The Newtown bee., 1894-05-25
VIEWPOINT CONN, BEE
 
 FRIDAY MAY 25, 1894.
 CIRCULATION: JANUARY 1, 1889, GIG LAST WEEK 34oo
In Litchfield County.
WASHINGTON.

THE FOLLOWING LETTER WAS READ AT
 THE LAST MEETING OF THE WASHING
 TON GRANGE.
 1.-THE GUNNERY."
 Vinton, Va., May l, 1894.
 Washington Grange, No. 1l-Dear Brother and Sister Patrons: am look ing out the window across the yard at a big strawberry bed in full bloom. We shall have strawberries to eat about the middle of May, and this in spite of the fact that the hardest freeze came the last week in March, after the pants be- gan growing. When l reached Virginia on the morning of March g, peach, pear, plum, and cherry trees were in full bloom, while bulb beds were past their greatest beauty. Two days later, the face of nature showed utter discourage ment, the thermometer having fallen to 10. The small fruit trees and Towering shrubs were ruined for this year; gar dens were put back nearly month, and the choicest roses and many other things were killed outright.
 One eveNing the Englishman and the Yankee of our household, escorted and accompanied by Mayor Gum and his daughter, well known to many of you, gratitied their curiosity and extended their education by attending what is here always called "a nigger commence ment." There are no "col0red schools in the South, There are "nigger schools" with "nigger teachers" and "nigger churches" with "nigger preach ers." The "nigger Conference,' how ever had an "African Bishop" The | The "nigger school' in Ninton, which closed about the middle of April, held | it's 'commencement' exercises in the "Digger church" in the evening.
 It Is log building; the chinks inside and out are stopped with clay, and the | interior is whitewashed. The gallery, tC which the white visitors were all invited extended over nearly half the room, anC was very near the roof. The platform on which the 6 or 75 members of tho school were seated, occupied nearly half the church, running like the gallery 1 lengthwise instead of crosswise of thC building. This brought the curtain very near the front of the gallery, afford ing us q fine opportunity to study thC | costumes and cOifures behind the scenes
 The boys were many of them dressed | in new suits complete, from shoes tt ne2kties. The girls all wore white dresses with bright ribbons tied abou waist, neck and sleeves, looking very neat and nice; but their heads were l l Some of the girls had their heads ''la ic off in town lots as the Boston lady ex | pressed it, the hair being divided anC tied round and round in a great numbe | of tiny tails. Others with hair many degrees straighter, tied it in the neck il a regular bush, with another bush hang | ing down i'll front for a bang, abov' which rose a wreath of artificial flowers One little girl, six or eight years old 1 evidently the arstoCrat of the school, W, l immediately christencd "the ittl l symphony in pink and she ccrtainl, did look pretty. She was dressed il white dotted muslin made over pink l with pink ribbons on her neck, wais 1 and sleeves. Her hair was tied in 1 bush, and bush hung over each ey with a band of pink ribbon about he head and two rosettes on top. In tn Doll Drill she carried a doll dressed lik herself There was also a song, "Littl Mothers" by l2 little girls, that wa sung and acted remarkably well. Al the recitations, dialogues and songs wer very good indeed, though l was disap pointed in the singing. The colorer men seem to have rich voices, but tn voices of the girls and women are shar and piercing; 13 full grown girls re presented the l3 original states, each on giving an historical sketch of a state It was very finely done. There wer over forty numbers on the program, bu we were we'll satisfied at the end of a hour. The exhibition would have bee Creditable to any teacher of any schoo teachers ill this school, the principa being a fine looking, well educatet young man and the assistant nice look ing young woman.
 The African Methodist Conference South, met in Roanoke, last week. Tn Bishop was invited to preach in Green Memorial church on Sunday evening and the Englishman and the Yanke were immediately filled with a deCire t see for themselves what an ''Africa Bishop was like unto. Accordingly party was made up, and we saw am heard Bishop Gaines of Georgia. NJ, latest educational dissipation was spend ing two days and night attending tn semi-annual meeting of the Baptist Val ley association. Our party of four ha q delightful drive of 15 miles to Mil Creek, down in Botatourt County. gave me glimpse of the real Virginia that l was very thankful to have, some thing utterly different from the mile upon miles of ''town lots" along the raj roads, surveyed and staked out fou years ago when the boom was at it height. 1 am glad to see that many o those same "town lots'' are now bein fenced in and planted with corn or pota toes. The finest farms we saw, fine ol Virginia homesteads, are now owned b Dutch ,Dunkards. We drove throug one for mile, and the beautiful whea and clover fields and fine young ol chards would make Connecticut farm | nr lIs off al the most profitable thing he could raise There are no scraggly looking highway or fence corners here, and absolutely n ! alders. Such farms are most healthfl contrast to boom town after the co lapse. Every Virginian I meet ''recl ons" I see great change from thrift New England. I reply that the onl thing think about especially is the wa they ford all the streams instead ( bridging them. 1 can add now that
 saw as finely kept farms here in Virgin Ia, last week, as any l ever saw in Col necticut. The roads here are poor, the rains gulley them badly, and thel are but very few bridges. So man , people still go on horseback they do nt 2 notice the poor roads. Fraternall yours, s,-[Julia Averill.
 FINE RESIDENCE.
 The foundations are laid for the ne, . house to be erected for w. G. Brinsmad on the knoll, east of the Gunnery, o land which local syndicate has opene for building purposes. The locatio chosen by MT Brinsmade is an ideal on, The dimensions of the house will | 2Sx45, with wing, 16x20. There wi be piazza on the main part eight fee Tho ctvie If architecture will ha Coll