"There is Life in the Old Land Yet."
JOHN McINTOSH, JR., LIBERTY CO., GA.
I came to this place in October and undertook the work necessary to a successful beginning of my school duties. Several county free schools were in session on my arrival, and I deemed it wise to visit them and urge the patronage of my school, which I intended opening when the free schools were closed. I visited and witnessed the closing exercises of these schools, and was pleased with the progress made by some of them. The great scarcity of proper books and other school accommodations was quite manifest. Some of these schools had scholars sufficiently advanced for the Second or Third Readers, but did not have the means to purchase suitable books, and so the teachers kept them reading in the blue-back speller, and accomplished something.
I succeeded in getting pupils to come to my school from one to ten miles away. I began teaching under the auspices of the American Missionary Association immediately at the close of the free schools, and the number of pupils and the interest in education increased rapidly. The number enrolled has been large, and the average attendance good. A most decided improvement has been made in punctuality and the general observance of school regulations and requirements. Many have paid something toward the education of their children, and quite a number something toward procuring proper books for their children.
The school is prospering, the people are taking a proper view of things, and the workers are encouraged. May our sky continue bright.
Home Life Among the Negroes—An Incident.
MRS. T. N. CHASE, ATLANTA.
The saddest reports of home life among the negroes are gained from conversation with our returned student teachers. One of our girls, a born lady, delicate and refined, who had always lived comfortably in the city, went out to teach for the first time this summer. Her first boarding-place was a log house of three rooms and twenty occupants. Each room contained a separate family. There were no windows or openings in the logs except the chimney and door, and of course the door must be shut at night to keep out animals. The father and mother have a bed; the children (boys and girls) all nestle together on a quilt spread on the floor, in the corner, sleeping in the same filthy garments they have worn through the day. Think of trying to sleep as she had to during the intense heat of last summer in a close room with twelve persons. The first morning she told the man of the house he must get a saw and make a place for a window. He protested; so did she; said she should sit up all night and not shut her eyes to sleep unless it was done; and it was done. Need a missionary in Africa practice more self-denial than this exceedingly neat and delicate girl in Georgia? She took a lamp with her which was a great curiosity, as the children were not accustomed even to a candle. At dusk the door was filled with eager eyes waiting to see her "make a fire in that queer thing." She is an unusually sweet singer. It was remarkable how quickly her fine voice was recognized and appreciated by the musical intuitions of even that rude people. They came long distances to beg her "to sing one more time," and often remarked, "I'm shore the angels can't sing no better."