[Illustration: ROBERT ELLIOTT FLICKINGER.]

XX

THE PROSPECTUS IN 1912

SCHOOL AND WORK PERIODS.--FARM WORK.--IMPROVEMENT WORK.--SAWING WOOD A

PICNIC.

"Art and science soon would fade

And commerce dead would fall,

If the farmer ceased to reap and sow

For the farmer feeds them all."

In 1912 the prospectus of the academy included the following

announcements:

Free tuition and books are accorded neighborhood pupils under thirteen,

that attend regularly after the time of their enrollment. Those over

fourteen are expected to pay fifty cents a month. The hope is expressed

that every one living near the Academy will see the propriety of making

the same noble endeavor to enjoy its valuable privileges for improvement

that is made by the many patrons who live at a distance.

An opportunity will be afforded a limited number of both boys and girls

over fourteen years to work out their term expenditures, with the

exception of $5.00 which must be paid at the time of enrollment. This

opportunity to work one's own way through school is given to two boys

and two girls during the term at one time and to others during the

vacation period.

After spending six and one-half or seven hours at study in the class

room, three hours, in the latter part of the afternoon of each day, are

devoted to industrial training and work on the farm, in the shop,

kitchen, laundry or sewing room. All work during this period, is

required to be done by the rule, which is first stated at the time of

assignment, and afterwards illustrated during the hours of work; and the

student is required to work as silently, thoughtfully and earnestly as

during the hours previously devoted to study.

Parents are requested to note that girls are not allowed to wear white

waists, skirts or dresses, except at the time of commencement and that

each student must supply their own toilet soap, combs and shoe polish.

The Bible is a required text book and every student is expected to

commit an average of one verse and read one chapter each day during the

term. The passages committed to memory are recited in concert to the

superintendent at the Bible Memory Service held every Sabbath afternoon.

The actual cost of carrying a boarding student through the term is about

$50.00. Every student that pays $28.00 or does extra work to that amount

enjoys a scholarship of equal amount contributed by the many friends who

are supporting the institution. Under this arrangement the student that

does most to help himself receives most from the friends who are ready

to co-operate with him. The doors of the Academy are thus open to the

penniless and homeless boy or girl, if they have a desire to be useful

and are willing to work; but young people who lack funds and at the same

time are unwilling to do extra work to cover the first half of their

expenses, are not regarded as either promising or desirable.

Since one half the cost of carrying boarding students at the Academy has

to be provided for by the generous offerings of friends, who are

interested in their temporal, moral and spiritual welfare, every

student is expected to show his appreciation of this fact, by being

always thoughtful and earnest, during all the hours set apart each day

for study and work. Only those who learn quickly how to be silent,

thoughtful and earnest workers, make that improvement in study and work

which forms the chief element in the reward of teachers and friends.

The student that makes the most encouraging progress is the one that

enters at the beginning of the term and continues to attend and work

faithfully until the end of it.

The annual report of the superintendent of Indian Territory for the year

1907 shows that at the Indian Orphan School at Wheelock, eight miles

east of Oak Hill, the cost of carrying each pupil a term of nine months

was $155.17, or an average of $17.05 a month. A comparison of these

figures with the cost at that time at Oak Hill, $25.00 a term of seven

months, or $3.60 a month, it is easy to see that the economy practiced

in a mission school is much greater than in one under government

control.

SCHOOL AND WORK PERIODS

Provision is made for eight hours of school work on the part of the

teachers, the first five days of every week of the term, and one hour on

Saturday evening. These are daily enjoyed by all the smaller pupils. But

all over fourteen years, after enjoying 6-1/2 hours in the school room,

are expected to work three hours each day in the latter part of the

afternoon, and on Saturdays until 2:30 p.m.

The two leading objects that are attained by this arrangement are, the

opportunity to give and receive practical instruction in the rules, or

best methods of doing every part of the work in the home or on an

improved farm; and enable those for whose benefit the institution has

been established, to perform the work that is necessary to be done for

the daily comfort of the students during term time, and the successful

and economical management of the farm which now contains 270 acres, of

which 140 acres are enclosed and 100 are under cultivation.

THE WOOD SUPPLY

The sawing and splitting of the wood at the two woodpiles, to meet the

daily demands of the many and large stoves, that have to be kept

constantly running, is the regular morning and evening chore of those of

the boys, that are not otherwise employed at that time about the

buildings or stock. The preparation of the fuel in the timber and again

at the woodpiles is, to say the least, a long and rather monotonous

employment. Boys who do not manifest an interest in this part of their

early training, by reason of its necessity and general healthfulness,

are prone to regard it as a very wearisome employment, until they

acquire skill in the matter of position and movement, and then their

delight is manifested in efforts to outdo one another.

THE FARM WORK

In order that friends at a distance may know something of the regular

methods of work during the three-hour work periods of each day and

during the period of the term the following notes are added:

During the first four or more weeks of the term, all the available

student help is busily employed gathering in the crops of cowpeas,

potatoes, corn and cotton. In order that their undivided attention may

be given to this important work at this time, all the wood needed for

fuel during this period has to be brought from the timber, before the

end of the previous term.

As soon as the crops have been gathered the long campaign for the year's

supply of wood in the timber,--about 25 cords,--has to be undertaken and

continued from week to week, especially on Saturdays until the end of

the term.

If the necessary materials are on hand, this is the golden time to start

the older and best trained boys on the permanent improvement work

outlined for the year, such as fence building, sprouting, clearing of

new lands, the construction of conveniences for the school, home or

farm, the repair of old, the erection and painting of new buildings and

finally, the preparation of the ground and planting of the crops for the

next year.

The boys, however, are never taken to the timber or fields when the

ground is damp or the weather is cold and unfavorable. When from these

causes they cannot work to advantage, they continue their studies in the

class room, all the day.

The two winter months of January and February have been ordinarily

unfavorable for student work in the timber or fields. The work is then,

to a considerable extent, limited to the carpenter shop, cellar, or

indoor work on new buildings.

IMPROVEMENT WORK

In order that the work performed by the students during the industrial

hours of each week, may serve to promote the welfare of the institution

as well as for training the individual, it devolves upon the

superintendent and matron to have ready suitable work, and all the tools

and materials necessary to execute it, when the students are ready for

assignment.

This work includes the chores morning and evening, the preparation of

the fuel--about twenty-five cords annually, first in the timber and

then at the woodpile--the cultivation of the farm and garden, the

harvesting of the crops and the care of the stock, all of which may be

termed necessary routine work.

In addition thereto there may be permanent improvement work, such as the

clearing of new lands for cultivation and enclosing them with good

fences, the repair of old and the erection of new buildings and the

manufacture of articles of furniture or comfort, for the better

equipment of the many rooms in the buildings.

A plain statement of these two kinds of work will indicate to nearly

every one the prime importance of endeavoring to accomplish as much

improvement work as possible each term. There is now more of this

improvement work pressing for immediate attention than possibly may be

done during the next three years, but it needs now to be contemplated,

intelligently provided for, and then executed as speedily as possible.

SAWING WOOD, A PICNIC

Saturday forenoon has come to be recognized as the special fuel or

timber day of each week. It is a busy and bustling day for all. For this

day's work two dozen boys are organised and equipped with axes, a

splitting outfit, four crosscut saws and the mule team. The axe men are

divided into two squads, the axe men or stumpers who cut down trees, and

the trimmers who trim the trunks and large branches. Three boys are

assigned to each crosscut, two of whom are expected to keep the saw

running steadily, while the third one, who is supposed to be resting,

carries a light lever and, with the weight of his body raises the log

under the crosscut, so it will not bind the saw as it goes through it.

By taking turns at the saw and lever, the hardness of this work is

greatly relieved, and it sometimes is surprising to see the amount of

work, done by the small boys, when they have "a mind to work." If the

logs are large or the saw runs hard, it is not unusual for them to

couple together and merrily make the running of the saw a four-handed

affair. The superintendent, or one of the older boys acting as a

foreman, goes before the saws and with an axe marks out the work for

them, so they can work speedily, and so that every piece that may serve

for posts, long or short, or for fence props or rails, is cut the proper

length.

The boys have worked faithfully and industriously in the timber on

Saturday forenoons. A rest of fifteen minutes has always been given,

about the middle of the forenoon. When the signal is given, they

assemble at some convenient place, where there are several logs suited

for seats; for all are required to be seated as the best way to rest

their weary limbs, during this period.

A pail of fresh water and a paper sack filled with soda crackers is

always provided for their enjoyment at this time. A smile of pleasure

and delight is sure to light up the countenance of every boy, when,

taking his turn, he thrusts his hand into the paper sack and draws

therefrom his appointed number of crackers.

At these periods of rest and lunch all usually seem as happy as if they

were enjoying a regular social picnic dinner. Amid the merriment and

pleasantry of the occasion they seem to forget all consciousness of

weariness, or thought that their work is hard, and resume it again with

pleasure and delight.

XXI

OBLIGATION AND PLEDGES.

OBLIGATION.--ENDEAVOR.--SELP-HELP STUDENTS.--TEMPERANCE.--THE

INTOXICATING CUP.--PRESIDENT LINCOLN.--PRESIDENT HARRISON.

"Thy vows are upon me O God. I will pay my vows unto the Lord, in

the presence of all his people."--David.

I. THE STUDENT'S OBLIGATION

On being received as a student of this institution, I do solemnly

promise, God helping me, that I will be obedient to the rules of this

institution and endeavor to prove myself an earnest student and

thoughtful, faithful worker; that I will be prompt in responding to

every call, pay the cost of repair to any furniture or glass broken, as

a result of thoughtlessness or carelessness on my part; and that I will

refrain from the use of profane or angry words to man or beast; and also

from the use of tobacco, cigarettes, snuff, dice, gamblers cards, and

intoxicating liquors as a beverage, while I enjoy the privileges of the

academy.

II. CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR PLEDGE

Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength, I promise him that I

will strive to do whatever he would like to have me do; that I will pray

to Him and read the Bible every day, and that, so far as I know how,

throughout my whole life, I will endeavor to lead a christian life.

III. PLEDGE OF SELF-HELP STUDENTS

As long as I am accorded and enjoy the privilege of a home and of a

student at Oak Hill Academy, recognizing the fact that my time during

the periods of work does not belong to me, but to the institution;

I solemnly pledge my word and honor, God helping me, that I will refrain

from making any engagement elsewhere, that might interfere with the

faithful and constant performance of the duties devolving on me at Oak

Hill; that I will conscientiously keep my word as to the time of my

return, when absent from my home at the academy; that I will yield a

prompt and cordial obedience to all the rules and regulations relating

to the conduct of students at the academy, and that I will constantly

endeavor to show myself worthy the confidence and esteem of the

superintendent and his helpers; and not leave the institution until I

have honorably met all of my obligations.

IV. TOTAL ABSTINENCE PLEDGE

"Abstain from all appearance of evil."--Paul.

"With malice toward none and charity for all, I the undersigned do

pledge my word and honor,

"GOD HELPING ME

"To abstain from all Intoxicating Liquors as a beverage and that I

will, by all honorable means, encourage others to abstain."

An acre of government land costs $1.25, and a bottle of whiskey about

$2.00. How strange that so many people prefer the whiskey.

[Illustration: The Intoxicating Cup]

THE INTOXICATING CUP

Within this glass destruction rides,

And in its depths does ruin swim;

Around its foam perdition glides,

And death is dancing on its brim.

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT IT

A curse.--Queen Victoria.

A scandal and a shame.--Gladstone.

It stupefies and besots.--Bismark.

The devil in solution.--Sir Wilfred Lawson.

The mother of want and the nurse of crime.--Lord Brougham.

Saloons are traps for workingmen.--Earl Cairnes.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The following is the pledge of Abraham Lincoln, the great emancipator.

"Whereas, the use of alcoholic liquors as a beverage is productive

of pauperism, degradation and crime, and believing it is our duty to

discourage that which produces more evil than good; we, therefore

pledge ourselves to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as

a beverage."

When Lincoln signed the pledge he was a tall awkward youth, and the only

one that went forward at the meeting in the log school house to sign it

that night. When he was president, "Old Uncle John," who induced him to

sign it, called on him at the White House and Lincoln said:

"I owe more to you than to almost any one of whom I can think. If I

had not signed the pledge in the days of my youthful temptation, I

should probably have gone the way of a majority of my early

companions, who lived drunkard's lives and are now filling

drunkard's graves."

After reconstruction, the next great question is the overthrow of the

liquor traffic.--Abraham Lincoln.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON

"Gentlemen I have now twice refused your request to partake of the

wine cup. That should be sufficient. I made a resolve when I started

in life, that I would avoid strong drink: I have never broken that

pledge. I am one of a class of seventeen young men who graduated;

the other sixteen fill drunkard's graves, all due to the pernicious

habit of wine drinking. I owe my health, happiness and prosperity to

the fact I have never broken my pledge of total abstinence. I trust

you will not again urge me to do so."

This noble answer was given to friends who were dining with him at the

old Washington House in Chester, Pa., when he was a candidate for

president.

XXII

BIBLE STUDY AND MEMORY WORK

AIMS IN BIBLE STUDY.--SELF-CONTROL.--TRAINING THE MEMORY AND

VOICE.--DIVINE TRUTH THE NEED OF ALL.--ONE BOOK IN THE HOME.--COMMITTED

TO MEMORY.--THE BIBLE ONLY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL.--A LIFE-LONG GOLDEN

TREASURE.--A FOUNTAIN OF BLESSING.--UPLIFTING POWER IN NEW HEBRIDES.

"Hold fast the form of sound words; ... that ye may be able to give

to every one that asketh, a reason of the hope that is in

you."--Paul.

The development of the Bible-memory work, that, during the later years

of this period, moved forward very rapidly, was one of small beginnings

and slow progress at first. The meetings were held at half past two

o'clock on Sabbath afternoons.

The girls were formed into one class and their meeting was held in the

sitting room of the Girls' Hall. The boys met immediately afterwards in

the office of the superintendent in the Boys' Hall.

The weekly lesson consisted in committing to memory five to seven verses

in the more important chapters of the New Testament and Psalms,

commencing with the ten commandments in Exodus XX, 1-17. The passages

assigned were read and studied every week in the school under the

direction of the principal, in order that all the younger pupils, as

well as the older ones, might be able to repeat them on Sabbath.

At the meetings, which were conducted by the superintendent, the lesson

assigned would have to be read over several times in concert before

their voices would acquire the right movement and expression. The effort

to train the memory, by committing scripture verses, was one from which

many of them shrank as being too irksome, and the weekly lesson of one

verse a day would have to be repeated a number of times, before most of

them could continue to be heard to the end of the lesson. The previous

lessons were then reviewed, to fasten them more firmly on the memory.

The advance lesson was then read together that all might surely know its

place and extent.

AIMS IN BIBLE STUDY

"Accurate Bible Knowledge" and "Character building" were the keynotes of

the instruction given at these meetings. A third object, that was

constantly kept in view, was the training and development of their

youthful voices for public address in religious meetings. This was

accomplished by making a large use of the concert drill, both in reading

and repeating the classic and beautiful passages of the Bible.

The tendency of the new pupils to speak and act badly from sudden

impulse, was freely admitted at these meetings. As a means of enabling

them to put a check on their impulsive dispositions and acquire the art

of self-control, the following questions were prepared and asked of

each, at the opening of the lesson hour.

1. During the week that has passed, have you refrained entirely from the

use of profane or quarrelsome words and actions?

2. Have you been uniformly respectful and obedient to all of your

teachers?

3. Are you using your spare moments each day for some good purpose, that

will promote your best interests?

The cordial and helpful co-operation of Miss Adelia Eaton, our first

matron, in connection with this Bible memory work at the period when it

was most difficult to awaken interest and enthusiasm in it, was very

greatly appreciated. Although her presence was not required, she

voluntarily arranged to be present at every meeting. She seldom if ever

participated in the meetings, but she invariably arranged the room in

the most convenient form for the meeting and continued to patiently aid

and encourage those of the girls, to whom this memory work was the

hardest, until the last moment before the meeting. The increased

attendance of later years, made it advisable to hold these Bible

meetings in the chapel, and there both classes met together.

TRAINING THE MEMORY

The memory, the natural power of retaining and recalling what has been

learned, is the basis of all progress in study. It is the faculty that

enriches the mind by preserving the treasures of labor and industry. The

beauty and perfection of all the other mental faculties are dependent on

it. Without its aid there can be no advancement in knowledge, arts and

sciences; and no improvement in virtue, morals and religion.

Those who cannot read acquire knowledge by hearing, and their vision is

occupied principally with large rather than small objects. It was soon a

matter of observation that the children of illiterate parents in whose

homes there are no books, find it very difficult to learn to read, after

they have passed fourteen years of age. That which is natural and easy

in childhood, becomes more difficult the longer it is delayed. They form

the habit and find it much easier to acquire knowledge like their

parents by the ear, or "by air" as it is sometimes called, than by

poring over the letters and words of a printed line in a book. Many that

are over fourteen before they are sent to school shrink from the mental

discipline and labor of learning things so small as letters and words,

and seek relief by looking elsewhere than on the printed page.

By the aid of a memory that has been trained for service in childhood,

one is able to learn easily and rapidly; and also to express their

treasures of knowledge in such a way as to give life and animation to

every word that is uttered.

The memory is very responsive to training in childhood and youth. Its

retentive power may then be very greatly increased by judicious exercise

and labor, which have that distinct end in view, just as the limbs

gradually grow stronger by daily exercise. If it is accustomed to retain

a moderate quantity of knowledge in childhood, it is strengthened and

fitted for more rapid development in youth. That is the golden period to

learn the "form of sound words," that shall exert a moulding influence

upon the entire life.

Repeated acts form a habit, and habits of thought may be aided by a

methodical system in the arrangement of intellectual possessions.

Frequent review, repetition, conscious delight in the things to be

learned and association of the new with the known, are important aids to

the memory, that may be profitably observed throughout the entire life.

DIVINE TRUTH THE NEED OF ALL

Truth is the natural food for the mind and does for it what bread and

meat do for the body. The mental faculties include the intellect, the

power of thought; the memory, the conscience, the power that enables one

to distinguish between right and wrong; and the judgment, the power of

decision. There are no truths so well adapted for the best training and

development of all these faculties, as the great and important ones that

God has so attractively and plainly revealed in His holy word. The

poetic parts of the Old Testament and the words of Jesus in the New, are

adapted alike for the comfort and instruction of childhood, manhood and

old age. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that

proceedeth out of the mouth of God." "I am the living bread which came

down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever."

ONE BOOK IN THE HOME

One aim of the requirement to commit one verse a day in the Bible

presented to each pupil was, of course, to make even those, whose terms

in school were the shortest, familiar with some of the most important

parts of the one book, they were expected to take to their homes; but

another distinct aim was to develop the memory of every pupil so as to

make the mastery of other books easier and their progress in them more

rapid.

Every pupil was encouraged to train their memory to be their ready and

faithful servant, so that it would recall a line, a verse or a rule,

when it had been carefully traced the third time, by the eye.

The definitions and rules form the most important parts of most of the

necessary text-books above the primary department. The future value of

these studies, as well as the pupils advance in them while in school,

depends on his ability to understand, apply and easily remember the

rules. The thorough teacher will discard the use of those superficial

authors, whose books lack these important parts, tersely and plainly

stated. The sooner that a pupil learns to follow, obey and never to

violate a rule, the sooner does he begin to advance rapidly and

profitably in his studies.

