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The American Missionary

(QUARTERLY)

  APRIL }
  MAY   } 1900
  JUNE  }

  VOL. LIV.
  No. 2.

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[Illustration: AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE, CHARLESTON, S. C.]

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NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION,

THE CONGREGATIONAL ROOMS,

FOURTH AVENUE AND TWENTY-SECOND STREET, NEW YORK.

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Price 50 Cents a Year in advance.

Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., as Second-Class mail
matter.

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CONTENTS.

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                                                                    PAGE

  FINANCIAL--SIX MONTHS                                               49

  A WORD AS TO THE MAGAZINE                                           49

  FIFTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING                                         51

  TILLOTSON COLLEGE, AUSTIN, TEXAS (Illustrated)                      52

  AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE, CHARLESTON, S. C. (Illustrated)             61

  SOUTHERN FIELD NOTES                                                67

  BITS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY                            69

  CHRISTIAN ENDEAVORS OF A HIGHLAND SCHOOL AND VILLAGE (Illustrated)  72

  OBITUARIES--MRS. MARY T. CHASE                                      74

              MISS SUSIE T. CATHCART                                  75

  A SUGGESTIVE SUBSCRIPTION                                           75

  RECEIPTS                                                            76

  WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS                                         94

  SECRETARIES OF YOUNG PEOPLE'S AND CHILDREN'S WORK                   96

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THE 54th ANNUAL MEETING

OF THE

American Missionary Association

WILL BE HELD IN

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

October 23-25, 1900.

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The AMERICAN MISSIONARY presents new form, fresh material and
generous illustrations for 1900. This magazine is published by the
American Missionary Association quarterly. Subscription rate fifty
cents per year.

Many wonderful missionary developments in our own country during
this stirring period of national enlargement are recorded in the
columns of this magazine.

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THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

VOL. LIV.     APRIL, 1900.     No. 2.

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FINANCIAL--SIX MONTHS.


The first six months of the present fiscal year of the American
Missionary Association closed March 31st. The receipts are
$18,961.74 more than for the same period last year. The increase in
donations is $10,699, and in estates $6,433.24, exclusive of the
reserve legacy account. The tuition and similar receipts are
$1,829.49 more than last year. This is a favorable and encouraging
showing. We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the friends of
the great missionary work carried on by this Association, as evident
in their increased donations.

The payments during this period have been $17,595 more than for the
same months last year. The net balance, exclusive of the reserve
legacy account, is $1,366.74 more favorable than that for the first
six months of last year. The increase in current receipts has been
expended in the mission fields which have been so greatly crippled
by the enforced retrenchments during recent years.

The Association rejoices in its freedom from debt and in the
favorable showing for these first six months. The next six months
include the summer season, in which missionary gifts are often
greatly reduced and the income suffers. We would again remind the
pastors, Sunday-school superintendents, officers of Endeavor
Societies and Woman's Missionary Circles of the great and pressing
need upon the Association, both in old and new fields, among the
many millions for whom our faithful missionaries labor. Porto Rico
demands increased gifts. The field is opening with great hopefulness
both in educational and evangelistic lines. Word comes from
missionaries there urging reinforcements, which means more
consecrated money to meet this pressing necessity.

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A WORD AS TO THE MAGAZINE.


Letters frequently come to the editor of this magazine expressing
regret that it does not reach the subscriber regularly each month.
No one can regret this fact more than the editor. It must be
remembered that the magazine is no longer a monthly, but a
quarterly. This reduction in the frequency of the issue of our
periodical was found necessary by the Executive Committee during the
hard financial conditions through which we have recently passed. In
order to economize in the expenditures, the four numbers per year
were decided upon. The economy was necessary. The disadvantages,
however, are very apparent. Large space in each magazine is
necessarily occupied by the statistical report of receipts. This is
essential. It is an important financial safeguard and an evidence of
the thorough business administration of the Association.

However, less space is left for general matter. Partially on account
of this restriction of space the magazine has taken a slightly
different complexion. It is our desire to present as complete as
possible the nature and conditions of the missionary work in our
various fields. The discussion of incidental or even fundamental
problems connected with the work of this Association is not often
possible. Those who contribute to this work either money or prayers
have a right to know what is being accomplished. Nothing can present
it so clearly as illustrated articles, prepared by those who are in
these mission fields. In the current issue two important schools are
presented in this way.

In the Department of Christian Endeavor the development of work
among the young people of the Highlands is interestingly presented.
During the current year we plan to present our secondary
institutions as the higher institutions were presented--through
illustrated articles during the last year.

We acknowledge with gratitude the pleasant words spoken concerning
the AMERICAN MISSIONARY in various periodicals. The cordial notices
in missionary cotemporaries of other denominations, and those of our
own mission schools, is especially appreciated.

A commission consisting of two members of the Executive Committee
have recently visited the mission field. Rev. E. S. Tead, of Boston,
and President T. J. Backus, of Brooklyn, were selected by the
committee for this special service. They were accompanied by the
senior secretary, Rev. A. F. Beard, and through a part of the field
by Sec. G. H. Gutterson, of the New England District. They carefully
inspected several of the schools of the Association, and their visit
was of great value. The testimony they bear to the efficiency of the
work and to the interests of the field is pronounced and emphatic.
In a future issue of this magazine we hope to present articles from
members of this commission which will be of great interest to our
readers. The testimony of an experienced pastor and prominent
educator must have great weight.

Strong testimony to the value of the educational work among the
<DW64>s is found in _Harpers' Weekly_ for February 10th. In an able
editorial on "<DW64> Education," we find the following: "The storm
and stress period of the South is still upon it. The curse of
slavery has not yet been removed. But it is clear that the schools
are sending the light into the dark places, and that everything that
shuts off or reduces the brilliancy of the light is inimical not
only to the <DW64>, but to the whites themselves, to the South, and
to the whole country." No truer word than this could be spoken. The
education of the <DW64> is not a question of sectional or local
importance alone. It is fundamental to the safety and development of
our country. There are in the Southern public schools 27,445
teachers employed in teaching <DW64>s. Twenty-six per cent. of the
average attendance of school children in the Southern States,
including the District of Columbia, are <DW64>s. The total
enrollment of the blacks constitute, however, only 52 per cent. of
the children of that race of school age. This fact again emphasizes
the necessity of such schools as the American Missionary Association
plants among these black people. The high grade and exceptional
character of these schools are certainly worthy of commendation. The
report of our commissioners based upon facts personally and
independently gathered by each will