For several years a large part of the public have had object lessons from nature and in form of a daily exercise, with especial reference to teaching them to make simple and exact statements in clear and correct language; and in their examinations they were said to show marked ability in making nice distinctions and using good English.
The experiment of the senior normal girls in cottage housekeeping under the direction of one of the teachers meets with universal favor. Everybody in these United States thinks every girl ought to know how to keep house well, and the best way to learn how to do a thing is to do it. The outcome of the work in this department is highly satisfactory, and we wish we had a larger cottage for next year.
The silk culture has been worth the while for the sake of the entertainment and instruction it has afforded, even if no pecuniary benefit came from it. The worms “wound up” their business, at about the same time the rest of us did ours, and everybody said “Well done.”
The competitive gardens formed another feature in our work. These were a rod square and thirty-six in number. Beets, beans, peas, potatoes and onions were the crops. The potatoes were dug on the last day of examination, and it was found that our native African had gained the first prize, having 82½ pounds on his square rod. How about slavery’s developing the African race?
As the visitors inspected the new barn, the twelve full kits of carpenters’ tools donated by a friend in New York City, though still unused, were not concealed from view. Funds for a shop have now been pledged, and a teacher of carpentering is to be employed, even if some other department is suspended, and the boys are to be taught the use of tools, in obedience to the prevailing sentiment of what ought to be, and in the hope that such instruction will help the colored man to hold his present position in the mechanical field.
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS.
On Commencement day “everything passed off well,” and a clergyman from Boston was heard to say, “Good thoughts well expressed.” Sixteen young men and women received diplomas or certificates, and listened to parting words from the president.
Governor McDaniel honored us with his presence, and sent a verbal message to the graduates, saying that he had been much pleased with their exercises and felt a warm interest in them.
At the alumni meeting an excellent paper was read by an alumnus upon the subject of industrial education, and several speeches were made, showing intellectual growth and telling of good work done.