Another little girl, not ten years old, had one dollar which she had been saving for sometime. It was her total bank credit. When she heard of our pressing needs, she slipped her dollar into my hand, asking that it be spent for the poor children in our field.
A woman, for years an A.M.A. teacher, but now a bed-ridden invalid, pledges $100 to the work of the Association. What can we not do when there is so much of Christian self-sacrifice in both departments of our field?
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ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES AT GREGORY INSTITUTE.
WILMINGTON, N.C.
Our anniversary really began May 18, for on the evening of that date were held the public exercises of the "Gregory Band of Hope." There are at least 160 members of this Band and they hold fortnightly meetings.
One of the principal lessons which has to be impressed upon these children, is the sacredness of the pledge. We feel sure that much has been gained in this direction the past year. There were those who would come forward and manfully confess when they had violated any condition of the pledge. But the good done to the children is not the only benefit. Through these children, the parents become interested in temperance. One little boy said, "Since I joined the Band of Hope I got my papa and mamma to join the pledge too." Many families were represented by either father or mother, and in many cases by both. This topic is destined very soon to be of paramount importance in the training of the colored people.
The week beginning May 21 was given up to examinations. The pupils have in the main done well. Many of them in advancement and aptness will compare well with white children. By reason of a re-arrangement in the course of study, there was no graduating class this year. However, on the evening of May 25, we had an exhibition given by the scholars. The stage at the back was prettily draped with the national colors, and flowers were scattered in profusion everywhere. At the appointed hour the room was filled with the parents of the pupils and other friends of the schools. The programme was a miscellaneous one, made up of tableaux, songs, dialogues and recitations. Some of these reflected great credit upon the pupils and their teachers. I say some of them, because some parts were rendered so excellently as to astonish one who did not expect anything very good from negro scholars. One beautiful scene was, "Winding the May Pole," by twelve little girls dressed in white. Another striking piece was, "What Alcohol has done for the Nations." Different persons in appropriate costume represented the various nations of Europe and one represented Africa, each in a short speech stating what havoc alcohol had made. One young lad caused a good deal of merriment in declaiming "Theology at the Quarters," in which he drew a picture of the candidate for heaven being subjected to a close examination before he could be admitted through the "Alaplaster gate." "The questions," said the declaimer, "you must answer mighty straight. And de watermillion question gwine to cause a heap o' trouble." When one of these colored people declaims in the Negro dialect, it is a treat. There is nothing artificial about it.