COMMITTED TO MEMORY

The memory work of a term, according to the rule, one verse a day, would

usually carry the student through the following passages:

The Oak Hill Endeavor Benediction, Numbers 6, 24-26 and Rev. 1, 5-6; The

Ten Commandments Exodus 20, 1-17; Words of Comfort, Confession and

Devotion, Psalms 1st, 8th, 19th, 23d, 27th, 50th, 51st, 90th, 103d, part

of the 119th, 122d and 150th; Wise Counsels, Proverbs 3d and 4th; A new

heart promised, Ezekiel 36, 25-32; John Baptist's Message, Matthew 3d;

The Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5th; The Divinity of

Christ, John 1st; His Farewell Address, John 14th; The Bible inspired, 2

Timothy 3, 14-17. Also the first half of the Westminster Shorter

Catechism, with its ever memorable beginning, "Man's Chief end is to

glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

Every new pupil is encouraged to read the Bible in course, an average of

one chapter a day or seven each week, making report of progress at the

Bible hour each Sabbath afternoon. By this plan many of them read,

during their first term, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts

and Romans.

THE BIBLE ONLY IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

The Inter-National lessons are always prepared for the Sunday school

hour, but always and only from the Bible in the hand of each scholar.

The teachers only are supplied with other helps, and even these are used

only during the period of preparation. The Bible, black board, map and

charts only are used by the teacher and students during the Sunday

school session. This use of the Bible only in the Sunday school, served

to create a demand for it on the part of every scholar and attendant,

and to increase the familiarity of each with their own copy of it. It is

a good plan for any teacher or Sunday school, that wishes to promote

reading and circulation of the Scriptures in the homes of the people.

A LIFE-LONG GOLDEN TREASURE

He has a rich treasure whose memory is well stored with words from the

Holy Scriptures. Such a treasure is "more to be desired than gold, yea,

than much fine gold." It is a life-long treasure to those who secure it

in youth. It cannot be taken away, but it may be imparted to others.

Whoever shares this treasure with others, sows the good seed of the

Kingdom of God and realizes in his own soul, that he "who sows

bountifully shall also reap bountifully."

Committing the scriptures to memory was a delightful employment to the

Psalmist, who said: "Thy word have I hid in my heart," and again, "Let

my heart be sound in thy statutes." "Thy statutes have been my songs in

the house of my pilgrimage." "I will never forget thy precepts; for with

them thou hast quickened me and caused me to hate every false way." "Thy

word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." "Order my steps

in thy word; for the entrance of thy words giveth light."

A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE

The following beautiful tribute to the Bible, printed by Soper and Son,

Detroit, was pasted on the inside of the front lid of every Bible

presented to the students.

This Book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of

salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its

doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are

true, and its decisions are immutable.

Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practise it to be

holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and

comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff,

the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's

charter. Here Paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of

hell disclosed, Christ is its grand subject, our good its design,

and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the

heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully.

It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of

pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in judgment, and

be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility,

rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its

sacred contents.

A FOUNTAIN OF BLESSINGS

The Bible is an infallible revelation from God in regard to his own

character, will and works. One result of a practical faith in it is the

development of an heroic missionary spirit. The noblest heroisms that

mark the history of the human race have had their inspiration in

implicit faith in the Bible. "Men in whom life was fresh and strong, and

women, the embodiment of gentleness and delicacy, have met the martyrs

death of fire, singing until the red-tongued flames licked up their

breath."

It is the fountain from which have come the principles of a pure

morality and "all sweet charities." It has been the motive power that

has effected the regeneration and reformation of millions of men. "It

has comforted the humble, consoled the mourning, sustained the suffering

and given trust and triumph to the dying."

Rational minds will ask for no higher proof, that the Bible, as a

revelation from God is reliable, than the nature and results of the

faith that is based upon it. The results include the noblest phenomena

of human experience, the richest fruitage of our christian civilization.

The Bible is the one great regenerative and redemptive agency in the

world, and this soon becomes apparent, whenever it is read in the homes

of the people.

UPLIFTING POWER IN NEW HEBRIDES' ISLANDS

A very interesting illustration of this fact has been narrated by John

Inglis a Scottish Missionary to the New Hebrides. On going there about

the middle of the last century, he selected for his abode an island

occupied by cannibals. Among the things he took with him was a mason's

hammer. When he began to dress and square the hard rocks of the

neighborhood to build the chimney of his house, the novelty of the

operation drew a crowd of the natives around him. They looked on in

wonder, and were surprised to see the hammer break in pieces and bring

into shape those hard stones, which no one had before attempted to

break.

Missionaries, like philosophers sometimes find "sermons in stones," as

well as "good in everything." On this occasion, he took the stones and

the hammer as his text and gave them a short practical sermon as

follows:

"You see these stones and this hammer. You might strike these stones

with a block of wood till you were tired and you would not break off

a single chip; but when I strike with a hammer you see how easily

they are broken, or cut into needful shapes. Now God tells us that

our hearts are like stones, and that his Word is like a hammer. Some

white men came among you before the arrival of the missionaries, and

you continued as much heathen as ever. But when the missionaries

came and spoke to you, you gave up your heathenism, began to keep

the Sabbath day, to worship God and to live like christians. What

caused this difference? The words of the missionaries were not any

louder or stronger than those of the other white men. The difference

was merely this--the other white men spoke their own words; they

spoke the words of men; and that was like striking these stones with

a piece of wood. But the missionaries instead of speaking to you

their own words read to you the Words of God; and that was like

this hammer striking, breaking and bringing into shape your stony

hearts."

This illustration took hold on their imagination; the sermon on the

stones and the hammer was not soon forgotten. Many years afterwards,

some of the older natives when leading in prayer in the church would

offer the petition, "O Lord, thy word is like a hammer, take it and with

it break our stony hearts and shape them according to the rule of Thy

holy law."

There were 3,500 natives on this island. Through the influence of God's

Word, for no other means were employed save the human voice to make it

known, all of them were led to abandon heathenism and place themselves

under Christian instruction.

These people had no money but they could gather and prepare arrowroot.

They were encouraged to bring this to the missionaries, in order to

secure a supply of Bibles for the island, with the result that in a few

years they sent $2,500 to the British and Foreign Bible society, London,

for copies of the New Testament and Psalms; and a few years later $3,500

to pay for the printing of the Old Testament in their own language.

There is no instance on record of a like number of heathen people, so

poor, being persuaded to contribute so much money to obtain any other

book; and why not? It is because the Bible alone is divine and this

divine power has subdued human hearts. "Is not my word like as a fire?

saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in

pieces?"--Jer. 23. 29.

The Bible is the Book of the Lord, a "sure word of prophecy, whereunto

we do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place."

It challenges us to "prove all things and hold fast that which is good."

XXIII

DECISION DAYS

CHRISTMAS.--WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.

"How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God follow

him."--Elijah.

Every new student at the time of his enrollment was requested to state

whether or not he was a member of church. If a negative response was

received, he was kindly informed it would be regarded as a serious

disappointment, if he did not become an active Christian worker, during

the period he enjoyed the privileges of the Academy. As a means of

enabling every one to manifest their decision to live a Christian life,

Decision days were held frequently during the term. The first one always

occurred at least one week before Christmas; and the others about the

Day of Prayer for Colleges, Easter and Memorial Sabbaths. When advantage

could not be taken of a voluntary visit on the part of a neighboring

pastor the co-operation of one of them was always solicited.

On the first occasion Rev. William Butler was present, Feb. 11, 1906,

and took for his theme in the morning, the Good Shepherd, and in the

evening, the New Heart, his own heart was gladdened by seeing

twenty-three young people come to the front in response to his appeal

and pledge themselves to live a Christian life. A month later the

pastor's heart was gladdened anew by receiving fourteen of them into the

membership of the church and administering baptism to ten of them. Two

years later, as the result of an evangelistic meeting held on the

evening of the closing day of the Farmers' institute, January 1, 1908,

Mr. Butler, who was one of the speakers at the institute, had the

pleasure of seeing twenty-one other students manifest a decision to live

a Christian life. Rev. Wiley Homer, T. K. Bridges and Samuel Gladman,

assisted and with encouraging results on other decision days.

In 1910, Washington's birthday, Thursday, was observed by a patriotic

and evangelistic meeting at which impressive addresses were delivered by

Rev. W. J. Willis of Garvin and Rev. A. B. Johnson of McAlester. Among

those present were thirteen that had not previously manifested a

decision. In response to the appeal of Mr. Willis, every one of these

thirteen voluntarily arose, came forward and gave their pledge to live a

Christian life. The attainment of a voluntary pledge from every student

in attendance at that time made this an eventful occasion. It was also

deeply impressive. Every one joined in the joyful congratulatory

procession.

As it was the last glad and happy decision day before the loss of the

Girls' Hall, which occurred on the second Sabbath following, it has been

commemorated by an engraving from a photo, thoughtfully taken before

hand by Miss Mary Weimer, in which may be seen David Michael, Livingston

Brasco, and William Shoals, who have just returned from the timber with

vines and white flowers to decorate the chapel for this meeting.

XXIV

THE SELF-HELP DEPARTMENT

FOOLISH NOTIONS.--A PROMISING GIRL.--THOUGHTLESS BOYS.--THOUGHTFUL YOUNG

PEOPLE.--VACATION WORKERS.--JAMESTOWN COLLEGE.--SUPPORT OF

SELF-SUPPORTING STUDENTS.--HOW IT WORKS.--ENLARGEMENT AND PERMANENT

IMPROVEMENT.--SELF-SUPPORT MEANS INDEPENDENCE.--PARK COLLEGE.

"If any would not work, neither should he eat."--Paul.

The unexpected disappointments experienced in establishing the self-help

department are worthy of a brief mention. They serve to illustrate some

foolish notions that prevailed among some of our first patrons, and

prepare the way for a good suggestion.

