THE FIRST HALF CENTURY OF THE INSTITUTE. 6 



was to be increased by these changes, it was decided to 

 call on the friends of the Institute for a special fund to 

 meet it. The response was generous, and the celebration 

 made no inroad upon the limited income of the Institute. 

 The commemoration l)egan at 7.30 o'clock on the even- 

 ing of Tuesday, March 1 . At that hour the Institute was at 

 home to its friends. A fine illumination of the exterior 

 made the building conspicuous and attractive. Under the 

 coving blazed, in white incandescents, the first creative fiat 

 LET THERE BE LIGHT. Below was displayed in high col- 

 ors the seal of the Institute, eight or ten feet in diameter. 

 From its Roman lamp burned an actual flame represented 

 by a white incandescent, and the wreath of laurel which 

 encircles it >vas studded with green incandescents. The 

 seal is the work of the late Dr. George A. Perkins, who 

 designed it and carved it in wood. This unique and novel 

 representation of it was produced by Mr. Ross Turner, 

 with the ready and enthusiastic cooperation of the Salem 

 Electric Lighting Company, who also traced out the lines 

 and ano^les of the buildino- with incandescents in the nat^ 

 ional colors, and placed, between the windows on each 

 side the entrance, large stars of white light which were 

 very effective. For the rest, the mural decorations in- 

 cluded the national flag, draped about the porch and main 

 entrance, which was ablaze with light, and three pairs of 

 well grown trunks of the native cedar of our hill-sides 

 stood upright, one pair in the corners of the iron fence 

 at the street entrance, one pair before the fine Corinthian 

 columns of the portico, and one pair in the corners of the 

 balustrade above. Fresh laurel in festoons was used with 

 freedom. The two dates, 1848-1898, were displayed on 

 appropriate escutcheons decorated with wreaths of actual 

 laurel, the first a vernal green, the latter golden-bronze, 

 each leaf of laurel in the wreath having been hand painted. 



