New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-10-23

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NEwNANsvILLE. FLA, Oct. II, lS:2.
r. The Eii'ors If TIE Nco Ntt,oad g., ,,t Cih..a-
SIEs: After pleasant travel Of four days
from your city, arrived mt Gainesville,
Alachua county, on the 5Uth ultin,o.
Gainesville is the cr,n;:y seat, having u
respectable number of inhabitants, aud
rapidly growing i'll industry among ali classes.
My first acquaintance were the Hon. J. T.
Walls, member Of Congress, and General
William Birney, county solicitor. These
gentlemen are well thought of here, poiti
caily and socially, aud, doubtless, exert u
large influence, which must result Ion the
good of the county and State.
The next day, lst ils .s.nt, the Charitable
Union Association OF Gainesville, composed
OF colorcd young men and ladies, gave their
first anniversary, a demonstration which |
had the pleasure Of witnessing. where Gen
eral William Birncy, orator of the day, de
livcrcd a fine Grafton, pointed, unquestion-
ably the speech for the occasion. He was
followed by Mr.. Walls and others in timely
addresses.
One attractive feature of the demonstra-
ton was the presence of the regularly organ-
lied brass band (colore,D Of this village,
which favored the: audience with number
OF their choicest pieces in fact, the whole
affair WIS handsome display, both in attire
aAd conduct. The educational prospect Of
the colorsd people ID good. The demand for
teachers in this section of the State is greater
than the supply The people prefer reliable
and compel nt colored teachers whenever
they can be secured, not that there is any
derelictice or lack of confidence in the white
instruStorS
There arc two academies in Gainesville,
East Florida Academy (wi,te) and the
Union Academy, Icolorcd,) in which Miss
c. NJ. Sewell, Of Washington city, is an
assistant teacher. In this county there are
several other villages, each of which have
fine schools in active operation. The school
at Newnansvillc numbers from a hundred and
forty to fifty pupils. Macanopy and Archie
have excellent schools, in charge respectively
of Messrs. George johnson and Black, of
Philadelphia.
The schools at each Of these points are
allowed by law q principal and assistants
Florida has a well regulated common school
system, supported in the usual way by taxa
ton, together with the Peabody fund; teach
crs receive good salaries, and paid promptly
in legal currency.
Alachua county holds out fair inducements
to cn'crprisng young men as producers, law
yers, doctors, and teachers. The colored
people as a general thing are becoming re-
s:.ectable lanf owners as purchasers and
settlers. The lands are fertile,
the hammock localities, and with
proper fertilization and drainage when neces-
sary, will always yield an abundant crop.
The recent report of the commissioner OF
agricultural resources of Florida verify this
statement.
One desirable object here deserves pass
ing notice, that is . healthy journal, such as
| would cOmuend-the New NATIONAL
ERA AND CITIZEN, because its columns con-
tain wholesome matter, and, therefore, cap
able OF developing national pride and love of
We see no reason why that your
paper cannot have a larger circulation here
than what it has.
The Nep Era, formerly published by a
Democrat in this county was recently bought,
with all appurtenances thereto, by Mr.. j. L.
Walls. The few IRA has completely changed
front from Democratic fanaticsm to unfalter-
in. RepubIicanism. and strange to say that
not more than bakers dozea Of the old
Democratic subscribers have dawn their sup
port from the paper.
Almost every psper IN the State, irrespec-
tive of party procliyities, has noticed Mr.
Wallis new enterprise by the usual editorial
on his debut Of journalism.
We have every reason to be assured that
the Nec Era will be y power in the develop
ment Of FlOrida's natural resources, political
and social prosperity.
Yours, &c, LEwEY.