Silver Links Part 2

Then we studied till (I mean it) e'en the paper on the wall, Each door, and sash, and picture frame, and objects one and all, In strokes and angles fairly danced before our very eyes, And in our dreams they haunted us in every form and size.

Next in their turn the vowel sounds,--the symbols, dash and dot, With rules and regulations charging us "Forget-me-not."

Wish you could have heard us sound them. It was amusing, too; Seemed like talking Chinese language,--ah, [=a], ee; aw, o, oo.

Then came the hooks with many crooks to puzzle and perplex; They were so very obstinate, and would be sure to vex; For while we thought we had them right, they were just turned about, And when we came to read them, we could scarcely make them out.

The circles didn't seem so hard; for we could then detect There were still new things coming that we did the least expect; So prepared our minds to meet them and take them as they came; At last we'd conquered everyone and knew them all by name.

But I suppose it is not right to tell tales out of school, Our teacher will be saying that it is against the rule; I have told you just a few of our trials by the way, But it was not all so dreadful, I am very glad to say.

For we really loved our study; were fascinated, too, And of the pleasant memories there linger not a few.

Well, examination over, then came the "tug of war"

To apply the various principles that we had learned before.

And oh! the work we made of it; we tried to run a race To see who could write the fastest, and then to keep our place.

But study and toil are over; at last the race is run, And we have gathered here to-night to say, "Our work is done."

Members of this Society, our friends so kind and true, G.o.d bless you! 'Tis a grand and n.o.ble work you aim to do; Accept our heartfelt thanks, for it is all that we can give; The knowledge we have gathered here will ever, while we live Go with us, as with brighter skies our way in life to cope Than in our dreams and fancies we had ever dared to hope.

And you, our teachers faithful, tried, we will not soon forget The many pleasant hours that together we have spent; How often by a kindly word you've helped to lead us on, When we were nigh discouraged, and totally cast down; And by your earnest zeal and aid we have, from day to day, Gone onward, and we thank you; it is all that we can say.

And we cla.s.smates, while we truly, yes, earnestly, regret To leave the little room up yonder "where the angels met,"

Can now rejoice together, for it has not been in vain, That we've worked hard; yet we have won the prize we sought to gain.

Valedictory Address

BY MISS A. A. LEWIS.

_Cla.s.s of '88._

DEAR FRIENDS AND CLa.s.sMATES:

It is a somewhat sad yet pleasant duty which devolves upon me this evening, that of saying farewell. For, to a cla.s.s whose members have studied together for so long as we have and which is found to be so h.o.m.ogeneous as this cla.s.s has been, a farewell is always sad. When, in October last, we entered upon our course of study, we could not look forward to this hour with any degree of composure, but, day by day, as time pa.s.sed on we found ourselves longing for the end, yet dreading the parting. But, to-night, we derive considerable pleasure from the fact that we have prepared ourselves for something which will have a strong influence upon our future lives. This night may be called a real commencement for many of us who have just left school where we have learned the ordinary English branches, and are now learning to apply our former knowledge to earn our living in a way that will prove both pleasant and profitable.

In retrospect: How hard the first few lessons appeared! We hardly credited the declaration that a time would come when we should be able to recite the alphabet backward and forward and in every conceivable way, but we soon discovered that the subsequent lessons were so much more difficult than the first, that these seem now to us as very simple. As our knowledge increased, we discovered also that each lesson followed so logically upon the previous one, that it made it much easier to understand. There were hooks to the right of us, and hooks to the left of us, and with these and circles, medial and final, approximation and "con" dot, our dreams resembled a kaleidoscope rather than those of school girls. When traveling on the cars we would often see a person with a note book and pencil, and experience a fellow feeling, knowing that they had trod the same path as we were treading. Occasionally, in going home after a lesson, two of us comparing notes would find that we, in turn, were objects of interest to people in the train, and that they gazed with wonder and amus.e.m.e.nt upon the strange-looking characters with which our note books were filled. Then, when it came to our home study, although those whom we asked to dictate to us did so with great alacrity at first, they soon found reading the same thing over twenty or thirty times, to say the least, monotonous. Yet we must say that our friends often put aside their own preferences, knowing the daily practice was for our good. We will not dwell upon the loss of pleasures that we have forfeited in order to be present at the cla.s.s and to spend the requisite number of hours at study. But now that we have reached the desired haven, we feel fully repaid for everything that we have given up, and only regret that we did not sacrifice more for our beloved study. We would not however have you think it has been all hard work, and that we have had _no_ enjoyment. For, have we not had genial companions, sympathetic teachers and a most watchful Committee, who have tried to do everything in their power to make our school life both pleasant and comfortable? We cannot specify all the ways in which they have shown their interest and kindness to us, yet we would not fail to mention the fact that we were provided with a new cla.s.s-room, which combined the advantages of seclusion, quiet, and all the necessary appliances for study, with excellent ventilation, and to this was added the feeling that it was our "very own."

