Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / June 11, 1908, edition 1 / Page 3
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THE T A E HEEL 3 THE "OLD BOYS" HERE AGAIN MANY "BEFO DE WAH" GRADU ATES ON THE HILL. Delightful Reunion Exercises Held in Gerrard Hall, Followed by Alumni Luncheon. Monday was called "Alumni Day," and alumni day it was. The "old boys" were here in full force and they were having1 the time of their life. They were boys once more, these old men with the snows of winter in their hair, they addressed their com rades as "Boys," and their meeting after so many years of separation had in it something- peculiarly touching- to the younger students. They roamed everywhere, their badges of white and light blue the fluttering ensign of their rank. Some were revisiting for the first time since their graduation the scene of their youthful laborsand pranks, and in their feelings many el ements were blended. The buildings did not look so large as to their youth-, ful eyes, and here were a score of buildings where formerly there were but two. Class reunions were the order of the day. The list began with those who took their diplomas in their hands in '58, .'59, '60, and '61, only, to cast them aside for the musket when their coun try called for their service on the field, of battle. Besides these, reunions were held by the classes of 1883, 1898, and 1903. The hero of the clay was Mr. James P. Coffiin, '59, of Batesville, Arkansas. He read the history of his class at the reunion exercises held in Gerrard Hall in the morning, presided over by Col. Thomas S. Kenan, president of the Alumni Associatian, and by his irre pressible wit and humor he kept the people in a constant uproar of laugh ter. CLASSES op 1858 and 1859. The name of the class of 1858 was first called, and Messrs. F. M. John son, of Mocksvtlle, and R. O. Marsh, of Oxford, mounted the platform amid applause. Then was read the roll of members. Nearly all were dead. "Killed in battle," "killed in battle," was' the recurring phrase expressing each time in but a trio of words the life tragedy of a University graduate. Then came the class of 1859. Of this there were present: E. D, Fox hall, Tarboro; J. M. Fleming, Raleigh; Frank D. Koonce, Richlands; Wells Thompson, Bay City, Texas; P. B. Bacot, Florence, S. C; C. W. Morrow, Mebane; J. P. Taylor, Columbia, Tex.; James G. Whitfield, Whitfield, Ala.; James P. Coffin, Batesville, Ark.; Sid ney Smith, Dallas, Tex., and J. E. Beasley, Memphis, Tenn. The his tory was read in fine style by Mr. Cof fin. With fiery ardor he set forth the valorous conduct of his classmates in the war between the States, as they breasted the storm of national conflict and fearlessly hurled themselves into the breach in defense of country. When the tocsin of war pealed forth, it was Edward S. Satterfield, of this class, who broke through the enemy's lines "Farthest at Gettysburg" and "sealed the glory of North Carolina with his life blood." "If you can take the Federal pension roll as the crite rion," said Mr. Coffin, "I don't be lieve they have any idea how many men were in the Union army. Add to the list of 25 years ago those who were killed in the war. Why, mathe matics is lost in speculation." As the name of each member pres ent was read, it was greeted with ap plause. . CLASSES OP I860 AND 1861. Four members of the class of 1860 reported: George W. Askew, Meridi an, Miss.; R. A. Bullock, Williams boro, S. C. ; Thomas W. Davis, Ral eigh, and A. S. Barbee, of Chapel Hill. No history had been prepared. By request Mr. Coffin read the his tory of the class of 1861. Those pres ent were: B. M. Collins, Warren coun ty; J. C. Bellamy, Whitakers; J. W. Hunt, Townsville; W. R. Bond, Scot land Neck; C. H. Barrow, Edgecombe. This history, which was prepared by Mr. Bellamy, was an exceedingly able effort. The frequent intermixture of Latin phrases with its English testi fied to the scholarship of the student of the old school. At the conclusion of the reading of this and the class roll, the exercises were declared concluded, as the hour for the alumni luncheon was close at hand. . . In the afternoon private reunions were held by the classes of 1898 and 1903. The following of the former were registered: H. F. Pierce, War saw; I. E. D. Andrews, Chapel Hill; R. H. Lewis, Durham; R S. Busbee, Charlotte; P. D. Gold, Jr., Raleigh; Archibald Henderson, Chapel Hill; E. K. Graham, Chapel Hill; F. M. Miller, Ensley, Ala.; P. C. Whitlock, Charlotte; F. W. Foscue, Trenton; Bartley