!-"'.!
THE HESPERIAN
instructor." On behalf of the students who have so
long felt the need of a gymnasium, Tije Hesperian
desires to extend most hearty thanks to Lieutenant
Griffith for the interest he has taken in our welfare.
Although in another year duty will perhaps call Lieut.
Griffith from his post at the University, he has shown
that so far as lies in his power he is willing to work
for the University. It is to be hoped that this effort
will meet with success, and that a first-class gymna
sium will remain to remind students of the work of
Lieutenant Griffith.
vjLASS day exercises were held in chapel Tuesday
tJ morning. The classical tableau, "Worshiping
at the Shrine of Pallas," was much enjoyed J) the
audience, especially the curtain act. Lewis Storrs
made a most perfect 'Pallas' but it was amusing to
behold the undignified manner in which the goddess
acted when the curtain met with an accident. This
was followed by a resume of the class history since
the '90s became collegians. Mr. Tingley gave an
inteiesting account of the events in the career of
the class which ended favorably to the class.
The history of course was brightly colored and was
not at all critical. A vocal solo by Miss Nannie
Lillibridge was greeted with hearty applause and an
encore insisted upon. "Looking Backward" by Miss
Mocket and Mr. Almy was full of wit and must have
been highly interesting to '90. But perhaps it did not
fail to arouse some feelingf in the breasts of the '89ers
present. Mr. Ansley's Excursus, "The Realists"
followed. He read in a slow, deliberate manner and
lacked somewhat in animation. His article was
well written and bore the evidence of much thought.
We regret that lack of space prevents us from pub
lishing the article entire and no synopsis could pos
sibly do it justice. Next came the feature of the
program, an oration by H. C. Peterson. In a forci
ble way the hopes for a more elevated life were set
forth. We print this oration in full and it needs
only to be read to be appreciated. Mr. Peterson
was at his best, and displayed perfect coolness and
self-possessson. After the applause had ceased the
program closed with an excellently rendered vocal solo
by Miss Loomis who, recieved an, encore.
HE competitive drills were held on Monday
the 9th. The day did not open up as fair and
bright as might have been hoped. Tl e clouds threat
ened rain, the sky was overcast. Occasionally a lit
tle sprinkle was felt. This slight rain, however, damp
ened but little the spirits of the contestants in the
competitive drills and of the spectators. Promptly
at nine o'clock company D marched out upon the
parade ground and was presented for drill. The en-
tire program consisting of over thirty movements was
carried out. The drill of this company was charac
terized by several "breaks," the boys seeming to be
slightly "rattled". Perhaps their position on the
program caused them to lose their heads somewhat
but on the whole it was a very fair drill. Company
B came next before the judges and at first seemed
to be suffering with a trouble like that of D but
soon began to mend and completely regained its com
posure toward the last, making a fine appearance.
Some small errors were made. As company B
finished and cempany A came marching out the
spectators began to manifest renewed interest for com
mon talk said that the real contest lay between com
panies A and C. Company A started finely
and continued uniformly so to the last spending some
time in extra drill. Company C next made its ap
pearance. Throughout C did well, both in the
manual and in marching. To a more looker-on it
would seem as if the drills of these two last companies
were of almost equal merit but C lost in omitting,
by mistake, two numbers on the program. For this
competitive drill the following is the standing of the
companies on the scale of 100:
Company A 93.57, company B 82.71, company
C 86.74, company D 80.44. The next thing
in the morning was the individual infantry drill. At
the call for this a long line of ambitious cadets fell in.
All were on their mettle and a fine drill was given.
The competition was sharp and it was sometime be
fore the number much thinned out. But soon
they began to fall fast and thick so that in a short
time but two were left and one tell. One was saved.
The two last were Sergeant Nelson and private Mc
Nitt, the first winning the gold, and the second the
silver medal. An adjournment was now taken until
2:30 p.m. when detachment B, artillery, marched
to its place before the piece limbered and upon order
from judge proceeded to show its proficiency in ar
tillery drill which was indeed considerable. De
tachment C, the only other detachment, next tried
its luck and a", the result showed lacked but little of
doing as well as B. The ranks are as follows:
Detachment B 94.10, detachment G ' 90.30.
In individual artillery drill the first prize fell to Ser
geant Thurber, the second to C. C. Fletcher. This
ended the regular competitive drills, but at 5.30 a
dress parade was given at which the prizes were pre
sented by acting Chancellor Bessey, Governor Thayer
being unable to be present. All in all the day was a
grand success for the military department and reflects
great credit upon its efficient instructor and head.
To the board of judges composed of Lieutenant
Townley, U. S. navy, Lieutenant Taggart of the sixth
infantry, and Col. Hotchkiss of the Nebraska Nation-
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