Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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??i???????1 I "II MOONLIGHT HCHOOli) j ^T" Hy (\ira Stewii't Witwm, Founder MooiiIIkIK School, Pr.'xiucnt Kentucky Illiteracy Commission, Author Country Life Readers. The various impressions which taive prevailed throughout the coun- i t%\ in regard to moonlight schools have been amusing, indeed. Some have imagined them to be schools i ^ wlieie children studied and played and scampered on the green like fairies in the moonlight. Others ItejJ' j have believed them to be ideal court < ing schools, where lovers strolled JjjW-J arm In arm, quoted poetry, and told frffivs the old. old story by the light of a betwitching moon. Others have spec- F-' ulated upon there being schools where moonshiners, youthful and |v t oiul vttirn incttMip*c/l in tlto nttml ^?i scientific methods ot' extracting th I juice from the coro, and. at the present time, the mpst secretive, to prevent government interference. BPS v When I was superintendent of Rowan county (Kentucky) schools. I served as secretary to a number of ' illiterate folk?a mistaken kindness I ought to have been teaching them ??? to read and write. Among these folk Cl)imtv v was u woman whose children had s,,,H.j(U. j grown up without education, except tju,ni , one daughter, who had had limited f ^ . ,H schooling. She had gone to Chicago ( and there had profited by that one >(j , j u advantage at. least which the city w*f,re possesses over the rural district, the, s(.|lonj S(, night school. Her letters were the ())i ,ll0(inj only source of joy that came Into l)P(,p|p ., that aged mother's life. and the ^ drafts ^ which they contained were the only means of relieving her neces- ' 11 ... mil. th sltles. Often she brought the daughter's ' letters over the hill, seven miles, to " ' ' .... . . . . . to attend the county seat, for me to read and * . ... ?. .i were to ( < answer for her. After an absence of > , , . , evening. Borne six weeks, she came in one morning fondling abetter. I anticl- | al pnted her mission, and said: "A ' ,>U letter from your daughter Shall I IO? , * read and answer it for you?" j 1 ' > 11" With dignity and pride,* she re- These plied: "I kin answer it fer myself? excuses I've learned to read and write.'* ever had. In amazement I questioned her. '? Iravel, and this is the story she told: "Some- without ' times I couldn't get over hero to see '*,in<' you and the 'cricks' would be up lie- w"n' n?t tween me and the neighbors, or the s'M'^'ntr 1 neighbors would lie away from home, 1 :,m< ',ur and I would not get a letter read and answered for three or four days; and r" 'nK ',:1' anyway, it jist seemed like tliar wuz 44 ,'1 aR? a wall 'twlxt Jane and me all the <:IU1" 1 time, and I wanted to read with my The yo own eyes what she had writ.with her ?"<1 the own band. So 1 went to a store and learned t< I bought nte a speller, and I sot up evening, : nt nigh's till midnight, and some- i?K* for i times t'n daylight?and 1 learned to achievenv Tend and write.*' beyond tl And to dent f> ? her accom- They wn pllshment, she slowly spe.,.d out the fences, p <words of that precious letter, an ' ever; then she sat down and, under my di- ' rectlop. answered It?wrote her first moans u: letter, an achievement which pleased posited it he/ immeasurably, and one which 'hecks at must have pleased the absent Jane childish ji still more. go to lot Shortly alter this there came into an'\ fai 1 my otfice one morning a middle-aged man, handsome and intelligent in ap- 1 jjearance. While waiting for mo to * ' r dispatch the business in hand. 1 gave .'rv ol 1,1 liini two books. He fingered the ,l'<' lirst loaves hurriedly, like a child, turned t,ie ,noor the books over and looked at