Skinner, Kuttowa, Ky.; and James D. Parker, Smithfield. Those of class of '03 present were: I. B. Foust, Clarksville, Tenn.; B. H. Bridgers, Wilmington; Hazel Holland, Camden, N. J.; J. W. Horner, Oxford; W. J. Gordon, Williamston; N. W. Walker, Chapel Hill; J. L. Morehead, Durham; W. A. Graham, Warrenton; N. F. Farlow, Randleman; E. A. Hawes, Jr., Atkinson; R. O. Everett, Durham; J. E. Pearson, Kinston; Z. V. Judd, Raleigh; N. F. Carr, Dur ham; J. R. Giles, Wilmington; and W. P. Wood, Elizabeth City. THE ALUMNI LUNCHEON. The Alumni Luncheon, which came at 1:30 in Commons Hall, is al ways a pleasant feature of commence ment. Here the alumni, including the Seniors, and the visitors gather round the festive board, and when the cigars have been brought speeches are the order of the day. And speeches there were in abundance, most of them by the men who graduated before the war. President Venable spoke a few words of cordial welcome, and his re marks were heartily applauded. Col onel Kenan then appointed Maj. W. A, Guthrie, of Durham, toastmaster. He called one after another of the alumni to his feet for a speech. Judge Thompson, of Texas, said it was his purpose not to'miss another commence ment if attendance- was possible. Then Mr. Smith, of the same class and also from Texas, made a humorous speech, yielding to Mr. Coffin, whose rising was greeted with riotous ap plause often repeated during his inim itable speech. He took issue with Dr. Battle's history on a minor point or two as to why a certain student left college. He charged his classmate Beasley, another Texan, with having tied a William goat in the student's bed, this being but one of the means adapted to make life miserable for him (the man, not the goat). Mr. Beasley was called On by the congre gation for an explanation, but in his happy speech goats figured not. Many other speeches were made be fore the gathering disbanded at 4 o'clock. TRUSTEES MEET. The trustees met during the afternoon. They made several impor tant changes in the faculty, which were announced Tuesday morning by President Venable, and designated to whom honorary degrees should be I given. (TWO CONVINCING SERMONS BY DRS. THOS, F. GAILOR AND EGBERT W. SMITH. Dr. Gailor Preaches Baccalaureate Sermon, and Dr. Smith the Y. M. C. A. Sermon. It was the privilege of the people here Sunday to hear two strong and convincing sermons, the first by the Rt. Rev. Thomas F. Gailor, Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee, which was deliv ered in Memorial Hall in the morning before an audience of about 1,200 peo ple; the second by Dr. Egbert W. Smith, of Louisville, Ky., preached at night in Gerrard Hall, to a very large audience. BACCALAUREATE SERMON. In the morning the preliminary ser vice was after that of the Episcopal church, Rev. Dr. W. H. Meade, rector of the Chapel of the Cross, ; assisting. A choir of ladies assisted in the music. The Seniors were present in a body. Dr. Gailor's effort won wide appro bation. The personality of the man, so suggestive of strength and force of character, combined with an easy enun ciation, contributed an effectiveness which a synopsis cannot reproduce. That there is a decided contrast, said the speaker, between the profession of religion and its practice is felt by all. It is easier to have right convictions of truth than it is to live up to them. Many business and professional men have one code for Sunday and another for the week. There are breaches of ethical rules in the habits of the peo ple and in the ways of society in which even Christians sometimes acquiesce and by which the soul's loftiest ideals are contradicted. Men go on acting as though God could be mocked with im punity, and the eternal law of right eousness could be altered to suit indi vidual notions of right. There are some things, as the matter of temper ance, purity and honesty, which we say come naturally within the sphere of our religion as sins against God. But how many would admit that the mere misuse of time and failure to per form college duties is a part of our religion? The cause lies in a vague impression that Godliness has nothing to do with reason; that the fear of God and faith in Him can be passed with out the use of the mind. The divorcement of religion from reason is encouraged by people of two classes. Those of the first think that the best kind of Christianity comes with ignorance. They have set their hearts on what they call inward peace. The other class contains