The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-05-18
10000 Negroes Crowd Convention Hall and
View Great Spectacle Of Floats Demon
strating Activities Of the Lincoln High
School Pertaining to the War.
500 School Children Took Part and Presented Folk Span
ish and Aesthetic Dances, Surprising Similar Events
and Setting an Unreachable Standard for Others.


tive years. Where psychological lore
and vaunting scholarship suffered the
community spirit to lay dormant this
plain blunt man" soon shocked it
into an activity that has put Kansas
City on the map of live, pulsing Ne
gro Schools. Those who cannot see
in this an organizing mind should
wake up and rub their eyes.
Smiths All Sufficiency.
When we go to France we could
appreciate being under such officers
as N. Clark Smith, in whom we think
we see noble strain of that natural
dignity and brotherhood which char
acterized our ancient progenitors. We
have always admired a certain aus
terity in others. A disciplinary force.
A pronounced ability to train youth
or adult. 1 think 1 see these things
in our Major.
A correct understanding of music; |;
a passion for gruelling raw material
into form in short periods; a habit
fmaking good everywhere he goes
seems to characterize this man.
If we appear liberal in these state
ments why ask the pickaninny band
that went to Australia, ask the old
8~1llinois, ask the great Tuskegee In
stitute, ask Western University and
coming home, ask Kansas Cityans.
Di dyou enjoy Joan of Arc" cover
There" and others? When the Cadet
Band played ''The Star Spangled Ban
ner" and strains swelled in mighty
accord in your soul as you arose with
others in glorious respect, you prob
ably noticed the brilliantly executed
attack on this grand anthem by the
youthful but trained musicians. We
owe that pleasure largely to Smith, al
though the Major urges the fine intel
ligence of his boys as an asset in his
work we are still inclined to give him
great credit for pruning the crudities
of youthful geniuses and insisting on
spirit of application and study.
Miss Mack's Art.
There are many people of genius
and art who are not heralded by the
ploitation. These, through some IT,
midity, modesty or unfavoring circum-
stance come slowly and with Difficult
ty to public light. In the course of
art and destiny, this does not matter
so much because you cannot forever
dow nmerit. 1t is another name for
the truth and by their fruits ye shall
know them. We canfess that we were
unaware that we had teacher who
leaned so strongly to the esthetic side
of the dance. Certainly we were far
from imagining that we had one who
could ably demonstrate this highly
artistic sense in such signal manner
and on such an elaborate scale as this
lady has done. All glory then to Miss
Jeanette Mack.
A Brief Review.
A bugle call broke upon the audi
ence in clear golden notes summon
| ing the cadets to set up drill, which
was accomplished with dispatch! The
immediate exercises were exhilarat-
ing. No. consisted of folk dances
|
ing cadets. These were nicely drawn
out with attractive youthful dainti
ness. No. 5 the girls relay game
proved interesting. No. 6 competition
drill, girls and boys-discarding ouI
affected chivalry we proceed to give
the boys the palm. In their maneu
vers the boys drilled with character
istic vim and precision and wen
through several intricate evolutions
without confusion. The girls, how
ever, showed brilliance in their for
nations near the approaches. Tha
compact, rhythmic sway was admir-
able. Once. while the boys were leay
ing the arena to the tune of Joan o
Arc the girls entered In a glory o