black; Scripture Lesson, Rev. Burn ham; Male Quartette, Messrs. Nor ton, Bell, Clark, and Waite; Bacca- laureate Address, Harold Bell Wright; Ladies Quartette, Misses Carr, Davis, Whitescarver, and Williams; Hymn, America; Benediction, Rev. Tout.
 At Prof. Ragan's request the au- dience joined in singing the hymns. From a box on the right a rich, pow erful, perfectly trained contralto voice dominated and took the lead, and most of the audience forgot to sing in listening to the splendid voice. The singer was Miss May Gowan, oS Red lands, who was one of house party this week at "Tecolote", Mir. Wrlght's ranch home at Meloland.
 After the services, Miss Gowan was persuaded by the music lovers who fingered in the hall to give an i'm. promptu musical recital and Miss Helena Long, sister of Mrs Wright and organist of Chicago church. aud Miss Chloe Holt assisted as accom- panists. Miss Gowan sang the Slave Song" "The Prodigal," 'Loch Lon Ond," My Ain Folk" and other selec, ffona and tha audfto,.i,,,o ,,,.,. IL.