San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-06-27
INDIANS AT SCHOOL.
EDUCATED AT A QUAKER INSTITUTE
IN INDIANA.

The Boys Are Taught to BE BIacksmiths,
Carpenters and Farmers. and the Girls
Soon Learn to BE Good Cooks and
Houseksopers.
The civilization and education of the In
dian is no longer an experiment, as the re-
suits which have attended the efforts of the
management of Whites Indiana Manual
Labor institute, south Of Wabash, Ind, con-
clusively demonstrate. The school, founded
in 1852 by Josiah White, benevolent Quaker
of Philadelphia, though originally devoted
almost exclusively to the education of white
and colored children, is now virtually an in
stitution for the education of Indians. Mr.
White, in the year above named, donated
about 1900 for the purchase of tract Of
land and the erection of the necessary build
ings, and with this sum 76O acres of the most
fertile land in the Wabash valley were Sc
cured, and plain brick structure, serving
the dual purposes of school and boarding
house, was erected. The grounds about the
institution were laid out with great care, and
a considerable sum was expended in beauti-
flying and improving them.
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
Some five years ago the national execu-
tive committee of the Society of Friends con.
ceived the idea of undertaking the education
of Indian pupils after the manner of the
schools at Hampton, Va, and Carlisle, Pa
Application was at once made to the secre-
tary of the interior for permission to take
from the reservations in Indian territory
and Dakota a number of pupils to receive tut
ton at the institute at the expense of the
government, and in March, 1888, twenty
seven children arrived for a three year
course of study. A group of Sioux Indians
from Pine Ridge arrived at the institute last
August. They were unkempt, ignorant and
coarse, and true to their natural instincts
were as shiftless as Alabama darkeys. An
allowance of $50 per student was made by
the government to the institute people, and
this was continued until two years ago, when
it was reduced to S125. In the meantime the
class of twenty-seven had been graduated
and returned to the west, while about seventy
more children of various tribes were brought
to the school and were receiving instruction.
The small sum paid by the government for
the sustenance and education hardly suffices
to pay the board of the pupils, and with no
hope of being reimbursed the management
of the institute has generously made up the
difference.
There are at present seventy seven Indian
pupils in the school-in fact, the work of the
school is now in the line of Indian education.
OF the seventy-seven, thirty-two are boys
and forty-fve girls, nearly all Of whom are
members of the Sioux tribe. The institute is
very pleasantly located on the banks of
Treaty creek, down to which stream slopes a
lovely lawn. There have been extensive ad-
ditions made to the original building now
used as a residence for the officers, and much
money has been invested in machinery and
tools for carrying on the farm work and for
instruction of the pupils in the trades. In
dustrially the boys are taught husbandry.
together with carpentering, glazing and
blacksmithing; and recently another occupa-
ton, that of the manufacture of brooms, has
been added, the broom corn being produced
on the farm and the brooms finished by
the Indian boys.
FACULTY OF IMITATION.
In all branches the little redskins evinced
marked aptitude. They possess wonderful
memories, and the faculty of imitation is de.
veloped to a marvellous degree. They dis.
charge the duties of the schoolroom, work
shop and farm with an intelligent interest
and perseverance that would put the average
farmers boy to blush. They never grumble
at any task which is assigned them by their
tutors. The girls are taught housekeeping,
and upon them devolves the labor of keeping
the interior of the buildings in perfect order,
of performing the laundry work, sewing,
washing dishes and cooking the meals They
are quick to learn, and in a comparatively
short time after their arrival become as pro-
ficient in the discharge Of household duties
as are their instructors themselves. In the
schoolroom they apply themselves diligently
to mastering the common branches for ten
months in the year, the pupils being divided
into two sections, one of which attends
school in the morning and the other in the
afternoon, the time when not employed in
study being spent in manual labor at the
bench or in the field by the boys, and in the
kitchen OF laundry by the girls.
Bookkeeping, theoretical and practical, Is
taught, and vocal and instrumental music
also receives special attention, many Of the
girl pupils attaining considerable skill as
pianists. An accurate record Of study, reci-
tation, work and conduct in and out of the
school room is made each day, a monthly
average is struck, and upon this depends the
allowance for clothing and spending money.
credited to each pupil and drawn as needed.
This incentive to diligence and good be-
havior has a strong influence, especially upon
the boys Of the institution, and the number
Of incorrigibles among the Indian pupils has
been singularly small. These children come
to the institute of their own voition, not q
pupil having been brought here against hir
wilL-New York World