The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-08-24
HIN SCALE, N. II.
THE ALUMNI REUNION.
Unqualified Success - Another to Be
Held in Three Years

Held in Three Years.
The second reunion of the Alumni as
sociation of the Hinsdalc high school
was held Thursday, Aug. 10, with an
Old Home day picnic in IIanrahan s !
grove and banquet in the evening in
the town hall, to which all teachers,
graduates and pupils including husbands
and wives, were invited. 10 use the
WORDS Of President +. ". Cotton, it was
a red letter day.
The exercises in the grove were at
| tended by about 400 and began with q
basket picnic at / o'clock followed by
! sporting events and speaking with +. &.
| Robertson as master of ceremonies. In
! tcresting speeches were made by Rev.
| G. IL. Temple, Prof. +. l.. Robinson, L.
| j. Temple, G. \. Robertson, Prof. f. +.
! Mason, Judge Il. \. Ray, Prof. L. p.
| Bailey and Oliver Adams.
| The banquet was attended by 1870, a
number coming from distant points. The
hall was beautifully decorated with the
school colors of orange and black,
streamcrs OF which reached from the
center chandelier TO the balcony, where
class shields with notices of various
recent graduating classes We're hung. y
large portrait of Capt. Charles =. Hall,
first principal of the school, occupied
a prominent position on the stage. \
| bountiful four-course banquet was
| served by the women OF the Congre-
| gational church, music for this and for
the subsequent exercises being furnish
ed by Lyman 5 orchestra.
Three toasts proposed by Oliver Ad-
ans were given, first to Capt. c. p.
Hall, second to the late Hattie p. Ly
man, third to all deceased members of
the school
Aftcr-dinner speaking was then in or
der. with Prof. +. +. Mason, now at the
head of the science department in the
, High School of Commerce in Boston, as
toast master.
Capt. C.eP. Hall of Shelburne Falls,
Mass, the first speaker, gave a brief ac-
count OF his. life preceding and leading
up to the acceptance Of the principal
ship of the school. He stated that in
1859 he went to southwestern Missouri
to organize a school for older boys and
/ girls. assisting in building the dog
| schoohouse. Missouri, being border
state ut that time, was the seat of much
rival feeling on the slavery question
and a country doctor who was in sym
: pathy with the slave Holders sprea[
the report that Il Yankee abohtonist
! had come to teach their boys and girls
and urged the parents not to send then
children to the school. These were the
' conditions under which he began hi
work Subsequently, while on his faith
n ers 5 farm III WcStmoreland, he agreed
g to take charge of the school III Dub
n lin, but Just before opening the tern
| in August, 1861. President Lincoln cal
. | led for 100000 more men and togeth
: er with fom Of his pupils he joined ;
; company of 10 here IN Hinsdale and en-
Il listed for three years. At the close o
the war he returned to the middle Yves
@ and taught school there with increasin,
r. success until 1878, when he received
@ letter from the late Lemucl Fales,
V member of the school board in thi
town, stating that Hinsdale was abou
to establish a high school and urgini
I him to take the position OF princlpa
u lie accepted the responsibility and as
i sisted by the late Hattie p. Lymal
J built up a school i'll which he took jus
pride, leaving in 1888, owing to i
health.
y The toastmaster next introduce
y Judge Robert A. Ray as the second rea
% principal of the school, who laugh
is from 1889 to Nov. 1898, going theme
q to the Keene high school. where he wa
!. principal Il years before entering TIL
study and practice of law. Judge Ra
spoke learnedly upon the obvious az
+ vantages of high school and higher et
n ucation and dwelt at length upon tn
Il necessity of instilling ambition and il
) spiration to greater things into youn
e pupils, developing at the same time 4
* independence of thought that woul
make them leaders, not followers. Judg
Ray spoke with cloquenee and with a
intensity of feeling and graceful g
II preston that was remarkable
'l Prof. Samuel c.. Derby of the OH
n State college gave an interesting tai
re on high school and quoted statistics r.
s lating to their early history and
7, their present growth which was yer
III surprising. He stated that the numbC
y OF pupils III high schools is increasin
re at present 10 times more in proportio
than the population of the country.
Prof f. p Bailey, recently promote
st to the head of the science departmer
i'll the Brockton high school, spok