Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-09-10
RURAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Upon 1t Depends Welfare Of Country
And Town.
GOOD ROADS, SCHOOLS-..PROGRESS.

GOOD ROADS, SCHOOLS-..PROGRESS.
Address of Miss Theo Darsan, Presi-
dent of the Rural School Improve
.nent Association of South Carolina,
a Paper That May be Read With
! Interest and Profit by all Glasses Of
People.
Following is the address that Miss
Theo Dargan Of Stateburg, delivered
before the Farmers Institute in York.
willie last Tuesday morning:
I am glad to have an opportunity to
explain the work Of the South Caro-
lima School Improvement association
to the people Of York county, and 1
thank Mr.. Williams and Mr.. Martin
for their invitation to me to be here
and take part in these exercises.
We have active county associations
in nearly all the counties, they are
doing fine work, having twenty
eight county organizers. York county
has one Of these. The work Is divided
into three branches-the local asso-
citation, which Is composed Of the
people of the community, the teachers
of the school, and the pupils. These
local associations do great deal for
a community. They can not only I'M
prove; their schools by building new
school houses, putting in modern
equipments and beautifying the yards,
but can build up the whole neighbor-
hood. They can put up telephones,
work the roads, have contests on rails
ing poultry, dairying, gardening-both
flower and vegetable raising,
cooking and field products Of cotton
and corn. The county association Is
for the purpose Of having the local as
sociation come together and compare
the work they have done in the year.
There need not be but two meetings
Of the county association. One In the
fall, to plan the work, and one In the
spring to bring in reports Of the work
/
which meets annually, usually at the
capitol, in Columbia, has two dele
gates from each county. The state
association has 100000 appropriated
by the general assembly of the state,
to be used to offer prizes for improved
material conditions Of the school-like
better grounds, better school houses,
more Libraries, more pictures on the
walls, better musical instruments and
Improvement in all other things that
go to give better equipment to the
teaching force. There are thirty five
Of these prizes-ive Of 500 each, thir- |
ty Of $50 each. I know you will regret
| to learn that York Is not an advanced
county In this undertaking, as 1t has
only one entrance for these prizes.
people Of such we'll recognized intelli-
gence as you are Of this county, should
be, and doubtless will be some day
soon among the leaders In the good
work You have yet time to catch UP
and attain leadership. should you de-
sire to do so, as the contest does not
close until October 1st. It would be
we'll for your local papers to copy in
full what is said on this subject in the
bulletin gotten out by the association,
few copies Of which have with me.
Now, let me say a word in regard
to the importance Of having good
schools in the country. To put the
matter in a nutshell, none but worth
less people will neglect the education
Of their children, and If there are no
good schools in the country, there
will soon be no good people there, |
and when all the worth gets in the
town, then there will be destitution
in the country and destitution in the
country ultimately means final unison
in the towns. For there is nothing |
surer than the inter-dependence Of
these two modes Of life-I mean decent
have villages Of some sort for the dis
tribution of the articles Of use in their
lives-food, clothing and implements |
Of industry. So the country people |
need the towns certainly as distribut- |
ing points and as centres Of culture, of
which they must take advantage IL
they would attain the best civilization, |
and surely no person with a thimble- |
full Of sense ever said that towns |
could get along without the country |
as a support. Foolish as killing
the goose that lays the golden egg Is |
that townsman who Is willing to see
the country stripped Of intelligent and
Industrious people. So then, talking to
an intelligent mixed audience of town
and country people, 1t is not necessary |
for me to argue their inter-depend-
ence. Have all the good schools in
the city and thereby attract all the
good people from the country, simply |
means ruin for both.
Now, let US see, as this Is our spe-
cial work today, by what methods we
may make the country keep pace with
the town in the onward and upward
march Of civilization. Well, to begin
at the bottom, there must be material
prosperity in the country. The agen-
cies there for Improvement must be
used to the very best advantage. The
land must be brought to state Of
highest productiveness by such an
economic arrangement as will leave
in the hands Of the farmers fair and
full share of the wealth they produce,
and the country school will never per-
form It's proper work until 1t proves
itself a centre for the spread Of this
kind of information, where not only
the regular pupils Of the literary de-
partment may give thought and labor
to agricultural and horticultural sub
jects, but where the farmers and their
families, not Of the school age, may
come to learn and go home to work
more intelligently and profltably.
This is used in the broadest sense to
mean that country schools should
teach all the inhabitants Of the COM
munity in which they are located, such
Suhiects os poultry raising dairyine