The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-12-24

sre employed to supervise the work, each
lin his own department., and all under
tba direction OF the superintendent, who
ia the executive head OF the institution.
Each Indian agent has charge OF the
schools OIL Lis reservation, and 1t is his
ldr+v TO see that all children Of suitable
soe and physical condition are put in
school and retained there. By recent
order of the President all school en-
nlovees are under civil service regula-
tions.
The whole school system is under the
control of the superintendent OF Indian
schools, who makes the rules for all
schools and transfers, promotes or dis
charges employees az the good Of the
service requires.
Possibly none of the educational insti-
tuition Of our country possess more real
interest than these schools. They are,
of course, much like other schools in the
general routine CT school work, but
their intere,t to visitors lies chiefly in
the novelty Of seeing so many scinns OF
the undivided red man yielding so
gracefully to the influence of Christian
civilization and falling in SO naturally
and easily with tho customs Of law and
order. Indeed, after a few hours spent
in one of these institutions, one is In
near advent Of a time when, through
this agency tho savage element in the In
dian makeup will be. greatly toned down
and the old saying the good Indians are
all dead" will lie an unmerited slur.
Many Of the best schools are in the In
dian and Oklahoma Territories, and one
is as far South as Cherokee, N. c.
1 also had the pleasure of seeing the
school at Anadarko, in Oklahoma Terri
tory. This 10 considered one OF the best.
The buildings have that commodious
and substantial look which is q favorable
indication of ths interest felt by the
promoters of the schools in doing all that
is possible to put them on par with
the public schools which are established
for the benefit of the white children. The
grounds are extensive, but not p1ctur-
esque unless almost unbroken expanse
could be term ed picturesque. The coun.
try is too Hnew'' to boast Of elm.shade
a venues and stretches Of blue grass.
Probably the present generation of young
Indians will have long been only mem
DRY before their section of tho GREAT
American Desert blossoms in any way
save in the intellectual progress OF its
peop1e. But this unconventional barren
ness may 0e in more perfect accord with
Inii an nature than would tie cultivated
flowers and graceful hedges. just as an
Indian prefers his unframed, treacherous
"Texas pony'' to well bred, decorous
piece of horsefesh.
The children, about a hundred and
twenty five in number, were at play
when we reached the school. They werc
clothed in plain, neat-looking uniforms,
and were playing the same games that
are such source of pure delight to all
America ohildhood--f crack the whip, -
shide and go seek,'' etc. When school
was called they filed orderly in, and with
a show OF much interest resumed the
usual work.
The prelude to the lessons was song
in unison. l cannot describe that song
or the effect 1t had On me, though l be-
lieye 1t was one of the hymns that Is
most sung in the churches everywhere.
There was the most complete :aonotony
in the tones of tie voices. They lacked
both resonance and vibration, and there
was dull harshness in the sound that
could not he toned down or amended.
The tune was carried correctly, and none
of the notes were "fat," but the dull,
ponGerous volume of sound seemed Kept
down by its own weight and flatness, like
q great volume of black smoke that
hoyers close to the earth On a heavy,
damp day. There was suggestion OF
the hollow weirdness of an echoi still it
was too evident, too material, to be seri-
ously compared to such. At the 0onclu-
sion of the song some Of the more pre-
cocious ones were requested to reo1te for
our benefit, and was much pleased both
with the selections and the manner In
which they were given. I had never
heard Grey's Elegy given with more i'm
| prsssiveness, or Poe's "Bells' with more
varied information. After listening to
both song and speeches, could not help
thinking that, in spite of the proverbial
Indian reticence, the power Of Oratory
! might be dormant in them, and In time
to como 1T may yet be the good fortune
of some Of their descendants "the ap-
plause Of listening senates to command"
But there must be serious doubts if it is
ever possible for any musical voices to
bo evolved from the source of such IN
promising tones. 1t cannot possibly be
said that some Of the voices we're better
than others. That would be higher
praise than the Case warrants. No better
compliment is permissible than the state
ment that many of them were worse than
OF hers, if that were possible. Though
one of the teachers Informed me that
many Of the children evince gleat inter-
esit in music, and all are pleased to hear
it. She seemed to think that the old
ouotation. emusic hath charms etc.,