Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-01-12

before they come here, and then they are
examined here upon arrival. In one party
Of 30 brought back from the West with me
last summer, 10 were pronounced unsound
and somewhat delicate when we got here.
That is why we have quite q number with
US now who take good care Of themselves
and will, in all probability, 60 back cured.
We now have SO graduates at Standing
Rock, OAK, and in letter received yes
terday from one of them, he said all were
well. do not know whether that can be
depended upon. It is the system Of Govern
ment indulgence and isolation that has
made the Indian race the unhealthy one it
now is. The Indians are full Of scrofnla
and kindred diseases, and those were long
seated before they came here"
1t was Swift Bird, one OF the visiting
Sioux chiefs, who said at Washington the
other day after returning from Hampton:
THE breath Of the earth rises up there and
poisons our children" He meant fog.
Well, by mere chance John Bruyier, a
nephew Of Swift Bird, was among the In
dian boys whom I interviewed at the school
yesterday. "It was foggy the morning the
chiefs were down here" he said in respect
able English, "but fogs are not so very COM
mon here. All letters get from home say
nothing of i'll health. 1 am not afraid of
dying when go back"-and here he ex-
panded robust chest with pride and cast
his twinkling eyes toward his little lady
teacher. mo, was not home sick when
the big chiefs visited US the other day. /
want to stay here and finish my education. Z"
John Pattee, another Indian lad, re-
marked: 'I want to be like the white peo-
pie, die or no die"
Little Wolf" stolid-faced Indian girl,
we'll wrapped in red striped shawl, uttered
"ugh," when asked her how her health
was. and failed to make much out of her
broken English.
Miss Folsom, the teacher, told me also
that Secretary Miller's assertion that the
students return home to despise their parents
and refuse to live with them in their squalor
and wretehedness, is not exactly true. Edu-
cation makes no such disposition, but it does
create an edifying gap because the boy or
girl who for three years has been eating at
the table of Eastern civilization feels fine
disgust when he goes home and is compelled
to eat from the floor of the family teppee.
As result very few Of the Hampton stu
dents have "gone back to the blanket" OF
247 graduates, 230 have satisfactory records
since returning, 30 excellent, 136 good and
"A fair, and only II unsatisfactory.
THE WHITES BAR THEM OUT.
All the trades are taught in the industrial
department of Hampton School. Harness
making, blacksmithing and carpentering
are favorites with the red boys, but when
they return home they find dissolute white
"agency hangers-o1" given the preference
in blacksmith and harness shops. Seven
teen graduates are teachers in the local In
dian schools. Nine are Episcopal catechists,
who must live and labor on their own farms,
to set good example, and at the same time
take the part of circuit-reading preacher.
Their influence is said to be powerful. The
other male graduates scatter among the In
dians to assist in the dissipation of tribal
jealousies, and to set good examples as to
industry. The girls graduated at Hampton
have married legally or will marry. Some
have "gone to the bad' by becoming
"squaws of the blanket in spite of educa-
tion. Hereditary weakness was the more
powerful.
Some IL couples have been married right
at Hampton. Efforts were made with the
couples who were married before they came
here to inspire Christian and industrious
habits, but they did not always succeed.
One of these couples stayed here three years
-"Miehael" lowering and wife. She was
pretty, he was very handsome. After grad
uation thev started for home, stopping by
leave at Carlisle, Pa, to. see the other In
dian school. Buffalo Bills Wild West
show was 10 the town just at that time. One
of the ugliest girls in the show attracted
Levering's attention. He eloped with her,
and his deserted wife had to 20 back to
Hampton for refuge. Levexing's education
was certainly completed, and he was thor
oughly Americanized. WOODS