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 SILVER LINKS

 A COLLECTION OF SALUTATORY, VALEDICTORY AND
 OTHER ADDRESSES DELIVERED AT THE FIRST
 FIVE COMMENCEMENTS OF THE FEMALE
 STENOGRAPHIC AND TYPEWRITING
 CLASS OF THE GENERAL SOCIETY
 OF MECHANICS AND
 TRADESMEN
 OF THE
 CITY OF NEW YORK


 COMPILED BY
 W. L. MASON


 NEW YORK
 ALBERT B. KING, 89 WILLIAM STREET
 1892




 TO
 MR. ISAAC PITMAN
 THE "FATHER OF PHONOGRAPHY"
 THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS MOST RESPECTFULLY
 INSCRIBED
 BY
 THE COMPILER




Introductory Note


It is always beautiful to see the young confront the uncertainties of
the future, and look forward with faith to happiness and success. I am
proud of young women who are willing to devote their evenings, when
they must toil for a livelihood through the day, to a course of study
which will secure to them the knowledge of a mechanical art. This
knowledge becomes a treasure which no disaster of fire or flood can
ever destroy, and a source of comfortable income through life. It
makes dependent young women independent, and I congratulate every one
who graduates from this excellent school of instruction with her
well-earned diploma, which is more valuable to her than any legacy of
gold or precious stones.

                                        Martha J Lamb

New York City, April 16, 1892.




Address of Rev. C. S. Harrower, D. D.

_To the Class of '87._


"Ladies of the graduating class,--Ladies and Gentlemen: It seems as
if words were hardly in place to-night, because of the interesting
programme which is before you. I suppose we have no conception of
the exercises prepared for us this evening. I never knew of this
Institution until Mr. Moore told me of it, and I am particularly glad
to be here.

"I have often remarked that our New York life is like the life of one
of our great rivers,--the Hudson. Did you ever live upon its banks
and look away upon its stretch of water to the south or to the north;
count its sails, and its tugs, and its fleets of canal boats and all
its life,--for half an hour fascinated by the beautiful scene; and
then go away to your work, or to your pleasure, for a few hours, and
return and look upon that great stretch of river and see that other
sails had taken the place of those first sails, and other vessels
were coming into view, indicating the marvelous life of that mighty
stream? I did that, year after year, and it seems to me that the
General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen is like the mighty river
Hudson, doing its work day after day and year after year,--a work
that seems to me to be so useful and inspiring.

"The gentlemen interested in this Society are to be congratulated.
It seems to me that such an Institution as this is among the most
beautiful, among the most stimulating of all institutions that mark
our civilization."

Dr. Harrower then spoke of the serious consequences which often follow
the carelessness of a lawyer, the blunder of a switchman, the neglect
of a servant, or the indolence of a physician, and, in contrast, dwelt
upon the beneficent results attained by close attention to duty,
explaining also how great good arises from even very trifling acts. He
also remarked how strange it is that some people have every chance of
getting on in this world, while others are "mortgaged to begin with,"
and hampered and chained through life.

"But," said he, in conclusion, "it seems to me that this Society is
engaged in a work that is characteristic of the civilization to which
we belong, and is following after our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who lived not to serve Himself, but the world. I congratulate you,
young ladies, that when you were put upon your trial it was found that
you had been laboring in the race of life; and to-night you are to
receive the signal token of the skill you have attained, and of the
favor in which you stand in this school."




Salutatory Address

BY MISS S. J. SIRINE.

_Class of '87._


In meeting you this evening, gentlemen of the Committee and friends,
we, the members of the Classes in Shorthand and Typewriting,
experience a double pleasure. First, is the satisfaction that we
have accomplished the task which we undertook last October, and the
consciousness that we are about to go forth carrying our diplomas as
proof that the Winter has been well spent, and that we are master of
a very fascinating and important art; and, secondly, we feel the
delightful sensation of being highly complimented at the kindly
interest taken in the Class displayed by those present this evening.

We sincerely hope that the exercises of the evening, and the gratitude
of the teachers and class, feebly expressed through this channel, will
be ample proof to you of our appreciation of the compliment conveyed
by your presence, and trust that we shall continue to receive your
good wishes for our success; that we shall go forth into the business
world making good use of our profession, and worthy of the interest in
our progress displayed by the Committee and friends of this Society,
and of the care and attention bestowed on us by our teachers.

To my classmates, cordial congratulations that we can meet to-night,
and, comparing notes, find that the report for the Winter is goodly
evidence of time well spent; that, in spite of what at first appeared
to be the insurmountable obstacle of the alphabet, we plodded bravely
on to the primer, and from the slowly and carefully drawn outlines of
familiar words, we entered at last into the spirit of our art, and
with pencils tipped, as it were, with electricity, learned to catch
the swiftly flowing words from the lips of the speaker, and to present
them in a tangible form, ready for future reference. So also with
typewriting. Though the unruly instrument at first persisted in
spelling "cat" t-a-c, and always put an interrogation point where a
period ought to be; still, with patient perseverance, cheered by the
inspiring words of our teacher: "I used to do the same thing," and
filled with envy at his display of skill, we took fresh hope, tried
again, and, as we were told we should,--succeeded. The pleasure of the
art of shorthand, more than any other, is not confined alone to the
artist. You all know the important offices in business life which
shorthand fills; of its importance to the press and all departments of
the literary world, it is not necessary to speak. From the eloquent
words of gifted speakers to the eagerly watched for words of the
President's Message; from the business letter in the merchant's office
to the words of the witness on the witness stand; our art fulfills its
important mission of giving to others the pleasure and satisfaction
which are experienced on hearing them.

This evening forty more are added to the list of American writers of
the Isaac Pitman Phonography. It is to be hoped that none of us shall
ever, in any way, be the means of bringing reproach on our art; but
rather that we shall work to make many improvements, that we shall
help to prove its value in the different departments of business into
which it enters, and ere another fifty years shall cause the trumpet
of Jubilee to sound throughout the land, this class of Isaac Pitman
phonographers shall have been the means of bringing to ripe perfection
the system of Phonography.




Valedictory Address

BY MISS N. C. STEPHENS.

_Class of '87._

     "The Spirit of the Time shall teach me speed," says Shakespeare.


How truly that applies to the present day, when one might say we are
living, as it were, in an age of rapidity, and cannot fail to catch
the infection, for the very air seems filled with it. Competition