The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-06-03
FIRST NIGHT BIG SUCCESS.
LARGE AUDIENCE SEES DRILL
AND HEARS DECLAMlTIONS.
Allen Brown Wins Medal in Compcti-
live Drill--PrcsentCd by Hon. II. J..
Manning-Dcclamat Are Nj
EXccllent-Band Furnishes Music.


n large and appreciati"e audience
saw and heard the boys of the grad
uating class from the high school
on tie first night Of commencement.
the exercises On this occasion having
been turned over to the boys and they
ably Gid theiy part a. the representa-
tives Cf their school.
When the curtain rose promptly at
eight o'clock the graduates We're 10
be seen seated on the stage in two
semi-circls, the girls of the class III
the front circle and the boys in the
circle just behind the girls. All eyes
were turned upon the stage, but as
| the girls were seated on the front
| row few persons cared to look past
/ them to the boys seated in the shad-
ow, for while the boys performed in
the exercises the girls were the whole
| show.
! DR.. G. G.. Brown was called upon
Ito pronounce the invocation which
he did in a solemn and befitting man.
ner. Following was music from the
Sumter Band which played with old
tive drill, when six Of the boys of the
| school battalion lined up on the stage
and executed with rrec. sion and ac-
| curacy the commands which were
given by Capt. w NJ scott and Cap
| tains Irving Richardson and Allen
| Richardson. The drill was a good
one and it was some time before the
judges, Major J. w. Bradford and
| Capt. Geo. G. Warren were able to
| throw out all of the contestants eX-
cept Allen Brown, who was declared
the winner of the Manual Of Arms
medal. The boys in the competitive
drill were: Allen Brown, Wilcox
DesChamps, Robert Dougherty, Roger
Siddall, Wilson Spann and Archie Le-
! Grande.
| The medal was presented by the
| Hon. r. |. Manning who made a few
| remarks telling Of the origin and Dr.
! ganization Of the high school bat
talon and the good that it had done
at the boys school since its for
nation. He also congratulated the
winner upon his success.
| Again the band played and after
wards came the declamations by the
/ even members II the -rs3.et...c
class who haa been selected .a sine
rrc'tunary contest Hc'I in ~. Boys
High school ludu.riau, sr>,~aI
weeks ago. The uo~iain,,Is ulG Moil
and many Of them showed that they
had in them the material for future
orators and statesmen. The judges
seated in one Of the boxes to the right
Of the house, kept tab on the speak
ers and marked them according to
their ability TO declaim. The name
f the winner was withheld until to-
night when he will be presented with
the Rhame Declaimers' Medal. which
has been given at commencement ev-
cry year for the last fourteen years.
The audience frequently broke into
applause during the exercises and
each Of the doclaimcrs was appIauded
Justify, as ne deserved to he.
With the closing Of the exercises IN
this, the first night Of the commence
mcnr, comes the first act Of the clos
ing OF the most prosperous year that
the high school has ever had. The
thirty-one boys of the class are some
thing Of which all of Sumter may
we'll he exceedingly proud and. it IS
needless to say, Prof. Edmunds, who
is always proud Of every class that
he turns out, and he has cause to nc.
is more than proud Of this. the larg-
est class that the school has ever
graduated.
one feature Of the evening was the
rain which came during the latter
part of the exercises and continued
"ii'H ''hS aI'eT III" EiSl OF the audi
"nco had returned home. Several Of
those who had broueht umbrellas
We're jcrred ut unmorciruly hy their
friends whom they came i'm. but later
it was those who had not brought
umbrellas who were sorry. This is
the first time in moro than fifteen
years that it has rainc1 during the
commencement exercises. Vt other
times it has rainad during The after
noon before or tho niaht after, but
not dHine the exercises. However,
nobody minded the rain as it was SO