Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-11
SCHOOL CONFERENCE.
supER1xrENDEvrs MEETING


| Aadye,ss by rev. M. MeGiivray ss1 Gea-
! erals. c. Amsusss- -yIIssssafed Lsessse.
Last night the preliminary meeting
| for 1885 of the superintendents Of pub
! lie schools for the various cities and
counties in the State was held in the
hall Of the House Of Delegates at .
| O'Clock.
The meeting was very largely attend
ed, not only by the superintendent,
but here and there through the hall
were numbers Of teachers OF public
schools. Many Of these were ladies',
and their presence not only tended to
enliven the appearance of the audience,
but the music Of their voices blended
very nicely with the deeper tones Of the
men. The impression made upon the
looker-on was that the body was very
fine looking one. -;
The Conference was called to order by
the president, Superintendent-ofPublic-
instruction X. X. Farr.
Rev. DIR. George w. Dame, of Dan
vile, was present, and offered a fervent
prayer.
The secretary, Mr.. George W. Hawk
hurst. called the roll, and the following
members answered to their names !;
Messrs. James G. Weaver, L. A. Niche,
A. b. Grunwell, A. A. Mcdonald. II.
T. Tucker, o. G. Bailey, Rev. j. b.
Bristow, II. S. Roller, Captain j. G..
Board, X. A. Hamlet, b. b. Wright,
Thomas j. Jennings, j. p. Stagg, DIR.
j. c. Paris, L. N. Hoge, John W. Col
win, C. A. Holman, II. C. Slaughter,
B. G. Rennolds, Z. +. Crocker, W. II.
Strother, John w. Simmons, John X.
Haden, r. II. Franklin, John s. Spen-
Ger, T. +. Barksdalc, d. i. Gardner,
o. p. Chew, C. W. Taylor, j. G. Can
non, W. Mcdaniel, Colonel j. c. john
son, Colonel W. Giddings, W. J. Wal
ton, ii. N. Fry, Z. b. Howe, Rev. X.
B. Collier, II. E. Coleman, r. T. Bland,
Judge George S. Stephens, j. d. Turner,
Major r. G.. Banks, j. b. Dalby, j. e.
Perkinson, F. L. Marshall, Z. T.
Broyles, Major j. A. Taylor, Major Z.
B. Branch, j. w. Wilson, 7. W. Craw-
ley, II. C. Britton. o. b. Mears, Z. NJ.
Garnett, Marshall Frantz, j. L. Hamil-
ton, Rev. A. p. Funkhouser, W. W.
Logan, J. NJ. Holiday, Strother Hard
ing. w. A. Bowles, William billiard,
W. n. Blow, j. 7. Silman, NJ. NJ.
Wells, Major W. G. Repass, l.. U.
Evans, Rev. George W. Dame, and Z.
G. Glass.
Mr.. Farr apologized for the absence of
Hon. F. S. Blair, who was in Norfolk
attending to his duties as Attorney-GeD-
eral. lie congratulated the Conference
on the number Of superintendent pre-
sent. and said that there were more OH
the road to the city.
Mr.. Farr introduced Rev. W. b. Nc
Gilvray, who proceeded to address the
Conference, first taking pains to make
some very funny excuses for having to
take the place of Mr.. Blair in the mat
ter of making a speech.
He said he looked upon these meet
ingS as the most important outcroppings
IN the history of the State. He asked
for all who had taught school to hold
up their hands, and large proportion
of those present did so. Energy and
will were necessary to the practical car
rying out of the great schemes of educa-
ton. He said old Virginia was march
ing out of the woods under the training
of those who had now the cause Of
education in hand. When he went to
school there were no maps drawn.
He studied geography under the
tickling influences of the switch.
The maps drawn now by little hands
could not be equalled by the older ones.
1t was simply wonderful to contemplate
these maps and think of the great adj
vances and changes made now. The
sketches of school-houses, the maps Of
school districts and countries, spoke
volumes. Forty years ago five men
did not live in the State that
could have done the work that
had been done by little children
in log-cabins. This was the work Of
the school-teachers. He was proud of
his State and of his profession. He
imagined what old Virginia would be
when these young hands grew up to
govern the land. The school-teacher
was welding and moulding the destiny
of the State. 1t was their duty to see
that the young were led up to the spirit
of prophecy foreseen in the labors Of
the present.
GENERAL ARMSTRONG SPEAKS.
General S. C. Armstrong, president
of the Hampton Normal and Agricul-
tural Institute, was introduced in fat
tering terms by Mr.. Farr.
General Armstrong said every man
was an equation of his past. Since the
year 1861 he had never. heard of
graduate of his school who had been
badly treated by school official Of the
State. For himself, he had been ac-
customed TO say in public that he had
been in Virginia since 1861, and he had
never received discourtesy from peo-
pie or press or at the hands of an Off
cial, and he thanked God his lines had
been cast in the grand old Common
wealth, where he expected to remain as
long as he lived.
General Armstrong then alluded to
the problem of educating the negro and
the Indian. He said under the present
school system of Virginia the manner
in which this problem was being han
died excited the admiration of the world.
We were dealing successfully with the
difficulties and removing obstacles. lie
gave an interesting sketch Of Indian life
and character. lie said what the Indian
needed most was a symmetrical building
up Of the whole msn-hcad, hand, and
heart. The simple routine elementary
training at the Hampton School fur
nished this. There were l35 Sioux at
this school now undergoing physical
and mental development. They were
nuicL tn learn but slow 10 execute AT