New Britain Herald Newspaper, June 25, 1915, Page 10

d and thirty-six young en completed an im- 0 in their lives today wdre nted with diplo- ng’ t' they had com- r efu ition in New Britain duation _exercises '2:80 o’clock this after- High school auditorium. eds of relatives and friends tepdance for the commende- the scane ‘was-one stamped in the minds of all present. e munt the forging of ng forward, ‘in n happy young men 1. More tHan that, it meant or for them as their diplo- mm of honor, testifying hool authoritles of New pla the stamp of ap- 3 of the past four e iclass who had been in the assemblage t to themselves and \wn ‘they represented. An of literary and mu- | Music was fur- gh school orchestra, ko wes of the best. . i T. Fromen, a member of the on, presented the di- ch graduate recelved ‘of work well done, he ‘loudly. Dr. Fromen Principal L. P. Slade, ted each member of i gram in full was as follows: b, Schopl' Ofchestra. - 1 flfx? Ol estre. %, (George W. C. Hill, ine Lyman Mills. tain— 3}, Jean Duncanson. h Elizabeth Adelman. Grant. Mfiflwn Donnell). ‘Hildegarde Suneson. eants— Catherine Tommasoni. ¢ h School Orchestra. Yesterday and Today— fiy Regina Clark. ‘( Wooing— dur Sophie Ahistrom. Blue Danube.” one ‘ farmers, desirous of found- | their own, settled in | ‘hundred and fitty vears rtion of New Britain. L of ’ifiin selected proved to be | adapted o -thelr ways and | nd they immediately 'staked As the center of ‘fiul’.v After . they ‘& number of ' years, street and what | £ Quarter, in the south- foni! of the city, were eas- | 6. . Park street was vet w ed hne. winding around of Whiting street 1o ‘Stanley Road, and West a small footpath go- illi " In the sections nut’street and Grove Hill &u”hme forests. i lu the beginning of s¥=had made but little 2 The center of the city, Ceptral Park is fiaw, was a very plot ‘of ground.. The south- was piled high with rocks, _across the northern.end was a liow which was filled with wa_ of the time. During part rédr a small stream flowed from Bt Hill across Main sireet, near f our. present Grammar ‘and thence ipf northeasterly thoseiays wede vast- from ours of today. For they were conducted by a society. | The first oné was d.in /1754, and in a few years hers were . established. These % and in winter the wind through the e¢racks making omfortable for some of the desks were made of “fastenéd to the wall, and as long as When recit: | fifty years .the only occupation herg | bells was introduced which was DR. E. T. FROMEN to pass notes and' perhaps edt some lunch now and then. = In the middle of the forenoon there were, two re- cesses, one for the girls first, followed by another for the boys. In 1849, a Normal school was es- tablished in New Britain. The new buiiding was erected at the carner ‘of Chestnut and Main streets, afd was spacious enough to include the High school also. ‘A “dystem of graded schools was now organized and a few Years later the School saciety wag abol- ished, and the care of the schools was placed under the supervision of the, town. The ‘nucleus of the library was, formed by a .group; of neighbors or friends who purchased a few: books, and passed them around from fam- ily to family under regulations assur- mg their preservation. Later a par- $h library of about four hundred books was started in the South church. Grad- ually by private subscription and public.| donation, a great number of volumes accumulated and it was evident that we' ne led a new institute for books. | The library in its new site was much more flourishing than before.. It was especially attractive to the young folks and..its popularity cannot be said to| have lessened even to this day. These early settlers had very little current reading : matger... ; The = few newspabpers they had were from Bos- ton or New York.and were generally two or three weeks old. In 1831, a bi.weekly paper was edited under the super\islon of ya _company of wvillage girls. They called it”the ‘‘Shepherd- esg’”’ and published articles on religion and morals. Later, ‘however, the pubhcauon of the paper was suspendefl on account of the marriage” of: the chief editor. Eor a number of years ! there was no: regular’ paper “publish- ed, but from time to time small pam- phlets were ‘issiied . concerning the news - of the day. ‘When the “Advo- cator” was finally started, many other | newspapers appeared but these grad- uvally, were diseontinued until few ‘were left. < However, some of those re~ maining are published ‘today, although many changes have been mnde in their names and style. The early farmers who uettled hera, little realized what a mn.nufactur-; Ang city of note they had founded. 