Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-09-08
VALLEY SCHOOL
PROGRESS NOTED
INTERESTING FACTS SHOWING
WONDERFUL DEVELOPMENT OF
SCHOOLS IN CAMERON HIDAL-
GO AND STARR COUNTIES.
BROUGHT OUT IN INTERVIEW
WITH SUPERINTENDENT MARSH
OF HIDALGO COUNTY. \ NETER-
AN VALLEY EDUCATOR.

the progress Of educational work in the
Lower Rio Grande VALLEY intcrtwined
with some entertaining "reminiscences Of
early days i'll this section are brought
oIt in an interview with X. A. Marsh
Of Edinburg, III yOl superintendent of Hi
'ialgo county. in last weeks San Bcnito
Lignt. Mr.. Marsh il one of the oil inn
crS of the Nalley-one of itS veteran edu
Gators. lie has taken intelligent mote Of
events in this section fDr many Years
and his remarks are we'll worth reading
The interview is copied from the Light
herewith:
K. 4. Marsh sup"rinten lent Of the
public schools Of Ilidalgo county. who
II in San Bento this week attending the
ioiut Cameron Iiidaig, teachers inSti-
ute. has resided in the lower Rio Gran
dv Valley since 1917 He is, indeed. Il
pioneer in fact. For many years he has
been identified with the school work of
this valley and his watched the progress
# affairs educational here from the very
crudcst stage to the modern public school
systems Of the present day.
Concerning his observations Of the pub
lie school progress in the lower Rio Gran
Il Valley during the several do-a'lcs he
has lived in the Valley. together with his
impressions of the present Camcron-IIi-
dalgo teachers institute. Supt. Marsh,
IN an intcrvi W with The Light said:
IL have lived i'm the lower Rio Grandc
Valley since September, 1871 | first came
from San Antonio to Rio Grande City
and was connected with the QuartermaS-
Ter Department Of the L. :. Army at
Fort Ringg I'll for six years. | located in
Uidalgo county i'll 1883 and engaged III
school teaching.
Yes. sir, have witnessed many chang
r. during the last 33 years. not only in
he school system. but in everything else.
Ep To 1892 IIidalg0 county did not own a
single schOOl house and a half dozen
teachers scattered around on a few Of tn.
biggest ranches were al that was needed.
Yes. there were people here then. but out
Of about 1000 inhabitants in EIidalgo
county not more than 80 Of them spoke
English. and on account Of the isolation
of the country the MeNicanS did not see
any use of encouraging their children
to acquire even Il speaking knowledge Of
thr SngliSh.
For several wears after | came to Rio
Grande City the nearest railroad point
was San Antonio and that "ity had been
railroad town only one year. The Sun
set (now Southern Pacific reached San
Antonio in 1876
Brownsville was Il city of perhaps
900 inhabitants ami had been an i'm
portant business point during the civil
war. but at the time | speak of was ON
Il stand still. if not decline. A small
steamer the Harris. used To ply between
Point Isabel and Galveston. This with
the stage between Brownsville and Cor
pus Christi was the only means of com
munication with the outside world. Of
course. under such conditions. schools did
not receive, much attcntiOH. Browns
Vile generally had fair schools. but ii
was difficult to secure competent teacher
to come down here
II remember well the first school !
undertook to teach in Iidalgo county.
The SchoOlhouS was a diiapidated old
jacal, provided with Il common board
table and two or three benches Of the
same material. The pupils were all Mex
leans. none Of them abc to utter more
than two or three words in English. and
my Spanish vocabulary was equally lin
tied, | was certainly puzzled, but | did
make myStIf understand to a certain
extent bv signs and the few words at
my command ] saw right away thatI
would not accomplish much until could
AT least master Spanish sufficiently to
communicate with the parents of the
children AMI thus secure some cOopcra-
ton So during my first school term.
made very little progress in teaching my
pupils English, but | acquired Il very
fair vocabulary If Spanish which enabl
cd me t. 10 some very good work with
the same class Of children in later years
My experience was the same as that OF
several other teachers who came here
during the early days.
The wonderful development of this
Valley since the advent of the railroad
makes lis old timers sit up and take no
ticc. The newcomers take it for grant
ed that san Benito should have school
buildings that would be q credit of any
city Of its size III the state. ana that ;
body Of $50 AZ intelligent teachers az any
section Of the United States can get to
thpr should assemble here i'm the coun
II IL