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VOL. I NO. 7
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
COMIIENCEMENT
Marking the close qf a most suc
cessful year in its history, the Com
mencement exercises of the Sylva
Collegiate Institute were opened
Sunday morning with a most power
ful sermon by Dr. A. E. Brown super
intendent of the Baptist Mountain
Schools.
The Annual address was delivered
Monday evening by Hon. Gallatin
Roberts of Ashe ville, who spoke on
the subject of "Youth, and what
are you going to do with it" Mr.
Roberts is at all times a forceful
and logical speaker and made a
great impression upon the audiance
as he urged the young people to
make the most of their opportunities,
to read the books and magazines
that are helpful and elevating, to
get the best education possible, stat
ing that no boy or girl can, say now
that they have not the opportunity;
then he urged the boys and girls
to stay at home and give this state
and section the benefit of their
talents, as there are as great or
greater opportunities here as in the
west or any where else.
The smaller children gave their
entertainment Tuesday ifternoon
and pleased the audiance with the
preformance.
Tuesdav nteht was the debate.
between six young men of the school
upon the Question, Resolyed: That
women should be given the right of
suffrage in America" Messrs Durham
Powers, Lacy Butler and Ralph
Jarrett, espoused the suffrage cause
while Messrs Harlow Kitchen, Hu gh
Mpnteith-and.J&cte
gtand-pafc position. vAU the young
men made pleasing: speaches and
the question was hotly contested
The Judges decided in the affirm
ative and awarded the medal for
the best debater to Mr. Lacy Butler.
Especiei mention should be made of
the speach of Hugh Monteith. He is
the youngest of the six boys and
from the impression made upon the
audiance he promises to develop in
to an excellent speaker.
Wednesday evening the students
of the school pleased a large audi
ance with the presentation of an
operetta "The Gypsies.'.'
YOUNG MAN SERIOUSLY
INJURES COMPANION
General Queen, a young man of
the upper end of the county was
brought to Sylva Wednesday and
placed in the Jackson County Jail
waiting a change in the condition of
Will Nicholson another young man
whom Queen struck in the head
with a stick a week ago at the saw
mill camp of J. P. Calhoun near
Tuckaseigee.
After Queen assaulted Nicholson,
he fled and was captured in the
Balsam mountains near Caney Fork
late Thursday by aposse of special
officers. J
The condition of Nicholson is said
to hp. serious -and .--'great fears are
express concerning his recovery.
Nicholson was given a prelimin
arv hearing before Magistrate R. A.
Painter, Wednesday and Temanded
to jau awaiting a cnange m iue cuu-
onion oi JNicnoison. .
PROF, INGRAM TO REMAIN.
At a meeting of the trustees of
Sylva Collegiate Institute, Saturday
Prof. J. C. Ingram, at the request of
the trustees and of Dr. A. E. Brown,
to quit teaching and'go to his farrr J
near Albermarle and ha3 withdrawn
his resignation as principal of the
oylva Collegiate Institute.
The people of Sylva and this sec
tion will be glad to learn that Prof.
Ingram will remain here and will
continue the excellent work he has
bean doing at the Baptist school.
FLORENCE THIR
OFFICE
The fbllowing.from the Flcrence
Ore. West, will be of interest to the
relatives and friends of Mr. C. Buch
anan, in Jackson County.
In Tuesday's mail Postmaster
Buchanan received notice from thei
Postal' Department at Washington
D. C, that the post office at Florence
would be advanced to the third class
this taking effect April 1, 1914. .
This is one month earlier than
the date given in a notice received
a short time ago, which set May 1,
as the time for tnis change. As the
change from fourth to third class
carries with it an increase in the
salary of the postmaster with an
allowance for clerk hire and office
rent besides other expenses, the
change is welcome.to Mr. Buchanan.
The salary of the postmaster will
be. $1100 for the first year and this
will be increased as the business of
the office increases.
s
riorence nas also oeen maae an
international money order office this
change taking effect April I. Post
master Buchanan is authorized to
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issue and to pay international
money orders as soon as he Receives
a supply of the necessary blanks for
that part of the business. The blanks
have been shipped by the depart
ment and no doubt will be here
i within the next few days.
SYLVA INSTITUTE BAD
D
IV
Dr. A. E. Brown, superintendent of
the Baptist Mountain school work,
t eturaed from Sylva last night where
he had gone to preach the com
mencement sermon of the Sylva
Collegiate institute. This is one of the
system of thirty-four mountain
schools of the Baptist Home mission
board, of which Dr. Brown is the
founder and superintendent.
The Sylva institute has had a very
satisfactory year. Prof. J. C. Ingram
and his cultured co-workers have
made themselves a verv large place
in the town and surrounding coun
ties. Prof. Ingram contemplated re
turning to his farm near Salisbury
and had made his arrangements to
do so, but the people would not hear
to his leaving They rose up against
it and he had to reconsider and re
main with .them.