The aim of this department is to enlarge the scope of the training work

of the institution by the employment of students, as far as possible, to

do the necessary work during vacations as well as the chores during the

school-terms; and by this means, reducing the number of hired helpers,

afford lucrative employment to the greatest number of students, as a

means of self help.

In view of the needy and helpless condition of the people in their new

homes, and the urgent prospective demand for more teachers, one would

naturally suppose every family would be eager to take advantage of such

an opportunity. The scheme however was a new one and it was regarded

with suspicion and disfavor. The effort to have leading families, those

that seemed to stand in the nearest relation to it by having previously

enjoyed its privileges most freely, co-operate in the establishment of

this plan, by permitting one of their children to remain at the academy

during the vacation period or even do extra work a part of the day

during the term, and thereby be able to continue and complete a course

of study that would fit them for teaching, proved a complete

disappointment. This disappointment was the occasion of two earnest

appeals before two different meetings of the Presbytery, but neither of

them received more than a respectful hearing, no favorable response.

Some, whose children had been previously carried from year to year

gratuitously, no doubt, regarded it as the innovation of a stranger, who

was adroitly depriving them of their former rights and privileges; while

others seemed to view it as a discovery to their neighbors, that they

were not able to pay for the education of their children. Some of the

larger girls at the academy, when requested to arrange to do some extra

work at the school declined, saying they had homes of their own and did

not have to work for others away from home.

A PROMISING GIRL

That this was not the sentiment, however, of all the larger girls

appears in the following incident. A very promising girl of sixteen came

to the school of her own accord. She was animated with the desire to

become a christian teacher. About the middle of the term, a younger

brother called with the request from her mother, that she return home.

No reason was assigned and she knew of no good one. She sent her mother

word that she desired to remain, and resumed her studies. Two weeks

later an older brother called with a pre-emptory demand that she return

home with him. The reason assigned by her mother for this unexpected and

arbitrary request was, "Daughter can get along without school as well as

her mother." It seems scarcely necessary to state that this promising

and aspiring young lady was not permitted to return.

THOUGHTLESS BOYS

The first to acquiesce in the arrangement to pay a part of their term

expense by working at the academy during the vacation were some boys,

who had not learned to work; and it seemed impossible for them to

conceal the fact that they did not want to work. They were not old

enough or did not know enough to appreciate the privileges accorded to

them; and as many as three of them ran away, when most needed.

The work deserted by two of these boys was undertaken by a third one,

not then a student. He was a willing worker and at the end of the summer

found that his job at the academy was his best one during the season. He

illustrated the difference between the worthy and the worthless. The

worthy achieve success where the worthless make a miserable failure.

THOUGHTFUL YOUNG PEOPLE

It was left for some thoughtful young people living at a distance to

come, take advantage of the opportunities thus afforded and make this

self-help or industrial department a real, visible and practical

success. While deriving a life-long benefit for themselves, they have

conferred a lasting benefit to the institution by remaining long enough

to reach the higher grades. Their efficient service in various lines of

work has served to show that the varied and thorough training given

during recent vacations has been very valuable to them.

The vacation period has afforded the best opportunity for instruction

and practice on the organ, for reading the many good books in the

library and for special training in farming, carpentry and in the

various kinds of work, like canning fruit or the manufacture of sorghum,

that require attention only during the summer months. It has hitherto

seemed to be the golden period of the year when the personal

responsibility and general efficiency of the student has been most

rapidly developed, a fact no doubt due to the freer daily association

with the superintendent and teachers. The full course of training

provided at the institution can be fully enjoyed only by those who

remain during the summer months.

VACATION WORKERS

The vacation workers have always been regarded as members of the Oak

Hill family and every personal want has been promptly supplied. The

habit of reading or learning something every day, kept them prepared for

doing their best work on the first as well as their last day of the

term; while others would take a week or month, perhaps before they could

settle down to good work in the school room. They were allowed a

reasonable credit for every day they worked during the vacation and were

not requested to do any extra work during the term, except in cases of

emergency. The self-help students, who rendered extra service during the

term, dropped one study, and they also received a reasonable allowance

for all the extra work they performed.

JAMESTOWN COLLEGE

Effective christian work by students at home during the summer vacation

was admirably illustrated by the young people attending the

Presbyterian college at Jamestown, North Dakota, during the summer of

1913.

Every student at the close of the term had formed the decision to lead a

christian life. Under the inspiration of a resident lawyer, John Knouff,

a number of them became members of the mission band that had for its

object the in gathering of new scholars into their own Sabbath schools,

and the college they were attending.

The result was a very pleasant surprise and a source of great profit to

all of them. They reported the organization of a score of new Sunday

schools in neglected communities, and an enrollment of 1231 new scholars

through their instrumentality. An incidental result was a greatly

increased enrollment of new students at the college they had so worthily

represented.

SUPPORT OF SELF-SUPPORTING STUDENTS

Where does the money come from that is necessary to meet the monthly

allowances placed to the credit of the self-help students? This is a

very practical question and a few thoughts on it may be helpful.

When a farmer employs a man to help him on his farm he expects to pay

him from the annual cash income, when the products of the farm are sold.

This would naturally be true of the boys who do the farm work at Oak

Hill if there was a surplus to sell; but hitherto it has not been

sufficient to meet the demands of the boarding department and stock.

It would however not be true of the work of the boys who build fence,

clear new land or erect and improve buildings. The product of the labor

of these students is a permanent improvement, that increases the value

of the land to the owner, and it cannot be sold annually for cash, like

the products of the farm.

But the superintendent has to pay cash for the groceries consumed by

these students the same as for the others; and when their monthly

allowance for labor is transferred to the enrollment or other account

book, it represents an item for which some one must furnish him the

cash. Where will he get his money? Who will furnish it to him?

Manifestly he must look to the owner of the property for it, and the

owner in this instance is the Board of Missions for Freedmen. By using

tools and implements the student has been trained in their use and the

results of his work have become a permanent possession of the Board.

In as much as most permanent improvements do not ordinarily bring any

direct annual income to the Board, but serve rather to increase the

facilities of the school and provide additional opportunities for

self-help, the question arises, "Where does the Board get the money for

the support of the self-supporting students?"

The answer to this inquiry is, the Board has to solicit and receive it

from the friends of christian education.

This is a very important statement and it is often not very clearly

understood. When the actual cost of carrying a student through a seven

months term is found to be about $50.00 then that is the lowest amount

that will enable the superintendent to carry a vacation worker, as a

self-supporting student, through the period of an entire year.

HOW IT WORKS

There are some features of this problem that are quite interesting. The

student that does the most for the permanent improvement of the

institution that has educated him, commonly called his "Alma Mater," or

fostering mother, finds at the time of completing his course, that by

that means he has done most for himself, by advancing more rapidly than

others in the course of training and study. He has also done something

in the way of increasing the facilities for the education and uplift of

his race.

Whilst his employment was creating a demand for a benevolent gift from

some friend of christian education he was unconscious of that fact, and

is happy in the consciousness, that he is earning his way through school

like a man;--one, who wants to make most of himself. He goes forth to

enter upon the duties of active life as a true or "good soldier"

prepared to "endure hardness," if necessary, and ready to lend a helping

hand to other worthy young people.

ENLARGEMENT AND PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT

The zealous interest of the superintendent in this self-help industrial

department appears in the broad foundation he had hoped to lay for it in

the purchase of so many acres for the Oak Hill farm.

There were other good motives that prompted the purchase of land, when

the opportunity was afforded to do so at it which price in 1908 such as

provision for future supplies of wood as a cheap fuel, about twenty-five

cords a year being needed, and ample pastures for the herds of cattle

and hogs, that are easily and profitably raised and greatly needed, but

the most urgent motive was the earnest desire to provide an agricultural

base large enough to enable the self-help department of the academy to

become in time self-supporting.

"Enlargement" and "permanent improvement" became the watchwords while

laying the foundation for this department.

The manifest need of it had been deeply and indelibly impressed. The

conviction also prevailed that, when properly organized and developed,

so as to meet their most urgent needs, the self-help department in an

educational institution works like a live magnet in attracting the

patronage of many worthy young people.

Permanent improvement year after year by self-supporting students,

seeking training is an arrangement that has in it the germ of expansion,

that means enlargement and growth with passing years. This was the ideal

towards which we were moving with might and main. We wanted to plant the

live magnet, that would make Oak Hill an attractive and pre-eminently

useful educational center for all the Choctaw Freedmen.

There are no annual taxes on lands used for public or mission school

purposes, and all the annual income tends to lessen to the Board, the

local expenses of the teachers and students. The net income from the

farm is the surplus that remains after deducting the cost of management

from the gross receipts.

Whenever this net income is more than sufficient to cover the local

support of the teachers, it goes toward the support of the

self-supporting students; whenever it is sufficient to cover all of

their monthly allowances, this self-help department is self-supporting;

and special remittances from the Board will not then be needed for the

worthy, industrious and ambitious young people, in that department. The

attainment of this object is worthy of noble and constant endeavor.

It is also worthy of note, that good agricultural lands, purchased at

the government price in a new section of the country that is destined to

be filled with new settlers, is always a good investment. The land

rapidly increases in value where the incoming of new settlers causes a

rapid increase in the population.

[Illustration: OAK HILL IN 1905.]

[Illustration: FLOWER GATHERERS FOR DECISION DAY.

February 22, 1910.]

[Illustration: LOU K. EARLY.]

[Illustration: MARY I. WEIMER.]

[Illustration: JO LU WOOLCOTT.]

This annual increase in the value of new land is known as its "unearned

increment." This unearned increment is now accruing to the Board on

every acre that has been purchased. Those that were purchased first have

already doubled in value.

Every acre of land added to the Oak Hill farm at its virgin price means

now, by reason of its annual income and gradual increase in value, a

live unit added to the permanent endowment of the institution and

enlarges the scope of the self-help department.

