The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-06-14
ASSEMBLY, CONVENED AT WRlGHTs-
I WILLIE BEACH LAST NIGHT.
President Holt is observation-disclosures
s Addresses by Mayor waddel and
Professor Blafr-Prefessor Cobb Re-
sponds for the Teachers.

Ihe initial session Of the 18th annual
convention Of the North Carolina State
Teachers Association was held last
night in the capacious new auditorium
OF the Seashore hotel at Wrightsville
Beach: A good sized crowd was in at
tendance.
For the past several days teachers
have been coming from all sections of
the state until now the number in at
( tendance is above 200. Today and to-
night the greater number of members
will arrive and the probable number by
tonight's session will be between 500
and 900
: Last nights auspicious opening is an
augury for good for an unusually large
attendance and a prosperous and sue
cessfu1 session. Besides the teachers,
quite number of citizens of Whining
ton went down, thus signifying by their
presence their interest and good wishes.
THE OPENING SESSION.
AT $50 o'clock, Professor ]. Allen
Holt, of Oak Ridge Institute, president
Of the association. raped for order and
in few words formally opened this
the 18th session of the assembly. He
! called on the Rev. Mr.. Crockstan, of
Union county, to envoke the Divine
Blessing. Mr.. Crockstan made a pc
culiarly beautiful and fitting prayer,
pleading for Divine guidance and bless
ing and for the success of this conven-
ton.
This was greeted with applause and
then President Holt introduced Colonel
I Waddell, who as MAYOR of Whining
: ton, extended a welcome in behalf of
the city to the assembly. Colonel Wad-
dell in part said:
MAYOR WADDEL'S ADDRESS.
'Mr. President and Members of the
Teachers Assembly:
1.-The first private bequest for educa-
ton in the history Of North Carolina
was made in 1854 by a distinguished
Colonial officer living in Wilmington,
Colonel James InneS. He was bache-
lor, native of Scotland. and a brave
soldier and faithful citizen, who had
served North Carolina with honor in
her councils, and in the field.
He gave the bulk of his estate for
the education of the poor boys of the
colony, and although his bequest was
defeated by the burning of the proper
ty and other n1isfortunes after his
death, his name should be honored as
that of the pioneer Of educational bene-.
sfactorS in our state.
THE city of which he was a resi-
dent, and in which there are now abun-
dant facilities for high school AMI
common school education greetS Your
presence here with cordial welcome
which I have been commissioned to
extend to you. The performance of
that duty affords me sincere pleasure
pleasure which is enhanced by a
knowledge of the fact that the educa-
o,rf% IoC r,fr +1n To-
or two, been energized as never before
in our history. Although never per-
sonally engaged in Your noble calling
have some knowledge of the history
of education in North Carolina. That
history, like the history Of the state
generally, has been grossly misrepre-
Sented. Only last year the editor OF
leading review apropos of an address
by DIR. Currie, made the absurd state
ment that before the war there were
no common schools in the south and
upon receiving a letter from me giving
/, him an astonishing comparative state
y ment between this and other states,
both north and south, prior to 1850, he
in a patronizing way said it was very
interesting" and that he would take
occasion to correct the error; but al
though year has passed no correction
has ever been made. That is fair
specimen of the sort of justice that is
uOuC III 4NOI III SdIOllild IidllCtS .
affecting her history. But the truth.
although some times very slow in as
serting itself, generally prevails, and
facts in our history heretofore received
with incredulity are being gradually
accepted by all fair-minded investiga-
tors at their full value, under the COM
pelling effect OF persistent assertion and
proof.
'It will always be an agreeable re-
Election to me that I have contributed
in some degree to the accomplishment
of this result.
= .I congratulate you upon the ever
srightening outlook for education in
our state and hail it as the surest evi-
dence of an advancing civilization
which will manifest itself in every
form of Industrial development, as well
as in the broader realm of letters and
art. We all recognize the presence or
this awakening spirit, and are cheered
and encouraged by it.
LET us cherish and sustain 1t with
all our power and by every 1nstrumen-
tality, public and private, within our
reach That such il the determination
OF our people is evidenced by the ac-
ton of the last legislature, and by the
citizens Of many towns and counties
OF the state, and 1t is very certain
that such action will spread wherever
sufficient school facilities do not exist,
and that there will be no backward
steps on the subject anywhere.
'.And now, again, I tender to you on
behalf of our people a most cordial
welcome to the city by the sea- and
! trust that your sessions will be as
pleasant as they must prove profitable
to you, and to the rising generation
whose welfare is so largely entrusted
to Your hands"
Hearty applause followed Mayor
waddelrs warm words of welcome.
! Then President Holt congratulated
the teachers on this auspicfous open
ing and on behalf of the teachers,
he extended a cordial invitation to all
the people of Wilmington to be pres
ent at any and all of the meetings TO
be held.
WELCOME TO THE ASSEMBLY.
He next introduced Professor John