The Golden age. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1906-1915, July 05, 1906, Page 9, Image 9
College Notes.
The first year honor and the Betts prizes at Yale
were won this year by M. P. Stern, of Anniston,
Ala.
The commencement exercises of the Virginia M'
itary Institute were concluded on June 27. The
address to the graduating class was made by Dr.
Charles D. Mclvor.
John Burns, the leader of the Labor Party in the
House of Commons in a recent speech, attributed
the abnormal infantile mortality in England to can
ned meats and intemperance among women.
The fourth annual session of the University of
Georgia summer school opened on June 26. T.
opening exercises consisted of a lecture by Dr.
Roland D. Grant on “Yellowstone, Science and
Scientific.”
Mr. W. F. Watson, Professor of Chemistry at
Furman University, has recently lectured at Ith
ica, New York, before the American Association for
the Advancement of Science on the subject, “The
Identification of Blood Stains.”
The Baptist Young People’s Union, which held
a recent session in Atlanta, elected Mayor R. C.
Norman, of Washington, Ga., as its President for
the coming year. He has long been associated with
the B. Y. P. U. work and brings valuable experience
with him into the office.
Governor Joseph M. Terrell, in his annual mes
sage to the General Assembly, in speaking of "
need of a new dormitory at the Georgia Normal
anl Industrial College at Milledgeville, said: “This
is one of the most urgent matters connected with
our educational institutions.”
The Stae of Georgia will be requested to give
thirty thousand dollars to the Georgia School of
Technology for the purpose of enlarging the cam
pus of the school. It is probable that a gymnasium
building will soon be erected. The Y. M. C. A. and
the Alumni of the State have already subscribed for
this purpose fifty-seven thousand dollars.
The fourteenth annual conference of the stu
dents’ department of the Y. M. C. A. of the South
has recently closed. This session was held at
Farm School, N. C. There were eight student rep
resentatives present from Georgia. At the close
of the session it was announced that sixteen young
men volunteered to go as missionaries to the for
eign field.
Mr. K. C. Moore of Macon, Ga., who has been
studying agriculture in Cornell University, is spend
ing his vacation at home. He states that the party
of Cornell students who intended to spend the sum
mer studying agricultural conditions in the South
will not be able to do so, owing to the fact that
many of them are citizens of other nations and ar*
returning home for their vacations.
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The Golden Age for July 5, 1906.
David E. Guyton.
If it is true that “He that ruleth his spirit is
better than he that taketh a city,” is not equally
splendid for the spirit to rise superior to the weak
ness of its bodily home, and make good its claim to
the immortal? One to hold the spirit back—one to
'urge the sprit on. Each a hero’s work. Both de
serving a victor’s crown.
We who know him, love the subpect of this sketch,
and are proud of him because we think he is a vic
tor. We are glad to tell the world the facts about
his life.
Perhaps the two most interesting facts to be giv
en are that he is blind and that he is almost a boy
in age.
David E. Guyton is the oldest son of Capt. Joe J.
Guyton and Mrs. Callie Hoyle Guyton. His father
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DAVID E. GUYTON.
has for years been one of the most prominent citi
zens of Tippah county, Miss., and belongs to one of
the oldest and best families of the state. His moth
er is of the well-known Hoyle family of Lee county.
So he inherits sterling qualities from both parents.
When a small boy David lost his sight by the acci
dent of sticking a knife in one eye while at play.
He attended the state institution for the blind for ft
while, but that did not satisfy his ambition. He
wanted to go to school with the other boys and girls,
take the same course of study they were taking, and
live and think and act like other people. He was
too plucky and his aims were too high to be satisfied
with the course of study regularly given to the blind.
The Guyton home is two and a half miles from Blue
Mountain college. The Guytons and the proprietors
*of Blue Mountain college are bound together by a
friendship of three generations. So Capt. J. J.
Guyton requested that his blind boy be admitted to
the school “special gratia,” Blue Mountain is
Strictly a female school, but the boy was blind and
could not “make eyes” at the girls. There was at
that time no high grade school for boys at Blue
Mountain. So the request was cheerfully granted and
Mr. Guyton enjoys the distinction of being the only
male graduate ever sent out by Blue Mountain col
lege. He has been an honor to the institution, how
ever, and faculty and student body alike are proud
of the one boy graduate. In spite of blindness, Mr.
Guyton stood in the very lead of his classes for his
whole college course. He showed special ability in
languages and became proficient in Anglo-Saxon and
early English, Latin, German and French. At his
graduation his German teacher said. “The boy
knows as much German as I do.” He is fond of
German literature and has made some very pretty
translations from the German poets. He is now in
structor in German, French and Anglo-Saxon in his
alma mater. A born teacher, enthusiastic, resource
ful and thoroughgoing. Prof. Guyton is a rare suc
cess in the classroom. He has made reputation in
the literary world in the domain both of prose and
poetry. Os the former his series of “Southern
Celebrities,” running in the Memphis Commercial
Appeal has Avon wide-spread commendation. Thou
sands have been delighted to see through the eyes
of the blind boy-writer of the South, the haloed
glories of her hero sons.
Among his best efforts in verses are “Triolets,”
published in the Delineator; “Mignon’s Song,”
translated from Goethe; “War,” now in the hands
of a Northern magazine, and “Jennie May,” pub
lished originally in Will Carleton’s.
It may be of interest to state that the blind boy
writer of Mississippi is, like Helen Keller, a swift
and accurate typewriter and does not need to de
pend on others to prepare his manuscripts. He is
also a telegraph operator.
This sketch would be neither complete nor just
without the statement that Mr. Guyton owes much
of his splendid attainment to the loved ones in his
home. His father has spared no reasonable expense
or sacrifice to give opportunity to the blind boy;
and Ins mother and his younger sister, Miss Pearl,
have been ever ready to sacrifice their own time and
pleasure for the greater pleasure of reading to
“Davy” and helping him in his studies. Then there
Avere the two younger brothers with their never fail
ing kindness; and even the negro house boy, George,
Avho learned to read and loved to read to “Mr.
Davy”; and by whose help, Prof. Guyton tells me,
he made his last study of Keats and of ancient his
tory—another example of the relation between the
good Southern negro and the intelligent Southern
white family, Avhich some people north of the line
ought to understand better.
We of the South look to the day—we see its
dawning now—when from the hills and valleys that
AA r e love, will come the heart songs tender, vibrant
and strong of her people.
Foremost among those who give us utterance avc
believe will be the subject of this sketch.
A. H. Ellett.
“Not all Avho seem to fail have failed indeed;
Not all who fail have therefore worked in vain;
For all our acts to many issues lead,
And out of earnest purpose, pure and plain,
Enforced hy honest toil of hand or brain,
The Lord will fashion in His own good time
Such ends as to His wisdom fltlicst chime
With His vast love’s eternal harmonies.”
Sclucted.
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