thel''"M ' hacks, ond laid them down with a 'lni' '"h"'! High. Knowing the scarcity of Inter- 'M'on(l fr eating reading through the country. lu,"> ould I proffered him the loan of those two 'u' cou books, lie shook his head, and said: ^ro1 "No. I cannot read or write." And ballad then the tears came into the eyes of '? set "u that stalwart man, and lie added: "I Edueat mould give twenty years of my life plan, and If I could." the novel \ few evenings later I attended an es* woulf entertainment in a rural district session. I school. A stalwart lad of twenty surpassed sang a beautiful ballad, mostly orig- were enr inal. but partly bofrrowed from his' ?<! writ. English ancestors. When lie had fin- years old lahed. amid deafening applause. I the reeoi wont over and congratulated him. girl" of e "Dennis, that was a beautiful ballad There i --it is worthy of publication. Will 1>* remai you write it down for me?" "I would mont A if I could write." be replied, chest- years at fallen, "but I cannot. I've thought inllzlng it of a hundred of 'em better'n that, ticular hi . but I'd forget eni before anybody tercsted. conies along to set 'em down.'* , the six w These three incidents led directly led at a i to the establishment of the moon-! had recel light schools. Not merely the rail \ In w? of three individuals was sounded, hut over the he aPPoal of three classes: illiterate schools I mothers separated from their absent nioonllgh children farther than sen or land or or a woir any other codltion than death; mld-,a child, die-aged men shut out from the | attended world of books and unable to cast t?*red the their ballot with Intelligence and in *? In th< aecrecy and security; young people year-old 1 who possess undeveloped talents and reel which might yet be made to con- Another tribute much to the world of litera- his wife t ture, art, science or Invention. being . th The I'M I*' | \ V t ' * ! '' f v'l? AN U MP P. 0!r: r A : i: T 1 MP C OVf P ED FIELD > ? ????????^ ? l?l?? ? re called together. These .'I. Two vouiir men who lean ncldents were related t<> > read and write went ii> a fact d the fart that there were town in Indiana to work during ?h men ami women whom | whiter, and finding thirteen vol ds of the past had left be- ! men employed t' me <v! o could dwelt upon. The teacher.- j . 1 n<! vri. pr c< d '<? -t . ed to volunteer for night ( !: it ?? . < ! i\ tie i; tory. W rvlce, to open their school ;he assist; nee of one who we bet ight evenings to give 1heso|ed rated th m tenvu h . they tar chance. Itheni all. icy cheerfully agreed to do. i In Marc h lltl". the teachers Labor Day. September 4. Itowan count v diet in the office ? cse teachers celebrated hv the countv superintendent and very farmhouse and everv dared their determination to w citing people of all classes illiteracy out of that county t the moonlight schools which year. First, the school trustees w pen their sessions the next induced to take a census of the il They expected some re- crates. When this was completed, ml hoped for from one to i illiteracy record was made. On t |?ils in attendance at each | record was not only the name : ?erliaps one hundred and the age of every illiterate in county over. county, but his history as well: country folk had all the home environment, family ties, r that any toil-worn people gle.is faith, political belief, we There were rugged roads ! ncss. tastes and peeuliurit ies. and high hills to climh. streams influence or combination of influcu irldgos to cross children to through which he might he rear babies to catry; hut they case the teacher failed with h seekiii'" xcivu's. tliev weep V'ach teacher was given a list knowledge And so they the illiterates in her district w rying in croons; they came i she opened lmr day school, for miles; they came car-|< ?" i thes peoph and cultlva ies in arms; they came bent their aci|u:.iiitanee h. fore the nic and leaning on canes; thev light schools began their se--i< 00 strong. I The home rtnnarlmuni t ?