This recital can but feebly show you why the feeling of pleasure is predominant in our hearts to-night. We cannot feel sad at parting with our cla.s.smates, for, though we shall not meet in this cla.s.s-room again, as a cla.s.s, we do expect to meet together as the alumnae of this Inst.i.tution at our regular weekly gatherings for practice. It is rather with a feeling of exhilaration that we realize that we have at length conquered giants that loomed up before us when we began our study, and that these giants, like those called forth by the magician of old, have been made to do our bidding.

But now we come to the most painful part of our task, that of bidding this kind Committee farewell. And, in behalf of the cla.s.s of '88, we thank you again for your watchful care over us during the past Winter.

The only way in which we can attempt to repay you for what you have done for us is by trying to rise in our profession and do something which, when we say we are graduates of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, will cause you to feel proud of us, and in this way we can slightly show our grat.i.tude to our benefactors. And to our teachers, who have been the means of our learning this wonderful art, we say farewell, hoping that they will remember us kindly as having tried our best to let the studies which they have lodged in our minds bring forth good fruit. Although you have, no doubt, at times felt discouraged with the apparent failure of your work, yet we trust that the results have proved satisfactory, and shown you that we have tried to do what you have desired us to do, and, in a measure, have succeeded. We trust also that these results will reflect credit upon you as our Instructors even more than upon us as the recipients of your teaching. We do realize that many members of our cla.s.s will never meet with us again, and to you we say farewell, with the wish that in your diverse paths through life you may attain great success in your chosen profession and always remember that you are still members of the Cla.s.s of '88.

Address of President Wm. C. Smith

_In awarding the Diplomas to the Cla.s.s of '88._

I came here this evening in a particularly happy frame of mind, for me, because I had been asked to award the diplomas to this cla.s.s, and I am always happy when I think I am able to do something to make some one else happy; but my equanimity was quite disturbed, on arriving, to be shown a programme in which I was set down as having to make the closing address, and a little later I broke out into a perspiration on seeing written in shorthand on the blackboard, that "you should never speak unless you have something to say." Those words have been burning before my eyes ever since, and though I have not taken any lessons in shorthand, I am almost sure I could set that sentence down.

The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen is made up of men who owe what they possess, not to chance, not to gifts of their forefathers, but to the fruit of honest toil. The Society which they have fostered for a hundred years owes its standing to the steady acc.u.mulations of these years, not to any sudden speculation or easily acquired prosperity, and it is with pleasure, therefore, that the Society devotes its time and means in helping others to help themselves. We believe in the aristocracy of labor, and we are glad that we are able to do anything whereby we can help any one to help himself.

I shall not make a lengthy address because it is late; it is warm; there are diplomas to be given out, and I believe that the young ladies are anxious to get down stairs where the attraction is greater than anything I can offer them. Yet there is one thought I would like to give out, if you will excuse me.

Yesterday I met a gentleman whom I have known for many years, and whom I never really knew until yesterday. He said to me, "Billy" (he knew me when I was a boy), "have you half an hour to spare?" First I said, "No;" but I thought better of it and said, "Yes." "I would like you to come round and look at my house." As he opened the door of that house it was to me a revelation; if there is anything else like it in this country or city, I do not know where it is. It seemed to me I was in fairyland. Here was a large house and yet so filled that it seemed small, from the top of the very attic down to the first story, with articles of vertu and bric-a-brac, with tapestry that had come from all parts of the globe, with ivories, carved in j.a.pan as nowhere else, with mosaics from all sections of the world, with beautiful chairs, with embroidery that had graced the homes of monarchs in the old country, and on his back porch, and in his yard, were beautiful flowers hardly seen outside of the tropics.

I need not say to you how surprised I was; I had only known him as a mechanic, a member of this Society. I spent an hour and a half there I shall never forget; I asked the privilege of bringing my better half.

