NORTH SHORE BREEZE. 
GRADUATION EXERCISES AT MANCHESTER 
Class of Four Girls and a Boy Receive Diplomas, 
** Mighty of heart, mighty of mind—to be 
this, is to be great in life: to become this 
increasingly, is to advance in life,’’—Rus- 
kin. 
This was the motto of the Class of 
1909 of the Story High school Manches- 
ter, whose graduation exercises were 
held last evening in the Town hall, be- 
fore a large audience, that came out de- 
spite the sweltering weather. 
To the five young people who received 
their diplomas, and to the hundreds and 
thousands of others all over the state and 
the country, the occasion is one of great 
moment,—f¢reater, by far, than the gen- 
eral public stop to realize, for it is to 
many the turning point in life,—the time 
when young people leave the scheol 
room and go out into life to fight their 
own battles. To the thinking one grad- 
uation exercises are more than mere ‘‘ex- 
ercises.’’ Our school life is, indeed, 
the golden link that binds youth to age. 
Would that every young man and wo- 
man who leave our High schools could 
realize that the object of the common 
schools of our land is to produce men 
and women endowed with every element 
that will assist to make themselves and 
the world better, endowed with every 
thought that will assist mankind in more 
thoroughly and systematically working 
out the end for which they were erected. 
The exercises last evening were very 
interesting. The subjects selected were 
for the most part of the instructive kind. 
The essays were well written and mem- 
orized. ‘The musical selections were 
very good, and spoke well for the train- 
ing given by the supervisor of music, 
Mr. Wales. The exercises as a whole 
reflected much credit on Principal Saben 
and the other teachers. 
The graduates: Robert Merrill Bak- 
er, Abbie Perry Floyd, Mabelle Woods 
Lodge, Ethel May Scott, Agnes Mathilde 
Sjolund. The class organization: Pre- 
sident, Agnes M. Sjolund, vice presi- 
dent, Mabelle W. Lodge, secretary, 
Abbie P. Floyd, treasurer, Robert M. 
Baker. 
The program presented follows: 
Chorus, ‘‘Oh, Hail Us, Ye Free!”’ 
Arr. by Page 
School 
Invocation, Rev. Theodore L. Frost 
Chorus, ‘*Moonlight ”’ Faning 
School 
Salutatory, ‘‘Robert Owen ’"’ 
Mabelle W. Lodge 
Soprano Solo, ‘‘My Heart is Singing’’ 
Sans-Souci 
Agnes M. Sjolund 
Miss Marion Scott, violin obligato 
Essay, ‘“The Lesser Children ” 
Ethel M. Scott 
‘Benediction, 
Robert M. Baker. 
Chorus, ‘The Gallant Troubadour " 
School 
Essay, ‘‘ The Class of 1909 °’ 
Agnes M. Sjo'und 
Chorus, ‘‘Star of Descending Night’’ Emersou 
School 
**The Manufacture of Iron and Steel’’ 
Robert M. Baker 
Chorus, ‘“The Evening Wind’’ 
Arr. by Marshall 
Watson 
Essay, 
School 
Miss Marion Scott, violin obligato 
Valedictory, ‘‘Legends of the North Shore’’ 
Abbie P. Floyd 
Class Song, Silcher 
School 
Presentation of Diplomas and Medal 
Supt. John C. Mackin 
Rev. L. H. Ruge. 
Appleton Medal Awarded to 
ism. ‘‘The years of Owen’s life,’’ she 
said, “‘was a season of great changes. 
The French Revolution was then ‘pro- 
claiming the equality of man; the poets 
were asserting the worth and dignity of 
human life; romanticism, the new sym- 
pathy with man and nature, arose, de- 
nouncing artificiality and striving to set 
up love and truth in its place. It was 
for Owen to manifest this spirit in the 
world of industry. 
“The great problem in the industrial 
world at this time was the change from — 
the cottage to the factory system of labor. 
Formerly all the weaving was carried on 
2 — 
Acnes M. SjoLuND 
ABBIE P. FLoyp 
Valedictorian 
Class We. 
WRITTEN BY MABELLE W. LODGE. 
When summer is gaily adorning 
All Nature in garments of light, 
Oh, fair is the smile of the sunshine, 
And fair are the flowers so bright; 
We listen to strains of sweet music, 
As birds sing their nierriest lays, 
And join to the clear ringing chorus 
Our voices of gladness and praise. 
Yet tinged must our hearts be with sadness, 
For even tonight we must part, 
So soon must the tie now be broken, — 
The tie which binds heart unto heart. 
In fancy e’en now we hear faintly 
Soft tones of our dear school bell, 
To work it will ne’er again call us, — 
*Tis chiming a last farewell. 
But Hope beckons on to the future, — 
The future with mysteries new; 
So forward we'll go in our striving, 
For what e’er is noble and true. 
And oft will come memories tender 
Of fair school days that are past, 
Which always in joy or sorrow 
We'll cherish in thought to the last. 
Miss Mabelle W. Lodge was the 
salutatorian of the class. She followed 
her greetings by an essay on ‘‘Robert 
Owen,”’ the founder of English social- 
Historian and Prophetess 
MaBeELLeE W. Lopce 
Salutatorian and Odist 
in the home, but now, with the invent- 
ing of machinery, hand looms were 
abolished, consequently thousands of 
people were thrown out of employment. 
The mill owners had become rich and 
greedy, and were oppressing their em- 
ployees in the desire for still greater gain. 
The workmen were kept at their toil 
from five inthe morning until nine at 
night; the rooms were crowded, ill- 
heated and ill-ventilated and no attention 
was paid to cleanliness. The result’ of 
all this was deformity, ignorance and 
premature death. Children, too, were 
put to work.”’ 
Owen arranged to get. control of the 
mills in the village of New Lanark and 
he at once set about to better conditions 
such as described above. He first took 
the children from the mills. He ereeted 
schools, beautified the town, provided 
better homes for the operatives, and pro- 
vided stores for them, where they could 
get goods at cost. Things began to 
improve at once. ‘The principles of re- 
form along which Owen worked were: 
