St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-05-04
A Visit to Mcintosh, Georgia.

20 passng through a portion of the
A country which is new to them, my
4 ewes fell on the name Mcintosh"
,od not thought that we were to
noss so near the place where the
rrohool. in which, for so many years
n 80 have been interested, is located.
q onr train whizzed past the station
o,d I had the feeling which Prof.
Foster expressed to us, "If you
4 should ask what is McIntosh,
should say the town is nowhere.
oolv a few log cabins in among the
o;res one brick building where the
rsneral store is kept for all that
locality, the house where the groc-
er's family lives, and that is all. We
dsc;ded to see Dorchester Academy,
and so, after three weeks spent in
Florida. we found ourselves back in
Savannah, and at seven O'Clock on
Il Friday morning we were on the slow
local train for Mcintosh. A ride of
twentv-nine miles brought US to the
Y station where we found colored
n boy waiting with his horse and Stu
debaker wagon to convey us four
a miles to the school.
The road, which is good, leads
through typical Georgia pine forests
Il and cypress swamps. At first you
4 look in vain even for the one
A roomed log cabin in which the col
A ored people live, and as the children
4 come out of the woods on each side
of the road on their way to the
4 school, you wonder where they come
q from. But after awhile you notice
the footpaths leading into the "pine
barrens," and sometimes you can
4 discern the cabin. To those who
& have been South, these one-roomed
n cabins are not a novelty, but they
were such to us, with the mud CHM
new built on the side. One wooden
q shutter covers the only window. A
glass window is mark OF advance
ment in the lives of the occupants.
The beautiful yellow jasmine was
& growing luxurantly and latertwo lit.
& tie girls at the school each presented
me with beautiful chains which they
81 had made on their way to school by
dovetailing the blossoms together
q they were golden chains, really.
II Mrs. Foster and her little daughter
stood at their gate waiting for us.
4 Mrs. Foster said. You never will
Il know how welcome you are, we SO
Il long for the company of our friends. y
Il We arrived at little past nine II
Y the morning and went at once te
the chapel where Prof. Foster was
conducting the opening exercises o
Il the day. The reading OF Scripture
n ard prayer were finished, and tina,
company of pupils, whose ages woule
range from six years to more thar
twenty years, about 275 of them
sang two of their quaint hymns to-
us with fervor and heartiuess which
characterize their race. Mrs. Foste
had given up the classes tor the da.
so she might go about with US int
the different school rooms, where
according to grade, the first desle
mating the primary classes, on up t.
the twelfth grade, we were inter
ested in listening to different recita
tons. Itwas a novel sight, the onl
white face in each room that OF tn
teacher. We do not think just hoy
this might seem when we read tn
Mcintosh letter, do we? And such
corps of teachers, let me say, dea
friends, it was delight to meet.
1t is love which forms the motiv
power in these lives thus devoted
For eight months of each year the
are shut out from all society saw
that of one another. We went mrs
to the sewing room where a class
Hs older girls were making garment
under the instruction of swe'
young woman from Ohio. Mi:
Knowlton showed us little dresse
nightdresses and various garment
which the more advanced pupils ma
made, also blouses and trousers ft
small boys, all neatly sewed. Ihe'
were two sewing machines in tn
room, one old-timer and another
recent acquisition. Then from II
primary class through the Intern
date and grammar classes, to Il
normal class, until cannot tell ui
how many rooms we visited.
Each teacher was evidently devote
to her class, and the children we
attentive and orderly. We were
' tertained by singing in some OF t
intermediate and primary room
while in Prof. Fosters and MI
Knowlton's normal classes we we
deeply interested. Three brig
young men will graduate tins yea
In the class in physics which Pr'
E Foster was teaching we were
pecially attracted by the apt ana
teligent questions asked, and a
swers given by one OF the you
ladies', and we felt she would be s
great help to her people in an
Ell years. Mrs. Foster mentioned
especially, as being one OF the me
promising of their pupils. Our vi
S was too hurried to allow us to