The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-04-23
CURREN T'oPlCS.
letting Into the Band-Wfagon,

/ tsg
Getting Into the Band Wagon,
The Public Ledger stated o few days.
ago that public sentiment. in the State
was crys;aiizing IN favor Of having the.
new Constitution proclaimed, and since.
that time additional evidence has been.
sadduced to show tina t. sentiment Is
strengt hening in that direction. a Chase.
City special So to The Richmond Times
or yesterday stated that a meeting of the
Democrats Of that town and vicinity was
held the previous day, Friday, 1t which
resolution was unanimously adopted IN;
structing Mr.. George T. larry, the dele-.
gate from Mecklenburg county to the
Constitutional Convention, to vote to pro-
claim the new Constitution. and the Dan.
VILE Register of last Saturday stated edl-.
torially that three of the four delegates
from Pittsylvania county and the city OF
Danyille had expressed their d eter1nlna-s
ton to vote for proclamation, and 5that
the fourth had stated that he would vote.
as the others did. The Public $Ledge Ia.
vors submission to the new electorate but
it recognizes the fact that the advocates
Of proclamat ton are gaining strength
steadily, and that the probabilities are
that the Constitution will be put into eff
feet by the formal action Of the members
Of the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Public Ledger.
"A Remarkable Virginia School.
A few weeks ago it was my privilege
to visit one OF the most splendid indus
tria! institutions in the Southern States,
the Miller Manual Labor School for poor.
white children, located on {; spur Of the
Ragged Mountains, OF Albeinarle county.
in the beautiful and healthfu Piedmont
region Of Virginia. The people who in
habit the hollows of these mountains are
typical of other mountaineer folks, pos
ssessing all the virtues and weaknesses.
generally attributed to them. Many are
descendants OF the Redemptioncr classes
of early colonial days, but the larger por-I
ticn are Of Hessian descent. claiming for
their forebears those Hessians who, at
the close of the Revolutionary War,
were turned loose from imprisonment at
Charlottesville, Va, and sought homes
among the Ragged Mountains, near by.
They are, for the most part, hard.
working people, honest, and entirely with
out love for the almighty dollar; but
their great love of liberty breeds in them
a contempt for educational advantages
or steady employment of any kind.
4 Seeing them at church on q Sunday
morning, pleasant-looking and rapt IN
their devotions, it becomes difficult TO
believe that they can be content to return
to the wrctched novels which many OF
them are satisfied to call their homes.
OF the stock in these mountains that pre-
ceded the coming OF the Hessians, came
Samuel Miller, the founder of the Miller
Manual Labor School of 4AbeIharle coun-
tv. which. with its fine buildings and en-
dowment fund of nearly fifteen hundred
thousand dollars, is the grandest and
most fruitful charitable institution in
the Southern States. It was no blue.
blooded virginian, reared in luxury. that
was inspired to remember the poor chill
dren of his native county, but the son
Of poor mountaineer woman, born IN
a log cabin in abject poverty and degra-
dation. From the tower of the machine
shops. the finest built in the South for
Industrial education, is pointed out the
SPOT marked by a stone, Where once
stood the cabin in which Samuel Miller
was born.
On the grounds now graced by his
nunificent gift he earned his first money
BY gathering wool which stray sheep
had left on the bushes and some OF the
bricks in the tower he aided in making
at the small remunerat ton of ten cents
a day. It was from early youth the treas
ured hope OF Samuel Miller and his broth
er, John, to acquire a fortune large
enough to establish in their native county
a free educational institution for poor
children. After receiving an ordinary
education at &Batesville, Samuel en-
tered into business with his brother, who
had become a successful tobacco mer-
chant in Lynchblrg. The death Of John
in 1871 made him heir to 100000, with
which sum, and his shrewd business ablil-
ty, he accumulated a vast fortune, sdylns
in 1869, the possessor of an estate valued
at S, $50. 1902 the bulk Of Whlch was ielI
for the building of a manual labor schooi
for moor white children in Albemarle coun-
ty.-Helen Gray, in Leslie's Weekly.