The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-09-03
A Gard from the Principal.

A Gard from the Principal.
MR.. EDITOR 1t Is difficult for
one to speak prudently of himself, or OF
anything that concerns himself, to 9TH
ers. ! think l feel the full force of this
conviction, and yet l would say a word
to the people of Pulaski and Giles conn
ty touching the School whose Interests
were committed to my management one
year ago. l came to your midst in
August, 1873, to establish a high school
for young ladies. Three days after nv
announcement of this purpose through
your columns, the Trustees of the Mar
tin Endowment Fund, in full assembly.
determined to inaugurate, and did then
and there inaugurate, the intended
Martin College, deputing to my hands
its SUPPLEMENTARY 1 assumed the re-
spOnsibilities of the position and invest
ed $4,000 in preparatory outfit, be-
lieVing, with the Trustees, that twelve
months thereafter would witness the
completion of stately building for ed
ucatiOnal purposes, but the money panic
of '73, and the untOWard seasons of
flood and drOuth this year, seem indefi-
nitely to have deferred these hopes. In
the interim, with such schoOl-rOOm fa-
cilities as we were able to improvise, we
have had prosperous first year in Pu-
laski. Regretting, of course, the disap-
pointment mentioned above, vet not
Overmuch daunted thereby-''trOubled
on every side, yet not overwhelmed
perpleXed, but not in des pair--cast down
but not destrOyed"-we have entered
upon a second scholastic year with in
creased educational advantages. Deter.
mined, according TO our limited ability,
to offer to our patrons as good instruc-
al ~
taught in the best Tennessee female
schools, we are now investing over
$500 per annum in teachers salaries
for the instruction of the daughters of
the land. And though we boast nor
stately towers, nor marble halls, nor
freLted roof, nor sculptured walls, yet,
minus the costly paraphernalia of
fashionable schools, we feel prepar-
ed to impart as thorough scholarship as
can be had at the best metropolitan in
situations of the State. Do the people
of Giles county sympathize with these
our best efforts to furnish them a good
school in their midst? Pardon US, we
feel that we are entitled to your hearty
support. We are inclined to conclude
that few teachers of our meagre purse
would venture more than we are ven
turing to promote a great common in
terest in the community. Will the pa
rents of Giles county sustain us in the
risk we are making? II so, teachers
are on hand to instruct in all the various
branches of liberal education-useful
and ornamental. We feel that we are
attempting quite enough, considering
our moderate means, in the effort to
maintain a tirst-claSs school in your
midst. Shall we be sustained in our en-
terprise, or shall Pulaski-wealthy Pu-
laski-Pulaski, rich i'm her talented sons,
known for her legal ability, distinguish
ed for her learned physicians, her cul-
tured circles, her pretty wOmen-shall
Pulaski, the favored capitol of iar-fam-
ed Giles, still lOiter amid her heaps Of
gold, content to remain a confirmed
pensioner upon her sister towns for the
means of educatiOni while she can
claim not an ounce of mortar nor a
shingle of wood in the shape OF a bSIild-
ing for the education of her own daugh-
tiers? "Tell it not i'm Gath, publish it
not in the streets of AskelOn, lest the I'M
circumcised rejoice" Pulaski to-day
stands conspicuous paradox. Having
resided during the past % years in some
half-dOzen towns, some of them of more,
more of them of less, commercial cOnse-
quence than Pulaski, | have yet to know
"A place, short of the limits of city,
claiming so much of solid literary cul-
ture and varied learning as Pulaski
justly boasts; and yet ! have still to
find "A place So unprepaFed as this same
literary Pulaski, to meet the intellectual
needs of her rising wOmanhoOd-her
coming troops of maidens.
Is Pulaski to be forever tributary to
Nashville? Is Giles to pay her annual
stipend to Maury and Williamson and
MontgomeTy-must her fair daughters
suppliantly sue for meager draughts at
COlumbia's castalian founts, or shall
some generous Ballentine smite the rock
(already smit) with golden rod and bid
Siloa's brook send forth perennial
streams.
Let us have our home schools.
w. X. JONES.