< - I" ? ? i ? I II** llll ungcst student was eighteen ' " schools ?as established t oldest eighty-six. Some >'oar- in which the indifferent. :> write their names the first disinclined, the stubborn and the ind some required two even- rr,M,'t weie taught by the tcaehej this feat. Their joy in this b>" som?' om> "n<>"r 'he teacher's ent, simple though it was. is !'on :i' home. \e power of pen to describo. ""nc for every one," was the ote their names on trees, gun which brought into service r osts, barns. barrel-staves, tors, who could teach convalesc y available scrap of paper, patients; ministers who might fin ho possessed even meager pupil among the members of tl t out of hiding and de- flock: stenographers who could in the ' k writing their terest waitresses in the small tc id signing tin . nes with hotels, and any other: who wo iride. Letters soon began to seek and teach a pupil. Kaeli ,ed ones in othei counties triet was striving to lie the first listant states. amp out illiteracy. the first of these letters One school trustee, who had b he office of the county sup- . campaigning strenuously agal nt Romantic. in the his- nntemov <>. .1.- ... , ........ 111 (II 11IV t'llll OI week, and said with grim determi lion: "111 bet you I II have- illjtor ilight schools came in thl? [ ,,ut of my district by Monday ni< e first from a mother who i fug. There's only one illiterate o ren absent in the West: tb^ there, and he's a tenant on my pli om the man who had sa'd I'm going to run him out over i give twenty years of his life j Fleming county.1' He was counsc Id read and write, and the hat that was not the way to get n the boy who would forget <,f illiteracy, and that be must te s before anybody came along (!,<> tenant. mi down. \ young teacher who was mak ors were skeptical of the] a pronounced success, came in freely predicted that, after Saturday, rather discouraged, t.v had worn ofT, the inter- lid: "Von gave me a list of sixt I wane. Rut in the second illiterate in my district and I h he first year's record wa? taught fifteen of them to read 1 In every particular: 1,600 write. Rut there is <jne stubborn oiled, .150 learned to read woman out there who absolutely e. ?nd a man eighty-seven fuses to be taught I have exbau* entered and put to shame j tnv resources with her. and li rd of the proud "school mine in for advice." I cxpres Ighty-slx of the year before, inv confidence in bis ultimate < were many Incidents of real cess; but we took out tbe illitor kable individual develop- record and looked up the old worm , man ho had labored for history. We found tbat she con ll.RO a day enrolled, spec-'<red herself n physician, and i mathematics?In that* par-! flattered when anyone sought ranch in which he was in services as such, lumbering. At the end of, The young man ont hack to eeks session he was promo- district, fatter when an eruption lalary double that which he veloped on his wrist, he consulted ved before. > old woman. She diagnosed his < i not unusual in traveling i a erysipelas, for which site proct country to find In the day ? ?! to treat hint And finally she ( hero and there, after the eluded that a young man who poi t schools had closed, a m"n ? '! such excellent judgment In tan seated at the desk w'th s >l"ctian of a physician ki One school trustee who h'-d onn"gh to teach her something; a moonlight school en- while she treated him for erysipe day school afterward, end fronted her for Illiteracy, and p seat with his own twelve- learned to read and write. >oy, studying the same book Y'e tried, by every means, fair ting in the sam< classes, foul, to get illiteracy out of school trustee accompan'ed . ?nntv to the last Individual. At :o the moonlight school, she e'o?e of the third session, we had e teacher, and afterwards >? s? railing few who could not r icr pupil during the day as and write -twenty-three fn all, m " ?