The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-12-13
THE HAMPTON INSTITUTE
PRINCIPLE AND STUDENTS TELL OF
 ITS WORK.


 Under Mortgage Acknowledgements
 Noted in Home Life of Negroes and
 Indians.
 The Mems club service at the United church last evening was conducted by Principal H. B. Frissell and six gradu- ates of the Hampton Normal and Agri- cultural institute at Hampton, Va. The party is just completing tour through the north for the purpose of raising funds for the support of this school for the education of the negro and Indian youths, The party came here from Bos- ton and vicinity where they have met with fair success This evening they speak and sing at the Congregational church in North Haven. They expect to return to Hampton, Va, at an early date.
 The names Of the singers are Wm. H. Daggs, J. H. Wainwright, David Jones and F. w. Crowley; of the speak CTS, John Tiaokasln of the Sioux reser- vation at Standing Rock, N. D., and Fred M. Fitch of Lynchburg, Va.
 The meeting last evening was well attended and the sweet negro melodies sung by the colored quartet and the short addresses by the two speakers, one a negro and one an Indian, were direct, simple and interesting and were heartily enjoyed by all.
 The songs by the quartet were "Steal Away to Jesus," Roll De Ole Chariot Along" Look Away in de Heaven" He is King of Kings" and Walking in De Light"
 After a few explanatory words by Principal Frissell as to the purpose and needs of the school a generous contribu- tion was received from the audience.
 John Tiaokasin, an Indian graduate of the school living at the Standing Rock agency, said that he had been employed at his trade as a carpenter at the Sioux reservation for six years. The training I received at Hampton, he said, made me want @ good home of my own. I found at Hampton an In- dian girl who was willing to help me. We have now three children to keep us busy There are some of the Indians who have been educated at Hampton who return to their old ways of living on leaving there, but believe by far the majority of them devote themselves to the improvement of their people. There has been a change for the bet ter among the Indians of the Standing Rock agency In recent years. When went to Hampton the Indians were too fond of spending their time In dancing. Now they have given up these dances for the most part, and have divided up the reservation, and many of them have built themselves homes and gone to work improving the land. The Indians are anxious to learn and to improve What we need are good schools and teachers.
 F. M. Fitch, a two year graduate of the school, said he was twenty-eight years old. He was led to want an edu- cation by carrying the daughter of his employer off to@school. I arrived at Hampton with twenty-five cents in my pocket. After four years I graduated from the academic department. I made up my mind that my work should be In the country districts, I taught school for year in Appomattox county, eight miles from the place made famous by Lees surrender. Tn this county 9S per cent. of the negroes live in rented houses of one room. l organized an evening school and a Sunday school and became greatly interested in the work there. The next year I was offered a position as teacher in a school in my .DfT T accepted, as would be so much nearer my home and little farm. Later I was engaged in travelling through the thirty | counties of the state holding agricul- | tural meetings with the teachers of the counties and considering methods by which the people could be helped. The great curse of the state is the fact that so many of the negroes live on mort gagged farms This Is a condition of af- fairs but little better than slavery. In many of the counties the negroes live In houses of but one room. They have no proper amusements. Dominoes, croduet and checkers are considered dangerous games, and the only proper form of relaxation Is highly emotion al religious meeting. The graduates of Hampton who have gone into these dis l tricts to teach have done much to im- prove the condition of the people. In my own county of Gloucester, | where the negroes formerly owned only | 1000 acres of land, they now own 123, GOO and pay one-ffth of the taxes of the county. Many of the people, too, have houses of more than one room. The women graduates of Hampton have done excellent work in teaching the ne- gro women how to do homework. Principal Frissell urged the import ance of carrying on the work among the colored people of the south. He said that the southern people who thir- ty years ago had made it capital of- fense to teach colored people to read and write were to-day supporting 30 00O | schools for colored children at cost | of sG0 GOO 900. So great is the burden | that these schools place upon the south | that they must look to northern SUD- port for such schools at Hampton. | The need at the south is for teachers | for these colored schools and Hampton | Institute is supplying the need as far as it is able from It's limited amount of | capital.
 1 The present is period of industria crisis for the negroes of the south | With the influx of northern capital has l come an influx of foreign mechanics