The Hershey Press 1914-10-15

              Notable Gathering at Dedication of
Derry Township 's Public School
MORE THAN A THOUSAND ENJOY THE SPEECHES AND THE
MUSIC AND PRAISE THE M. S. HERSHEY CONSOLI-DATED
SCHOOL BUILDING: MAIN ADDRESS
BY DR. SCHAEFFER. OTHER SPEECHES
The dedication of the M. S. Hershey
Consolidated School of Derry Town-ship
took place on Tuesday and was a
most . interesting occasion. Long be-fore
the time for the begining of the
program—which was half past one
o'clock—the visitors had so increased
that it was evident no room in the
building could hold them. They came
from all points in train, trolley and
automobile and made a unique and
representative educational gathering,
which was enlivened and enhanced by
the presence of many ladies. The at-tendance
was. estimated at between
one and two thousand. " ' . '
From noon until half past one the
visitors inspected the new school
building and expressed their great de^
light at its attractions and its very
unusual equipment. . In. the High
Schopl room the scholars were as-sembled
and here there were brief
speeches by the visiting principals
and superintendents .full of snap and
cheer and followed by much applause.
It was .an impromptu prelude to the
larger exercises. In the meanwhile
the band was finding its place at the
side of the temporary platform erect-ed
in the field opposite the school.
Shortly before half past one it began
to play and the people commenced to
assemble. The speakers and the
guests had seats on the platform. The
audience stood and found the exer-cises
so interesting that practically
all remained throughout the two
hours.
Mr. Snyder Chairman
Music by the Hershey Band opened
the program. Tbe invocation was
asked by Eev. N. L. Linebaugh, pas-tor
of the United Brethren Church of
Hershey. The chairman, John E.
Snyder, Esq., in the first speech said
the people of Derry Township were to
be congratulated not only on the
splendid new building but on having
it as a incentive to development in
their midst. In fact the building was
the result of rapid development and
the gentleman who was in a large
way responsible for that development
had felt it incumbent upon . him to
provide proper facilities for the new
growth and for the future. • "The oc-casion
is the dedication of the build-ing,"
said Mr. Snyder, "and you have
b^
'een invited to come here to aid- in
this dedication. It is my pleasure to
bid you a hearty welcome," which he
proceeded to do in a way that brought
forth warm applause. - Mr. Snyder's
happy introduction led up to the
chorus by the children of the Hershey
schools. The pupils had been kept in
the big floor of the building, so that
they could be directed in mass by
their leader. So, when Mr. Snyder's
words were concluded, there floated
out upon the audience from unseen
voices the strains of "My Own United
States"—six hundred voices with a
fine thrill of patroitism. It was as
novel as it was effective.
Dr. Schaeffer's Address
Chairman Snyder's introductions
were all apt and tolling. The man
who has made education in Pennsyl-vania
was his presentation of Dr, N.
C. Schaeffer, Superintendent of Pub-lic
Instruction , and Dr. Schaoffor rose
to his six feet and odd inches amidst
very cordial applause. Ho mado tho
main address of tho day and it was
capital throughout. Ho began with
good stories and illustrated histori-cal
eras, especially before the war
and after tho war, or as ho preferred
it, throe eras, before the Civil War,
during the war and after tho war.
However, ho though t tho time would
come when Derry Townshi p would
have two eras—tho one before the
now school building and tho one after
it. It was not an uncommon thing
for him to help dedicate a now school
building, oven a hundred thousand
dollar building. Ho had recently had
tho pleasure of participating in tho
dedication of buildings in Latrobo and
Willinmsport costing over a hundred
thousand dollars each. It was bo-coming
quite a usual thing to dedi-cate
a now school in Pennsylvania.
During tho last year two hundred
now school houses wore opened in tho
State—from tho one room country
school to such palatial edifices an
tho one being dedicated today, "I
am still a vary young mnn," mid Dr.
Schaoffor amid laughter, and then af-ter
a littl e pause, ho added very earn-estly,
"and I hope to hoc tho day when
a rich man cannot die in peace until
ho does something for tho public
school in tho town in which ho lives.
