Thursday was a great day at St. John's University. It was a perfect, sunshiny, winter day, and the faces of the 300 students of the university were as smilingly radiant with happiness as the sun was bright, for it was term-closing day—and next week is Chinese New Year and that means much.
At eleven o'clock in the morning there were volley ball matches between the Alumni and the University in which the latter easily won, and at noon there was an alumni luncheon. What were not the least interesting events of the day, to the students at least, were the competition drill, dress parade, and review, the reviewing officer being Lieut. RP. Molten, of the United States gunboat Helena, assisted by Lieut. Bryant of the United States Marine Corps, and other officers. The drill filled in the time between two and three o'clock.
At three-thirty o'clock the whole body of students assembled in the large Alumni Hall in order to participate in the "literary exes,"" and the hall was thronged. arrangement potted plants, and large American and Chinese flags lent a pleasing relief of colour as a background for the sombreness of the cap-and-gowned faculty and the plain blue uniforms of the naval officers.
The exercises were opened with the singing of the alumni song, in English, followed by " short prayer The Chinese speaker of the day was Mr. Y. C. Chang, chief of the editorial and translation department of the Commercial Press, who made a long address in Chinese.
Dr. Walker then introduced Lieut. Molten who, in congratulating the students on having "a mighty good battalion", made a fow brief remarks on the benefits of military training for students, as such training, he said, not only fitted a man to serve his country should he be called upon to do 80, but it taught obedience, discipline, and organization. Lieut. Molten suggested one thing that the battalion was in need of, and that is more "drive" on the part of the officers, from the highest to the lowest. Then the lieutenant nounced his decision that "(C" Company had won the competitive chield, and there was tremendous applause when he called upon the captain of that company to come forward and receive the coveted shield.
Dr. Walker then said that it was his pleasure to present the rolls of honour to those few students who. during the term, had no demerits, no absences, and who had in all subjects, and the following named students in response to their names, stepped to the platform and received the rolls:
First class: Kwauk Tung-tsien. Li Kwen-jih, Li Tshung-yoong, Yoen Tsung, and Zung Yau-tsung.
Second class:—Tsang Soh-zung.
Third class:—Tsung Zung-sung.
Fourth class:—Lieu Doong-o0, and Vi Phon-zen.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.