1t | would perhaps startle them 'to. see | Orchard ‘street, which they named on accountk ‘of its ‘agricultural surround- ings with sévefy hundred and fifty factory windowd facing it today. For i wag farming. ~Later saw mills were built and blacksmith shops erected. which beside doing their regular work repairéd some of the far mtools. In 1800 the manufacture of sleigh the first distinctive manufacture of met- | als, excepting tinware, in New Bri- tain. - From this humble beginning kaye grown the various manufactur- ing enterprises of'today, which have made this ¢ity noted throughout the Whole tvorld. Although 'these people Were very thrifty and spent most of their time working, they had some very pleasg-| | ant social gatherings, The women had wete given for all adulta in the ew.é ning. ¢ | -, These early homes had three rooms, the kitchen with its huge fireplace, ! the general living room, which served ll for cook room, or wash, room, - and | the best parlor only used ~on" ‘such occasions as when the minister called or the elder sister entertained spe cial eompany. | Their clothing was generally made at home and adapted to the circum- stances of the family. ~For Sunda and holidays in summer, the men had white or checked linen suits, and in winter, woolen suits of dark color, For Sundays also there was a special overcoat and vest which ‘did servica for twelve years or more. The wom- en had black silk dresses for Sun- | days, and-plain gingham ones for week days. : A very strict regard for the -Sab- ‘bath was held by these people an everyone of suitable age attended, the meetings. Usually they carried a cold dinner in their pockets ‘or in a bag and after a long monotonous sermon, they assembled and talked over town happenings ‘Wwhile they ate their Tunch. After an intermission of an hour the afternoon service was com- menced, which lasted until dark. Th> galleries of these churches-had very| high square pews and these afforded a convenient place for the boys il occupy themselves in other ways then listening to the sermon. " The suspension of importations dur- ing the Civil war greatly stimulated the progress of New Britain.: From that - timé he ciy grw rapldly. The success of the Hardware city, us I 'ltuon the puplls turned and am 'teatzhtr in the center, but ying faced the wall © thfl’”! a fine opportunity men who builb i it is called, however, was not due to any external ad\annges but 1o ‘the of {the Russian folk:tale that the i ground is not fairyland but wonder- ! they EMMA OATHERINY. TOMMASONI +HILDUR SOPHIE AHLSTROM ‘Graduation Speaker CATHERINE LYMAN MILLS Graduation Soloist ELEANOR LADD GRANT Graduation Pianist sterling integrity “put hard work ‘m-! to their hardware forged their boits with brains, and joined their hinzes with honesty” and now we are reap- ing the reward. The seal of New Brifain, adopted on the suggestion of olir most famous citizen, Elihu Burrit, is perhaps the most fitting ‘that could*have been se- lected for our ‘city. A bee hive sur- rounded by busy bees is very typical of the busy life of the people in New: Britain. Russian Folklore Leah E. Adelman The Russian skazki or folk-tales have been spread throughout Siberia and Russia since the beginning of the Slavonic race. . < These tales have been narrated from generation to genera- tion around both the peasants’ firs- place and the:king's table. No one! knows in what .form they first existed or can account for the varying dra- matic situations which meet us: at every point as we read the 'skaza.” 8o closely connected have these stories become with the Russians themselves that their literature ,is., fll?d with numberless® allusions,.to .*thom« heir heroes peer at us frem all Slavenlc Writings and their ‘quaint.expressions have become a part of their language. These «skazki .only compare with 'the folklore of the other; Indeo-Buro- pean nations, inasmuch as they con- tain the same wonderful and wild ma. chinery; in all other reéspects they are different. It is naticed on reading fairy. element does not exist. Their back- land, which approaches the empire of the Arabian Knights. Until a short while ago the Russian people thought that these tales were of no usé to their culture. But the scientific collector appeared, he be- gan to study them and found that! explained many phases of ‘the | prehistoric life of -the Slavs hitherto unknown. Through these tales he found out their early religion. They did not worship’ gods and goddesses like the Greeks and Romans. The Russians defied the elements of nature, the woads, trees, sun and moon. e good forces in their folk-tales are not | beautiful gods or wonderful fairies, but kind beasts, benevolent birds and wooden puppets. And so it is to the scientific collec- tor that we owe the preservation of these wonderful . siféeki. One of the best is “Wassalissa the Beautiful,” part of. which I will tell you this afternoon. '~ The ‘“kukla” in this story is somewhat.like 2 wooden puppet, we translate the word “‘doll,” but this name did not suggest to the Russians a plaything but a talisman carried around for good luck. An- other. striking feature is the Baba Yaga, a wicked witch who lived 1n a most unsightly! hut, and who" ate children as one..does..chicken. wedFie | Babs Yaga is the perconification.af ! evii, | ‘“Wassalissa the Beautiful,” a .var- acteristic of the Russian folk-tale. . Wassalissa the Beautiful, In a certain Tzardom acroes thrse times nine kingdoms beyond the high mountains, there once lived a mers chant with his wife and only daughter who from her cradle was called'’ Was- salissa the Beautiful. | ‘One day, ~when' Wassalissa ~was | eight years old,’the mother’ calied the child to her apd said "My Gear little Wassalisea 1 am scon to die so I leave you this litile " wodlen kukla. "Tou must never part- with or et any one see if.’ Whe¢nevVér you are perblexed give it ‘someéthing to raiyE | i gat and drink, then = tell it your troubles. < The doll will become alive and will make known to you whav to do.” , So saying she kissed her little daughter and dled. That night Wassalissa wept for a long time, then she bethought her- self of her little wooden kukla and south it for comfort. After she had given the kukla something to eat and drink it became alive and said, “Dry your tears Wassalissa the Beautiful. Morning is wiser than Evening and sorrows are. lighter at dawn.” And Wassalissa was comforted,. Her father mourned for his wife as long as it was right. Then he began to think of a step-mother for his chdld. . Fi~ nally thinking lonly of .\ W's. welfare he married a widow with two daugh- ters ‘of her own. But alas: The step-mother proved to: be a cruel, harsh woman who was furthermore jealous of Wassalissa's | beauty because her two daughters were exceedingly homely. So she set her the hardest tasks to do, sent hei out in the noon day June to spoil her complexion and gave her little to eat. But in spite of all this the girl gre\w ¥ prettiér each day, her checks looked like milk and cherries and her hands remained as white as snow. What' was the cause of all this? ‘Why it was the little wooden kukia. As moon as the house was asleep she would clean the cottage, make the fire an weed the garden. When W. got up; all she had to do was to cook { the 'meals and for the rest of the day sit quietly ‘In ‘the shade. The kukla also found a magic herb for W. which kept her skin so smooth and rosy. When W. became old enough to ‘get married her father went in bus- iness to a distant Tzardom. “Now! thought the wicked step, ‘I can get rid of that W.” their home their was a wherein lied a wicked Babe So the step-mother sent W. into this forest to gather the witch would But the doll al- Near forest Yaga. each day twood, hoping that seize:.and eat ‘her. : wayvs'showed her friend where to get | the driest sticks without going near the Baba Yaga's hut. And the step- mother .hated Wagssalissa more and more, Oneé' night all the house went out. “What shall we do?" sald the step- mother. “We must send W. to the Baba Yaga for some light'” said the step- mother ‘and pushed her out into the dark night. The poor girl began to weep. But she"remeémbered her mother’s cause] and confiding in the help of her lit- tle ~ kukla, bravely started out. Whether she walked one day, two days or‘three’days is unknown. The telling is easy tho' the work was hard. QOne evening she ¢ame to the mid- dle of the: forest. Vhat an' aweful sight greeted’ her eyes! Right . in front of her stood a hut on' hen's legs, its wallg and roof were human boneg and it was topped with skulls. A fense of human legs surrounded the Goftage and the gate was locked by a human jaw, As she stood there | trmbling a black knight on a black horse passed her and as he passed | the wood became dark. But on ths lawn around the cottage it was light, for the eyes in the skulls began (o shine: = IV, wondered at this sight and tvas almost inclined to flee when she bheard an awful volce cry ““What du ou ni " W, locked up ana a viteh g up courage she answered {my step-mother sent me ‘to get gome light, grandmother.” ¥ “Well, no one gets someihing for nothing,'you must stay and work for it fi nd trembtiing Waszzl a lights in the standing, at the gats, ! KARIN HILDEGARDE SUNESON Graduation Speaker HAZEL JEAN DUNCANSON ' Graduation Speaker (Photos by Murray) the Beautiful followed .the witch into the hut. *Now,"” said the Baba.Yaga, “while I am asleep you must take two busa- els of poppy- seed from the cupboard which some malicious mixed with sand. o thou clean each poppy seed -and separate it from the sand, if you do not do 80, I shall eat you.” But after the Baba Yaga had fallen asleep W. took her littie doll, gave it something to eat and drink and then told it her troubles. “Do not fear,”, said the Kkukla. ‘“‘Say your prayers-and sleep. Morninglis wiser than evening and sorrows are lighter at dawn.” And while W. slept the doll did the work and climbed back into W's pocket. It seemed to W. very soon when she heard the Baba Yaga calling her. She opened her eves.and saw outside & white knight on & ‘milk-white | horse with white trappings riding by {and as he passed the dawn appeared. { Following him. she saw a red: knight | on'a blood red steed and when he had | passed the bright Sun arose. The girl arose and hastened to the kitchen. ‘“Have you done the work?” “Yes,” answered W. for she knew that her kind doll had done it. “Why don’t you speak?”’ stormed the witch as W. remained silent. “If you wish it, grandmother, will ask thee a question.” “You may, but do not ask too much for get too'much to know and old you /| will grow.” “Weil,” sald W., "I saw last night a black knight on a black horse ride by and when he passed the darkness came. This morning I saw a white knight on a White horse followed-by a red kmght on a reéd steed and after them cnmg light and the Sun. Who are they?” “Those,” ahswered the witch, “are my servants, the Morning Noon and Night. Now I will ask you something How is it you have been able to do ]the work?” and 'the. Baba Yaga | growled at her. W. almost told about her kukla but mindful of her moth- er, she answered, “The blessing of my dead mother helped me.” “The blessing,” yelled the witch. | “Who wants a person with a blessing | here? Get thee gone!” So saying she threw W. out of the hut, and as W. ran out she threw one of her skulls after her saying, “Take that to your step-mother.” W. ran all that day, at night the eyes in. the skull began to shine and showed her the path. At last on the fourth evening shereached home and for the first time was made welcome Decause she was bringihg light. “As soon as she brought the skull into the house the eyes began to gleam brighter and brighter and seemed:to look right thro’ the ltep-l { mother and her two daughters. When they tried to escape, the eves fol- lowed them until they were burned to cinders. W. alone remained.— Conclusion. T break off here be- cause the last lacks the dramatic. in- terest of the first part. Such is the | substance of one of the typical ska- | zki. {Ir tifese tales of Jthe.old myths live again and as they fomerly have been a pdrt of the’ life .of the Sla-| vonic people, so are they now Dbe- coming known and appreciated all | over the world.—Finis 1 Modern Pageants Emma C. Tommasoni The ‘todern Ameriéan pageant ! dates back to 1627 to the Merry Mount Revels. Since that time the pageant has bocome very popular until at the Prazeni time it promises to surpass all person has | PRINCIPAL L. P, SLADE, other out-of-dor amusements in popu- larity. The germ of pageantry in America at the present time,is mani- fest in the California forest plays, the May festivals of the east, and the commencement exercises throughout the country. Pageantrysin its present day form was not revived until 1905, when Louis N. Parker produced a home- made play at the Mttle town of Sher- |/bourne, Dorset, England. This pag- eant attracted the attention of all England for fts perfect organization which secured its striking spectacular effects. This was followed by one given in Warwick Castle. As a re- sult of the tréemendous success of these two demonstrations a passion for pag- eantry seized the people of England. The following Ssummer pageants were acted everywhere, in fact they proved to be the most popular form of en- tertainment. Oxford produced the largest and most spectacular one of the season, the first performance of which was witnessed by Mark Twani. 1t was given on the fields of Magdalen college between two arms of the Cherwell river. The scenes ranged from Banit Frideswide in 727 A. D. to George IIl. Many prominent Lon- don actors and managers took a greéat interest in this pageant and it proved to be a financial success, even though it rained three days out of six. The fever for pageants soon spread | from England to America and was taken - up whole-heartédly by the .American publig. - The Mardl Gras, which is celebrated every year in New Orleans by an immense pageant, was introduced in America from Europe through the French. The carnival, which comes three days before lent, 'is a season of feasting and dancing; on the third day is the Mardi Gras. The whole city Joihs if the Testivities of this season and rearly everyone is attired in masquerade costume. The balconies of the club houses and other buildings ‘are occupied by ladies in | ball gowns, wearing fluffy feathers | and glittering jewels. In the ‘streets below is the crowd, exhibiting a rain- bow of colors, now moving onward in & body, now gathering around some strikingly costumed “street masquer.” Near one of the buildings one sees a baby, dressed in a pink-and-green domino and peaked cap, who has dropped to sleep in his mother's arms. Nearby a woman in a striking red cos- tume, her head wrapped in an im- posing bandanna turban capped with a black sailor hat seems to be en- joying the attention of a small crowd of admiring friends, A long row of | young men with arms on each others shoulders /may be seen dancing the serpentine through the crowd.,'and in and out, under ropes, evading the clutching hands of policemen, dodge the small boy of all crowds. A number of historical pageants have been given during the past few years which set forth the history of some particular city or state. The pageant