Evening star., 1938-11-13
Institution
Has Led in
Culture
Cardinal Gibbons
Devotion Made
Its Quality
Bv John Clageft Proctor.


ity Building of the university, No
vember 13, 1889. The dedication
of this building, also known as Cald-
wall Hall, was performed by Car
dinal Gibbons, who had laid the
cornerstone 18 months beforer
These two years-l888 and 1889
were of particular Catholic impor-
tance in local history, since the
churches began the new year, 1888,
by celebrating the Jubilee OF Pope
Leo XIII, and the following year, on
September Is, the corner stone OF
st. Peters Church on Capitol Hill,
was laid by Cardinal Gibbons. Thus
1t can be seen that the Cardinal was
kept busy here during this period,
and Washington was certainly a
most fitting place in which to erect
q statue of man of such sterling
worth, who was not only beloved by
his own church, but all creeds as
well.
November 13, 1889, the day upon
which the dedication referred to took
place, was not such a day as had
been wished for, so far as the
weather was concerned, for it rained
and drizzled nearly all the time,
Just as it did the year before, when
the cornerstone was laid, except that
upon the former occasion it poured
down with lavishneSS that was as
unexpected as it was unwelcome."
But the church dignitaries were
not to be disheartened over a little
bit of bad weather, and as the re-
porter put it upon that occasion,
-" "One of the prelateS laughing
ly remarked, the building has been
well watered in the beginning, and
at its completion, and the university
ought to grow and prosper And,
indeed, this it has surely done. AS
evidence of this fact, we find that
there were but AZ students in the
opening classes of November, 10,
1889, with a faculty of only IL men,
bers. Today the students number
1874, and the faculty $50. Indeed,
1t Is probable that few institutions
of learning in this country have
equaled or have had greater
growth than has the Catholic Uni
versity during its short life of 49
years to date, and its prestige has
certainly increased with its growth.
Before 9 o'clock on the day of the
dedication, the visitors began to
arrive at the grounds. They care
by electric road which landed them
at the entrance to the grounds, we
are told, and by the steam railroad,
by carriages, hacks and cabs and
other horse-drawn vehicles-for this
was still decidedly within the horse
and-buggy days.
OF course, there were committees
on hand assigned to various duties,
and one of these was appointed to
be stationed at each entrance Of
the building to see that the guests
were properly cared for, and that the
various church dignitaries should
receive the proper attention. This
committee had as its chairman D. I.
Murphy, and those who served with
him were Messrs. De Lacey. Sohon,
Blanchard, Carroll, O'Connor, Lam
caster, Mulvey, Soule, Redmond,
Coyle, Leonard, O'Neal, Dunn, Mer-
ritt, White, Walsh, Harmon, Colbert,
McComb, McLedley, Ivin, Jacques,
A. j. Smith, Shea, Donnelly, Wilson,
Matlett, Healey, Lepley, Cowlton,
Smell, DR.. Benson, Sullivan, Taylor,
Byrne, Elliott, Wood, Ward, Madi-
gan, Sohon, Sherman, Krane, Ma
lone, Freitek. Britten, Mcclure, Bird,
Caughlin, Wight, Simfns, Dolan,
Halloran, Devine, Fealey, Shoemak-
er, Morgan, Leonard, Shea, O'Brien
and Kennedy.
Shortly after II o'clock, Cardinal
Gibbons and Cardinal Tascheran
and the distinguished prelates from
Baltimore arrived on a special train.
The weather was too bad for the
outdoor exercises, and this part of
the program had to be abandoned.
However, the invited guests, among
whom were Mr.. Drexel and Miss
Drexel of Philadelphia, Eugene Kelly
of New York and his two sons, and
Thomas E. Waggaman, were given
seats in the chapel, as were the
Board Of Trustees, Commissioner of
the District of Columbia Hine, w.
s. Rosecrans, Senator Sherman and
others.
after the prelates had finished
robing," according to The Star, "a
procession was formed in the lower
hall and proceeded up the stairs
to the chapel. First came a long
line Of bishops and monsignores in
their purple robes, and then came
the reverend sirs and the priests.
AFTER they had been seated,
Cardinal Gibbons, wearing his robes
of gold and his pontifical hat, ap-
peared on the platform of the stair
case at the entrance of the chapel.
He was attended by Father M. S.
Callan, the master of ceremonies,
Bishop Keane and Able Hogan.
Two seminarians carrying lighted
candles stood at his side. The
cardinal carried his crozier and the
asparagus. After prayer he des-
cended the stairs and proceeded
through the first corridor blessing
the building and sprinkling holy
water"
"A cnOlr, composed OF some OF Lne
most representative singers of that
period, was in attendance and rem
dered a number of church selections.
This group included: First tenor,
Herndon Morsell, who died only
recently; William H. Barnett, Will
lam Mcfarland, who sang, Lead,
Kindly Light" at the funeral SER
vices over President Mckinley in
the Capitol, J. P. Collins, A. S.
Fennell, and Fred Knoop. Second
tenor-Lucien Oden Thai, William
Caulfleld, ]. F. Forsyth, Henry Jor-
dan, c. M. Connell and J. c. Weld
man. First bass-L. E. Cannon, E.
l.. Barbour, c. o. Burg, NJ A. DON
nelly, l.. Lindheimer and G. B.
Sheriff. Second bass-Emil Holer,
j. H. Nolan, M. j. Grant, John Mand-
slay, j. B. Blois, p. H. Boswell and
w. A. Widner.
Following the exercises banquet