SELF-SUPPORT MEANS INDEPENDENCE

The negro needs to be taught to be "self-dependent, self-reliant and

self-respecting."

Wherever public schools have been established and supplied with good

teachers and text-books, they have rendered efficient service in

improving the condition of the people. The lack of text-books has caused

many of the rural schools to prove very inefficient, one textbook often

having to serve as many as three pupils, Then there are yet large

sections of some of the southern states in which there are no public

schools for the colored people.

In proportion as the colored people attain a general christian education

and become progressive, industrial workers, do they rise to their

natural inheritance; an inheritance that brings to them what America now

holds of freedom, justice, opportunity and benevolence to the oppressed

of other lands, that are coming a million a year, to locate in this land

of civil and religious freedom.

Among their essential needs to self-support are a fair industrial

opportunity, distribution, education and equal protection of the laws.

Whenever too many unskilled workers, including women and children, crowd

into towns and cities, the number that have to live in poverty-stricken

hovels is greatly increased. Their general health and good morals are

also endangered.

Every youth will do well to adopt the thrilling watchwords of the early

American patriots, "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence."

PARK COLLEGE

Rev. John A. McAfee, the eminent founder of Park College, Parkville,

near Kansas City, Missouri, realizing the need of hardy and energetic

ministers during the pioneer days of Missouri and Kansas, manifested a

commendable wisdom and foresight in the planting of that institution, by

making special provision for the self-help of those, who were candidates

for the ministry and those wishing to be missionary teachers. The

self-help department then established has greatly promoted its growth,

and increased its usefulness. The visitor now sees a beautiful campus of

20 acres occupied by massive stone buildings erected largely by student

labor. They include a fine administration building, chapel, library,

observatory, boarding and professors houses, and a half dozen large

dormitories. He will also find an attendance of 420 students, and a farm

of 500 acres cultivated by them.

Its worthy representatives in the ministry may now be found in nearly

every state of the Union and many, as foreign missionaries and teachers,

are doing a noble work in other lands. A large proportion of its most

worthy representatives owe their present position and usefulness to the

opportunity for self-help, provided in the agricultural and mechanical

departments, while pursuing their studies at this classical institution.

It was founded in 1875 and was named after Col. George S. Park, the

friend and helper of Rev. John A. McAfee. He donated the original

college building and one hundred acres of land. At present the college

owns 1000 acres, 500 of which are in the college farm. Both of its

worthy founders died about the year 1890, but the good work of the

institution they planted is going forward with annually increasing

usefulness. Though established more recently than many others, it is now

very highly prized as one of the most important of our Presbyterian

colleges, in maintaining the supply of well trained ministers and

christian teachers.

A SUGGESTION TO PARENTS

Having stated the aims and advantages of the self-help department the

following suggestion to parents seems appropriate.

If you have a bright son or daughter that can be spared for a time at

home, take your child, as Hannah did Samuel, while he is young enough to

learn rapidly, to the superintendent of the academy, and, if the way be

clear, enter into an agreement as Hannah did, that he shall remain

there, if needed, until he has completed the course of study provided at

the institution, earning his expenses, as far as possible, by his own

industry.

Regard your contract as a matter of honor and refrain from calling him

away when his services have begun to be of some value to the

institution, merely because you need some one to do a few day's work.

Encourage him to be true and faithful, that he may win and hold the

esteem and confidence of his instructors.

If a number of parents will pursue this policy, the academy will

accomplish its mission and prove a boon and blessing to you as a people,

one generation serving another.

XXV

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION

A TRAINING PERIOD.--INDEPENDENT HOMES.--DOMESTIC TRAINING.--HIGHLAND

PARK COLLEGE.--BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.--SAM DALY.

"Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work." "What thy hand

findeth to do, do it with thy might."

Public education is at present passing through a transition stage. The

emphasis in the school courses of previous generations was upon the

culture of the mind and the appeal was made for a high classical

training, but now that the work on the farms as well as in the shops is

largely done by costly machinery, the emphasis of school work is being

rapidly transferred to the hand, and the appeal is for manual or

vocational training and domestic science.

Its aim is to reach and train for a successful self-supporting career,

the great majority of young people who cannot pursue their studies

beyond the fifth to the eighth grades.

Our country has made wonderful progress in the arts and sciences

including new inventions, during the last half century. The scope of the

"Natural Philosophy" and "Familiar Science" of a few years ago has been

very greatly enlarged.

The country has been spanned and crossed in every direction by great

systems of standard and interurban rail-ways. Automobiles are in

popular use on the highways and powerful tractors do the threshing,

corn-shelling and plowing on the farm. Oil engines and electric motors

are in use on the farms and in the homes of the people. The last of the

good agricultural lands have been opened for settlement and are now

occupied. Agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture, dairying and even

housekeeping have been reduced to a science, by the statement of

essential principles, the same as in architecture and civil-engineering.

Success in them depends on a practical knowledge of the art, as well as

a theoretical knowledge of the science.

A few years ago the pressing demand was for teachers and normal

instructors for their preparation. The demand for teachers in constantly

increasing numbers continues, but it is now rivaled by the present

demand for young people, who understand the principles of mechanical

construction, whose hands have been trained to use costly and delicate

machinery aright and properly care for it. Success and self-support on

the farm as well as elsewhere now require the trained hand as well as

the intelligent mind.

INDEPENDENT HOMES

Self-support is essential to the possession of a permanent and happy

home.

No home can be permanent while there is no assured means of support.

While the father depends on uncertain day labor and the mother knows

little or nothing of economy in the household and even less about the

care, training and discipline of children, there can be but little

progress made in the home or church life.

Dependent homes mean dependent churches, while prosperous homes mean

self-supporting churches. In this fact is found a great motive for the

church in her educational missionary work to make suitable provision

for teaching the young the useful or necessary arts of life, and some

knowledge of the sciences, while offering to them the bread and the

water of life, through the establishment of christian educational

institutions.

DOMESTIC TRAINING

A recent debate in the House of Congress at Washington developed a

unanimous sentiment, that a good cook is more cultured than a pianist,

and that girls should not be allowed piano lessons until they learn how

to cook good biscuits. We have read of girls "whose heads were stuffed

with useless knowledge, but not one in twenty knew the things that would

be serviceable to her through life. They could not sew or cook."

At Oak Hill it is different. Every girl at ten begins to take her

monthly turn in learning to cook, mend and sew. She is taught the art

and the rules of these useful employments the same as those of reading,

writing and arithmetic in the school room.

The business of housekeeping is thus early introduced to the mind of the

child, to awaken its thoughtfulness and develop efficiency in the future

work of managing a home. This connects the teaching of the school with

the life of the home. It makes the instruction a real and practical help

instead of being merely theoretical. It affords pleasant and profitable

employment to the pupils during spare moments that would otherwise be

lost in idle loafing or play.

The business of housekeeping is attracting the attention of schools of

learning and of legislatures more and more every year. Some states, like

Indiana, are making large investments to promote training in domestic

science in the schools of the state. The great results achieved in

recent years by health regulations, in checking and suppressing

contagious diseases, have greatly increased the scope of this

instruction. It now includes in the higher schools, the new applications

of the principles of nutrition, the chemistry of cleaning and the laws

of hygiene, or health.

HIGHLAND PARK COLLEGE

At Highland Park College, Des Moines, Iowa, having an enrollment of

2,500 young people in the capital city of one of our most highly favored

states in the valley of the Mississippi, ninety-five per cent of them

never go beyond the seventh and eighth grades and only two per cent go

to higher institutions of learning. This eminently successful

institution attracts young people from all parts of our land and this

last year from twelve foreign countries. 500 young men, one fifth of its

enrollment are in shops. This institution is the embodiment of the

genius and a splendid monument to the memory of its founder, Dr. O. F.

Longwell, who for twenty-four years served as its president, having

previously secured a remarkable development of the Western Normal

college at Shenandoah.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

The industrial scheme of Booker T. Washington at Tuskeegee is an

intelligent negro's idea of what the illiterate negro needs to help

himself. It is undoubtedly the best scheme to enable him to attain self

support.

Started as a private enterprise its patronage soon over-taxed its

equipment of buildings and attracted public aid from the legislature of

Alabama, and later large gifts from many wealthy people in our larger

northern cities, some of whom endeavor to visit it once a year to note

its annual progress and needs.

The remarkable success of this industrial institution and the

immeasurable amount of good it has already done, during the lifetime of

its founder, in bettering the temporal welfare of thousands of colored

people in the south, have tended to make it the most prominent

illustration of practical and successful industrial education among the

colored people of this or any other land.

SAM DALY

Sam Daly of Tuscaloosa, an illiterate janitor of the University of

Alabama, previous to 1903, and died at Atlanta, while attending the

Presbyterian General Assembly in May 1913, is a splendid illustration of

what one may do for the good of his race.

At the time of his death he left to be cared for by others a 500 acre

farm of his own, fourteen miles from town on which he was voluntarily

caring for 270 convicted and vice steeped colored boys from the cities

of that state.

He established an industrial school for boys on his own farm, to save

convicted and bad boys from prison; received them from the police judges

and conveyed them to the farm. They had become a nuisance and burden to

the public, but he housed, fed and clothed this large family without

receiving a dollar of public funds of Jefferson county; and from the

church, only forty dollars, for a sleeping room for them and the salary

of a teacher. The rest of their support was obtained from their daily

toil on the farm.

At last the number of boys and the cost of keeping them became so great,

he was compelled for their sakes to put a mortgage of eighteen hundred

dollars on his farm. This impelled him to go to the Assembly (South) to

make an appeal for funds. Unfortunately he suddenly became ill and died

before he was able to make his appeal. His last words were: "Take

care--take good care ob mah little niggahs!"

He had saved, by industrial occupation and farming, for good citizenship

in Alabama, three hundred boys convicted of crimes and misdemeanors. It

was a sad disappointment to him that he was unable to present to the

Assembly an appeal on behalf of those still under his care.

