Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-05-24
Local
An Hour With the Colored Children.

An Hour With the CoIored Children.
WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT ARITHMETIC,
PHYSIOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY AND MUSIC
SURPRISING EFFICIENCY-DELIGH
OF THE PARENTs-MIss MITCHELL's
SUCCESS,
&C., &C., sc.
Our reporter dropped in o. Miss L. A.
Mitchell S colored school Wednesday morn
ing and witnessed the very entertaining
closing exercises of that school. He found
the room crowded with spectators, both
Balthis on the platform and the courteous
and popular teacher, Miss Mitchell, pre-
siding. Her table was loaded down with
flowers in bouquets and pots, the humble
offerings of her attached pupils. There
were some As or so scholars of all ages from
to 20 years and of all shades of complex
ion from the lightest quadroon to the full
blooded African.
WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT ARITHMETIC.
A junior arithmetic class, the first
called up, none over fourteen or fifteen,
reduced complex and compound fractions
to simple ones, also by analysis. Such
questions as the following were proposed
and rapidly disposed of at the black board.
''How much of $50 would be left after
paying John for l6 days work at 81 so per
day and William for Is days work at rs of
dollar per day." 1t was worked prompt
ly and accurately by sprightly dark mu-
latto boy of IA, named John Edwards.
"From the sum of 81 and $40, take SO
and multiply the remainder by 2-9'' James
Carter, woolly headed boy of about Is
filled half the board with shapely figures
in working this example and then explain
ed it with clearness to be envied by ma
ny merchants clerk. ''ff the dividend
is 25-16 and the divisor 1-3, what is the
quotient ?'..was quickly answered by Mary
Brown, good looking quadroom girl of
sixteen. Rhodes Garter very black boy
| with all the distinctive African features,
worked some difficult examples with the
ease of any boy. The arithmetic used was
| Davies Elements, which is completed this
session by this class. Another class, of
three large boys, black and two mulat-
toes, Robt. Brown, Jas. Beck and David
| Carter. were examined on their progress
| in the University Arithmetic. These all
stood we'll, Robt. Brown being especially
thorough and exact. Jas. Beck, who is al
most black and has not been reading three
| years, only stuck once. David Carter is
the premium boy of the school, Having the
highest standing in Department, Atten-
dance and Scholarship.
| During this part of the exercise, rather
| dull and prosy to some; it was amusing
! to notice the countenances of the parents
and friends of the scholars. They had moi
had the same opportunities of their chill
| dren and consequently this was all fog te
| them. But some would put on wise face
and nod and wink, as much as to say, 81
could help him if [ would, but let him
work it out for himself" In others there
was only feeling of qualification to find
| that the children knew so much more than
| they themselves did and while it was a
mystery, mystery was swallowed up in
| pride. However, one old fellow under the
window succumbed to the figures and the
sun, and snored aloud to the painfully
| suppressed amusement of Jefferson Jr. and
some other small boys near him.
LITTLE PHYsIOI -
When the class on phs.=sia |carled
up, our reporter expected to- - them all
lost among the complex phalanges and
| double complex muscles of the human
form divine. But he was met with sur
forgotten and good deal he never knew
| The general formation and composition Of
the spinal column was rapidly and correct
ly given by big boy with flat nose and
ace OF spades. The composition of the
muscles and the several classes of muscles
and tendons was correctly given by lit
tie yellow girl with the aid of John Ed
wards who signalled "that he knew" when
she slipped up on jaw breaking tendon
pencil and was thus lost to the scientific
readers of the VINDICAToR. Then fol-
lowed the different diseases of the muscles.
rheumatism was defined as a painful in
hammation Of the joints and muscles" the
heart described las a hollow pear shaped
muscular organ serving to keep up the circu-
lation of the blood by its contractions, 1.-THE
action Of the auricles and ventricles, the
closing and opening Of the tricuspid and
mitral valves, all stated correctly by
clever girl, except that she sent the blood
into the arteries from the left auricle.
John Edwards again corrected and sug-
gested the left ventricle. The theory of
perspiration, capillary circulation and rea-
sons for keeping the skin clean were given
with peculiar emphasis and Magdalen
Date a modest looking quadroon girl with
a musical voice ratified among the dry
bones of the upper portion of the body and
handled the sternum, the clavical, the hui
merus radius and ulna with the familiarity
Of an university medical student.
VOCAL MUSIC.
DR.. Brown here varied the exercises
with some very creditable performances
in his line. A pupil discoursing fluently
OF a, sharps; b, flats; a, minors; major keys,
&C., drew neat staff on the black board.
which the DR.. filled with a piece of i'm
promptu composition. Without any instruc-
ton from him, the school was directed to
sing it, which they did, calling the notes
correctly, dwelling upon the whole notes,
halves and quarters, and resting according
to time without hesitation and convincing
the spectators that they were not taught,
bY ear and singing hQ note Then cnnooI