The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-27
PROGRESSIVE HACKLEBURY
By GEORGE EAvEs, D. ID.

At the Invitation of the local school committee I paid a visit this week to Hackeburg, which is the place where town is growing up in Marion county, about one hundred miles north of Bir- mingham, on the Illinois Central railroad. Just south of it is Haleyville, where the Southern road is crossed by the Illinois Central. Three years ago there was at the place where Hacllleburg was to be, 6 few houses on fine ridge of rolling land that makes tail to Sand noun tain, and shedding water one way to the Tombigbee river and the other way to the Tennessee. A keen and vigorous wind logged me familiarity when I fell off the car steps, and made me wonder whether the weather had travelled by rail from the breezy city whence Illinois derives it's wcll-deserved fame
 Bat the warm welcome of the citizens mitigated the rigor of the wind, and Judge" Lunsford presently was heat ing his fine new store, and me, with ex- cellent coal and himself with arguments about the tariff.
 For once in my life I had gone on a purely civic errand, to consult and ad- wise and exhort a progressive group of folks concerning educational develop ments They clearly wanted someone to come along and admire their location and their resources, themselves and their chil- dren. And a most admirable people they are, the kind of sturdy AngloSaxon stock that made me wonder whether I were back in Bedfordshire or perhaps York. Even their wide uplands and dip ping wales are English, the red clay su- persaturate with vegetable mould and fine sand, looks ready to produce any kind of food for man or beast, and the records of cotton shipments from it prove that it's appearance does not lie, though that crop is by no means English.
 If you want to know the value of land, However, the best indicator is the number of children it has produced Here, within a six-mle radius, I am assured by the man who took the census. there are S01 children of school age. The land is oc- cupied almost wholly by the men who own It, only about one-sixth of the fam flies being renters. This means independ- ence of character, sturdy courage and self development in judgment and undertaN- ing. They have few hired servants, doing the work themselves, and standing square ly in line with the economic liberation of the southern farmer; incidentally, too. with his vastly improved social and hygienic condition
 Sixteen miles away is Hamilton, where there is an agricultural school which has cone great service in past years and is still doing it. But, if the Hackleberry boy wants to go to school, father or mother or both must transplant them selves to Hamilton and make home for him while he is incubating his brains. And that IS not the way they do things where schools are sufficient Hence Hackleburg says: "Go to. Let us build us school. Not merely a common school, but, taking advantage of the county high school provision now modl- field, let us establish here the high school of Marion county. Here be 5000 year available from the state if we will provide the site and the building. Arise Let us build."
 There is a common school, housed close to the town center, where also religious services are held, and where 165 names are enrolled as students. But now comes a public-spirited man, who has acres and children, and offers to the people N acres of his best land as a perpetual en- dowment and site. Others are fumbling in their jeans with patriotic fervor as will appear.
 Let me put it upon record that nothing Is more beautiful to me than the present eagerness of rural Alabama to get itself an education Hackeburg is a shining example of this zeal As such here DOT tray it. The people assembled in goodly numbers to hear discourse on educa- tional ideals. Stirred by this, or in grati- fude that 1t was finished, they followed 1t with a series of personal pledges to sac rifice in order to secure the school. They know that s10,CG0 is a big amount for a new town to raise, but they have seen the vision, drawn a deep breath and are sailing in to win. Not far from the town is a vast deposit of white clay excellent for pottery and firebrick. close at hand are two great springs of splendid water With the generous abundance of Ala bamas plenty, Bear creek rushes past carrying potential factories on it's bosom begging to be caught and compelled to turn the wheels. And unless signs fail the genial, energetic men of Hackleburg