< M \RCI1 :n. PI : '- !" ' h \ ' "/"it- A ,.^V;- in ' ^>'?#N3? ^V'A %*' .:_-.... ,VV h/MrS3' ;-~':'C":' Ml?L; - jJallilfe Ve WAV VrtN MONTHS *FTLR ^ BOO WORTH OF CEU ic' Iv defectivfs. invalids and llv blind, school 'ablet. wit i?r\ Meanwhile . the moonlight school* or aceiuiring th< th" ' '! ' en ? xi"luli tl (o I .n<cni y-fivc ot'. In t t v. itli v\ :<!< 1 ing r count ley in (lie state, and whether >ec'a!l> for adnl no* J M \< ... in eli-till vv section or am ti" i.i v.- also In > n ;>r : ; .. ii. nl < !: . or in the n ining r nncrs dealing ' gion or among i In farmer . ' v. a '. dine cro t? ovri wi a i y aim res- 111 M?-n an at<" into the li irht \v? nn n IVrpngcd to the st ln?>'. . . ' Miry, of ?ookilif riving to make up for the time the- in as the poop1 ()f ' .nl lost and they plead for a Ions. clay. For oxampl of term when the session closed. reads: The governor of Kentucky, seeing This is a road, ip > the determined warfare whic h win it is a good road. Itat heing waged against illiteracy, urged n will save my t in his nn ssage to the legislature that it will save my t lit an Illiteracy Commission bo created It will save my \\ an to drive illiteracy from the state. The good road is I,is The measure creating this commis- I will work for tl iml sion passed the legislature of 1011 The script lessc 11|,> without a dissenting vote, and the work for the gc hia seat of the war against illiteracy in pledge the studer ,.]j. Kentucky was transferred from th and if the law ol ak- <ourt house in the county seat of lie becomes truly tl,., Rowan to the state cnpitol at Frank- motor of good r< l(.(.s fort. The commission is directing Moonlight schc itho state-wide campaign to rombv> in seve nteen slat jlu. | illiterncy from Kentucky hv tlie time I .ma and Xortli of j the casus of 1020 is taken. ' cly Kentucky": hen' fin' of the first activities e.f thej . nister eciually She ' Illiter. < > Ceunm'psinn was to enlist j i'i Oklahoma, il 1 j th vnrioits organizations in the state! Mabama, and ill ,on ' to ai>l teachers it their warfai " \*orth Carolina ; ,0 , 'on illiteracy. The Kentucky eeluca- j "n'ii'ornia and N lon-'tional association was induced ta states to adopt t j pass a resolution expressing com are finding it us tl,,mendatlon and pledging its support 1 ion of immigran (lo. j The Kentucky press association wa one-, and the Ian or approached for assistance, which was tion of tlie other. ,i: i e heerfnllv i-lv/.n f?.? t.-?? ? hi - .n? iviiiui-hv urn- rnere arc r?.r?i j < ration of women's clubs, the society this country, nee slo-; f,?'on'a' dames. and other organ i- oral census of 1!> !oc z:>tions. were among tliose to early entire population ,pn( lend tlieir aid. uu.re than the po fj n Governor James (J. MePreery of <>r .Vorway, and ot ,(>ir Kentucky, issued, in September 1 ft 1 1. ' perous countries, in- the first proelamation acin i illit- thrive, support ch )W? eraey in i he historx of te world ur- industries on the uM . i"" ail flit ' t- ., , thai America is | Hii. Aga! . in 101*5, I Ued a similar |wa8te- Illiteracy (l i'- ? ... .nation Kentucky lias oele v '' rural ' rated "no illiteracy" Sunday in Oc l: districts eon ,ober for P?*t two successive ' ,>or,ion fou,,(1 in ns"t years. A galaxy of one hundred and r:iiil ,!l" moon,ii t,j twenty speakers covered the stat? tabl,Bhed- fi'?re na. during tlte summer of 1915, con !'lovisio? tor the a(.v ' demnlng the evils of illiteracy and '!H,uIts '? 