The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1873-07-16
+, ,[coSMySlcArED:]
The. Examination 'at Messy Dale.
Mr.. Editor:

y
and examinatiohs.ia schools and col
legos, VIC can't forbear giving you
notice Of the school ut "Mosay Dale 1"
for though it is situated in the couu-
try-"deep within the leafy Forest"
it has caught, aud is carrying out
with wonderful genius, the pro-
gressive spirit of tho age. Though
the heat of u July day came down on
the occasion with full and impressive
foi0e, it had no etfoet ip. keeping oaek
the crowd. The. hill on which. ths
Academy ia situated. wus qovered
with people who e"q''d not get iu. :4o
house. sWo wer:c frrttaete ep2pyh
10 ;eta seat On. 'he. rcstvnr:, where
We could e'.! j. 10 cur hearts conicnt
the "f.aot ot reason aud flow Of soul'
aud wo., must. say that tho young
A!dies pf. Mly$Sy Dale would grace with
their beauty, AID honor With their
int elligeuce, am college in our ccuu
try, MIS- Simmons seems to possess
a peculiar tact Of simplifying the .ob>
truse lpints ot p4ilo:ophy, SO ,ha,
avon an ordipary MUD can grasp tho
!deaS, und oi drawing out the thoughIs
Of her pupils in AL cxcecdingly oligi-
nal maj n,r,, into estilg and c1nYlnc-
ing to, tho bearer. that they ha
,horoSgh :kuo%iedge o.. what ,tLey
were talking about. Mr.. Simmons
had some cl.,s. es that Wclo highly, iii.
terestibg, some .cf ttem co:m-
posed OF very small "star>," but they
twi"kled with unusual brillianc5.
We were particularly pleased With
1, Il, cl":s uf rNcadi,.g g-lhc oldest could
not have exceeded twelve years of
ago, bat their reg trd for punvtuation,
| therr intqnalipn, their Expressive
manner Of reading, would shame many
Of ripper years. =,
10 vary The mornings exercises,
Mrs. Siumons' music scholars dis
coursci sweetest music aud showed
"a proficiency that did credit to them,
s,lves aud teacher. II is ha,d to
make any distinction VIXEN all acted
their part so wei! but one song by
little Maggie Smith, u Bright fair
haired child about ten years Of age,
assisted by five or six girls AMI bO,
edua ly small, was greeted with uni;
versal adm iration tho, song wus,
"Twinklc little star" ard tho little
stare twiuklcd ght merrlly.
The morning services were closed |
with speech by master Willie
lIowra' ce, that afforded considerable !
am usemen.
The. order wss thon gi'ren to fall |
into line, and by the inspiring musice
of the Wipnsboro brass band, wo
wei, . marched out fr6m,a Feast for the
scu to. feast f.: the ,.todE. The
people of that country know how to |
fix up a dinner-aii the tables fairly |
groaned meath weight ofgooA things.
All honor to 2 country who. pride
themselves on treating their friends
and visitors with marked respect.
The pleasure Of the teachers and
neighborhood, was somewhat mar. cd
by their pot. being ab le TO-. procure
seats in tLe house for the band who
not only gave their delightful music
to enliven the OCCASION, but generous
ly contributed tho delightful ice !
lemonade, that kept US all from melt
ing outright, by the excessive heat.
Wa hope. they understood the situa.
ton that in this ago of chiyalry the
ladies must have preference, and,
there was not room for all in the |
house.
Aftor a most delightful dinner, and
refreshing convefsa ion ct a. cool,
romantic, pscturesq uc spring, we
repaired to the school house, and
listened to the speeches and compost
tions. The young men acquitted
themselves creditably; they were
we'll drilled in graceful gesture and
fine intonation. There. was bur-
lesque debate bylMessrs. w. Bookman
and y. ,Camick subject, "What
woula cause the greatest consterna.
tion in the world, woman to be de-
privcd Of hor lilly whitc' and
'chignon,' or man of his swhiskey'
aud 'tobacco.,'n, Mr. HQokman seem.
ihGly took up the cause of whiskey
and tobacco, and by irony and sar
casm, most effectually end laughably
pointed out their perDioious effects.
Mr., Camick's spec ch was: also. very
atnusiog-but the charman's speech
in deciding the question, though brief,
was tho soul Of wit. One of the iu-
veniles, master Eddie Simmons, made
q speech that caused great merri-
mcnt, inasmuch as there was some.
thing witty about o great many peo.
pie in ,the audience who were all
taken by surprise, ,.
The young ladies all had very in%
teresting compositions, and we ,c-
GREETED exceedingly that the great
crowd could not hear them all, We
were told that three Of the most in.
terestipg glasses, namely, Rhetoric,
Chemistry and History, besides sey- .,