Sam Daly was a good janitor, but when he began to make good men of

useless and bad boys, his value to the state of Alabama was increased

many fold. This brief record of his generous, energetic and heroic work

is made that it may serve as an inspiration to devise other similar ways

of being useful and helpful.

XXVI

PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS.

PAINTING BOYS HALL.--SURFACE DRAINAGE.--ORCHARD IN 1906.--HOG

HOUSES.--SHEDS FOR HAY AND THE STOCK HOGS.--OAK BRIDGES.--TEMPORARY BOYS

HALL.--ADDITION TO THE ACADEMY.--GOOD FENCES AROUND THE CAMPUS.--GARDEN,

STOCK YARD AND CULTIVATED FIELDS.--ELLIOTT HALL.--PULLING STUMPS.

"So built we the wall; for the people had a mind to

work."--Nehemiah.

The improvements undertaken and completed by means of the student help

began with the removal of old rubbish, the accumulation of years, and

the impenetrable briar thickets near the buildings.

During the latter part of the first spring term in 1905 the boys applied

two good coats of lead and oil in cream and white to the Boys' Hall. The

work was well done although it was the first work of the kind any of

them had ever attempted. The appearance of the building was greatly

improved, and every boy was delighted to find how quickly the painter's

art could be learned.

The black picket and crooked worm fences around the buildings were then

removed and replaced with good board and wire fences. The extent of good

and substantial fences, erected during this period, aggregate about 100

rods of board and picket fences around the campus, garden and stock

yards; 12 large farm gates, all hung between tall posts with overhead

tie; and 780 rods of web and barb wire fence; all set with good Bodark

or Locust posts, top down and reinforced with a strong oak stub in every

panel, making a valuable permanent improvement.

In March 1906 a young orchard was planted consisting of 50 trees, that

include a number of the best varieties of apples and peaches suited for

that section. These were supplemented with a similar lot in 1913.

The purchase of lands, begun in 1908, as soon as the restrictions were

removed, was continued until 1912 when the aggregate included fifteen

different purchases, making 270 acres and costing $2050.00.

Twenty-five acres were cleared of previously ringed and dead trees and

thirty more were enclosed and cleared of underbrush and useless trees.

The surface drainage work begun in 1905 and completed in 1912, included

outlets to all the little ponds near the buildings, the deepening of the

artificial pond north of the buildings, a deep drain with branches,

through the meadow and another one through a large slough at the

northwest corner of the farm.

BUILDINGS

The first building erected was a log house 24x32 feet with a good

cistern in 1906, and for the number of its conveniences it is an

excellent model. A cut and description of it will be found in the latter

part of this volume.

A new shed was also built that year, on the east side of the commons,

for the convenient, daily care of the growing herd in the pastures.

In 1907 a belfry and farm bell were put on the comb of the roof of the

first girls' hall. An axle was obtained and a wooden wheel and frame

were made for the large old bell, and it was then mounted in the tower

of the chapel.

The new highway along the railroad to Valliant was cleared of trees and

the materials converted into posts and fuel. Two substantial oak

bridges, five and ten feet long respectively, were constructed over the

streams on this road to make it passable for the loaded Oak Hill team

during term time.

A string of hay sheds, 64x16 feet, was constructed on the south side of

the feed lot and two portable racks for feeding hay and fodder

economically and conveniently from the sheds.

In 1908 the enrollment having reached 115, the seating capacity of the

academy was increased by lifting all the seats and adding an additional

row of thirteen double seats to their number. The academy was then

painted two coats inside and outside and the woodwork of the old desks

was brightened and tinted to correspond with the new ones. These

improvements made it look more beautiful and attractive than ever

before.

The porches on the south and west sides of the girls hall were repaired

by the insertion of new joists where needed and the laying of new

floors.

TEMPORARY BOYS' HALL

In 1909, the Boys' Hall having been lost a few days after the opening of

the term, November 8, 1908, a temporary boys' hall 55x24 feet was

hastily constructed, its dedication taking place Feb. 28, 1909, after an

address by Rev. Wiley Homer of Grant. This meeting was held on a

beautiful Sabbath afternoon and the speakers and singers occupied the

wide platform on the west end of the building. This building was erected

entirely by the student boys. The materials in it cost $410 and it had

apartments for an office, one teacher and twenty-five boys.

It was intended as a place for the workmen while erecting a new hall for

the boys, the material in it then to be used in lining the new building.

The blistered condition of the front of the girls' hall and academy from

the intense heat of the fire were then relieved by a thorough scraping,

sandpapering and repainting.

Owing to the limited accommodations for the boys in this building, and

for the large number of pupils in the primary department in the academy,

an extension of twelve feet, with an upper room for special students,

was added that fall to the academy. While this improvement was under

construction, other boys built a new wood shed, obtained in the timber

and prepared the supplies of fuel, and built 170 rods of new fence. A

considerable quantity of sand was also hauled for the foundation of the

new hall for the boys.

ELLIOTT HALL

In 1910, the erection of Elliott Hall became a necessity after the

disastrous fire which occurred on March 13th. This building is 80x32

feet, with an extension 6x32 feet, in front, and a two story addition

18x16 feet, for kitchen store and bath rooms, at the northwest corner

over a large brick-walled cistern.

This building absorbed the attention of all for more than a year,

although it was opened for occupancy on November 14th. It was a great

undertaking with the few workmen obtainable. The clearing away of the

rubbish, the excavation for the cellar 28x75 feet and the construction

of the foundation wall, and the same for the large cistern took a good

deal more time than was expected, and all of it was heavy and hard work

for every one that participated in it. It was the 15th of June when the

cement wall around the main part of the foundation was completed by the

superintendent, who placed the rock, cement and reinforcing materials in

the walls with his own hands as a precaution against defects.

The construction of the frame work was entrusted to Samuel A. Folsom,

who, acting as foreman of the carpenters, succeeded in getting the

building ready for occupancy at the end of five months, or November

14th. So great, however, was the amount of unfinished work in the halls

and rooms upstairs and of cement lining needed for the excavation walls

in the cellar that a considerable number of students were employed

principally at this work during that and the following term.

Every part of the work on this building was very faithfully performed.

It is a creditable monument to the memory of every one that wrought upon

it. It is symmetrical and, though plain, is handsome in appearance and

very convenient in its uses; as an administration building, girls

dormitory and boarding house. The lumber was furnished and delivered by

J. R. Bowles of Swink; David Folsom made the window and door frames;

Solomon Buchanan served as foreman of the painters, and he and George

Stewart built the walls of the cistern and the first story of the

chimneys. Edward Hollingsworth, in addition to important work on other

parts of the building, served as foreman of the construction of the

stairways, belfry and porches. It represents an expenditure of $6,500 in

cash and student labor. This does not include the services of the

superintendent, who had previously prepared the plans for the building

and personally superintended its construction.

LATER IMPROVEMENTS

During 1911 and 1912 while some were putting the finishing touches on

Elliott Hall, the last being the insertion of the fixtures in the two

bath rooms and the construction of a closed room in the cellar for

canned fruit and vegetables, the other boys removed the old oak stumps

from the north field, drained a slough covering four acres of land,

cleaned twenty acres of land for cultivation and built 160 rods of good

fence around it. They also built a pretty and very convenient

semi-monitor hen house, with open front and two out-yards.

PULLING STUMPS

During the month of March, when the ground was moist and favorable, a

squad of the larger boys would sometimes be equipped and employed in

pulling stumps. This was a new employment for all of them, but they soon

learned to make a cheering success of it.

The working outfit consisted of two levers, a very large and a smaller

one, a log chain, sixty feet of inch rope, and for each of the workmen a

shovel and an axe. The method of procedure was to assign them in teams

of two each, to remove the earth from around a lot of stumps to the

width and depth of about eighteen inches. The larger lever, having the

middle fold of rope attached to its smaller end, was placed in a

vertical position at the lower side of the stump and firmly fastened to

its crown with a log chain, the latter passing over its top from the

opposite side. The small lever was placed in position at the side

opposite the larger one, for the use of the foreman. When all the boys,

in two lines facing each other, had hold of the ends of the rope and the

signal was given, "Ready for a pull," something was sure to happen;

usually the uprooting of the stump, but sometimes the breaking of the

log chain, which was sure to result in making a good natured pile of the

boys. The team did the pulling the first half day, but the boys did it

afterwards, because they were more available and enjoyed it.

WALL OF ELLIOTT HALL

The concrete wall under Elliott Hall, built by the superintendent and

student boys in the spring of 1910, was the first work of that kind in

this section of the country. The sand was found and obtained without

cost along a stream in the neighboring timber. The filler consisted of

rock and broken brick from the chimneys of the three buildings that

had been previously consumed by fire, and they were incorporated in the

wall by hand. The iron used for reinforcing the concrete was all

obtained from the scrap pile of the burned buildings. The processes, or

methods of procedure, were new to all the workmen. As the work advanced

it called forth expressions of distrust, rather than confidence and

commendation. The mixing of materials had to be strictly forbidden save

in the presence of the superintendent, whose hands afterwards placed

them in position on the wall.

After the lapse of four years this wall is solid as a rock in every

respect. It has now the reputation of being not only the first, but also

to this date one of the most perfect and substantial concrete walls in

that section.

WORKING ACCORDING TO RULE

An expert carpenter has observed, "It takes the average apprentice about

one year to discover, that he does not know how to drive a nail with the

skill of an expert;" one who drives it through hard woods without

bending and brittle, without splitting. This skill is however always

more quickly acquired, when a rule like the following is given the

apprentice at the beginning of his training. "Gripping the hammer near

the end of the handle and setting the nail slightly slanting from the

edges toward the solid center, strike the top of it fairly with the

center of the hammer, starting and finishing it with gentle taps."