1 irn I advocating moonlight scjto,,]s as a t,lftre^8 "one in ? . . . , mh- i iij mm .... . 1 > N'ru) . i nese speakers consisted oi vo .? ('lives il I it orate 'tno governor, state oftlcials. Lnited ,rp' |. , , most cities, at 1? Slatrs senators, congressmen, judges nto ..... or compel them or the court of appeals, circuit ludclo 1 . ... , , . It's the priv ?.;.i prominent educators and cluh tin , , n(I . public school ter a('h ,,Hn- America's illitera Moonlight school graduates have tng been asked to volunteer to teach at one 'east one to read and v. rite. Indl- ???????? and viduals and organizations tvuro of een fered-prizes to stimulate teachers in I J -? jivo I heir moonlight school work. A teach- M & * nnd ,>r who has taught sixtv-two Uliter old ' i''s durinc a session this year he- jw ? / m- lleves that he is very close to t li? ^ ,? p y, ite$100 state prize. Y< t he, like thousave j nnds of other volunteer teachers /"V ;sc 1 trudge - hack to t)1( school at night J ^5 tuc I with no thought of reward, save that arv "f 'he joy of service and the etnanci m'sjpntion of those enslaved in the hon-. Rt?]. jdage of Illiteracy. J was Kentucky will owe her public | | ^ ju.r a hool teachers n debt that can never' DCCllI he estimated when they shall have W'itll ; SI his v iped out her illiteracy, which they ,1P. propose to do by 1920, and in many cuted b> ft,r counties will do even before that npniflmi Us time. That county in the state which UCpctrl >od ' largest percentage of 111 It- NcitllCi on Ieracy hu taught 1.000 sanaim i.. kpb -jtlie moonlight schools this year to be disapf th?-, rpad and write, while many counties havo taught two and three hundrpd. filVP and besides raising thp standard of edu- UlVr. L>?. cation of many semi-illiterates and - nhe othorn who havo pnrollpd. Tito moonlight school curriculum Whenever You N< Telra and embiaces more than reading and , Ti . , , .. The Old Standa the writing: It includes arithmetic, his- cj,m Tonic is eq the tory, geography, civics, agriculture. General Tonic be but i horticulture, home economics and well known tonic pi ead road building. A special method of ^ Malaria,1 Em: sin- writing is taught?a moonlight Guilds up the Who - 8 m iii m schnol-liou.se twenty to t wei.'y-four > evenings and, with proper orgatMzaI t >11, the deed is done; for experience has proven that all but abnormal adults <an escape from illiteracy in a month's time, and some in even ? less. Could there be more valiant and - s{i hevoii sorviie to humanity than the tamping out of illiteracy, the most |f insidious foe of the nation? The , |k-. . 'DAXGKRM OI I111AK1 'f*i'rafts fed l.. . . 111 11 v . re hot perspiring. I >\ i.cn they are &-W .? v " ">" " -er ml '\ result ? Neu. n ?i s or " 5 '' c .j hi. '{fi? M" ' 1 apply Sloan's Liniment. ^$01 '* n ; ilea to !!:< sure P" !;5S*i -ad i iini ',| j, ;. The hi <1 flows " V.: * ^91 1,1 in : iorl t ' ' thi tiff ' M I.; : |. ii f for V*B^'aw.58ht'''1 idnche will find Otic or two ; ppli%' *'?&- '-fnl ' 1 i""s o* Sloan's Einiui" w 11 give '. . " -, I Tlie agonizing pain Vl W;,v !l sensation of 1 quiet rest -jjfc. f^Sj?g?HRH -'? ?!? is possible (!nod for NoU11 i. uoii Pri' <> _r<r>. ;\t your Drug< omi:s tiii: like or <;kee\ TIIIXC;S oRowiNfi. '' l! 1 " 1 ('omcs (he lure of green things grow form, and ruled j ,M'd r*on s the call of waters flowing? 