But the thought that I wanted to impress was this; in a beautiful case, surrounded with plate gla.s.s, was a full dinner set of the finest Sevres china. He explained to me that the set was ordered and made expressly for the second Napoleon when he was in the height of his glory. I said to him, "Where did you get this? I did not know a full set of that kind ever got away from royalty." He said it did once in a while and this was the only one in this country. He had been explaining to me things I never knew about, and he came back to his own self and said, "Billy, you know when the great Napoleon and his court were sipping their soup out of these dishes, I was wielding a paint brush at $1.50 a day and glad to get it." As I lay trying to go to sleep last night that single sentence came to me and it seemed there was a volume in it. It is an American idea that there is no success which is not attainable by almost any person if we only take those opportunities afforded us. I want to say one word to the ladies, and I believe I said something of the same kind to the boys. I often see it in the papers, I hear it in speeches at trade societies and all that sort of thing, that there is a great change in America; there is no longer any chance to rise; and that we are divided into cla.s.ses, and that the rich are going to get richer and the poor going to stay where they are.

I hope every American will disabuse his mind of anything like that; there never was a time when opportunities were greater than now. We have got to believe in ourselves and watch the opportunities when they come to us; success cannot be obtained in a day. We may not have to build a railroad but we will build something else, perhaps greater.

Young ladies, it is my privilege on behalf of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, as its President, to present you with these diplomas. I do so with pleasure; first, because I feel that it is our right to give them to you; secondly, because I feel that it is your right to receive them, for you have earned them. They represent to me six months of careful, earnest, intelligent study; six months of devoting yourself to the habit of close application; six months of forming the habit of industry; habits which, I take it, make the road to success to any one who expects to succeed in the future. I congratulate you upon receiving them; they are certificates that carry with them pleasant memories, and I hope will prove in after years profitable ones. In behalf of the General Society, it is my pleasure to thank your teacher; I have witnessed personally his enthusiasm in his calling, and I am proud to say that I have been here night after night and have watched the enthusiasm of the cla.s.s. I have seen them here sometimes long after the regular school hours, in fact, I had a mind to say, "You are over-taxing these young ladies." Then I thought it was a life and death struggle for only six months, and the victory was worth the struggle.

I have nothing more to say. I will remember the motto given early in the evening and wish you every success in life which you have obtained in this school.

Salutatory

BY MISS JESSIE FERRIS.

_To the Cla.s.s of '89._

On behalf of my cla.s.smates, Gentlemen of the Committee, and friends, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you here this evening, and we sincerely hope that in the following short account of our progress during the eight past months, both in shorthand and typewriting cla.s.ses, _you_ may share, to some extent, our satisfaction.

I shall not attempt to portray our initial struggles with the dots and lines, but rather dwell on the time when, at the rate of a word in five minutes, we could, with the confidence of beginners, write the short but expressive sentences:

The cow eats gra.s.s!

See the dog run!

From this time under the able guidance of our teachers, we steadily progressed, until our efforts have culminated in the success gratifying to ourselves, our teachers, and our many friends.

In typewriting our progress has been as encouraging as in Phonography.

From slowly picking out the words: "William Jex quickly caught five dozen Republicans," a sentence which not only exhausted all the letters of the alphabet, but in our attempts to decipher which, after writing, exhausted our ingenuity as well, we pa.s.sed to the time when legal doc.u.ments and business letters could be run off with an ease which at the beginning seemed almost impossible.

Let us pause a moment to consider the advantages of these two arts: first and chiefly, they afford us the means of gaining a livelihood in a way more agreeable than many others; secondly, in the taking of notes of lectures upon various arts and sciences we become acquainted with these subjects to an extent which would otherwise require much special study.

How then can we be otherwise than grateful to those who have placed these advantages within our reach?

To you, Gentlemen of the School Committee and of the Special Committee, are our thanks especially due.

Through your kindness in fulfilling our many calls upon your generosity, you have contributed, in no mean degree, to that end toward which we have so earnestly striven.

You, my cla.s.smates, undoubtedly share in the pleasure felt by our teachers and the Committee in having pa.s.sed so successfully through the work of the past eight months.

Let us reflect for how short a time we have pursued our studies. In what branch of study, pursued for the same length of time, could the results attained compare so favorably as in the study of shorthand?

After to-night, over thirty of us, in the different pursuits of a business life, will make practical use of the knowledge gained during the past Winter. Let us always strive to uphold the reputation already gained by the followers of Isaac Pitman.