Gilpin observer. (Central City, Colo.) 1897-1921, 1910-06-09
ACADEMY EXERCISES

From every viewpoint the closing
exercises of st. Aloysius Academy,
given in the opera house Sunday af-
ternoon met every expectation of the,
parents and the very large audience
present. The singing of the choruses,
in which over fifty voices were heard
ranging in age from the little tots
OF five to boys and girls Of IL and
Ia years, was simply sublime and the
piano accompaniment by the scholars
under the mastery training of the
Sisters of st. Joseph was past the
criticism of the most critical. The
drills were splendidly exacuted-par-
ticularly the scarf drill.
The program was carried out with
out flaw and the scholars paritci-
pating in the operetta, Triumph of
Justice" carried their respective
parts without a pause or break. This
feature of the exercises was highly
appreciated and brought merited ap-
plause.
The closing part of the program
consisted of a class poem by the
graduates and the address delivered
by Charles Philips in behalf of the
class was such as would have done
credit to speaker OF long ex-
perience. The graduates were: Chas.
Philips, Philip Heur, Edward Brohl
Mary Warren, Rose Miller, Katherine
O'Toole.
Rev. Father Julius Meyer present
ed the class with the diplomas and
delivered an address on the neces-
sity of study during the school year.
He pointed out that the generality of
/ our Christian homes are no longer
the sanctuaries wherein young boys
and girls dwell apart from the dang
ers of a worldly life, and kept away
from the enticing pleasure until adult
| age; that the prevailing rage for
amusement and dissipation has fore
ed open the doors of our dwellings
| and the hearts of our youths; that
the almost universal emancipation
from parental control, at an age
when youths stand most in need of
| 1t has detrimental influence upon
the education of our youth. He said
parents encourage this state of af-
fairs by their negligence, or silent
consent. From these principles he
asked the logical conclusions, what
are the mature lives of our boys and
girls going to be, if before the bloom
of beautiful childhood is rubbed off,
they are allowed to share in exhaust
| ing night a.nusements of the grown
ups?"
Continuing, Father Meyer asked:
Where today is the girl of IA who
has yet to experience the excitement
cf her first party; what home
shelters the boy at the same age who
has not been exposed to the danger
GUS enjoyments of the theater or
other amusewects." He asked if the
plastic soul and mind of our youth
were proof against such allurements
ot the world. Under such condition
can the children retain the capacity
for study and work, which the quiet
home life, ignorant of dissipation
fosters?
What kind of school work do they
perform the next day." he asked
Have they the ambition to study
in cur days? Their impressionable
brain is far more busy about the
pleasure they have and the next to
come than about the success of their
school work.
! At last he exhorted the parents to
cooperate more with the teachers, to
inculcate in the minds of their child
rem at the beginning of school the
necessity of study; that now the
time of play and amusements are at
an end, and that they should apply
all the faculties of their mind and
intellect to study.
In conclusion he thanked the grad
uates and the children fer the kind
ness, love and affection shown to
him during the school year and wish.
ell them all well deserved vaca
ton.
The remarks of Father Meyer made
strong impression upon the parents
His advice was good, strong and logi-
cal. What he said should be needed
in the education Of the boy or girl
1t seems the practice of late to de-
!
recreation which takes the mind OF
the youthful scholar away from the
task of gaining knowledge, than to
study. The older ones among the
audience could recall the time when