(Applause.) And I hope tho ex-ample
in Derry Township will start
tho work." (Applause). Dr, Schaof-for
then dwelt upon tho value of tho
Horshoy school, It meant a now de-parture,
It nsflurod bottpr health for
tho children. They would breath e
purified nil'—the speaker made much
of this point and the hearers were
deeply interested—air that was filter-ed
and cleaned, and the result would
be of incalulable value. In the last
year 15,000 fewer persons died in
Pennsylvania than died eight years
ago. It was partly due to the better
handling of contagious and" other dis-eases,
partly to better water, but the
increased longevity of the average
human was now due largely tothe fact
that we have school houses with sani-tary
conditions. He paid high tri-butes
to the unsurpassed and very
complete sanitary arrangements and
lighting equipment of the Hershey
School. It was. an ideal, and parents
were to .be. congratulated on having
their children in such a building. It
meant less illness in the home and
better health and larger strength for
the children. They must not forget
that the children were breathing
washed air when in school— the
speaker returned to the point and em-phasized
it vigorosly.
The Home of Patriotism
Dr. Schaeffer was delighted that the
school children had sung "My Own
United States.". ' The words and the
tune thrilled him as it had also thrill-ed
others. The school was the home
of patriotism. School boys and girls
were actuated in remarkable degree
by patriotic feelings. . But there was
a new patriotism. In his day he was
taught to hate a red coat. But since
then patriotism has meant more. It
leaves out hatred and substitutes love
—love of covntry, love of f ree institu-tions,
love of the best in human life.
A clerical friend of his had called to
see a poor sick woman in the upper
floor of a city tenement. As he as-cended
the steps from every landing
came voices of different nationalities
and languages until the whole seemed
a babel of foreign tongues. After his
visit he descended the same steps and
met the children of the tenement com-ing
home from school and they were
singing in one language^ "My Coun-try,
'Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Lib-erty,
Of Thee I sing." This was what
the public school was doing—bringing
nations and languages and bloods into
patriotic American citizenship.
Dr. Schaeffer told of a dream of
the other world. Saint Peter was
sitting inside the*"~gate. Someone
knocked. ."Who is that?" asked
Peter. "On earth I was a school
trustee" was the reply. "Come right
on in," said Peter, "you suffered
enough down there." Doubtless the
trustees of Derry Township had had
a few troubles. They had also some-one
to help them along and thus the
sense of duty was strong upon them,
but they had done their work well and
they deserved their reward. It was
the happy conceit of the old Virginian
that if a man was born in that state
he need not answer the question as to
his birthplace because it would appear
the students and the parents as the
only ideal worth striving for. "He be-lieved
the M. S. Hershey Consolidated
School of Derry Township would be
devoted to this end. He congratu-lated
the people, the architects, the
directors, and he especially congratu-lated
Mr. Hershey on his splendid
liberality in crowning his business
success by this great gift for the good
of all. "Long live the Consolidated
School of Derry Township." said the
speaker in conclusion. "Long live
Mr. Hershey! Long, long live the chil-.
dren who go to this beautiful school
and bless the great gift by its use."
Dr. Schaeffer was vigorous applauded
when he had finished the address that
had held the audience in . close" and
cordial appreciation throughout its
quarters and now we are already mov-ing
into larger things. We have
something which stands for a great
deal; it stands for the benefit of all.
Mr. Hershey said he believed in co-operation
as strongly as he believed
in school consolidation. It is the
right policy—the union of effort which
works to large and .useful ends. No
great thing cap be done without it.
It not only means equal opportunity
but it means equality before the law.
When the speaker declared that there
should be the same laws for the poor
man as for the rich corporation his
words were applauded earnestly, "I
was glad to hear one of the speakers
say the poor men will take special in-terest
in this school and will help to
built it up. I hope to God they will
do it." (Applause). This coming
together in education and business
would correct evils in finance as well
as in government and bring about a
better state of things generally. Mi'.
Hershey caused laughter as well as
applause when he said ho wished the
politicians would devote as much
time and money,, to improving the
schools as. they 'did for getting office.
Ho repeated his pleasure in contribu-ting
his share in tho new< school facili-ties
of tho township and then amid
applause handed the deed for tho
building to Mr. A. B. Shonk, president
of tho School Board.
