The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-06-10
HIGH SCHOOL STU
DENTS BID AD|EU
From Saturdays Daily.

From saturdays Daily
Fortyone high school students bid
farewell to their Alma Mater last
evening and stepped out into the world
to either make good or not, according
TO the use that they make of their
opportunities, 1t was the ending of
school days for most of them, and the
commencement of other but perhaps
no pleasanter duties of life. The eX-
ercises that marked this change in
their lives were of as high an order
as ever before presented by the school,
and the citizens of Mankato could not
but have had feeling of pride in
their excellent school system as they
listened to the exercises and looked up
on the imposing array of nice appear
ing and intelligent young people who
filed the large stage, rising row upon
row toward the rear.
The thirty fifth annual commence
ment OF the high school was in every
way a success. The theatre was filed
from pit to dome The members of
the school board and high school faculty
occupied boxes. The class cOlors of
purple and gray We're brought out in
the decorations, mingled with green,
and the stage and boxes looked very
pretty. The figures 1910" were brought
out in gray. On the stage besides the
graduating class, was the large chorus.
The program opened with an over
tnre by Lamm's orchestra Morning,
Noon and Night in Vienna by Suppe,
and was very nicely done. Rev. P.
X. Edwards pronounced an invocation,
and a large chorus of 1870 voices, di
rected by Miss. Fanny Pithcer, the
supervisor of music and drawing, rem
dered ''Hark, Hark the Lark by
Schubert, "The Owl" by Hotchkiss, and
in the Dawn" by Capua The work
Of the chorus showed that it had re-
ceived most careful and painstaking in
struction, and the effect was very good
A great deal of credit is due Miss
Pitcher for the effectiveness of the dis
ferent musical numbers on the pro
gram.
All Dlu Flnely.
The essays and orations were of an
unusually high order, and interesting
in the subjects and the way that they
were handled. as well as effective in
the manner of delivery, denoting not
only native talent of high order on
the part of the speakers, but careful
training on the art of appearing in
public and delivery Each young lady
and gentleman ON the program did
herself, and. himself proud.
Miss Vera SCHNEIDER was the first
speaker, her subject being american
Women of Action" She said that the
fact that woman is no longer cIinging
vine was shown by the fact that 6,OO0,-
600 Of them We're earning their own
livelihood. They were fast surprising
men in teaching. She instanced the
success of some of the most promi-
nent women workers of the world, and
closed by saying that the opinion of
women on vital things was to count
enormously more in the future than
in the past
Philip Comstock spoke on "The
Farmer Of the Twentieth Century"
The guage of a nations prosperity
now, he said, was its crop report.
Rapid changes had been made in meth
DDS of farming, and the American
farmer of the future would be a
broad minded citizen and a good bust
ness man. Business ability will be one
of the imperative requirements of the
future. Small farms and rural com
munities will make farm life much
more enjoyable.
Miss Ethel Korsells subject was
''The Value of Play" She said that
the multiplicity of vehicles no longer
left any room on the streets for chill
dren to play, and she told of the ad
vantages to be derived from play
grounds. The repression of play in
childhood was Il dangerous thing as
it meant disease, and perhaps the white
plague. Play grounds could do a
great deal toward reforming the char
acter of children.
The chorus sang "Old Ironsides," by
Klein
Miss Maud Hart read a delightful
dissertation ION "The Ieroines of
Shakespeare She said that some of
his characters were good and some
bad, but the most were divided be-
tween good and bad, like real people
nowadays. Woman had had no inter
prefer as sympathetic as Shakespeare.
She reviewed the characters of Juliet,
Rosalind, Ophelia, Lady Macbeth and
IinOgene, "the browning flower of wom
anhOod.'
"The Measure of Man was the
subject treated by Herman Hayward.
He showed how standards had varied
with the changes of the times, from
brute strength in the fuedal age down
to our own age, which he said was one
OF money madness. Commercial sue
cess was our ideal, but wealth does
not bring true happiness, but brings
out the coarser side of mans nature.
The roll of honor of those who achieve
real success will contain many names
unfamiliar to us.
Earned An Encore.
Miss Frances Kenney rencered the
solo, "The Evening Wind,' Samson and
Delilah) by Saint Saens, assisted by
the mixed glee club of thirty-two
voices. 1t was so well done that it