The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-05-27

ing for youths Of their age. On ex-
hibition In the shop at the school yes
terday were three wagons construct
ed piece By piece by the boys. One Of
these wagons 10 q delivery vehicle and
will be seen upon the streets Of Mont
gomsry In the next few days; anoth-
er 10 q double horse farm wagon and
the third 10 q furniture van.
One Of the most noticeable features
Of the manual training work In shown
In the dressmaking department Here
the pupils, and there were some 500
Of them during the past school year.
are taught sewing from the very be-
ginning and the hand work and dress
es on exhibition are striking illustra-
needle. The dresses are not only made
by the pupils. but the fancy designs
are the result OF their knowledge
gained In the school. In another de-
partment IS shown the clay modelling
and other courses Of manual training.
school Improvement
The grounds Of the school are well
kept. The hedges are neatly trimmed
and the arrangement IL very artistic. ;
President Paterson has found way OF
keeping tho grounds beautiful which
Is novel In many ways. The demerit
system Is used In the school and the
punishment for the same IL given In
the shape Of work for school improve
ment. The keeper of the grounds
makes a visit TO the presidents office
each day, secures the names Of those
charge for work on the grounds. the
length of time being determined by
the number of dement's which are ac-
quired by the pupils. 1t has been hint
ed that dement's COME readily at q
time Of the year when there Is plenty
Of work to be done on the grounds.
In the rear of the building IL the ag-
riculture department. Here the stu
dents plant their own gardens. getting
the ground free Of cost and they have
the privilege of taking to their homes
the products Of the soil. which they
till. This work does not stop at the
school. but in many instances the stu
dents have cleaned up their back yards
and instead of the debris which was
formerly noticed there. is found a gar
den which helps to keep the family In
food.
The program arranged for the COM
mencement exercises yesterday was
not elaborate, but every detail had
been carefully worked out and there
was not a hitch in any part of II. The
singing OF melodies by the Glee Club
and chorus was of an inspiring nature
and the club was forced to respond to
the applause. with which their singing
was greeted.
only a quartette Of white citizens
were present to hear the Grafton Of
the graduates. but there were thous-
and or more negroes. who were shown
what the people of their race could
do on the rostrum. Few commence
ment exercises have the dignity Of
those at the Normal School. The grad
yates have been carefully trained in
what they shall say and there is no
hesitancy on their part.
The thoughts expressed are truly
wonderful One girl discusses the rise
OF womanhood. going far back into
the days OF ancient Greece and fol-
lows the development of wman up to
the high state of today. Another girl
discusses art as the expression OF the
soul. singing the praises of music in
the negro race. and going into dis
cussion OF nature which proves very
interesting to her hearers; another girl
draws q parallelism between Booker
T. Washington and Abraham Lincoln,
In such a manner as TO extoll the quail
tiles which have made Washington
seem a great man in the eyes of many
people. Hero worship was used as a
subject for a moral to parents to make
themselves worthy of being the hero
worshiped In their homes.
The salutatorian In her grafton spoke
OF the wonderful achievements of the
State Normal School at MONTGOMERY,
picturing 1t at its beginning and fol-
lowing 1t till IL 10 recognized as one
Of the most important negro schools
OF the South. The valedictorian's ora
ton covered the opportunity of the
negro teacher in the rural school dis
tricts. endeavoring to unfold a new
field of labor for those Of her race.
/ The Program.
The commencement program was as
Z follows:
Anchored e. p. Paur-chorus
I Glass.
Invocation.
instrumental duet. "Grand GaIop di
Bravina." Top II Schulhon)-Jewett