In addition to the improvements
which have been made during the
last year on the property, other im
provements will ,be made during the
summer, and plans for more exten
sive work than ever before have
been made. A band of strong young
men are putting themselves beside
Prof. Ingram to make this school
meet the demands.
Gallatin Roberts will deliver the
literary address before the school on
Tuesday next. Mr. Roberts visit is
anticipated with a great deal of
pleasure by the people of Sylva and
Jackson county? He won a place in
the hearts of many of them by his
espousal 0f their bill before the leg s
lature tQ move the court house from
Webster to Sylva. Gazette
MISS GRAY WINS MEDAL
Miss Alice Gray of the Sylva
Hteh School won the medal forv the
hest essay at tne rlign scnooi Meet
of: the Western Division 9f North
; Uaronna, uem ai mw cc.x
The whole representation from
Sylva acquited themselves well ai d
reflected credit upon our School. "
Tho s-hnol and town should be
iand are proud of the fact that one
of our girls took this medal. lt speeKs
well for the Sylva School.
JL 1V MVv-
CLASS
VERY SUCCESSFUL YEA
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SYLVA, N.' C; APRIL. 24; , .1914
'.. Editor JournaLPlease allow me
space in your paper to sa. -a few;
words in regard to th Farm c Life
School. Although thet election has
been called off, yet 1 think that the
question should not b dropped; for
it is only a matter of a few months
or years until we will ha v e the Farm
Life School in Jackson County.
I noticed an article; In last week's
issue of the Journal, yery severely
condemning the Farm-life, School
and call ng it the i,greatest hot air
bubble that has fever been thrust
upon- our people." I am surprised to
note that any man should character
ize a school of any kind as a "hot
air bubble.".
The gentleman r says that the
movement is agitated by men that
know nothing about iarming. That
may be true. But 1 have my doubts
about it. It is hard for us to see our
own faults. Perhaps that is why the
farmers of our county were opposed
to this measure. They could not see
their own faults, out other folks
can.
Now wish to ast the gentlemen
who wrote that artiple to be perfect
ly frank and answer- the joUowing
questions in regard to the Farm-life
School. ... r v
1. If the farm lifeischool is not for
the best interest of our farmers, why
did FORTY THOUSAND of the lead
ing farmers of North Carolina peti
tion the Legislature of North Caro
lina to pis the, la wflJie state?
a success and thes farmers
country are not getting any benefit
from them, why have there been
more than THIRTY THREE ; HUN
DRED established within the United
States since 1901?
3. If the schools are not proving
beneficial to the farmers of our own
state. I ask you why is it that down
in the eastern part of North Carolina
where the schools have .been put in
operation, that they are eagerly ask
ing the state to let them build the
schools? Why is it ihat Guilford
county one of the first to try the
law has not established only one of
these, but THREE?
4. If these schools have not prov
ed beneficial, why was it that Dr.
J. Y. Joyner, the greatest educator
that we have in the state and the
one who has done more for educat
ional uplift of our state than any
other one man, after going to Wis
consin and other states and seeing
the schools in operation came back
to North Carolina, and recornmended
them to our people, saying that they
be the fitting climax to our splendid
school system? Will you not believe
the words of Dr. Joyner? Is he not
a man to merit our confidence?
Druing his fourteen years as State
Superntendent of Public Instruction,
has he ever done one thing or advis-
ed one thing against the interest of
the people he represents?
5. Again I ask you about the boy
that raised 173 bushels of corn per
acre. Yes, who gave him the in
struction to do this? Was he not en
rolled in the Boy's Corn Club of the
State? Did he not have to cultivate
his acre according to the Instruction
of the managers of the Boys Corn
Clubs? Why is it that the boys of
these corn clubs are raising on the
average sixty three bushels of corn
per acre whon following the instruc
tions of the Corn Club, r while their
fathers 'according to old methods
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REPLIES TO
LETTER
$1.00
are raising only eighteen bushels? Is
this work not a part of the work of
the A. & M. College? Is not the; pre
sent Agent in Boys, Corn Club work
an A. & M. man? , ' .
6. I wish to ask you where are
you getting your agriculturrl paper
to read? Are not most of them edited
by professional men, chiefly teach
ers? In looking over one of the agri
cultural papers which I take, I find
that three of the leading sections
are edited by professional men, those
doing work as teachers in the lead
ing schools of the South, agricultural
schools, too.
7. Do you not believe that we can
learn things by seeing things done?
You know that it has been said that
"experience keeps a dear school but
fools will learn in no other," and I
believe that there is something true
about that, too. It is an evident fact
that we must get our ideas from
some one. This school will be the
place to get the ideas and test them
and then if they prove successful,
take them back an 1 use them on
our farms.
8. Again I ask vou why is it that
our boys have a distaste for the
farms? Have we not been keeping
schools that train them to look away
from the farms? Does the great Book
not teach us this fact, and I believe
it is as true as any passage in that
Divine word, and I hold it to be one
of the greatest sayings that Solomon
ever uttered: "Train up a child in
the way he should go, and when 'he
is old he will not depart from it."