As tho representative of tho people
of Derry Township, President Shonk
said it gave him great pleasure to ac-cept
tho gift of tho beautiful build-
(Continucd on Page 4)
delivery.
Mr. Hershey Presents the Building
When the chairman introduced Mr.
Hershey there was an outburst of ap-plause
which was noticeably cordial
and general. "I stand hero very hap-py,
that I have been able to do what I
have done for tho public schools of
Derry Township, " Mr. Hershey said.
He believed in consolidated schools.
They mean more efficiency and better
citizens. If there wore consolidated
schools for the children and if parents
owned their own homos there could
not como such conditions as those
which exist in Europe today. All
would be happier and all would be do-ing
bettor and more profitable work.
A good beginning makes a good end-ing.
Hero wo began well in smaller
anyhow, and if he was born anywhere
else it might be embarrassing. With
its fine school faciliti es living in
Derry township would show its own
patent of superiority. (Laughter and
applause).
There was a disposition in some
places and in some educational
schemes to write above tho door of
tho public school tho word, Money.
He had a better word, of the same
number of letters, and ho would spell
it in shining letters with tho most
brilliant electricity—T R U T H. He
eloquently pleaded for the usefulness,
nobility and beauty of truth , truth in
business, truth in education , truth in
tho spirit , and ho placed that before
The M. S- Hershey Consolidated School of Derry Township. Length 220 Feet, 18 School Rooms. 24 Other Rooms. Cost , $120,000
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Blues' Recept Unrto the Golds
The Social Event of the Season
MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED GUESTS THRONG THE ROOMS
OF THE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
CONGRATULATE THE MEMBERSHIP WORKERS
AND ENJOY A DELIGHTFUL EVENING
. The social success of the season
thus far and one of the most delight-ful
events in Hershey's history was
the reception at the Young Women's
Christian . Association last Friday
evening. It was expected that about
one hundred and twenty-five would
attend, but more than two hundred
were present. On this occasion men
were allowed and they were unanim-ous
in declaring the. Association's
building the most attractive place in
town.
It .was to celebrate the September
contest for new members that the re-ception
was held and it was in charge
of a committee of the Blues, Mrs.
Ewing Cain, chairman, assisted by
Mrs.. F. D. Keboch, Mrs. D. C. Giles,
Mrs. S. D. Clark, with the cooperation
of Miss Steck.
The rooms were very beautifully
decorated by a committee, incluiding
Mrs. Edward Hershey, chairman, Mrs.
Etheland Blauvelt. Miss Walmer and
Miss Elizabeth Glick. The color
scheme was gold and the elaborate
and artistic use of autumn flowers
and foliage turned the handsome
rooms of the Association into pic-tures
of loveliness.
In command of the Blues was the
captain, Miss Elizabeth Click and
these were her lieutenants:
Mrs. Ewing Cain, Mrs. S. D.
Clark, Mrs. Emma Cassady, Mrs.
Giles, Mrs. John Shay, Miss Agnes
Dahm, Miss Grace Shearer, Mrs. Mary
Smith, Miss Florence Kitchen, Miss
Pearl Holly, Mrs. George Copenhaver,
Mrs. Baxter, Mrs. D. Graeff , Miss
Mabel Hurley, and Miss Florence
Johnson of Hershey; Miss Elizabeth
Grove and Miss Bertha Wise, of Hum-melstown,
andMiss Emily Loose, Miss
Eva Foltz and Miss Elizabeth Mum-ma,
of Palmyra.
The captain of the Golds was Miss
Alberta Grove and her lieutenants
were:
Miss Ella Kegerreis, Mrs. C.
V. Glynn, Mrs. Ezra Hershey, Miss
Margaret Leithiser, Miss Mary Maul-fair,
Miss Bessie Moyer, Mrs. John
Snyder, Miss Lillian Clay and Miss
Florence Landgraph of Hershey; Miss
Jestinia Dissinger, Miss Carrie Brun-ner
and Miss Bertha Moyer, of Camp-belltown;
Mrs. S. P. Bacastow of
Derry Church ; Miss Beatrice Zeiters,
Mrs. Rose Hughes, and Miss Pearl
Behney, of Hummelstown; Miss Mabel
Foltz, Miss Priscilla Hoffman , Miss
Katharine Mumma and Miss Laura
Slesser, of Palmyra.
