Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1912 — Collegeville Items. [ARTICLE]

Collegeville Items.

Christmas day was a happy one for all the students who remained at the college. Fr. Justin Henkel sang the early high mass and then preached an interesting sermon. The later high mass was sung by Fr. Fr. Andrew Gietel who preached a powerful sermon on the Christ Child. , In the afternoon Fr. Justin entertained the visitors, students, brothers and sisters with some classical selections on tho graphophone, and the glee club sang several happy songs. A few exciting games of basketball were played, one of them being especially laugh provoking. It was a performance of perfect non-professionals; no one was chosen for the game unless he had not played during the season. Nothing was more disregarded than the rules and yet the spectators had no more pleasure than the players themselves seemed to enjoy. With another year’s practice outside of the gymnasium, they will be able to excel even this effort in future games. Tiie evening’s play, “Pizarro,” was also highly entertaining. According to the plot Pizarro, the Spanish hero, Is again returned to Teru, whence he had been driven by the Peruvians, under the youthful Alonzo. The latter, though trained by Pizarro in warfare, left this leader and joined the Peruvians because tilje Spaniards had treated the natives so cruelly. Alonzo Is captured and Imprisoned by the Spanish soldiers, but Rolla, a Peruvian leader, takes his place in the dungeort. Elviro, a young friend of Pizarro, disgusted at last with his leader’s cruelty, frees Rolla, leads him to Plzarro’s tent and placing a dagger in his hand bids him slay the sleeping tyrant. But in the crucial moment the nobleness of the Peruvian asserts itself and he will not commit the crime, He awakens Pizarro, however, and shows how he had him in his power. Though Rolla is given permission to return to his own country, Elviro’a deed Is found out and he is to be punished with death. Before Rolla could reach- his own

people he fa again eaptured an* brought before Pizarro; at the sub* time, Alonzo’s child, Just capture! by Spanish soldiers, is also brought before him. Roll* with a dask mt bravery seizes the child and makes off with it. He is shot but escape# with the child to the Peruvian capital. The climax heightens at the very end abruptly when Pizarro ta slain in combat with Alonzo. The drama is far from being afc historical one and equally far from being a well written one. It waa a misfortune that it was chosen for Christmas evening, but this was due to lack of time for another choice. There was not enough action in It for a play of this type; the plot was too simple and some parts were totally irrelevant. But the acting was by no means mediocre. Mr. Anthony Pax almost made us believe that he was the cruel, ambitious, revengeful Pizarro, reinstated in flesh and Mr. Zeller, as Rollo, was a real, kind 1 , disinterested and forgiving son of nature, though nobler perhaps than Rupert Landoll was a tender, sincere and brave Alonzo. Urban Koehl showed us the youth, Elviro, admiring and confident, but disillusioned and bitterly revengeful at last. These characters as well as the other and minor ones were better than their written parts. No more could have been expected from any character. The musical numbers were more interesting than the play. Homer Arnold at the piano, Frank De .Taco at the guitar, Albert Brennan and the St. Xavier’s Quartette with their singing, afforded the audience full measure of enjoyment. The following visitors were at the college on Christmas day: Mr. Joseph Westgertis and Mr. Jerome Fuilonkamp from Victoria, Ohio; John C. Manion, Valparaiso, Ind.; William Schweitzer, Ft. Recovery, Ohio; Joh® Dietz, Botkins, Ohio; John Radermacher, Theodore Zelgler, Arnold Bollenbeck, Middletown, Wis.; Jacob and Leo Pak, Cellna, Ohio.