given in Portland, Maine, in 1918, was of this nature. It was di- vided into three parts, Pioneer Port- land, Patriot Portland, and Modern Portland, the scenes ranging from the coming of Christopher Levett in 1623 down to the present time. One of the most striking and symbolic figures was Modern Portland on horseback wearing a robe of the state color, French blue. Another figure ' on horseback represented America. She was clothed in white, wore a crown of stars and stripes and:carried in her hand an American flag. She led the procession away from the pageant grounds and as they marched the spectators and pageant players sang the new national hymn, “America the Beautiful,” A salute of guns was fired from the battleships in the har- bor at the close of the song. The dedication of the bridge in Hartford was also commemorated by an historical pageant. The opening spectacle was the landing of Thomas Hooker and the founding of Hartford. The second scene, which took place in the evening of the same day, showed soldiers, sailors, and citize of vari- ous historic wars and periods through which our country has passed. But the most elaborate and carefully planned event of the whole pageant was the historical tableaux of early Hartford given on the banks of the | Connecticut river. The stage was sev- enty-five feet wide and fifty feet deep. The scenery on the drop éurtains was painted from the original, so that a true historical setting was:not lack- i Ing. In 1910 a large pageant was given in New Britain in honor of "Elthu Bur- ritt. The day was a general holiday | an oration was given by Dr, B Washington. There were a number of i as well as beautiful floats in | cession on this occasion. most interesting was the float) “international group” whigh | sented fifteen nations in | tume. Each pation was ne by a man carrying his nutional | accompanied by a woman laurel wreath. As these | womeén passed the reviewing' sth they halted before the delegat {a bow/ lowered the natl and declared this tof be the | Elihu Burritt, The proch symbolic floats was led by of the High school, each nepis an idea which was wrought decoration and costumes. The personified the arts of , peage; juniors enacted a scene Cmn thy ! of Willlam Penn; and the sopho: illustrated ‘‘Peace and the Nal The second division of fi contribution of various socif different nationalities of the At first thought it may pageants are employed only of amusement. However Great benefits are der) them. They stimulate patri promote education. ! or thrée hours can impart stepping stones of history | combinea efforts of school {ean do in years of text-book {1t 18 instructive: to -thowe | part and also to the ! and women of all classes They learn the customs of ages. They acquire a -nd pline, of obedience ahd dri result a wave of unity and -t .t&u‘l-nn passes across . the - v " and . because of come a powerful factor life of any peopl Girl of Yesterday and Today, Miss Mary Regina Cl There hre a great mnuy thln‘- which the world is intensely csted just at this time, but mm say that there is anything morg. teresting or attractive than the girl teday., Everyone is conéerned girls, from the small boy to the" of three score and ten years. swaggering little fellow, of .t years pretends that he doesn' about girle, but just waich him every nerve to send his arrow the bull's eye when a. .certain Jady’s blue ribbon bobs around corner. It is surely inost inspiring those who are striving to ball over the goal line on a T /field, to hear a - thundeér of voices cheering them on, Ml think they fight less hard 0" there be soprano tohes in and it s thus with everyone: “Girl of Today" interests But thig girl plays feir, and d'scovered that there is ano as sweet and attractive g straightway she tells of the 9l The “Girl of Yesterday," and’ queer tale. Japan and China are m yesterdays, so there t] looks for the old-fs 7These countries dare very o zation and customs, so their correspondingly quain- and ing to us. The little olive: Jepanése maiden, who quietly out of her sandals before J home, is very like her 2 » Chinese sister of silk kim li high-piled glossy hair. To thest independence is unknown, courtship and marriage they by the will of others. Thelr: supposed to be settled by the who dwells in the moon, who together the souls of Yovers, slender silken threads of silver, his moonbeams. tunate swain whom the have not declared to be the husband of his lady love! m~ one can always pass noves, and Orient, as in all other lands 6f ot o~ - e Even (Lonfln\“d on Foun.-nlh the Place to H: for everyone; all business houses and schools were closed. Public bulld- ings and private residences were dec- orated with flags and bunting. A | great procession, in which three hun- dred children took part, passed from the center of the city into the ceme- tery where exercises were held at Mr. Burritt's grave. A charus of two hundred and fifty childrenisang, and DIPLOMAS * and Pictures Fram BENOIT ART 35 Church Stseet.