Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-06-13
DIPLOMAS GIVEN
US CRADUATFSOF
THE HIGH SCHOOL
Address Delivered by Presi-
dent Brannon of Univer-
sity of Idaho-O. o. Haga
Speaks to Graduates.

the closing event of commencement
week. when 125 graduates of the 1914
class were presented with diplomas be-
fore an audience which filled the Pin
ney theater.
Applause was given as the graduates
stepped forward and were handed their
sheepskins by President o. 0. Haga of
the school board. who voiced a per-
sonal congratulation to each of the
students.
The program in connection with the
commencement exercises was especially
fitting and well carried out. 1t opened
with a piano solo by Miss Edith Wood
cock, after which Rev. D. H. Jones
pronounced the invocation. Miss Marie
Davis, one of the graduates, favored
with a pretty springtime solo. The ad-
dress of the evening was made by DR..
M. A. Brannon president of the Uni
versity of Idaho, who took for his topic,
"Superstitions." He gave a brief but
interesting history of progress made by
the human race, showing that the pres
ent age had but stepped over the
threshold of learning and much re-
manned for the future to gain. His ad
dress was extremely interesting and
held the closest attention of the au-
dience. The program was greatly en-
HANGED by the beautiful harp solos by
A. B. Zu Tavern, teacher in the high
school
The announcement of the scholarship
awards was greeted with applause
Dorothy Faris and Virgil Bullock re-
ceived the honor scholarships awarded
by Whitman college of Walla Walla
re ti,i+ for hn nd
girl receiving the highest rank in the
class. Helen Dawson was awarded the
$50 University womans club schol-
arship and Lorraine Selby the $3.50
scholarship to the state university to be
paid from the proceeds of the class
play.
Address.
President Brannon in his address
spoke in part as follows:
in this practical age the test of eff
ficiency is measured by the returns
which are received from invested time,
energy and money devoted to any cause
and any work. According to that
standard the city schools of Boise rank
exceedingly high in efficiency. 1t is
interesting to know that in the gradu
ating class Of the state university this
year the three honor students and tha
only ones receiving honors were grad
yates of the Boise high school. With a
clear recognition of the work and eff
fectiveness of your public schools I
have deliberately chosen the subject Of
'Superstitions' for our mutual consid-
Grafton on this occasion. 1t is because
these schools exemplify so happily pro-
gression and absence of superstition
I,,tN ala n
sympathetic discussion of a subject
which has affected all ages and all con-
ditions of mankind. 1t is undoubtedly
true that no person at any time in the
present or the past has been wholly
free from the influence of superstition,
even though he may not have been
possessed by it.
For convenience we may define SUI
perstition as an attitude of mind. 1t is
a mental attitude of standing by or
with a thing or position. 1t is a fear
of entering into and investigating the
unknown. A resume of the worlds
history teaches clearly that as man has
come up from his low -vaulted past he
has found his greatest barrier, his
greatest handicap in this fear Of the
unknown, this tendency to stand by in
stead of moving on and forward.
History records that progress was
made possible in primitive man when
he first acquired the power of articu-
lated speech. This was the great en-
ergy release which operated as an en-
CINE to drive forward his mental pro-
cesses and give him distinct, pro-
nounced advantage over any other type
of animal life. He had passed his first
superstition barrier; he had entered the
kingdom of the unknown. His next
great conquest is represented by his
acquiring the power of protecting him.
self with clothing and a substantial
habitation. Then he entered the door
of multiplying his power or increasing
his effectiveness through the invention
of arms. He had learned that his fist
was not powerful enough; his arm was
not long enough and he overcame his
handicap by moving forward into the
new sphere within which he supplied
himself with the arms of the chase and
war and really made himself king by
giving himself dominion over all the
animals of the field and forest. Unfor-
tunately, he has grown today to hold
too closely to the use of these agencies
which multiplied the force of his blow.
He is more interested, one admits with
regret. in the arts of war than in the
arts of peace, although there are many
signs Of his leaving a superstition
which grew out of his conquest over
the former one, where the impotency
of fist and arm were replaced with the
potency Of the arrow and sword.
Passing of Superstitions.
Through the towering and almost
countless centurieslwe find our indus
trial activities concerned with the pass
Ing of such superstitions as lack suf-
ficient helpers and sufficient food by
pressing into service the wild animals
and wild plants. These domesticated
servants represented by the dog, the
horse, the bison and numerous inhabi-
tants OF the farmyard together with
our countless array Of cultivated plants,
are the present day witnesses to the
henafifa IA these who are Willing m