The High School Junior Ex

A goodly sized audience gathurud la-u Friday nigut in the high school chapel to listen to the exercises of the annual exhibition of' junior claxs of the high school. The auditorium was gracefully dcorated with evergreens and flowers. Over the stage was suspended, by invisible wire, tbis motto, " Apri.s Ie combat la couronne," whilo directly under it was the crown hovering over the figures '82. Your reporter happened to secure a soit in close proximity to a couplo who came to the entertainment for their own amusement, to the great annoyance of poople in their vicinity who were interested in the exercises. This couple spent their time in talking, uiaking unkind remarles about the speakers, thumping their feet against or playing tunes with their fingers upon neighboring chairs, and in various other ways showing their illbreeding; though both were said to be seniors in a higher educational institution. The rausic for the evening wan funiislud by Prof. Wilsey with a choir of male voiees, and their singing was most excellent, every piece deserving an encoré. The first piece sung was entitled " Rocking on the billows of the deep," followed witli prayer by Rev. S. Haskell, and after which the choir rendered Prof. Wilsey 's new composition : "The Ever Green Mounfaiu of 'Lile." The first piece upon the program was omitted because of the illness of the speaker S. G. Andru.n. The initiatory piece was cntitled "The Benefit of a higher Edjcation " by Albert E. .leuk i ïis. He said the world was a vast store house of materials, capable of being brought out and adapted to the uses of maa. All men are not on the same intellectual plain, but the couituunity demands of eaoh one the fullest developnient of the powers given him. If society can exist only under law, then the best society will exist under the best law. The higher education of the people is the dtfense and mainstay of the nation. "The Art of Making People Happy" was handled very nicely by Charlotte II Brown. She contended that the liitle things of this life, the linie acts, and minor deeds should be miltivatod, and that in them lay the great secret to the art of making people happy. Painlers and aculptors make themselves by strict atUntion to minute details in their work ; in our every day walk, we should do finiilarly. We can all do something, if nothing more than to be polile (a hint which one or two couples in tbc audiencc might have taken to good advantage). To please othors we must havo a sincere desiru for their welfare, not hide an iron hand uodera velvet glove. Lillie Haessler next read an essay upon "Purpose." Oae gr m (br the deplorable failures in life was the lack of a fixed purpose. One can drift with the tide or take the oars and steer for himself. With some people, "to day," "now," are difficult problems ; "to-morrow," " sometime," are far pleasanttr. U is not what a man does so tnuch as bow he does it. All ought to learo the.-e four utottoes : Look out, not Ín. Look íorward, not bnckward. Look uu, not down. Lend n liand. Then the niilleniuai will have been reached in th8 great republic. This was followed by luusíl' - quartet - entitled : "Sluuibur dearest, -of'tly linnber. " "School Lifö," by Alioe A. Cochrane, partook raueh of' the sparkling vivacity of its autbor. Curiosity is one of the inherent nualities of mankind ; we are all very much like the boy, who when requestnl to do anything, always asked : " Wliy .' " She thought that genius was nut fclwajr properly recogniaied by the teachers, they too frequently criticii-ed tbc embryu Shakespear's, Milton's, Daniel Webstrr's, etc, under their charge. The present hooi liie and its advantages me tnl:irged and oommented upon favorably. The manner in wliich rpha A. Calkins, of Iinlay City, handled "Orumblers" was rery pleasing- toall except that da.-s, none of whom were present, of course- and the essayiit had a clear, pleasant voiee. Lika a brook, a grumbler murmurs uneea.