Whenever a new tool or implement was put in the hand of a student, the

rules governing its use were fully explained, and a constant effort was

made to have the student do all work by rule; whether it was on the

farm, in the kitchen, laundry or shop, as well as in the class room. The

essential parts of the text books, that were reviewed most frequently,

were the definitions and rules. A good position is the first essential

in reading, writing, speaking, sawing, planing or plowing; and the

second is to grasp and use aright the tool or implement, whether it be

the pen, pencil, brush, axe, hammer or saw. The good effect of patiently

taking the time to make every one familiar with the rules governing the

tools and work, became noticeable very soon on the part of the older

students, both in the better quality of the work and the larger amount

of it performed. Progress in studies and success in the shop or field

depends largely on the ability to follow the rule, and the decision

never to violate it.

XXVII

ELLIOTT HALL

THE GIRLS HALL LOST AND REPLACED.--OLD LOG HOUSE--DAVID ELLIOTT.--ALICE

LEE ELLIOTT.

"Be noble! and the nobleness that lies in other men, sleeping but

never dead, will rise in majesty to meet thine own."--Lowell.

LOSS OF THE GIRLS HALL

On Sabbath afternoon, March 13, 1910, as we left the chapel at the close

of a very delightful and profitable Bible Memory service, a cloud of

black smoke was seen moving rapidly around the buildings across the view

before us and suggesting a fire in one of the buildings. It was a sad

and sickening surprise. Quickly the word was passed, "The Girls' Hall is

on fire." Rushing into this building to locate and if possible to

suppress the conflagration, we found it had originated on the third

floor, and that a tub of water had already been applied to it by

attendants in the building, without any hope of checking it, as the

flames were spreading rapidly over the dry roof, fanned by a strong

breeze from the west. The roof was inaccessible both from the inside and

the outside, and in a very few minutes both sides of it were covered

with a fiery sheet of low, devouring flame similar to that occasionally

seen, when fire sweeps rapidly over ground covered with dry underbrush.

In a very little while the entire building was consumed, and with it the

laundry, smokehouse, old log house, new woodhouse, stock tank, ten rods

of the campus fence, fifteen cords of wood, the food supplies on hand

and nearly all the furniture and equipment of the Girls' Hall, the home

of the institution.

A fair estimate of the loss sustained is as follows: Girls' Hall 36x56,

$2550: contents, $1175; other buildings and contents, $250; total $3975.

The girls rooming on the second story, obedient to instruction, hastened

to their rooms and secured all their effects, but six that were rooming

on the third story lost their trunks and extra clothing.

It is impossible to describe how deeply was felt the loss of everything

at this time, coming as it did so soon after the loss of the Boys' Hall

in 1908. It had been the comfortable home of the Oak Hill family since

1889. To the superintendent it meant not merely the loss of the

property, a kind of loss that is always more or less deeply felt, but a

check of several years upon plans outlined for the permanent improvement

of the work of the institution.

This loss was a staggering blow to the superintendent until he learned

the next day that the matron, Miss Weimer, with the co-operation of Miss

Hall, was willing to practice the self denial needed to make a heroic

effort to recover from it. When this information was received, twenty of

the larger girls were constrained to remain, while the rest were sent

home. Some of these were provided for in the second story of an addition

to the academy building, then nearly completed, and the school room

under it served for a dining room and kitchen. The school work was

resumed the next day, under Miss Hall with student assistants. The girls

that remained proved helpful in executing the extra work then necessary,

and the experience of self denial no doubt proved a profitable one to

them.

The old log farm house 46x16 feet, was the last of the four Oak Hill

buildings to yield to the flames. It was built by the Choctaw Indians

about the year 1840, soon after they were transferred from Mississippi.

It was very substantially constructed and by skilled workmen, who no

doubt came from Fort Towson. The Girls' Hall stood between it and the

well, indicated by the aeromotor east of it.

This building was the pioneer home of the academy. The stages of

progress in its use were as follows. The native school was transferred

to it in 1884. Eliza Hartford began to occupy it in 1886, first as a day

school, and three months later as her home with a boarding school. In

the fall of 1887, a kitchen was added to the west end of it, and it was

then used as a home for the teachers and girls, and the school was

transferred to the new school building. Two years later it became a

dormitory for the boys. After 1895 it was used for storage, a smith and

carpenter shop. The picture showing it on fire is from a photograph

taken by Miss Weimer, after the roof had fallen and the Girls' Hall was

entirely consumed.

DAVID ELLIOTT

The erection of the fine building known as Elliott Hall, was made

possible by the receipt of a gift of $5,000 from Mr. David Elliott, of

LaFayette, Indiana, who expressed the desire that a school might be

established among the Freedmen that would be a memorial of Alice Lee

Elliott, deceased, his previously devoted wife. It was dedicated to her

memory on June 13, 1912.

Elliott Hall is now the commodious and comfortable home of the Oak Hill

family. It provides a convenient office for the superintendent, library

and reception room, places for the boarding and laundry departments,

rooms and bath rooms for the girls. It occupies a beautiful and

commanding position on the gentle elevation known as Oak Hill. It stands

on the very site previously occupied by the old log house, but parallel

with the survey lines. It forms a center around which all other needed

buildings can be conveniently and permanently located.

Elliott Hall is the largest and finest of the buildings hitherto erected

at the academy, and the first of the larger ones to be built by the

local Freedmen. This noteworthy achievement, occurring so soon after the

reopening in 1905, and the introduction of industrial training in the

shop as well as on the farm, is suggestive of the real and substantial

progress made by the young men.

It is also an encouragement to every patron of this institution, for it

practically illustrates the progress that may be made by every

thoughtful and industrious youth. In view of the fact that there are few

or no opportunities for the young Freedmen to learn carpentry and

painting elsewhere in its vicinity, this achievement becomes one in

which every Freedman may justly manifest a laudable pride and express

devout thanksgiving.

The memorial offering of Mr. Elliott, that made it possible, is the

largest individual donation yet made to this institution. It came at a

time of our saddest and greatest need. It is a gift to be very greatly

appreciated. Every Freedman in the region of country benefited and

blessed by this institution, may well be profoundly thankful for this

manifestation of personal interest in your intellectual and material

welfare.

ALICE LEE ELLIOTT

Mrs. Alice Lee Elliott, in memory of whom Elliott Hall and the Oak Hill

Industrial Academy were named in 1910, was the faithful and devoted

wife of David Elliott, an elder of the Spring Grove Presbyterian church

near LaFayette, Indiana. She was the daughter of John and Maria Ritchey,

who left Ohio soon after their marriage to found a new home of their own

on the frontier in Indiana. She was born, January 7, 1846, and was

called to her rest in her sixty-first year, June 27, 1906.

She received a good education in her youth and her marriage occurred

March 2, 1875. Three years later she became a member of the Dayton

Presbyterian church, of which her husband was already a member, and at

once became an earnest and zealous christian worker.

When in later years Mr. and Mrs. Elliott transferred their membership to

Spring Grove Presbyterian church, because their services were more

greatly needed there, she became a very successful teacher in the

Sabbath school and an enthusiastic leader in their missionary work.

She was amiable and winsome. Although she lived amid the surroundings of

wealth, she was the constant friend and helper of all classes. Her home

was always a delightful retreat for the ministers of the gospel and

those who represented worthy causes of benevolence and charity. The

Bible, the favorite family church paper and the missionary magazine were

always on the center table and read regularly.

She was animated with the noble desire to be eminently useful and took

advantage of every opportunity to benefit and bless others. Others were

captivated and enthused by her happy, hopeful spirit, and have accorded

to her this beautiful tribute, "Many daughters have done virtuously, but

thou excellest them all."

When her voice became silent and her eyelids closed in death it seemed

to her surviving husband that she was worthy and the world would be made

better by the erection of a living or useful, as well as granite

memorial. Accordingly when her last earthly resting place was duly

marked with an appropriate granite memorial, he made a donation of $5000

to the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen, for the

establishment of an educational institution for the benefit of the

colored people of this land, that should bear her name.

After the loss by fire of two of the main buildings at Oak Hill

Industrial Academy in 1908 and 1910, this fund was used for the erection

of a main building--Elliott Hall--and the school has since been called

the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial.

The Bible and shorter catechism are to be regularly and faithfully

taught to all pupils, as fundamental in the development of a good moral

character. The hope is indulged that the beautiful story of her

unselfish and eminently useful life will prove an incentive to constant,

noble endeavor on the part of every one that enjoys the privileges of

the institution that now bears her honored name.

ENDOWMENT

Other friends who have it in mind to leave a legacy to this greatly

needed institution, will do well to consider the propriety, if possible,

of sending the funds to the Freedmen's Board while living, as Mr.

Elliott did, and receive from the Board, if desired, an endowment bond

bearing interest payable annually to the donor, during the continuance

of the donor's life. By this arrangement the gift becomes a profitable

source of annual support to the donor, and an immediate benefit to the

institution, without costs and discounts.

XXVIII

UNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES

LOSS OF HELPERS AND BUILDINGS.--BOLL WEEVIL.--STATEHOOD

CHANGES.--EFFICIENT SERVICE REQUIRED.--INFERENCES.--BURDENS AND FRIENDS.

"All these things are against me."--Jacob.

The new era, that had been so auspiciously continued for three years,

and gave promise of rapid and substantial material development, was

destined soon to be interrupted by the experience of three dark days

that occurred, one soon after the other.

On June 5, 1908, one week after the end of the term and after three and

one half years of faithful and efficient service as a matron, the death

of Miss Adelia M. Eaton occurred at the institution.

On the 7th of November following the Boys' Hall, and most of its

contents were consumed by fire.

In the spring of 1909 Mrs. Flickinger experienced a serious injury by

falling from the open conveyance while on the way to Valliant, and,

going home for treatment during the summer was unable to return in the

fall and resume her former duties.

