The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-05-30

Ruth ThOmpsOn-Miss Virginia
Thomas Best Essayist.
The annual commencement exer-
cises Of the Sumter high schools at
tracted crowd last night which the
of Music could scarcely ac-
The exercises passed off
most auspiciously. They were as in
teresting as. former years and were
Of the usual excellence.
This first night was given over to
the exercises by the boys. The drill
and declamations were the chief fea-
lures. while the beautiful music rem
dered by the Sumter Band did u
great part in making the occasion
more enjoyable and the presentation
Of number of prizes furnished a
source of great interest to both pu-
pills and their friends. .,
The front of the stage had been
prettily decorated with potted plants
and the class of fifty graduates was
seated in U-shaped formation, so
all could be seen by their admiring
friends. The other pupils of the
high schools were seated on each side
OF the stage behind the members of
the graduating class, who had the
seats Of honor. The scene was an in
spring one and the, exercises held
the constant attention of the audience.
Although the day had been excessive
ly hot. the audience did not suffer
greatly from heat, as a cool breeze
was blowing from the south which
tended to make the building more
The exercises opened with an in
vocation by the Rev. Walter 1. Her
bert. , .. ...
Ladson Owens, william Purdy and
Carlisle Stuckey. the three members of
the battalion who had been selected
by two preliminary drills. gave an al
m ost perfect exhibition of move
ments in the manual Of arms. =
Philip Booth. captain Of Company
A gave the commands and Maj. J.
w. Bradford and Capt. p. M. Brown
of the local militia, acted as judges in
the contest. After fifteen minutes of
hard drilling the Judges announced
their decision in favor of Ladson
Owens. He was presented the medal
by Mr.. Davis D. Noise. who made a
few appropriate remarks.
Mr. c. M. Hurst presented the I. c.
Strauss medal for spelling. The win
ner In this event had been selected at
an old-time spelling bee held at the
school on Tuesday. Miss Ruth
Thompson was the successful contest
ant.
Maj. w. Z. Robertson awarded the
Civic League prize for the best COM
position on the subject what I Can
Do to Make Sumter Better" to Miss
Virginia Thomas. Miss Kathleen
Walsh. Miss Margaret Waggoman,
Buist Bradley and John Manning
were given honorable mention.
Miss Kate Hinson won the D. A.
r. medal for the best examination pa
per on the revolutionary period and
Russell Dick secured honorable men,
ton. Russell Dick was awarded the
U. d. c. medal for the best paper on
the War Between the States. These
medals were presented by Mr.. r. d.
Epps.
After another selection by the
band the declaimers were heard. Sc
lections by the band came in after
each two declamations and were most
delightful features.
e The declaimers and their subjects
were:
The Two Spies-Ladson Owens.
A Follower Of Lee-Ansley Yates.
Death of Lafayette-William Purdy
spartacus to the Roman Gladiators
Styles Marshall.
Constantius and the Lion--Julius
Chandler.
Horatius at the Bridge-Russell
Dick.
The Old South and the New-Hal-
lett Burns.
The Christian Martyr-Thomasl
Childs.
Recessional-Band.
CAS- Thomas Childs was selected to
represent the school at Clinton and
Columbia he is not q competitor in
this contest.
The winner of prize for the best
Reclamation will be announced during
he exercises tonight.