The Republican journal., 1886-07-01
Our Georges Letter.
A HOP, SKIP AND JUMP THROUGH GEOR(I,
AND FLORIDA. ATLANTA.

the night, after an evening at the club, and
meet his wife's searching gaze, as she sits up
in bed, and in reply to her question "what is
the handsomest street in Atlanta?' promptly
and clearly cnunciate Peachtrce Street, he is
allowed to retire without having his breath
analysed. But if he replies Peach Stree Treat
or Speech Stree Treat. all his protests of
sobriety will go for naught.
The celebrated Ben. Hill statue is on this
street. 1t represents the statesman as Standing
clad III frock coat, buttoned up, over which is
an overcoat His right hand rests on Il pillar
while his left pushes his outer coat aside and
rests on his hip. The attitude i easy and natural.
The head is tipped Slightly forward, the eyes
being downcast. 1t was at the unwilling of
this statue that Mr.. Jefferson Davis created
such Juror. Although forgotten by the
SOUTH and laid by as IAN imhcce old man."
and shaving TO following, yet he succeeded i'll
riding up Peachtrce st. some two miles over
ii solid mass of flowers, which the school child
rem strewed in his path. If that was being
forgotten" ! don't think the southern people
have a very good forgettery."
| visited Clark's University. a coIored col
legc. | don't mean that the college is coIorcd
exactly, but that the students are if black can
be called color. The University is under the
patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The principal building is of brick. three stories
high, with basement and tower. The
exterior is very handsome and the interior is
neatly and comfortably furnished and finished.
1t is called Chrisman Hall. The pupils are Of
| both sexes and the courses of studies comprise
the Grammar School, Normal, College and
| Theological courses. The faculty are mostly
white, although the Professor Of Classics and
| Science is Il negro, Prof e. j Brown. There
is an Industrial Department in which there is
a school of wood work, i'll which lathe work.
scroll saving, draughtng and carriage work
is done. There is also Il school Of printing,
iron work and agriculture. AZ there are
four hundred ami fifty acres of land connected
with the college. if Il student wants to learn
how to farm, so he can raise dollars worth
| OF something, at an expense of 4 dollar and
half, he has grand chance here to spread him
self. In the industrial department for girls
found Il Miss Mitchell in charge. and in con-
vcrsation with her, learned that She was
cousin of Hon. Randall Ellis of Belfast. and
had visited Belfast. | have never been any
where yet but what somebody appeared to me
who either had lived in Belfast or else had
friends or relatives there. If there was any
way Of a>ccrtaninG the fact. | think wc would
find that when the ark landed on Mount Ararat
that man came on board and cnquired of
Noah if there We're any BclfastcrS there. as he
wanted to borrow copy of the journal. In
fact | will assert that this was the ease, and
if anybody has proof that it was not 50. let
him produce it and l will take water. The
girls in the colleges are taught Music. and
as | entered the music room, there was a
negro gir practicing boxing Oh an upright
piano. and I'll bet four dollars that She could
have >houldcrcd me and run up into the tower
with me, and not have had to stop to take
breath. The School of Theology is held il a
fine building called Cannon Han, after the
Rev. +. II. Cannon, Il friend and patron of
the school. 1t is presided over by the Dean of
the University, the Rev. Wilbur F. Thirkield.
b. D., Il cultured gentleman, Whose whole soul
Is III his work. There is quite an advantage in
holding position in a negro college that one
does not get in Il white one. In the latter. the
professors and teachers are not only highly re-
spectcd in the college, but society claims them.
and makes inroad> on their time. but down
here a teacher or professor, no matter how
highly cultured he or She may be. is rs COM
pletely ostraciSed and frozen out as if he wa,
| ut the North pole. He has lis whole time to
devote to his work, polite society will make no
| claims on him. There are some very nice dis
tinctionS made in civil and society rules and
regulations here. For instance. If | Were
hired by the Atlanta School board to teach
negro school, should not lose my social Do
sitiOn on that account. But if came here
| through love of God and humanity willing to
devote my life and time to teaching the he
groes, it would be good bye George" rs far
As society was concerned. \ colored woman
as nurse, or in any mental position, can occl-
Ply Il white" car aud no one finds any fault.
Let that same person buy her own ticket and
travel by herself, and she cannot and will not
be allowed to occupy the same ear with her
white brothers and sisters. In the former case
her mistress presence seems to act as Il deodor-
izer for her, while in the other. She at once
smells like BAG of phosphate. or some other
high toned perfume. | don't know why this is
so, but | know that it is, from actual expert
cnce. On branch railroads when only one pas
senger car is run and no smoker. the ear is di-
vided in the middle by partition containing a
door. and the whites occupy one half of the car
and the colored people the other. Now if a
white man wants to smoke what does he do
wait till he gets out of the car: Not a bit of it.
he goes into the coorcd half ana smokes. Sup
pose the coored man wants to smoke OF
| course he comes into the white end of the ear
and lights up his T. ID. and smokes and SpitS in
| the aisles, as his white brother has done in the
other half: Well, | should smile to see that
done. If such q thing should he attempted,
that darkey would bc fired out of the ear with
such force that if he started III January he
would not land before December. The negroes
are not all i'll treated in civil rights sense.
They have many rights that the whites have.
They pay as much As Il white man does for Il
railroad ticket, OF to 20 to place of aml>c-
ment, but when anybody tells YOU that they Get
exactly as good a ear to ride in or AZ GOOD Il
seat at an entertainment, you raise the index
HUScr OF your right manu- 10 lflc lower llu OF
your left eye, and slightly pull it down. |
would not advise argument. In some cases let
me say, the cars provided for the rolored peo-
pile are exactly like those in which the whites
ride but this is not the rule.
| find that | have side tracked little from
Clark's University, and will return again, mere
ly to say that from all saw and heard, the STU
dents are eager to learn, and are interested in
their work and as general thing are good
scholars. OF course only the brighter ones
would care to attend, so the standard is higher
here than in the great mass of negroes In an
article in the New York World a strong Dem
ocratic paper, the correspondent says, in speak
ing of the Slater Fund, 1.-The colored people
have a growing appreciation of education, and
this appreciation is notably shown i'll their cf-
forts to help themselves. As Il rule. the
churches make an assessment for educational
purposes, and the colored people are being
trained to give money to their educational in
tereSts." There can be 10 doubt. it seems to
me, that the only salvation of the negroes rests
in their educating the rising generation among
them, and as this is done, they cannot help as
Stunning higher position than they now hold.