New-York tribune., 1897-08-02
M Tons of Roses
OV Years. Success,
Colgate's
SOAPS and Perfumes.

-
( having population Of 1.2S0. ana containing
2l6S0 acres; the oneida, situated four miles
south Of Oneida. in Madison County. with pop
ulation Of li,, and containing 400 acres; the
! Onondaga situated in Onondaga County. with
500 Indians, and containing 1900 acres the st.
Regis. situated in Franklin County, and having
a population of ], 195, VINO own 1900 acres the
TOnawaDda, situated In Erie and Genesee coun,
ties, with 1S.' Indians. who are owners OF ',oto
acres. and the Tuscarora, situated in Niagara
County. with 400 who own GID acres. III VIII
{ be perceived that this is considerable popua-
tion to consider. There are l3oS Indians on the
+ reservations: and owing TO the improVluehce oi
/ the race. their habits of divorce ana the NOR =
tality among them. the number of orphans ana
destitute children is large. to-.
a brief statement of the history OF the asylum
( will doubtless be read with interest. When the
/ Cattaraugus Reservation was estabiished thS
Society Of Friends founded an Industrial schoo'
in the interest OF the Indians; the especat ann
being to train the Indians in the arts OF civiiza-
/ tion, and thus enable them to earn thelr atiiIs
among white people. In 1870 this school Was
closed. owing to lack of sufficient sTPpor,t uu n
! Mrs Wright, wife of the Rev. Asher virgin an
! Indian missionary appealed to Philip y, iho-
as. a wealthy Quaker merchant OF baitl''io,e nu,,
! who happened to visit the rcserNatoh' W w, ,oi
tinue the industrial school as an orphan asS '"'''
A CHANGE IN THE INDIAN GOVERNMENl' l.
Mrs. Thomas says: This about the time
! the Indians made change in their government
/ from what was called the Chiefs government
mainly representing the pagan element u 'ii"'
known as the rev government, controheu os
! those who preferred to give up the ola wiS"a"i
life sustained by hunting and hshing l1r ,rE rrre
! usages Of civilized society and agricultural pun
MIR Thomas and others OF the Friends pro
! posed the opening OF an lhouslrlai u1;n sSiG a.
! the new government in the same bulldlhs III
! which the Friends had conducted their s,'ooi' ~
! This proposition was accepted ana Si si.n gor
/ Dropriation was made by the new lnuial s"'
! ernment to begin this school. In furtherance ol
the enterprise to establish a permanent asyluii
the Council of the Seneca Nation passed lTsoiu Y,
! tions approving Of such PROJECT ana au.nVi 1 ~
| ing ihe use of land Ten persons, five Of them
! whites and five Indians, associated thenlMseNcS M
| as trustees and applied for charter Oh iiicoi
: poration Mr. Wright proceeded to AlbanE anu
laid. the claims of the Indian children before lhe
! legislature which resulted in an appropriatiGnh
| of $1,000 for the erection OF an asylum puIlu i,
| ing and the Incorporation under date ot han APa
! l0 1871. of the Thomas Asylum for orphan
! and Destitute Indian Children. ,-.,..,.,o,,
| In 1879 the asylum became a state INSTITUTION.
| 1t has the interesting provision that az ieas'
! three Of the members Of its Board OF Mahaseas @
| must always be Indians. These Indians al pres
ent are Harrison Halftown. OF Steampurs, hImS
| Tall Chief Of Versailles. and Wallace Jennlson' III
| Of Rason, The other managers are Henry X.
! Howland and Mrs. Lily Lord Tefft, OF BdiIalo'
! John Schoepfin. of Hamburg Herman NJ. blas ai'i
/ dell Of North Collins: Newton a. Chanee anu
Samuel G. Keyes. Of Gowanda, ana JOE" -
| Wiber of Collins. .,, a
The average number of Indian children cared
for is one hundred They have the usual re-
eervo of Indian children and do not care TO taik.
! but they are intelligent. That they are % %Me'a
| cared for is evident from the statement @ tiat
since 1895 there have bsen no deaths among
them The "sck-room' has neat. Whte noi M
| beds and white bedding physician daliF Nls-
| its the asylum, and the same doctor mas cialso
| of a United States Dispensary near the aSyiupi'
where the adult Indians go for medical adVlce;
! The United States Government pears par VI
the expense of maintaining the instlui,,on'
! Annually the Government sends to the asylum
| in payment Of an annuity Tor edch ih'i"te, ,i sn
| eral wards of gingham. This is used in MAXINE
| shirts for the boys and dresses inr 'rc siI.S'
| Each child has a separate peg In the CIolhlht
| room, for its clothing and in the WashiOon d
| separate place for its toothbrush and It's tower.
! There is large room in when the oo!s , llas
! play and another for the girls. Inc dormtorles
where the children sleep are filed with exCeIeH' i
| iron beds. but as already stated the uorlll-
| tories are of ancient construction. ana tne man
| ayers of the institution VIII reJolce Whch 'he
! new dOrmitOry Is built.
INDUSTRIOUS LITTLE FARMERS.
Tho bovs and girls by their labor last year,
raised nine hundred bushels Of vegetables ana
nine hundred cans of vegetables put up.
Little in this line of food had to be purchased
for the institution The one hundred inmates
are supported for 5000 a year each, the state
appropriating 900 year for the support OF
the institution.
The aim of the managers Of the asylum is to
train the children to some useful trade Thus
the boys. besides farming. are taught 10 90 car
penter-work They make wndOw-frameS ana
cases and various other things. The girls, on the
other hand. are taught all forms Of sewing ana
how to cook. Mrs. Lincoln has just returned
from the Lincoln Institute in Philadelphia whefc
she put at school two Indian girls. we thhk
that the girls and DO s., she said, should re-
| ceive higher education at Carlisle or AT the
lincoln Institute and thus he fully equipped to
earn their living. When they reach proper age
we shall seek to transfer them to the schools /
have mentioned An excellehti! conuuc.c"
| kindergarten is one of the features OF the asy =
| lum There one finds the Indian children moo
! cling In clay matching colCrs ana weaving
| mats lust as though they were white chlldren.
! II should be remembered that they all look
healthy and happy.
In the dining room one observes that each IN
dian child has his individual chair. tuTnbier ana
| nonkin-ring and is taught all the table methods
~ civilization on the occasion OF this visit the
children had for dinner potatoes, boiled NAM
| gravy green peas and raspberry pie. MI l.ln-
! coin said when asked what the asylum did:
| 1--WE aim 10 train up self-supportinS cltlzchs'
We teach carpentry, farming. masonry PANT
| ING and hacksmthing to the boys ana COOKING
| and dressmaking to the girls. The Indian par,
ents are very desirous that their children shoulu
| receive an excellent education The main thihs
| ue teach the Indian boys Is farming. ana we
| dwell especially on dairy farming, because me
! indian knows nothing about cows. Througn inc
aid Of CONGRESSMAN Alexander we nave 1ust hao
orr children nut upon the roll of benefciaries or
| tho United states Government and thus we
! hono IN receiye more money for their support
| ond the Improvement OF the INSTITUTION nc
| OWLS are taught he house servants Beneliiiy
although such as are very intelllgent we SEX
! to instruct TO be teachers T. H. W.