Do you not believe that if we " train
iup a child to be a farmer, when hej
ilr;&e
And do you not also Jieiieve that if
we train hi n away from the farm
by putting him in school .where
other topics have the predominance,
that he will not take to farming?
9. Again I ask you why is it that
such men as Uncle Davie Rogers,
Jno. L. Ferguson and the others that
you mentioned have made such a
success at farming? What kind of
farms have they? Are they not the
best in the county? But here is the
question to test whether a man is a
success at any occupation: Is he
making two blades grow where one
formerly grew? If so he is a success.
To begin with, most of them got
their farms back when land was
cheap, or possibly some of them in
herited it. They have land that has
always been the very best in Jack
son County. All that they have to
do is to maintain it where it was
when they got hold of it.
But, my friend, we younger men
who are growing up and who would
like to farm, have not the farms to
compet3 with such men as Jno. L.
Ferguson. We must learn how to
make ours from our little mountain
farms. We must exercise our brain.
That is why we are demanding a
Farm Life School. It is not for such
men as David Rogers that we need
the school but it is for vast
majority that e do need it We
1 want men in our County who can
gh how t make the most out
of our land We want teacners who
can come among us and give us
new ideas. We want teachers" that
will show us the best method of
handling and caring for our stock.
We don't want to have to send over
into Tennessee or Kentucky or
Virginia for our improved stock,
but we want to learn how to use it
ourselves at a profit We don't want
to have to send to Raleigh or Wash
ington to et information how to
j doctor our stock when it gets sick.
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THE YEAR IN ADVANCE
biit we want men here in our own
county, so that we can get them
when we want them. Thus saving us
hundreds of dollars each year that
is lost simply from the fact that we
do not know what to do when out
stock gets sick a great many times
but j list stand and watch it die, I '
10. My dear sir, did you expect
that some of us folks who are want
ing the Farm School, to be the teach
ers of it? The teacher who will be
in charge of the Farm Life School
will be a man from .which every -farmer
of Jackson can get informa-.
tion. He must be a practical farmer
The law is mandatory on that point
He must be one that has made a
success. Ask the State Superintend
ent of Public Instruction about jthe
qualification of Farm Life teachers.
11. If the farmers of Jackson
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of farming as you seem to think,
why is it that every-year there are
thousands of bushels of breadstuff
brought into Jackson County? Why
is it that the farmers of our county
have even to buy a great deal of
the corn that they use. Why is it
that every year thousands of pounds
of meat and lard are shipped into
Jackson and a large part of it goes
on t -je table of the farmer? Why is
it that Jackson County is not mak
ing all this stuff her self? One of the I
reasons is that the farmers are not '
up in their methods of work. They
are following the old methods. They -are
not progressive as they ought to
be. The are not to blame for it
They are simply following the old
methods taught by our fathers,
following the training given them in
their childhood and not departing'
from it in old age. We want to get
out of this rut. How are we going io
co so unless we get information
from some one. The thing to do, as
I see it, is to make Jackson County
the farm life center of Western
North Carolina. This can be done .
aone just as sure as tne sun snines
in the heayens. It may not come
this week; ft may not "come this
month, this year, or this decade, but
it s j ust as inevitable as the onward
march of progress; "-.
12. And lastly, did you not know
that last year, the State of North
Carolina, sent into Jackson County
more than thirty five thousand dol
lars for school purposes more than
three times as much as Jackson
Cou ty sent to the State Treasury?
Now the state is asking to let her
put in $2500. more and we are go
ing to refuse to allow.it? I tell you,
my friend, that Jackson County
must wake up to her responsibility.
Just as long as we hold to the Al
mighty dollar so hard that the Eagle
has to scratch us loose, we are not
going to prosper. We must be will
ing to sacrifice for the future wel
fare of our children.
We are willing to spend $30,000
or $40,000 to remove a court house
two or three miles, but when it
comes to voting a little tax of 6c on
the hundred dollars worth of proper
ty and 18c on the poll for something
that means far more to the people
of Jackson County than the removal
of the County Site, it is another
thing. Then the state offers to give
dollar for dollar. Suiely, our people
need something to wake them up.
Now, you opponents of this school,
if you will prove to me or show one
solitary school that is not paying
more to its patrons than the money
they have invested in it I will say
no more. If you will show one soli
tary school of this kind that is not
proving a success, I will say no more.
If you will tell the people of Jack
son County that she is losing her
money by investing it in schools, I
will say n6 more. If you will cite to
our people one single instance of
where schools of any kind do not
pay, I will say no more. You can,t
do it -
Now, I wish the gentlemen who
characterized this proposed school
es A hot air bubble to answer
some of the preceding questionn.
Will you do it? Please explain also
about that $25,000 to start with,
the $20,000 bond issue, and the
power to increase this in eight years.
Rsepectfully. Emory L. Dtllard.
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