The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-06-06
ALittle Church in the Woods.

The Y. ". c. A., of Greenville and
neighborF:ood las recently organized a
Sunday School OF nearly forty scholars,
about four miles east of Greenville, in a
scope of country lying along the western
base of the Blue Ridge mountains, known
as "The Pines.;' The section of country
included within the bounds Of the Sunday
School, contains population numbering
some two hundred and fifty or three hun
bred men, women and children. A large
portion of the adult population can neither
| read nor write, and few of the children
| know one letter from another. II these
| poor, ignorant little children ever heard the
name of God mentioned, it is alone from
the lips of their wicked associates who use
| His name only in swearing. Such is the
population that the Y. NJ. C. A., Of Green
vile and neighborhood has undertaken to
teach to read, so they may know something
| of our holy religion, and thus be made more
useful and respectable citizens, il not Chris
| tians.
These people manifest much interest in
| the Sunday School, and express the wish
to have a church, which they may call their
own, and in which they and their children
may worship. Now the Y. NJ. c. A. pro-
pose 70 build them small log house costing
several hundred dollars. A large portion
of the work the young men OF the Assoca-
ton expect to do with their own hands, as
| sisted by the Pines people and some gem
erous citizens Of the Greenville neighbor-
| hood vino will aid in the way of hauling.
etc. One man has promised to give the
| land for the church, another some lumber,
and other necessary building material. So
| in this way, with few hundred dollars in
money, the association expects to have in
short time comfortable little Bethel for
| this neglected and destitute population.
| The church will belong exclusively to and
be entirely under the control of the Associ
alton, and it confidently hopes to have at
| least two gratuitous sermons monthly in
| the church by ministers of the several prot
estant denominations. 1t is also expected
by an arrangement with the public school
authorities to have established at the church
free school. We are told that the tax
gatherer reports fewer delinqdents among
this population, poor, illiterate, irreligious
and neglected as they are, than are to be
found in any other community OF equal
numbers in his district. This fact entities
them to some consideration at least from
our worthy Superintendent of Public
Schools. By the way, we hope our friend
will make it convenient at an early day to
visit these people and look into their wants
and rights in this regard.
The Association is now holding weekly
Sunday School meetings at private house
in the Pines, which the owner Las kindly
consented it shall continue to use till
church can be built. On last Sunday 20
scholars were in attendance, and could all
the children have been supplied with prop
er clothing by the Association, as part were,
at least forty would have been present. Ii
the wives and daughters OF well-to-do far
mers and others of Augusta could witness,
as the writer has frequently done, the alb
ject poverty, degradation and heather ig-
norance of many of these poor, innocent
little Pine children, we feel assured this APP
peal for help would not be in vain.
This population needs the attention of
the churches as much as any in heather
lands, and in the name of our common Mas
ter, who has directed his followers to 90 in
to all the world and preach the gospel to the
poor and needy, we do earnestly invoke the
aid of the good people OF Augusta in the
prosecution of this laudable enterprise by
the Young Mems Christian Association Of
Greenville and neighborhood.
GREENvILLE.
May ~, 1878.
Contributions will be received at this
Office and forwarded to the Y. NJ. G. A. OF
of Greenville.-[ED. VIRGINIAN.
Terrible Tornado in Missouri.
special from Richmond, No., to the st.
Louis Times, dated on the 1st.. gives an &C
count of a terrible tornado which swept over
Richmond and Ray county. AS many of
our readers have friends and relatives in that
section, we give the particulars as far as re-
ceiged. The dispatch says:
A terrific cyclone passed over that place
atont four O'Clock this evening, leveling to
the ground over onehalf the buildings in
the town. Over one hundred houses are to-
.ally destroyed, and the loss of property
will reach quarter of a million dollars.
Whole blocks were swept away and debris
scattered for miles. The storm came from
southwest, passed to northeast, and was
preceded by heavy rain fall. Trees were up
rooted and carried through the air like feath-
ers, as were also the fragments of houses.
and in fact everything the storm struck.
The Shaw House, large brick hotel, was
demolished and its inmates buried in the
ruins. So far as known the following per-
sons were killed: Mrs Thomas Casey, Miss
Rose, Mr.. Nading, Miss Crouch, Jos. Camp
bell, Mr.. Hamilton, Miss Holman, Mrs. Al
Wis Vaught, Thomas Bohanan, Mary JOY.
The following were mortaly wounded W
A. Donaldson, Mrs. Paul Wertz, Fred Leh-
man. Seriously wounded. John Anderson,
Marion Ball, J. B. Hines, J. b. Ashbury,
Florence Ford, Bob Offutt, Eliza Marshall,
James Duncan, Mrs Thomas McGinnis, Geo.
Sawyer, Squire Dodd, Isabel Warner, Mrs:
Jennie Smith, Fred Joy and wife, Charles J
Hughes, jr., Mrs Colgan, Clay Burgess, Tho
Burgess, John Ballard and wife, Mrs Perry
Jacobs, A Child and two children, George
Warner, Riley Holman, Mrs. Osborn, Sam'l
Powell, Mrs Hughes and a number OF others.
Horses and stock OF all kinds in the track OF
the storm were swept off the earth. A train
load of citizens from Lexington arrived to
render aid. and the physicians from the sur
rounding towns have been summoned to
give medical attendance to the wounded.
Patrols have been detailed to guard the
town. 9Ni do N.rslnH EsTzr
The greatest enemy to the South is the
Democratic party. It's representatives in
the North care nothing for the South