Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1920-07-08

The rapidly vanishing domestic SerV.
ant is being slightly retarded In her
race toward extinction by a unique
school 10 Washington. 1t is a national
training school for women and girls.
where many colored girls are being
taught how to cook and keep house.
The school Is scattered group OF
white farm buildings. surrounded by
lawns and gardens and SET on top OF
a steep hill. The principal. Mamie
Burroughs, met us and offered TO
show us the 'plant."
rs It true that you are training
girls to supply the nationwide demand
for domestic seryice7" she was asked
Mamie Burroughs smiled. "Well.
we have 100 girls here, and good many
of them are studying domestic sci
ence. Few will 60 Into private homes,
but most of the students who gradu.
ate here In domestic science go ou'
to teach other girls all over the coun'
try. and this summer we are going to
raise $4,000. so that we can teaci.
$50 girls instead Of 100"
This Is the story as Mamie Bur-
roughs told 1t. Of a remarkable school
the only one Of Its kind In the world
Science Of Needle and Thread.
Ten years ago she happened 10 stop
In a little red school house In Missis-
sippi. A dozen cOlnred girls of four.
teen years weer struggling with exam.
Piles of longitude and time. One girl.
with not button on her dress safety
pins and beauty pins clutching at thu
gaps. shoes half laced. was at the
blackboard. She glibly explained
that New York was at "A degrees
longitude, and when It was 9 o'clOcs
In New York 1t was G o'clock some
where else. She sat down victorious
and GREATNESS. and the teacher asked
the visitor to talk to the class.
II am going to speak 70 one bright
little girl" began Miss Burroughs
automatically. 81 want her to 60
home and find the longitude OF a
needle, and the latitude Of some thread
and work out problem with some
buttons on the back of her dress and
bring In the answer tomorrow"
The others giggled, fingered their
antidy apparel and promised. The Wis,
itOr went on to tell them education
should fit them for life and that
neatness and knowledge Of domestic
problems were as necessary to their
future welfare as ability to battle with
higher mathematics.
THAT day." she tells you. II saw
plainly that the people Of this race
were not getting anywhere the right
training in practical things. and de
c'ded to open my own institution"
Mamie Burroughs had no mercy.
but she found an old farm fer SAFE
cheap, on the edge of the District G:
Columbia. and she went out to ask her
people for funds. Nickels, dime 5. per.
MES. she accepted any sum grateful
~. In two months she had $I,OU.,
which paid the necessary cash deposit,
and in eighteen months she owned the
place.
Modest Start, Tackled on,
I'VE have been growing and tack
Ing on ever since" she explains. AT
first we had just the one farmhouse.
We taught music, cooking and hair
dressing In one room, and drew chalk
lines on the floor to show w.Gre the
kitchen ended and the dining loom be-
gan.
But the girls OF those pioneer days
were the strongest we ever turned
out. They learned to do with almost
nothing. and every one Of them has
gone out to help the cOlOrOi people
of her community" From that old
farmhouse the national training school
for women and girls has grown until
now ii has ten teachers and pupils
from 20 states and even from Haiti
and Africa.
They call II the school of the three
B's-Bible, bath and broom. Music,
millinery, typewriting. manicuring,
English, algebra and other subjects are
taught. They are the things the
pupils ostensibly come to learn, but
the school sometimes disagrees on this
subject. One girl enrolled with the
announcement that she would take
music this year. and next year. II
there was time, she'd try cooking.
NO." said the principal. firmly. "you
will take scrubbing and neatness and
dishwashing. and your regular studies
this year, and next year, If you have
any time, you can add some ac-
complishments."
The length of time spent in the Bur
roughs school is measured by the
pupils foundation when she enters,
the work she wants to prepare for and
the state of her finances. Each pupil
pays $3.50 month for tuition aud
board.