On March 13, 1910, the Girls' Hall, laundry, smokehouse, wood house and

Old Log House, together with most of their contents, suddenly

disappeared in smoke.

Nothing was then left of this cherished and promising institution,

except the chapel, temporary hall for the boys, built the previous

year, and a lot of ashes and burned rubbish, the sight of which

suggested the loss of comforts and working outfit; hopes and plans

indefinitely deferred if not completely blasted, and the expenditure of

a vast amount of labor and time to replace and refurnish the buildings

destroyed; and the utter impossibility of any immediate recovery from

the oft-repeated and fatal checks imposed on the enrollment, ever since

the loss of the Boys' Hall in 1908.

[Illustration: BOYS' HALL 1895-1908]

Two rays of light relieved the darkness of the gloom that followed the

experience of these staggering losses.

(1). All of the lady helpers manifested the real spirit of missionary

heroes. Presuming they were greatly needed during the period of

reconstruction, instead of running away when there seemed to be no

suitable place for them, they discovered a readiness to suggest

possible and acceptable arrangements for their comfort. (2) There was

also available for assistance, a clever squad of intelligent and trained

student boys, one of whom, having served for a term as an assistant

teacher, was believed to be capable of serving as a foreman of the

carpenters; thus making it possible to erect buildings entirely by the

aid of colored workmen and principally by student labor.

THE BOLL WEEVIL

In 1903 the Mexican boll weevil in its northward migration from

Brownsville, Texas, crossed Red river and, during the next seven years,

continued to deprive the farmers in the country north of that river of

all profit on the cotton, their principal money crop; and greatly to

injure the corn, their food crop. These long repeated ravages of the

weevil came at a time when the colored people were by no means prepared

to meet them.

In 1904 and 1905 they had been allotted 40 acres of unimproved timber

lands appraised at $3.23 an acre, or $130. The allotment was the

occasion of many changes in their location. They were really pioneer

settlers, in their own native country and without funds to make needed

improvements. They were happy in the possession of a home they could

call their own, and entertained great hopes for the future. But this new

and destructive pest, year after year for seven years, completely

checked the prosperity they had so hopefully anticipated. The years came

and went and they had nothing to sell worthy of mention to bring them

money.

In April 1905, at the first meeting of the Presbytery after the

reopening, many of the colored people voluntarily and enthusiastically

united in making pledges for the purchase of the land needed for the

buildings and farm at Oak Hill. But of the many generous hearted

friends, who united in pledging about $300.00 at this time, only

ministers and teachers receiving aid from the board, and a couple of

others ever became able to pay these pledges.

Parents bringing their children to school, with only a few or no dollars

in hand, would make pledges of payment during the term. The amount

proposed was $25.00 for boarding a pupil seven months, about one half

the real cost. When they became convinced they had no money to send,

some would send for their children during the term, while others would

leave them at the end of the term without notice, and even make it

necessary for the superintendent to pay their way home.

These disappointing experiences had a two-fold effect on the school.

They meant the loss, not merely of some expected income, but almost

invariably of the pupil and patron, and the constant change of the

student body prevents the development of the higher grades which must be

reached by the students, if the school is to accomplish its mission,

namely the training and development of christian teachers.

The term reports of the last eight years will show that all the full

term students that continued long enough to reach the higher grades, 7th

and 8th, were self supporting ones, who were either sent to remain at

the academy during the vacation periods until they completed their

course, or were accorded the opportunity to work out a part of their

expenses at the academy. The full term students whose boarding was

entirely paid by their parents did not average a half dozen a term.

Inability to provide for their board, meant the loss of the brightest

and most promising pupils of the earlier years, about the time they

reached the fifth grade. But a good boarding school can be developed

only where the conditions are favorable for the continuance of the

pupils from year to year, until they reach the higher grades. The fact

that the 7th and 8th grades were reached only during the last two years

and then only by the self-supporting young people is quite suggestive,

not merely of a past embarrassment, but of that which should be an

important feature in the future management of the institution, namely, a

constant endeavor to increase the opportunities for young people to

support themselves by the employment furnished at the institution.

STATEHOOD CHANGES

Another embarrassment was experienced as a result of the changes

incident to the establishment of statehood.

The constitutional convention that met at Guthrie, the old capital, Jan.

1, 1907, changed the map of Indian Territory. From the time the Indians

were located in it until that date the civil divisions consisted of the

general allotments to the different tribes or nations and Oak Hill was

near the center of the southern part of the Choctaw nation. In 1907 when

the boundaries of the counties were established Oak Hill was near the

west line of McCurtain county. The first election of county officers

occurred that fall and they entered upon their duties on Jan. 1, 1908.

It was made the duty of the county superintendent to divide the county

into school districts so as to meet the needs of the colored people as

well as the whites and Indians.

On Sabbath, Jan. 20, 1908, the first superintendent of McCurtain county

called at the academy and left the papers showing the establishment of

Oak Hill district No. 73, for the colored people of that neighborhood.

The district included the northeast quarter of section 29, on which the

academy is located and the southeast quarter of the section adjoining it

on the north. The board of education for this Oak Hill district was

organized on February 20th following, by the election of Henry Prince,

chairman, Rev. R. E. Flickinger, Secretary; and Malinda A. Hall,

treasurer. All this was done at a time, when the county superintendent

could not think otherwise, than that the teachers and work at the

academy were in some way under his jurisdiction. A little later the Oak

Hill district was quietly quashed and its honorable board of education

went into "innocuous desuetude."

This incident is narrated because it illustrates what was then taking

place all over McCurtain county, and all the other counties of the new

state. The law provided that a district and a school might be

established wherever there were six pupils to attend the school and the

people furnished a building for it. In a short time three schools for

the colored people were established in the vicinity of the academy, and

parents were made to believe that they must send their children to these

schools or penalties would be imposed on them. A host of colored

teachers from Texas and other localities were attracted to the new state

to meet the needs of the public schools, now for the first time

established in the rural districts.

The mission schools previously established for many years in the chapels

of the churches of the Presbytery of Kiamichi became public schools and

the pastors that continued to teach became public school teachers.

Parents were also for the first time in their lives, taxed for the

support of their local school. Will they be able and willing to pay

their annual taxes and additional tuition or board at Oak Hill for the

education of their children.

These important changes, occurring both in the immediate neighborhood

and also in distant ones that furnished the supply of students for Oak

Hill, were destined to exert considerable influence on the work of that

institution. What the effect of that influence would be, was a matter of

great anxiety and constant watchfulness on the part of the

superintendent. The previous missions of our Freedmen's Board at

Muskogee, Atoka and Caddo were abandoned as unnecessary as soon as the

increasing population of those towns made adequate provision for the

public education of their colored children. Shall this be the outcome of

the work at Oak Hill, now that the rural districts are supplied with

public schools and teachers?

EFFICIENT SERVICE REQUIRED

That these changes would temporarily affect the enrollment of Oak Hill,

even under the most favorable circumstances was believed to be

inevitable. This problem was all the more difficult to meet, while

undergoing the experience of repeated checks, that made it necessary to

send pupils home during term time on three different occasions and twice

to check their incoming on account of "no room."

The most efficient and faithful service possible, on the part of the

superintendent and teachers, was believed to be the best means of

meeting this crisis. Parents and young people must also have a little

time for observation, that they might see and be convinced of the

greater value of the work at the academy.

To visitors at the academy the difference was very quickly perceived.

These were some of the things that attracted their special and favorable

attention.

The Bible was in the hand of every pupil, and even the youngest were

familiar with many of its most beautiful and instructive passages.

Every pupil had all the text books he needed from the day he entered the

school.

All that were old enough were required to spend an hour each evening, in

quiet study under the helpful and encouraging eye of the principal, in

addition to the forenoon and afternoon hours.

All were forming the habit of using their spare moments to advantage, by

reading some good books from the library, a church paper, or practicing

on some useful musical instrument.

Their voices were being correctly and rapidly developed for intelligent

use in song and public address.

In the visible results of their work they witnessed their skill in the

necessary arts of life, such as farming, stock raising, carpentry,

painting, masonry, cooking, baking and sewing.

And then it was very unusual for any pupil to return home at the end of

the term, without having voluntarily become an active christian worker

in the endeavor meeting and Sunday school.

During the spring term in 1905 only 34 pupils were enrolled. During the

next three years the increase was very encouraging, the enrollment

reaching the full capacity of the buildings at 115, May 31, 1908.

The loss of buildings that began with the opening of the next term

compelled a reduction in the enrollment. For 1909 and the subsequent

years it was 84, 108, 90 and in 1912, 95.

INFERENCES

It would seem from the foregoing facts, that, whatever demand there was

for the Oak Hill Mission as a school for local elementary instruction in

the earlier years of its history, the conditions of the country, to

which its work must now be adjusted, have experienced a very great

change. So long as there are families living in sparsely settled

districts, that are not provided with ample school privileges; or the

interest of parents in the welfare of their children leads them to

prefer the select boarding school, under well-known christian

influences, to the rural school; elementary instruction will be needed

at Oak Hill. But the greater need now is for the higher christian

education that will best fit the young people to become intelligent and

successful teachers, and for the industrial training that will fit them

for the performance of the necessary duties of life.

A comfortable home on a well-tilled farm, that is every year increasing

in value, is the ideal and happiest place for ambitions young people.

Such a home affords healthful employment, the greatest freedom and is

usually a very profitable investment.

The young farmer needs not only a knowledge of soils, their drainage and

how to use them to best advantage, but also a practical knowledge of

carpentry and painting, to enable him to erect good buildings

economically and to take proper care of them afterwards.

The teacher needs this knowledge and training, that he may create a

constant demand for his services during the long summer days when he is

not teaching.

[Illustration: Rev. W. H. Carroll.]

[Illustration: Sadie B. McNiell.]

[Illustration: Mrs. W. H. Carroll.]

[Illustration: Lucretia C. Brown.]