Mr. Van Lennep told me that they kept up their Round-Tables every day until the close of the Assembly, and that they numbered seventy strong and raised a fund of $500 toward building a hall of philosophy at Monteagle. (Applause.)
This is a sort of reunion meeting; for songs, for questions, for statements of difficulties, and for reports. Are there any large local circles represented here? Is there a local circle of one hundred members represented here to-day? Let the leader of that circle stand up and raise the hand. Are there any? Mr. Martin, of Pittsburgh, has such a circle.
Mr. Martin: I would say that we have a circle in Pittsburgh that has enrolled something like seven or eight hundred members altogether. Occasionally one or two hundred of them will drop out, so we do not claim that we have a circle quite up to that number all the time. We have fifty-four graduates enrolled as a sort of executive committee to keep up our Local Circle movement. We have monthly meetings, and also have numerous weekly meetings in different parts of the city. These weekly meetings are usually reported to the central circle, and the members attend more or less at our monthly meetings.
As an alumni association, we have got up on a little higher plane, and during the past year we held three meetings. Our first meeting was a reunion and banquet at one of the leading hotels. Our second meeting was a very enthusiastic one, conducted by the members of the alumni association in the eastern part of our city. At our last and final meeting we had Bishop Warren to address us. We had one of the largest churches in the city filled, and charged an admission fee as well. We felt rich. We have a fund of about $60 to start with next year. We expect to bring a large number of ’83 members into our alumni association. We are still enthusiastic over the C. L. S. C. We were enthusiastic five years ago, have been every year since, and propose to continue to be enthusiastic as long as the C. L. S. C. exists. (Applause.)
Dr. Vincent: That is good. Is there any one here who can make some report from Monterey Circle? They had an unusual time last year. Is Miss Hudson present? Although she has not been at Monterey, she has been in communication with the Monterey people. Would you object to make a statement as you have it?
Miss Hudson: I can give a few facts.
Dr. Vincent: Please do so. Miss Myrtie Hudson, of Ann Arbor.
Miss Hudson: I have received quite enthusiastic reports from Monterey. There were present in July twenty-five members to graduate. I do not know how large the class was through the state, but they had about that number present. The exercises held were in the hall, which was beautifully decorated for the occasion. An address was delivered and the diplomas were given out by Dr. Stratton, our president of the branch of the Pacific coast. He was one of the graduates of ’83. Dr. Wythe, the author of our book on biology, was also one of the graduates.
I have received this message from there to-day, that the book, “The Hall in the Grove,” has been of very great value in their work, and they want to make the suggestion, that it would be a good idea to have this book read by members in the first year, instead of the fourth year.
Dr. Vincent: The suggestion of having “The Hall in the Grove” read in the first year instead of the fourth year is a very good one.