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.



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.



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.



The young minister needs this knowledge more than many others, and a great deal more than is generally appreciated, to enable him to give intelligent counsel to his people, when they have need to make repairs or build new churches and parsonages.

As these higher and special lines of industrial instruction are perfected and emphasized, and the facilities for self-help both during term time and vacation are gradually increased, the efficiency and patronage of the academy will continue to increase with the progress of the years.

BURDENS AND FRIENDS

The deficit in the running expenses on June 30, 1911, the last day included in the annual report of that year was $1,693.95. This was the largest deficit at the end of any previous month, and was a big one with which to commence the improvement work of our last year. It was due to the fact that the completion of Elliott Hall with good materials and workmanship, including furniture, cost nearly $1,500 more than was expected, and the appropriation made for it.

We were called upon to experience some serious losses and bear, for considerable periods of time unusually great and heavy burdens. The burden twice became so great, indeed, as to awaken the fear that another straw would break the camel's back. Happily the needed relief came in time to avert that unhappy experience, or check the aggressive onward progress of the improvement work.

When the burden became large and a matter of personal anxiety, it also became the measure of the valuable and loyal co-operation of the new friends who came to our assistance, in addition to our Board of Missions for Freedmen; which is the first and final resort for the resources that are necessary to successfully administer, and gradually develop the work of this institution.

We deem it appropriate to gratefully record the names of those who have most signally aided us in the management of the finances, so as to keep them locally on a cash basis, namely, the Security State bank of Rockwell City, Ia.; 1st National bank of Valliant; and in succession the following dealers in Valliant: O'Bannon & Son; A. J. Whitfield and Planters Trading Co.

Hon. T. P. Gore, United States Senator from Oklahoma, (blind), has favored this institution by sending for its library more than a dozen valuable volumes, among which are 2 Year Books of the Department of Agriculture; 2 Handbooks,—I & II,—of the American Indians; Report of the Commissioner on Education for 1911, in two volumes; Report on Industrial Education; Manual of the United States Senate; Directory of Congress, and several other smaller volumes.

SPECIAL ADDRESSES

During our last term the institution was favored with encouraging and instructive addresses from the following distinguished visitors: Rev. Duncan McRuer of Pauls Valley, Moderator of the Synod of Oklahoma; Rev. E. B. Teis of Anadarko, Pastoral Evangelist for the Presbytery of El Reno; Rev. Phil C. Baird D. D., Pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Oklahoma City; and by Rev. Wiley Homer, Rev. William Butler, Rev. W. J. Starks and Rev. T. K. Bridges, pastors of local churches, and Rev. M. L. Bethel, Oklahoma City.



XXIX

BUILDING THE TEMPLE

AN EXERCISE FOR CHILDREN'S DAY, ILLUSTRATED BY A TEMPLE AND AN ARCH.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth."—John

"Giving all diligence add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. He that lacketh these things is blind."—Peter.

It was the good fortune of the author to be called to serve as chorister and superintendent of rural Sunday schools, and leader of the choir of the church, in his early youth. At the beginning of his ministry, he discovered the relative importance of this work among the young, by reading the observation of the sainted Samuel Miller to the effect; if he could repeat the period of his ministry, he would give ten times more time and attention to the work among the children. This importance was very acceptably emphasized during the eighties, by the enthusiasm of Rev. James A. Wooden, D. D., of our Sunday school Board, and the appointment of a Sabbath in June, to be annually observed as Children's Day.

One of the most prominent features of our ministry has been, a persistently active participation in the work among the children and young people. Other engagements have not been permitted to interfere with attendance at Sunday school and Endeavor meetings, or an appointment to meet the children at any of the regular times of rehearsal of songs and exercises for Easter, Christmas, Children's Day and other anniversaries. All the young people were encouraged to participate in the effort to make these rallying days, occasions of special instruction and delight. A number of pretty, and sometimes elaborate, designs were devised to add their illuminating effect to the exercises. Two of these designs, a temple and an arch, both having for their object, a visible representation of the divinely appointed elements of a good character, according to the apostle Peter, and animating power of the indwelling spirit, manifested by a conscientious observance of the command to remember the Sabbath, have been deemed worthy of an illustration in this volume, that those who participated in them, and others, may be able to reproduce them for the instruction and delight of others.

Exercises, that consist of passages from the Scriptures, are more valuable than others to the children, when committed to memory, and they learn them very readily, when an immediate use is to be made of them at a public service. The passages suggested for use in these exercises include many of the most important ones in the Bible, and as they practice, in the presence of each other, all become more or less familiar with every one of them. The superintendent or leader is expected to arrange the length and number of the exercises, to suit the number and ages of those available to participate in them. A single verse may be best for the child: but a glance over the additional passages may be very helpful to the pastor or other person, delivering a short address at the close of the children's exercises.

A very pleasing feature of these designs is the fact, they are constructed by the children as one after the other, or two together, carry their part to the platform and render their exercise. One or two are appointed to serve as Master-builders to receive the stones or tablets, when delivered, and place them in their proper position.

A good character is an enduring monument. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.

WALKING IN THE TRUTH



AN ENDURING TEMPLE.—A temple for time and eternity, showing the divinely appointed elements of a good character (2 Peter 1:5-8), their sure foundations; the person and work of our Lord Jesus and the inspired Word of God; and their crowning bond, the Sabbath.