Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-04-14
EVENING Session.

was opened shortly after O'Clock anf
every seat in the large ed;ice ON High
land avenue was filled, are. the th.oo,
| crowded into the aisicS and into IN.
Railways al the entrance of the church
until not another one could enter. an,
| many disappointed ones were forced T.
| turi. away. The session Was opened h,
| Rev. II. II. Nichols Of Madison who IN
vokeI The blessing on the Divine Re-
| in%. and the first speaker Of the ev,.n.
ing Was introduced by Rev. II. A. Cliff
loru VINO presided. The Speaker VA:
Theodore y. Hll,lreth. the correspond.
ing secretary OF The New England Dea
tones3 Association. Mr.. tIildrcth a.
dressed The gathering on the work tina
Is being accomplished by the Deaconcs,
Assoc iation IL The New England states
ana told Of The routine Of work that j.
beng done by the r.,rloIS institution.
thdi ar@ under the supervision OF tn,
'lssi'.' iati"li. dwelling especially on tn.
hospital. l;iblc training :, hoOI, etc. He
emphasized The needs of the deacOneS.
movement in this confer. nee and suc.
ScSteG that Il conference Visitor be ap
pointed t. report at the conference mex
year.
fev. Mr.. Clifford in Introducing tn,
next speaker told OF The advancement
of the education of the ignorant and o.
| the uplifting of the Lowry by the IF
forts of Methonism, and touched light.
ly on the racial question, expressing
ms Views Tor suffrage in no uncertain
terms. he session of the anniversary
| Of the F'reedmanS Aid and Southern
Educational Society was then opened
| With Rev. w. =. Thrilled, d. D., OF
Cincinnati, Ohio as the speaker Dr.
ThIrkleid gave brief report of the
work that is being done Icy the society
in the south and in his talk furnished
statistical figures thai furnished food
for thought and reflection. He told Of
| the progress that is being made along
educational lines in the Southern states,
and as Simile he touched on the Won-
derful education accomplished by Helen
Keller, who made deaf, dumb and blind
i'll early infancy arose through faith,
horc and trust in God until last juno
she Sridua ted from Radcliffe college OF
Harvard University, With honorS. and
the master III five languages. He lkcn-
ed her condition to that of the count.
l. IS thousands of poo; children in the
South. who today are deaf, dumb and
blind to all that is living, with stuntel
brains. and no opportunity. save that
offered by the Societies teachers to i'm
prove their mental and physical condi-
ton.
Dr. Thirkield stated that there are
over 100000 white children in the state
of Alabama in this CONDITION. and there
\ ~ black oh illr,;, No 4
the advantage Of even the most prim-
tive form of education, and in all the
Southern states there are 5000. 900 chi:
dren who do not attend school--because
there are no schools. Years ago. Dir.
Thirk!eld stated. education of the
blacks in the South Was considered a
crime. aid to efface this condition. the
Fr"c6man's Aid Soci1ty is laborinS TO-
day. with the substantial aid of tn,
whole Methodist church. In citing ex-
amplCS for the purpose of comparison.
the speaker said that in the state of
Illinois, the sum OF So is apportione.l
for each child's education annually.
against the sum of $3.50 in Tennessee"
and in some counties of that state, only
$l.69 is allowed permitting from 50 to
50 days schooling during the year. With
miserable salaries that are paid to the
teachers it is no wonder that educl-
ton in the South is neglected. An ancc-
dota related by the speaker served its
purpose well for an iiuSti alton. Sail
one Georgia woman when questioned
as to her family. Yes. | have had tiv.'
children, two are living. two are dead -
and one is teaching school, Dr. Thir-
ki"ld's address was one Of greatest in
tcrest. and he gave IN insight into the
inner workings of the Freedman's Aid
ard Southern Educational Society that
was Il revelation to those whose knoWI-
edge of the work has hitherto been of
a superficial character. Special music
Was a feature of the evenings session.
and Miss Mildred {. WadSworth sang.