The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-03-13
AN OBJECT LESSON.
Editorial Correspondence.)

tEtllOfldi correspondence
Cary, n. c., March 10.-"One half of the
folks do not know how the other half
lives" is an old fashioned way of saying
that we do not know what is going on
about US. I dare say that not one-tenth
of the people Of Wake county nave any
conception of the great and lasting work
for education that is being done at Cary
High School. | confess that, though
knowing its excellence, I did not appre-
ciate the value of the institution or it's
magnitude until last night when 1 looked
in the faces of the scores of bright eyed
youths who are enrolled on it's roster. In
point of attendance it is one of the first
schools in the State, the enrolment for
the present term being 225, of which mum
Der about seventy are bOarders. The at
tendance is drawn from sixteen counties,
students coming here from counties Dor
dering on the ocean and also from the
mountain counties. They are as fine look
ing and as ambitious a company of boys
and girls as can be found anywhere, and
they are inspired by a noble ambition to
fit themselves for life's wrk. They are
surrounded by healthful influences, and
directed in their studies by teachers who
have found the secret of successful in
struction.
Fhe school is for both sexes, for young
children and for those preparing for coll
lege as we'll as for the practical duties
Of life. The departments, presided over
by competent teachers, are separated SO
that the student preparing for college
has all the thorough instruction and
drilling he could receive in a small school.
Prof. E. l.. Middleton, principal of Cary
High School, is a graduate of Wake For
est-a fine scholar, good disciplinarian
and excellent executive. and has built up
here one of the best high schools in the
State. He is assisted by a competent
faculty composed of Prof. E. S. Edwards,
graduate OF Trinity; Miss Lilly Jones,
Miss Kempe Carlton and Miss Minnie
Franklin, each specially fitted for the de-
partment in hand. 1t is the pride Of Cary
and every citizen here rejoices in the
high position it has taken and in it's
steady growth. In fact it is and ought
to be the pride of all Wake county. for it
is not too much to say that it is the
brightest light in the educational life of
the county. doing more to furnish educat-
ed, Christian men and women than any
other high school in Wake county. 1t is
an object lesson for every community, not
alone in Wake, but in every county in
the State. With such a school in every
village in North Carolina, the day would
not be far distant when, instead of being
near the top in illiteracy, our good old
State would have ar educated population,
better prepared to lead in all lines of
industrial progress.
The crying need of North Carolina is
just such schools as the Cary High School.
We need them more than universities and
colleges, for it must be to them and to
the public schools that we must look
for the education of the masses-the hope
OF the Commonwealth. The few enjoy
the advantages of the colleges: the many
Will be taught in the village or neighbor-
hood schools or will grow up in ignorance.
Wise in their day and generation are the
people OF Cary in making their town in
education like a city set upon a hill,
shedding light and hope into all the sur !
rounding country. I wish the good peo-
pie of every village and neighborhood, not
enjoying the blessings of a graded school.
could come here and see what the people
of this village have done to educate their
children and to bring ambitious youth of
other sections here to enjoy the adyan- |
tages offered. 1t would work a reyoIu-
ton because the people here have not
had any rich man or any !
Ihey have felt the need of education: |
they have provided it. and unborn chill |
dren whose lives will be blessed by Cary |
High School, will rise up and call the
trustees. teachers and citizens blessed. |
&c gave me new hope and cheer in a
short stay to see what is being done here |
TO educate the children and better their
condition, and l felt to wish that the OBJ |
]ect lesson of Cary High School might |
bless other communities. J. D.. |