New Members Received
As a general reception committee
the captains and assistants took their
places in the lower hall and met all
who came. When a new member ar-rived
she was decorated with a white
ribbon , and a second ribbon , either
blue or gold, was added to show
through which army she had entered
the priveleges of the Association.
This idea gave the reception a cordial-ty'
and zest at the very start and the
whole evening went from one happy
incident to another.
The guests went^up stairs to the
reading room and wore greeted by the
reception committee, who were;
President , Mrs. M. L. Hershey ; Vice-president
, Miss Mary Leob; recording
secretary, Miss Viola Boyer; treasur-er,
Miss Bertha Leibhart; Mrs.
Bacastow, Miss Mabol Fultz, Miss
Bertha Moyer, Miss Esther Hummel,
Miss Mabol Nissley, Miss May Moyer,
Mrs. I. M, Moyer, Mrs. D. C. Giles,
Mrs. A, T, Hoilman , Mrs. L. E. Gar-man,
Mrs, J. E. Hills, Miss Alberta
Grove, Mrs. M. Baxter, Mrs. F. B.
Snavely, Mrs. George Coppenhaver,
Mrs. Ezra Hershey, Mrs. J. H. Moyer,
Mrs. Ewing Cain, -Mrs. Ulrich Weli-mer,
Mrs. Emma Cassady. The Di-rectors
were assisted by the officials:
general secretary, Miss Alice Elder ;
physical director, Miss Mary G.
Burch; luncheon director, Miss Sarah
L. Steck; kindergarten, Miss Margaret
Langworthy.
There was excellent music by an
orchestra under Director Feese. Miss
Dorothy Sellers rendered a piano solo
exquisitely. Miss Eva Foltz of Pal-myra
gave two .fine vocal numbers.
Then came a reading by Mrs. Evarts,
wife of Professor Evarts of the pub-lic
school of Hershey. Mrs. Evarts
charmed her' audience and was en-thusiastically
applauded. The new
Victrola presented by. Mr. M. S. Her-shey
to the gymnasium class added
to the life and value of the program.
After this the guests were invited to
the dining room which had been es-pecially
decorated for the evening and
here a bountiful menu was served—
creamed oysters on toast, fruit salad,
sandwiches, ice cream, cake and cof-fee.
The waitresses were as grace-ful
as they . were popular and they
included Miss Emma Wassher, Miss
May Smith, Miss Grace Shearer, Miss
Ethel Holoway, Miss Agnes Dahm,
Miss Ethel Foltz, Miss Mabel Hurley,
Miss Pearl Holly, Marie Gebhard,
Bessie Whittle, Miss Elizabeth Click,
Miss Florence Johnson and Mrs. Foltz.
The work of this committee evoked
special praise.
After the refreshments Miss Caro-line
Jones gave a talk along Associa-tion
lines. She was introduced by the
president, Mrs. M. L. Hershey, who
made a little address so. full of tact,
appreciation, and approbation that
Miss Jones was moved to call the
membership contest the most wonder-ful
she had ever known, for both
sides had won and nobody lost.
Miss Jones is the special worker
for the field committee, of the Young
Women's Christian Association of
Pennsylvania and Delaware. She told
in a most interesting, manner what
membership in the Association means.
It not only includes all local advant-ages
but opens to the member the
priveleges of the whole worlcj-wide
organization. For instance the mem-bership
ticket of Hershey is trans-ferable
to Associations in other cities
and the Hershey, member has the ad-vantages
of belonging to a society
that has its branches and buildings in
almost every place of the land and in
many corners of the world. Miss
Jones held her audience admirably and
her talk was a great success. Pri-vately
she had many words of praise
for the Hershey Association. Its
building was a glad surprise and a
model of its kind. She exclaimed
upon the beauty of the building just
after she got off /the train.