-ingly; any provocation, however slight, is suffioient, though investigation would prove the complaioer mot at fault ; as a little leavcii leaveiis the hole luiup, o a gruiiibier destroys the peace o" the whole fauiily. If ooe must grumble, he should have a room set a part for that particular purpose, to be known as a growlery. If we would only look upon the cheerful side üi' things how many times our eomplaiuing would be turned to pleasure. "The Sailor Boy" was tiext rendered by the choir. May M. Alaba9ter then recited "King Volmerand Elsie." She acquitted herself grandly. Having a full, rich voioe, well traioed, her effort was happily received, and was one of' whioh she may well feel proud. Tliia recitation was one of the most pleaing features of the entertainment. Lucy K. Cole's " Plea for Lady Bluebeard," was an enspiriting composition, inclined to the butnorous. Old Bluebeard liad no rigbt to forbid his wife entrance to the awful chamber ; or at least should not have told her of it. Curiosity is ;i tactor in everybody's composition, to a greater or km ertem, and to it we are indebted for much of the progress and many of the inventions of the day ; but when women indulge their curiosity to know and find out these things, then t is termed female inquisitiveness. She closed by warning all youog ladies to beware of men with blue beards, for they were tyrants. Fanny Downer considerad " Music " one of the greatest of the arts. Compared with others it wasyet in its intanoy ; but though the youngest it would outlive all the others. Oe does not need to be cultivated to enjoy it, for it is the language of the emotions, and exertsit3 influence upon all classes and conditions of people. [t is refining and SWwbiiag and ought to form a part of everybody's education. The speaker had a clear, pleasant voico. "Waste of Intellectual Power," by Dwight B. Ramsdell, of Belleville, was an earnest plea for practical education. He hoped the day would come when ignorance uiight be rooted out by suffrage. He rcferred to the wanner in which some men abused the faculties Ood liad given theni by going about the country condeuiing the generaily accepted religious views of the people, and offering them nothing better in return, in a scathing manncr, wliich your reporter took to be a " dig " at " Col. Bob." The speaker acquitted himself almirably. Carrie W. Krazer provoked much niirth with her paper, " What kind of Spectacles do y;)u wear?" Slie referred to the almo.-t universal custom now in vogue of wearing gluMa, and set off the dandy, oggling people with his eye-glasses, in a tip top mannor. Different minds look through different glasges ; t.ho jcalous through green ; the gloomy through blue ; the gossips through those that magnify ; while fault-finders get them on wrong side up. Cynics and egotista look through a field glass, turning it so that t belittles in looking at others, but magnifies their own. BSe oloaed one of the best pieoes of the evening by asking " What kind of spectacles do ou wear?" The Beta Thota l'i ()uartet here stepped forward and pleased every ear wilh their beautiful song: "Soft be thy elumbers, sweet be thy dreams. " ine iieatnen Ciunee was not given a very good character by Satia J. Hyde. She opened her paper by quoting Brete llarte's famous Iines : " For wnys that are dark, And trlcks that are valn, The lleathen Chluee is peculiar," and through every portion of the description so affirmed the truth of the Iines that uhe closed with the sanie lines, adding the lat-t: " Whieli the same, I am tree to maintaln." The paper was read clearly and distinctly, and could be heard in any portion of the auditorium without the least difficulty. " High Aapirations " were treated in a very sensible and rational manner by Mark VV. Williams. We should choose our occupations early. Every avenue is now so crowded that in ordir to make eminent success it is necessary for one to choose sotue particular vocation or profession, to which by nature he is peculiarly adapted, and by bending his energies to that one end, make a success of' life. If the highest aapiration is in being happy it can only be accomplished by making others happy. lf our ehief aim is selfishness, and the gratiöcation oí our own desires and ambitions, then life is quite apt to be a failure. In proportion as a man benefits me world, in that ratio do we know him. The exercises closed witb the recitation f ot. George and the Dragon," by May Whedon. It was a fitting final to the exercises of the evening. With the grace of a little queen, every movement and gesture adding beauty to the thoughts and words she was expressing, she recited the piece in a manner above our criticism. Taking the entire program, it was a succesR. The young ladies and gentlemen- without exception- acted well their parts and the two oratorical efforts of Misses Alabaster and Whedon showed careful trainifig, by a skillful hand. We have never , attended a junior exhibition where there 1 was so little chance for criticism. The length of the two pieces recited might have been a drawback had they not been so wcll rendered ; and the too frequent reference to the midnight oil" created some ¦ ment.