The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-04-14

Inc fectufe loDIf oL Inc flisb ItScps
terrain Church was filled last night with
persons interested In missionary work
among the negroes of the South. Tho
meeting WAS in the interests OF tho Fart
Valley High and Industrial School. The
school Is n-on-sectarian, Tae Rev. Dr.
Charles Herr spoke on the good work
done at the school and recommended II
to the support of the peopfe.3 quartette
of pupils from tbe scheoi sang
ana then D. Fl. Torbert. tsssistapt prin-
cipal, delivered an Interesting and instruc-
tive address on educational work among
the Southern negroes. Mr.. Torbert is q
negro. He is an exceptionally we'll edu-
Gated man and is an excellent speaker.
He said in part
aThe Fort Valley High and Industrial
School, .Iocated at Fort Valley, Ga, Is
doing a special work in reaching the plain
country negro, who has all these years
for the most part been neglected.
There are certain sections in the South,
far away from the larger cities and towns,
where schools for colored people have
never been established and where the in
fluence of Christian teaching is truly
needed. No adequate description can be
" iCi III ttlC
conditions of the colored people in such
sections. They need TO be taught self-re-
lance. industry, economy and thrift. The
little log cabins still stand absent from
cleanliness and purity, absent from Bibles
book pictures and papers, and very
often absent from God.
THE Fort Valley High and Industrial
School is located in such a section-a sec
ton which is sometimes called the Congo
of Georgia'-where the blacks outnumber
the whites three to M This institution
is not only doing special work in the M
dnstrial and normal departments, quick
ening the intellect and training the hand
to work, but its teachers go into the
homes of the colored people giving lee
lures as to the sweetness and beauty,
cleanliness and high ideals of true home
life. Meetings for farmers are held in
order to teach them how to get happi-
ness out of the soil; to teach them to re-
main in the South and acquire property
and build UP business enterprises of them
selve and for themselves. The ~institu-
tion is giving instruction to from four to
five hundred young men and young
women each year at a cost of less thar
$4,000. This includes the salaries of ten
instructors. We receive from the State
only $500 of this amount; the remainder
comes from voluntary contributions.
Having done all we can for ourselves,
with a desire to grow in the hearts of
out it's hands to a sympathetic and
wealthy North for assistance in further
ing the work. Our needs are $500 for the
.-1...A~=-a --1 g. 0a4
and s10,eG0 for the erection of two dorTni-
tories. one for girls and one for boys. My
special mission here is to be able to in
terest friends who will give us $1,000 for
the girls dormitory. which we must erect
by next September. Our young women
are at present boarding about as they find
places in the humble homes of the colored
people, where there are large families,
ranging anywhere in numbers from twelve
to twenty. At times all of them eat and
sleep in the same room. Common decency
cannot be practiced under such conditions,
how ever hard we may try in the
school room to inspire in the mind of a
girl or a boy, cleanliness and purity.
morality and virtue, when they return
home at night and are confronted with
the contrast, our teaching is vain. Where
there are so many colored people in weari-
ness n want, with no uplifting home
surroundings, a boarding department in
connection with a large institution,
properly conducted, is a most elevating
feature. We need a girls dormitory to
bring them out from under anwholesome
influences. and put them under IN ex-
perienced ~preceptress. where they can he
more closely guarded and protected and
where their parents may feel perfectly
satisfied as to their safety.
Help is not always expected in large
ways, and any small amount that ii may
please you to give will be gratefully re-
ceived and properly accounted for, and If
you are pleased to give, but would like
to inquire further into the work, you may
correspond with His Exee1lency Governor
w. G. Atkinson, Atlanta, Ca; Prof. G. r.
Glenn, COMMISSIONS of Education, At
Ga; Hon.. G. G.. Gray, President of
Exchange Bank, Fort Valley, Ga, and
Prof. Matthews. President of the Board
Of Education, Fort Valley, Ga
A collection was made and a generous
amount was contributed toward the work.