The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1913-07-03
REv. n. l.. REID, u. y.

| know man who is Writing
hook 10 prove that there never were
any good old times. His method
is TO use quotations from every gen
eraton ofwriters from the beginning
ltDl 1913. or whatever date he fin
Ishes his book. These writers with
one unanimous wall lament the de-
cadence OF their own times. and
glorify the past from which the pre-
sent "a degenerate. This can hard
ly have been going on, he thinks,
for three or four hundred genera
tions, aud things be no worse than
they now are. Hence his argument
will be 'reductio ad absurdum.
have al adya. ced order In for sew
erai copies of the Look | hope he
will prove his thesis, provided only
tha' he WI ie, rs still kee' the
Joys of memory and still talk
about the glory Of the past; while
We on our part will grant that,
though the good old times were
good, the present has bettered the
best OF a generasion ago
As | look at the glory OF TINS
building aud realize what II means
ia the Seminary life and the life of
the town today, my mind goes back
to the good old times OF many years
ago, which were so good that the
present has had to outdo itself In or
der to better the forever best. We
had our outdoor and indoor gymna-
siums both in those days. There
was the horizontal-bar which stood
outdoors against the Seminary wall
in summer, and In winter was nous
ed In the Seminary barn, on which
we bllstered our hands day after day
the esteemed editor of the Journal.
few other prominent citizens OF
Manchester today. and some OF us
whose ways have drawn far apart,
We pitched horseshoes In the wood
/ she'd, played mumble-pig on the
lgreen-sward, made home-runs from
ballsbatted into and lost on the
prairie weeded hillside and we in
troducd the modern football to Man
chester with style OF play that was
half the English play. and half the
American game, and a third and
much larger half that was all the
imaginative creation OF boy VINO
had had the fortsne to go away to
school, and had learned many things
that were not so. And when we
boasted of our present time, ] well
remember how my sainted father
told Of SNe good old times when ne
was boy at Burr Seminary, one
generation still further back
Through him my memory covers six
ty years of Seminary life.
The dedication of this Gymnasium
Assembly Hall today seems to me
one of the most significant-if not
the most significant event In the
Seminary's history to the present
time
1t is not so many generations ago
that town and gown" we're arrayed
against each other. There are men
living who can tell you about the
furious fighting in New Haven be-
tween "townies' and college boys,
when the policeman was KILLED. OK
ford especially, and all the English
schools and universities, We're at
one time famous for town and
gown" riots. Tom Brown at Rug
by" and TON Brown at Oxford
give an inkling Of It. The town was
Jealous of the gown. The gown ig-
nored the town. The town hated
the gown. The gown despised or
ridiculed the town. And then
each barred his arm and clinched his
fist and punched the other hard.
n oge were the good old times.
1t Is different today. And this
bu.lding is full OF the significances
of the dIfferslce. There Is
changing social order, and the
change is rs universal as human
society itself.
Here IN Manchester the town rose
to the help OF the gown. responded
to Its appeal and built for it Gym
nasium. And the gown In grateful
recognition dedicates its Gymna-
stun as an Assembly Hall for the
town. The Internationally OF In
terests between school and communl
ty has been recognized. Their in
terests are identical This has al
ways been recognized to a certain
extent here In Manchester. This
building is mpnument to It's great
Significance.
The residents OF Manchester have
realized 1t. and they have showed
their community spirit and loyalty
They have given literally and uni
yersally. am greatly interested
TO know how universal the contribu-
tIons were which have resulted In
this Gymnasium. You all have an
Investment In tat least a brick
or stone or a horiizontal-bar or
locker or a dumb-bell
And more than that--and this II
very significant too--many OF those
residents OF Manchester whom we
call summer residents, have iden-
titled themselves with the communi-
ty and Its interests. and have given
literally for this building. They
have become members OF this com
munity. though they are here for
part Of the year only This building
would scarcely have been possible ID
lts incipience, or In its completion
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