Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-07-02
SHERRY WISCONSIN
The Northwest Collegiate, Insti-
tute Commencement

The commenl en.ent program of the
Northwest Collegiate Institute Tues
day evening closed the eighth year
of the school, ana was the crowning
event oI a very successful year, one
of the best in the history of the in
stitution. rhe Presbyterian church
in which all Of the exercises were
held was beautifully decorated with
the magnificent ferns from the sur
rounding woods. The right side of
the platform was occupied by the
graduating class, over whom hung
their motto, Always ON the Square. -
On left We're the members of the
faculty and the out of town speakers
of the evening, Rev. H. p. Dunlop, of
Chicago, and Rev J. w. Davies, of
Cottage Grove, Wis. The program was
especially fine. 1t was opened with q
finely executed piano solo by Miss
Hazel Parks. Another musical num-
Der was the exquisite song, THE Per
feet Day, feelingly rendered by Mr..
Berthrar l.. Davies, another member
of the class.
The tirst class Grafton was given
by Miss Jennie Evans, and was en-
titled, Robert Edward Lee. She
paid a glowing tribute to this hero
SO often mIsjudged, and brought out
the fact that his time greatness lies
not in his military prowess, but rath-
er in his character and purity, honor
and love OF justice.
In his Grafton on the Panama Ca
nal, Brice A. Ollie pointed out the
great value Of the Panama canal to
the United States, and the world. He
then traced the progress of it's con
struction, speaking of the early diff
ficulties, and giving a detailed de
scription of the StupendOus work
which has been done. In closing he
said: The Panama canal islands aus
the greatest monument of the Ameri-
can coinage and strength, regardless
of any other project in the world
Miss Hazel Parks spike on The
Indian and the Square Deal" She
portrayed the admirable characters
tics of the Indian showing how he
has been hampered by environment
and by oppressIo n and OF the neg
lect CT the whae man. she made a
strong plea to siye him a fair chance
TO develop his Possibilities.
The Well VII, en- Grafton The Cal
of the Age" WAS delivered by Ber-
tram Davies. His message vas that
the present a is urgently calling
for men to perform the t"s.,s requir
ed by the projects of this progress
slve age; but not all men can satisfy
this demand 1t calls for men of no
bic character, men who through firm
conviction of the truth and love oil
humanity will serve the world un-
selfisnly and give to it the best thai
is in them
The address to the graduates was
given by Rev. J. w Davies, of Cot
tage GGrove, whose subject was
Difficulties and How to Overcome
Them" He first spoke of the Ger
tainty of meeting difficulties, but tina.
human nature delights in overcom-
ing them They should be accepted a
a challenge to our strength and vii
to win the victory. There are -four
essentials to overcoming difficulties
First Of all we must have a thorough
knowledge OF the nature of the diff
Guilty. Then We must have faith il
ourselves. The men who have firm
convictions to which they closely ad
here are those who win success.
third essential is perseverance. Blu
most of all it is essential to have
faith in God AS it is possible Il
achieve success in the material worlt
so is it in the spiritual. The infinite
resources of God are accessible tC
ALL who viii but lay hold of then
and thus receive the power to over
come all spiritual difficulties.
This was followed by the presenta
ton of the diplomas by President w
]. Agnew. who in his presentation
speech told of the encouraging out
look for the future of the school
This years work being finished with
all obligations met He then announc
ed that the faculty scholarship Of
twenty dollars. which was. granted fol
the first time to member of the class
having the highest rank was award
ed TO Bertram L.Davies.In the excel