Plans For the Winter
After the address many returned to
the library and enjoyed the songs of
Miss Blanche Wingart, who had to re-spond
to a number of encores. Many
members visited tho now rooms of tho
gymnasium club and found much to
approve. Tho reception lasted from
8 to about 11 and there was not a dull
moment. All tho officers were con-stant
centers of activity and congrat-ulation
and members of tho staff , Miss
Elder, Miss Burch , Miss Stock and
Miss Langworthy added largely to the
pleasure of tho evening. To all the
guests were distributed announce-ments
for the season of 1914 and 1915,
Members have tho following privel-eges
: low rate of tuition in the Gym-nasium
and Educational Classes; lec-tures;
transferable membership tick-ets,
opportunity to moot other girls
and make friends. Tho classes of-fered
are as follows:
Sowing, Toachor, Mrs. S. P. Bacas-tow.
Cooking, Toachor, Miss Sarah L.
Stock,
Gloo Club, Director , Miss Blanche
Wingart.
Christmas Ideas. Class opens Nov,
(5th, closes Doc. 11th. Froo to As-sociation
members,
Bible Class, Toachor, Miss Alice
Elder, study in nets by Miss Grace
Saxo;
Physical Department, Miss Mary
G. Burch, Physical Director. Class
work will include Gorman and Swed-ish
Gymnastics, Corrective Gymnas-tics,
Folic Dancing, Esthetic Work,
Basket Ball, Volley Ball, and numer-ous
games.
Classes are scheduled to accommo-date
business girls,, homo women, high
school girls and juniors.
Religious Work. Prayer service
each Thursday evening at C o'clock
in tho Rending Room. Sunday after-noon
meetings; for women, will bo
hold monthly. Y. W. C. A. Bible
Glass open to all.
¦ g . * VER since the beginning of Hershey its founder Las manifested H
.g, I™"* a qeep aha abiding' interest in the promotion and improvement g
B. of the.school facilities of Derry Township. In every move- . §J
¦g ment for progress his co-operation has been prompt and lis aid generous. S
¦ (¦'. In' Lis broad vision he has •worked not only for what is. of largest g
H value, in the educaitional advance of the times ' but for an equipment -g
B. that should he a standard for the State and the Nation. His idea g
B was a great: public school in which the best might be provided free of g
l 1 all charge to the yoiith of this district. Through his aid a fine school g-
.g •was erected and was inaugurated on high lines with such success that g
B it soon outgrew its accommodations, signally proving lis belief in the §¦
g plan, of a consolidated institution that would spread its benefits over g
11 the> whole section tributary to Hershey. Then followed his remark- g
g able and splendid offer of the present building for the consolidated g
g ¦ schools in exchange for 'the old building and the lot on which it stands. .}§
g In. the whole history of free education m America no act was ever f§
{§ more worthy and it was inspired purely by his noble desire to give to jjj
§ trie boys and girls the finest advantages possible. It was the act of a g
g patriotic American seeking to develop and strengthen one of the chief g
g bulwarks of the national life, the Public School System. .' Therefore , , S
g be 'it resoloed : jj
g 1.—-That the School Board of Derry Township extend to ( jg
;g Milton S. Hershey their cordial thanks for his enlightened civic spirit g
g and munificence and the assurance of the cordial appreciation of the g
g people whom they represent ; g
g 2:—.That they have embodied these sentiments, by officially 3
g naming the building "The M. S. Hershey Consolidated Schools of g
g Derry Township ; . g
g 3.—That they wish to express personally their acknowledg- - g
H roent of Mr. Hershey s loyalty and unselfishness in all relations be- g
' S tween him and the Board and to add their high admiration of him as B
B man and citizen ; |§
H 4.—That a copy of this minute properly engrossed and framed g
H shall he sent to Milton S. Hershey, with every good wish for his g
g future health and happiness. ||
g Adopted unanimously and signed by all the members of the g]
3 Board, this twelfth day of October, nineteen hundred and fourteen. B
1 Albert B. Shenk, President g
§j. D. M. HERSHEY, Vice-President I
I ' A. W. SNAVELY, Secretary I
I H. M. WlTMAN, Treasurer j
I | CM. MECKLEY, Member
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. illlllllllllll!llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll «m
| Minute Adop ted by the |School Board
[ of Derry Townsh|ip, Dauphin Counyt