The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-05-20
THE CORNER STONE
A Handsome Stone Will Mark the
Southwest Corner of the New
High School Building.

At 10 o'clock Saturday citi-
zens and school children to the num-
Der of several hundred assembled at
the school grounds on Fifth Avenue
east to witness the ceremony of lay
ing the cornerstone of the new high
school building which has got a
good start in the matter of construc-
ton The morning was not partic-
ularly advantageous for the event,
owing to the very high wind, and
the chill of the atmosphere. For
this reason there was not so large
a crowd present as would have been
the case had the weather been more
propitious.
The fine white sand stone was
standing in it's place all ready to be
placed in position, and along side of
it stood the memorial tablet, which
was furnished by the graduating
class of 1907. This class took the
initiative in purchasing the stone.
The class had a good sum of money
left in its treasury as a result of its
class day entertainment and they
thought the money could not be used
to a better advantage than to supply
the new high school building with
the cornerstone, and when the Off
GERS made the proposition to the
board of education it was accepted,
the class merely asking for the pri-
vilege of placing a memorial tablet
in conjunction as a mark of honor.
The stone cost about SIS, the corner
stone being marked with the year
! 1908, the period in which the build
was started. The dimensions of the
cornerstone r 21x26kx42 inches.
The exercises were opened with a
selection rendered by the high school
chorus under the direction of Miss
Walrath. Superintendent Hof had
charge of the exercises and introduce
ed these who appeared on the pro-
gram. DR.. J.. S. Hoagland delivered
| the invocation and his prayer was an
earnest and sincere one for the good
that can be accomplished through
the cause Of education.
The address of the morning was
delivered by Mayor A. E. Hitchcock,
which was made brief owing to the
atmosphere, which was not at all con-
ducive to public speaking. neither
for the speaker nor the audience.
The mayor referred to the struggle
made by France to become a repub-
lie, and of the efforts made to start
the work of education. At this same
period, he said, the declaration of in
dependence had been presented to
the world, and Thomas Jeffer-
son, one of the signers, returned to
his home, and began work of estab-
fishing the cannon school. The gen
eral plans of that man have been fol-
lowed in practically all of the cities
ed on the foundation of Harvard COL
lege and how the colonies made the
appropriation and then gave books
to the institution. From this found
alton established by Jefferson have
come the schools of today, and now
the people Of Mitchell are taxing
themselves in order to give the boys
and girls an opportunity to secure
the free education. This matter Of
education. said the mayor, develops
the higher thought among the pee
Pile of the country which has caused
us to grow to better and higher
things of life. Speaking of what ed
u%caticn has done outside of the lives
of the growing generation, he re-
ferred to the reforms that have been
brought about in the prisons of the
country through the start made by
John Howard in English prisons; the
doing away with the chattel slavery;
the breaking up of the feudal system;
the elimination of the rule of kings
and the ascendency of the people
as the controlling power, Of which
the United States is the most illus
u lOuS eAdlllple. All Oh LueSe innings
have been brought about through the
higher thought. Our government re-
allies all this and is providing for the
future in the educational system of
this country. In a comparative way
the mayor spoke the thought that
education has really Just begun and
that it.has got to be encouraged. He
took as ar example the school pop
u~lation of Mitchell being over 1000,
but in the graduating class of this
year he finds but ten boys who are
ready to receive their diplomas from
the schools. To reach a higher state
of things, the mayor said that this
number would have to be increased
to attain that which is desired. In
closing the mayor said that Mitchell
was now building a structure that