The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-24
|. BRIGHT DAY AT BETHESDA.
orortinued from Eighth Page)

Continued from Eighth Page)
-. q, the case propose fnstituting proper
.-5-eedings in the courts 10 overcome Il.
FSn the 10th OF February the society
rarchased and paid TOT. the ten-acre tract
n land al the junction OF tnc Orphan
fio1se and the Montgomery roads. II
- hought from Mr.. George Appleton
-rs.i TOR and Miss Mary Appleton for
- sum OF 500. The tract jutted into
~ orphan house property, and, while
i--~frsically of no value, IL was thought
b-st owing to its location, that the So
cery should own IL. Inere are stll
s5g1rv-th ree. acres OF land on the plat
of its property TO which the society has
10 title
mise incurred in trying 10 keep up our
aqter supply. ! would recommend that
larger tank and ram be put up. and also
fhat the water closets be changed. Some
trouble has been experienced with the new
sever pipes, but think 1t will have been
remedied before this report is presented.
The stewards of the society have fitted
Il NO the northwest room on the second floor
Is sick room. 1t is nicely furnished and
fss all the cOnVenienceS required for use
In such a place. The cost of the work
vas paid for out of a special fund ia
the hands of the stewards, and there
fore does not appear on the treasurer's
hooks The society and its wards are
deeply indebted TO the gentlemen COM
prisng the committee of stewards for
their thoughtfulness in providing such a
nice room for the sick
Bv the liberality of the citizens of Sa-
vannah, who provided the necessary
funds. the larger inmates of the orphan
asylums OF the CITY Were enabled 10 visit
the Atlanta exposition. Forty-four Bethes-
da boys, under the charge of Mr.. A. S.
Nichols and Mr. A. D'Antignac, and &C
companied by Superintendent Chaplin and
Miss Gillespie and Miss Ferguson, visited
the exposition on Nov. &c. The visit Of the
bows will always be remembered as one
of the events of their lives. The society
and it's wards are indebted to the people
Of savannah, Capt. j. II. Johnston of the
City and Suburban railway, Mr.. II. NJ.
Conner of the Central of Georgia railway,
Navor Myers and the committee in charge
OF raising subscriptions, and also to those
who took charge of the boys on their trip.
for their liberality, kindness and atten-
On the Sd inst. Messrs. Baker, Train and
O'Hara Of the public schools and Messrs.
Reppard and DOrsett of the board of man.
ayers and myself visited Bethesda Mr..
Baker and his assistants conducted the
annual examination of the school, and
they informed me that it was the best
that they have ever attended at Bethesda,
and that Principal Oborn and Miss Fer
guson deserve credit for the decided i'm
prOvement in the education and behavior
OF the boys. There are now only two
teachers and the school is doing better
than when there were three.
Mr.. DOrsett, of the committee on farm,
makes a very favorable report. The old
field to the south of the orphan house
grounds has been heavily manured and
now has on it a very fair crop of oats The
fields west and north of the ditch and west
of the orphan house have been under
drained, and Mr. Chaplin expects to have
good results from the Improvement. Work
never stops on the farm, and 1t requires all
the energy and ingenuity Of the superin-
tendent and the labor of the boys to get
anything like a fair return out of the land
for their hard work.
There are now ninety-six boys in the or
phan house. Twenty-four boys have left
and twenty-nine admitted during the year.
DR.. j. Lawton Hers and DIR. S. j. Lanier,
who kindly rendered their services to the
society at the last anniversary, have at
tended the boys at Bethesda for the past
year. DR.. Hers has successfully treated a
number Of boys for diseases of the eye.
The society's old friend, DR.. William Dun
can, and his associates at the Savannah
hospital have cared for several boys who
We're sent to the city for treatment.
and DR.. c. Backman, dentist, has given
the boys teeth his careful atten zion.
MesSrs. Lester & RaVenel and Messrs.
LaWton d Cunningham have, as usual,
acted as the societys legal advisers free
OF charge. The ordinary, Hon. H l.. Fer
riH, has contributed his valuable service
In indenturing boysl and Mrs. Ferguson
and her family have continued to deyote
school
Superintendent Chaplin and other Off
GERS and the employees at Bethesda have
discharged their duties to the entire sat
istaction of the managers and myself.
The committee appointed for the pur-
the list of members of the society, and
there has, therefore, been a slight in
crease in receipts from dues. The obli-
cations, however, of some members who
are well able to pay their debts rests
very lightly upon them. They decline to
pay dues until their accounts are over a
year old and then in some cases refuse
to pay, or claim they have paid their in
debtedness. 1 would advise that we get
rid of members of this character
The committee on books and accounts
has not carried out its own suggestion of
keeping the accounts of the society on
a better system. 1 trust the committee
will inaugurate the proposed improve
ments and begin with this meeting. Yours
respectfully, ]. H. Estill, President.
The committee on securing members re-
ported thirty-hve applications, all Of which
had been favorably acted on by the man.
ayers. The committee received a vote of
thanks for it's services and was requested
TO continue its efforts.
Messrs. John OGorman, A. J. Merkle,
W. c. Turner and w. b. Stevens were
elected members of the society.
Mr.. Nichols moved the nomination and
election of the present officers, and that
the secretary cast the ballot, which was
agreed to, and the following officers were
reelected
President-J. H. Estill.
Vice Presidential. r. Thomas.
Treasurer-John Riley.
Secretary-W. K. Wilkinson.
The president then announced the fol-
lowing appointments:
Managers-Thomas Ballantyne, r. B.
RePPard. Samuel Herman, E. f; Lowell,
carson, Samuel 3. Adams, e. w. Cub
hedge.
Honorary Managers-George S. Owens.
"A; r. Lawton, r. D. Walker, G. NJ. Sor-
rel, William Rogers, r. E. Lester.
Stewards-John B. Fernandez, r. p.
lowell, H. j; sqtcliffe A. s. Nichols, H.
W. Cowan, Walter e. Coney, R. d. Lat
{IImore, John NicolsoIn, Jr., j. w. jackson,
Frank E. Keilbach, A. J. Merkle.
The standing committees were also re-
appointed, and s. B. Adams, Esq, was
added to the farm committee.
After dinner the members. boys, guests
and visitors assembled at the stand under
the oaks. The exercises were opened by
a fervent prayer. by the Rev. Isaac p.
Mendez who invoked the blessing of the
almighty upon Bethesda, its purposes, its
inmates and those who controlled it.
Hon. A. II. MacDonell was then intro
duced and delivered the annual address, as
follows:
There is that in the very atmosphere
and name Of Bethesda to set one to dream
ing and it is a beautiful dream, lead
ing back like a silver stream through the
romance of Georgia's history to the be-
ginning of this colony.
And q efo in historic pIaPa