those who call themselves the enlightened people of the world. They rail against dog ma, and yet the great truth they are always quoting, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, is mere dogma, the definite intellectual expo sition of Christian faith. The object of Christians then is not to discourage the use of the intellect, but it emphasizes the solemn obliga-' tion to pursue the brightest knowledge. It is the eternal sense of the obligation within us to know every masterpiece of literature, every discovery of sci ence, every beauty of art sprung from the fountain of eternal knowledge. The distinction between sacred and profane in things intellectual has been outlived. Every university is religious which tries to inspire the young with love of truth. Two temptations beset one. The first is impatience. All the intellectual errors of the world have come from impatience. Patience is the first qual ity the true scholar has to master. Christian character is a matter of grad ual growth. In Christ was no start- ling precocity. He waited thirty years before beginning the work which He came to earth to do. The contrast between His life and ours is a truism. We live under high pressure. It is a time of abstracts, outlines, encyclope dias, speculation. We must find the shortest and easiest way to scholar ship. In religion, we would reduce it to a single formula. The second ten dency is to ask ourselves what bearing this or that course will have on our future life. If persisted in, this in duces the study of unrealities. The (Continued on page 5. ) THE CLASS DAY EXERCISES. (Continued from page 1.) Rand contended earnestly that the ed ucation of the average citizen in all that makes for an enlightened, un clouded mental horizon and a high conception of the duties of citizenship is a duty which should hold primary in the lives and thought of educated men. It was a thoughtful effort. The class history was read by Mr. T. W. Andrews, of Chapel Hill. There are few higher tributes that can be paid anything of this sort than to say that it is new and original. Both, with truth, may be said of this, with as much originality of theme and treatment as the subject allowed and with a phraseological treatment which can be guaranteed as entirely the pro duct of his efforts. Mr. Andrews held easily what some one has described as "undivided attention." The best of taste, too, characterized the whole; for, though humor and pathos alter nated repeatedly as the lights and shadows of class life were thrown up on the mental screen, so skilfully was it done that the one faded away into the other, all blending into a harmon ious whole. Mr. H. B. Gunter, of Sanford, read the class prophecy. He made no at tempt at seriousness, but "butted" his classmates individually and col lectively in a good-natured way. Mr. Gunter claimed that his prophecies were founded on logic, but it seemed to be the opinion of his clasmates. that the feature of the prophecy was the inexcusable way that he played with the laws of reason. Time will tell. Mr. J. W. Hester, of Hester, made the announcement as to the class gift. Following the custom hit on by the past three classes, each member will give not less than $2 a year for the next ten years, the same to be put at interest. This may be applied to a building to be erected for use by the literary societies and for an auditor ium. Mr. M. L. Wright, of Greensboro, read the last will and testament, which abounded in "digs" at the faculty and at his classmates. He made confes sion of the many sins of the class, and in so doing caused a blush to cover the face of more than one of the faith ful. He willed to the rising Senior class many of the things that have been held sacred by the men of Naughty Eight, and with much feel ing he willed to Prof. Palmer Cobb all the strong and weak verbs, all the transposed and inverted sentences, etc., etc., that have caused the life of those Seniors who were confronted with German 2 to be anything but a flowery bed of ease. UNDER DAVIE POPLAR. The final exercises of the Seniors were held under Davie Poplar at 5:30 in the afternoon. The men realized that the class of 1908 would soon end its existence as an undergraduate class, that soon, throwing aside the cap and gown and bidding a sad farewell to the place that has meant so much to them, they must go forth (Continued on page 5.)
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 11, 1908, edition 1
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