The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1902-04-03
The School Question.

AS we stated last week we did not have
time then to answer Mr.. Wiggins's reply
to our editorial of the previous week. We
have read his article carefully since and
find that it disagrees in many particulars
from the catalogue of the school in ques'
ton. We dislike to offend anyone, but
we published only facts and figures from
the report of the State Superintendent OF
Education and gave our impression OF
them.
Mr.. Virgins says he is surprised that
the Editor of THE HERALD is so slow in
making the discovery of the splendid
showing made by the Denmark schools,
We are more surprised than he is that he
has so soon forgotten how we have con-
tinually exploited that same success, even
more than his own home paper.
But to the point. There seems to be
three negro schools in Denmark district,
two public schools and the VOORHEES, In
dnstr;al school. These three return an
enrolment of 56S (Which is nearly one
fifth of the total enrolment for the
whole county, the number of negro pupils
for Bamberg county being 2,769) and re-
ceive from the county $3.50, or fraction
less than 50 cents head. The average OF
the rest of the county is exactly one dollar.
The woman at the head of the VOORHEES,
school deserves great credit for the heroic
struggle she has made to found school
for her race. Her school in time may rival
that of Booker Washington at Tuskegee.
Will it still be called public school
She has recently published pamphlet OF
information of her school, and We would
like to print all of it but can give only a
few extracts:
"What is the name of your school
Ans. VOORHEES, Industrial School, form
erly Denmark Industrial School"
"Who are the trustees? Ans. Hon. S.
G. Mayfeld, Rev. NJ. W. Gilbert, Rev. R
c. Bedford, Misses o E P. Stokes, Emily
Howland, DR.. J. H. Kellogg, and Mrs. A
S. Steele"
. . "How many students attend the school?
Ans Last term we had 800"
'Is it a boarding school? Ans. Yes,
but we can accommodate only ii ON the
grounds, as our room is SO limited. We
have to arrange with families out in town
to take those we cannot"
"How long does the school run? Ans.
Seven and a half months"
How many teachers are connected
with the work? Ans. Six"
''How do you get money to pay teachers:
Ans. Raising money to pay the teachers
salaries is my greatest punishment each
year. Friends send in donations which
60 to pay teachers. am to raise $1,000
to pay teachers this term. The county
pays one teacher for four months"
From the above it appears that the
trustees of Denmark school district are
not the trustees of the VOORHEES, school,
that the school session is seven and a
half months, that it is boarding school,
that there are six teachers, that the public
scho-. trustees pay one teacher for four
months and return the whole enrolment
of the school,
We are informed that the principal OF
the school returned to the public school
trustees the names of the pupils taught by
this one teacher, but they demanded the
total enrolment. They may be legally
right, but with the present light we can
not say it is equitable and just.
Is the VOORHEES, Industrial School free
public school of the county?