The farmer and mechanic., 1910-08-30
THE WOMEN LEAD The WAY

women organizing for this improve
ment Of school grounds and schoo
property and the lengthening of the
school term, they decided that they
ought to take a hand too. And the
school boys and girls caught the con
tagious enthusiasm. Boys pulled W
the stumps and laid off the grounds
girls washed the windows and OBJ
tanned pictures, and soon the whole
neigh borhoOd is swept by a glorious
enthusiasm for the home school. The
story in detail Of what some Of These
districts have done by private effort
to supplant the tax fund is the bright
est and most glorious page Of recent
Wake county history, and the gooC
women who have led in it in THEN
community have kindled lights that
have carried cheer into many homes
and that will carry light in other
communities.
The cultivation Of school farms for
the benefit Of the schools is a method
of self-help that cannot be too highly
endorsed. In one school district, the
boys cultivated the crop, and the
women picked the cotton. Wash
that fine? And the money raised
from the crop heightened the school
term whole month. 1t takes brains
and muscle and land to make these
farms profitable, and the money from
the crops is not in the long run as
ID
the experinece gained. OF course all Of
us would like to have somebody endOW
US or our schools, but the labor and
working together to improve these
rural schools are worth more to the
whole community than if some mil
ionaire should endoW every school
in the county. The cooperation that
is necessary to raise the money ere
ates an interest that no gifts from out
side could ever secure. / wish
could give today the full story of
what the several districts have done,
but that will come later and it Will
be story worthy of being written
in letters Of gold.
This was Woman's Betterm ent
Day, and outside of hearing the three
notable addresses to which allusion
has already been made. the women
did all the talking and ran the meet
ing And they did it We'll. Miss
Edith Royster, Assistant County Su-
perintendent of Schools for Wax
county, to whom the chief credit goes
for the work of the Womans Better
ment Association, presided and spoke
with enthusiasm and clearness of
what has been done The facts were
on her tongue and she talked with
practical wisdom and added to the
zeal of her co-Workers. There is not
a public officer in Wake county who
the county during the past year as
Miss Royster, and her work is of the
sort that will live and grow and in
crease. The Association gives a sill
yer cup to the school that reports the
pest average attendance during the
year, and for the second time in sue
cession, the cup has been won by
Olive Chapel school The presenta-
uon speech was md e by Miss Ada
NoInn'e. and it was singularly
'noushuul and beautifully expressed
presentation speech. If the women
become such convincing speakers as
MISS Royster and Miss Womble-
"here VIII the men stand?
II was a great idea OF County Su-
perlntendent zebulon Vance Judd to
nave this public day. There uera
not SO many of the school committee
men mere today as at Cary last wear
ou' 'he reports they made showed
'liat thelr interest is growing and that
nat mas been done is but an earnest
VI "iia' then men of Wake will do to
second the efforts OF Woman,s Rat+or
ment Association. If all the neon1o
VIII hold up the hands Of thasa a.