Daily Kennebec journal., 1925-06-08
Miss Hale Tells
Benefits of Rural
Scholarship Funds

Miss Florence M. Hale, agent Tor
rural education, declared Saturday
that probably the thing in which
she is most interested, outside of
her regular duties, is the matter or
scholarships to aid worthy boys and
girls, particularly of the country
communities, to get an education.
For example. there is the Maine
State Grange Loan Fund.-" continued
Miss Hale.
IT have been secretary of that
committee for some years, and my
experience leads me to say most em-
phatically that these people are all
wrong who state that our young
folks today haven't the stamina and
the grit to work their way through
college or other worth while school.
L wish such folks could only know
the fine stalwart boys / know who
are working at anything which Of
fers, maintaining high scholarships
and receiving honorS in the social
and intellectual life of the college,
who can make the 500 we can loan
them go a long ways.
For example, the young man in q
southern county who worked all the
summer in the hay field and on the
/ farm to get money for his college
course. At the end of the season his
employer went into bankruptcy and
away went the boys college fund. A
loan o fonly $100 from our fund gave
him new courage-more because of
our belief in him than the money it
self. He has now been in college two
years and has splendid record.
Another boy in Aroostook county
labored with his brothers to raise
crop of potatoes through the sale of
which the money to go on with his
college course was to be procured.
But it was a poor year with low
prices which paid practically moth
ing for their labor and scarcely met
bills for seed and fertilizer, so there
was no money for college in sight
after back breaking vacation in
the potato fields.
"a friend wrote to the members of
the Grange Loan Fund and told the
story. We were able to find $3.50 to
loan the student and he went back
to college with little but that and a
high courage to take with him to the
halls of learning.
IF I should suddenly be endowed
with a million dollars from some far
off field, there are just two things
would like to have to spend 1t for IN
Maine.
'.One is to provide summer home
on the Maine coast where every
oyerworked, under-paid rural teach
er could have months free vaca-
ton with plenty of play and good
books to read, and no worry.
1.-The other would be, to be able
as I go through the rural schools up
and down this big State to pick out
here and there the. deserving boys
and girls I see and give them their
chance for larger opportunities and
bigger vision.
But no one in far-off fields will
ever leave me the million, so I hope
in the meantime, that our good
Grange scholarship may be main
tanned. This last year we had. to re-
fuse Just six such worthy students
because our funds ran out, but we
will hope for better times and bet
ter luck next year.
"And now the Business and Pro-
fessional Women's Clubs are talking
scholarships of the same kind for,
business girls, and so the good work
goes on. BY the way, money is well
invested in Names greatest hope,
the boys and girls, who will some
day be our governors, members of
Congress, our successful farmers and