WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17.

The Alumni re-assembled in Institute Hall at ten o'clock, Vice-President Boller in the Chair. Mr. Wallace, from the committee to nominate officers for the ensuing three years, reported the following:

President.-William Gurley.

Vice-Presidents.-W. W. Walker, Frederic Grinnell, John D. Van Buren.

Secretary.-H. B. Nason.

Treasurer.-David M. Greene.

Directors.--E. Thompson Gale, Francis Collingwood, Joseph E. Platt, W. H. Doughty, R. B. C. Bement.

The nominations being approved, the above list of officers was unanimously elected.

A dispatch from Prof. James Hall was read, stating that owing to illness, he would not be able to be present and address the meeting as expected.

Hon. William Gurley, President elect, then took the Chair, thanking the association for the honor conferred upon him. Prof. Nason alluded briefly to his re-election, and wished to be allowed to resign, inasmuch as according to the constitution he could not hold the office. On motion of Hon. John H. White, the constitution was suspended, and the election thereby ratified.. A. P. Boller, Esq., offered the following resolution which was unanimously adopted:

"That the thanks of the Alumni Association be tendered to Prof. H. B. Nason, Secretary, for his unwearied endeavors in organizing and carrying forward the programme of this, the semi-centennial anniversary of the Institute's life, and for watching so carefully over the comforts and pleasures of the members of this association and other visitors."

Dr. Ambler proposed a vote of thanks to Hon. A. R. Fox, for his efforts in securing the erection of the Eaton

monument.

Mr. Wallace moved to include in the vote of thanks the other members of the committee, and Prof. Nason, at whose suggestion the Eaton memorial window was placed, and by whom it was also designed. Both motions were unani

mously carried.

Dr. J. G. Ambler, class of 1833, presented the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:

Whereas, An all wise Providence has seen fit since our last meeting, to remove from this earth two of the graduates of this Institution; and, whereas it is meet and proper that a record of such fact be made on our minutes; therefore

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to draft, place on record, and send to the family of deceased, suitable resolutions expressive of our feelings on the death of Amos Westcott, M. D., of Syracuse, N. Y., a graduate of class of 1835.

Be it also Resolved, that a committee of three be appointed by the Chair to draft, place on record, and send to the family of deceased resolutions expressive of our feelings on the death of Prof. Anthony, of Albany, a graduate of 1840. The following committees were appointed:

On the death of Prof. Anthony-Prof. H. B. Nason, John H. White, and A. M. Lesley.

On the death of Dr. Westcott-Dr. J. G. Ambler, Dr. S. E. Arms, and Hon. A. R. Fox.

A. M. Lesley, of New York, then spoke briefly of the time he was a pupil of Prof. Anthony, and paid a very handsome tribute to his distinguished qualifications as a

teacher.

Prof. Nason read an autobiographical sketch of Prof. Anthony's life, which was prepared for the Institute records. two years since.

Hon. Norman Stratton, of the Brooklyn navy yard was introduced, and addressed the alumni in regard to the history and influence of the Institute.

ADDRESS BY HON. NORMAN STRATTON, CLASS OF 1838.

The lateness of the hour admonishes me that I must very much abridge the remarks I had intended to submit to you on this very interesting occasion, and therefore, without prelude or preface, I will at once enter upon the task assigned me.

Mr. President and Gentlemen :

The usefulness and value of an institution of learning, after having passed through a half century of existence, must be judged by a severer test than mere advertised professions. Its tenure for the future will, in a great measure, depend upon what it has already accomplished. If it has left the mark of its influence upon every decade through which it has passed; if mankind have progressed towards a higher life by means of its teachings-if that which before was occult and useless has been brought to light, vitalized and utilized for the good of the race through its instrumentality, then it has truly demonstrated its right not only to a new lease of life, but to the earnest support of every friend of development and progress. That this institution meets and successfully answers to all such tests, severe as they are, is abundantly proven by the history of its graduates and the direct impress of their acquirements on the achievements of the past and the present.

In all the departments of the world's progress calculated by their practical utility to develop material prosperity by opening up new avenues to enterprise, and in determining new combinations of agencies to produce results before unknown, this institution has a record of which it may be justly proud. Its graduates are everywhere and always

active. They are in the army and in the navy-in universities and colleges-in the halls of our legislatures, both State and National-in the laboratories of the analytical chemist -in the pulpit, in the law and in medicine-in agriculture, giving to it an elevation and a charm of intelligence which the merely plodding practical farmer never knew-in the varied and ever-varying manufacturing and mechanic artsin intricate and careful surveys, geographical and topograpical, and in the construction of our railroads, canals and other works. Indeed so varied and polytechnic are their acquirements, that it would be difficult to find any field of practical usefulness or human enterprise where they are not found conspicuous as workers. Decided in their convictions, because thorough and practical in their deductions, they win their way to the confidence and esteem of all with whom they come in contact.

It was a graduate of this Institute who laid the first T or heavy rail, on any railroad in this State. It was a graduate of this Institute who superintended the construction of the first long, or eight wheels car which ever ran in this State. It was a graduate of this Institute who demonstrated by survey that there was no necessity for the cumbersome and tedious inclined plane on the Albany railroad, at Schenectady, and who ran a line of levels within sight of that inclined plane, establishing a grade of about fifty feet to the mile, and on which line the present track, easily traversed by an ordinary locomotive, is located. All the vast improvements in the means of intercommunication in this country with their manifold blessings and benefits to all, have been prosecuted, to a greater or less extent by our graduates. To the practical minds of our graduates we are indebted for improvements in labor-saving machinery and in instruments and apparatus of various kinds. When I entered the profession, very few of the instruments then in use were manufactured in our country, and those which were, were not considered as accurate and reliable as those imported. Our theodolites, transits, levels and drawing instruments, were all from England. Since then, intelligence,