1 pupils. Render Xm, wnyfaror (lcsiro bpared tor attch bi Moves and wakes and the world be With roads, silo goinR p rot;a ion. pipiny . ous< . value of th i Hark the migrant host* of June and such proh J Marching nearer noon by noon! le are facing every Hark the gossip of the grasses r>. a lesson on roads Bivouocked beneath the moon! Hark the leaves their mirth averring; Harlc the buds to blossom stirring; Hark the hushed, exultant haste Of the wind and world conferring! team. ragon. Hark the sharp, insistent cry my friend. Where the hawk patrons the sky! he good road. Hark the flapping, as of banners, in follows: "I will Where the heron triumphs by! jod road," which Empire in the coasts of bloom it writes ten times, ' , .. , Humming cohorts now resume r suggestion works. ... , \n?l desire is forth to follow a friend and pro, Manv a vagabond perfume, lads. , , , , > Charles . I>. Roberts, in llaltliols are conducted , , 4ii " '<e Evening Stir, os. Oklahoma, AlaCarolina following ; . , . wl VKl THE <.\i;iH:\?AM) THE i lead T hese schools .... . .. 1 run Min;\. too. to illiterate Indian- ; literate negroes !n j iterate whites in ' Start the garden ami keep it going md other states | the y. ar romd it means more promv Mexico, the last ' 'ban any crop yon grow. It saves he now institution, money, it save ills, ii saves doctor's jefnl in the educa- hills. Don't wait, make a garden. t population of tlx Tho profits from gardening, howge Mexican popula- over, come not alone from the vegi tables that are produced. The in. . honlthv out-door exercise and recreilliterates i .. ... ... I'ion and the educational value of a ording to the bed .. , 'anleii mi training tin children man10?more than the n ? . . . .1^. iih uu ;iiiuk mi i uem iiaotts or 01 Denmark, also , .. , order tii.I industry, must not be overpuhttion of Sweden . ,. looked. Parents will find that the several other pvo??nreiiminarv planning of a card en Some countries , a , will do much t.i ; r. the interest unites, schools and , , , "i '-1 vounu i? 'pl< nd encourage number of peopl permitting to go to thom t0 do the,r *] r? in cult,vat^? ih the United State* and woe(1,nR j' n,i' wtu parti,, ,. . Inrl\ trtu if the fantilv hires a problem; it exists . . . laborer to do the tVst h??avv spading in double the pro- I , ... and let's the famiP begin its garurban communities. , . dening not with tie- ' w. disbeartght school was es, , . . oning drudgery, but .1 patch for the was absolutely no . .. . .... ' glii.-t aoi U ni.ikii.. the seed bed. education of llllt. in fact, r 11 short, ii teaches children rural sections, and t irnan districts now, <m i<> w< i. y.or me It school. Which r< bonef,t i! ,J? to to k,ow foreigners, but In ,nto manhood and w mianhood as tat, does not coux ?">rul members of society The Jefto attend. I ferso^lan. "Why Swear, Dear? - Use 'Gets-It' |0|1 Qorns|?? \ ' O 0" **ew flan. Simple. Sure as M o> j Fate. Applied in a Few Seconds. 9 "tVhy. John, 1 never knew you to > s*, J- + g-. use sut li language! I've told you -Jt I) a J ? T g several times it's no use to try those v V* ft. ? V-' i K bandages salves, tapes, plasters, und lrAim fl ' lias ever * dissatisfied order exe- 7 r vv ill you i .......... I KIIM' I nur J p|)ia?r, ?ohn, . II You ls?d 'Octi-It'' for Thoir Corns!" >Olf1KO. contraptions for corns. Here's some I 'Gets-lt', it's Ju?>t wondt /Ul how easy, 'clear and clean' it makes any corn . come right off. Takes but a few sec) A I |?| A I onds to apply. It dries at once. Put v pyour sock on right over it,?there's nothing to stick or r'11 up, form a ~bundle of your toe, o?- press on the corn. It's painless slrr*>le as rolling v*./t m Trvnlr off * 1?P- Now Put . those knives, /I , ionic razors and scissors \is? 'Gets-lt* and urove S you'll have a sweet,/ disposition and rd r.ron^'a Ta?;?elc<is no mor? corns and iwllusea." ra urove s tasteless "Oets-Tt" Is sold by druggists everyually valuable as a where. 25c, a bottle, or sent direct by cause it contains tin E. Lawrence & Co., Chicago, 111. ropertiesofQUINI>*H Sold in Lancaster a?d roc amson the Liver, Drives mended as the world's beet corn iches the Blood and remedy by Lancaster Pharmacy and >le System. V) cents. J. F. Mackey Co.