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THE GEORGIA INDUSTRIAL HOME.
‘"Faith in God and Humanity.'"
By S. T. DALSHEIMER.
HILANTHROPIST and philosopher,
moralist and materialist, poet and po
tentate must have at least one com
mon ground whereon they may meet
in equity of thought and feeling, and
in viewing actual results of the effort
agree that the effort itself was well
directed and the need for it clearly
defined. Facts appeal alike to all
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classes of thinkers, and so many and so vigorous
are the facts connected with the great work be
ing done for the children of the state in the Geor
gia Industrial Home at Macon, Ga., that we are
tempted to give a bare unvarnished statement of
conditions as we know them to exist, believing
that they will appeal more potently to each mind
than if we were to surround the telling with every
available grace of rhetorical expression. It is a
temptation, too, to resist ethical comment on the
work accomplished by an institution founded whol
ly and solely on a basis of divine conviction and by
a man so uplifted * above the bounds of ordinary
human difficulties that he literally soared above
their reach.
The Beginning of the Work.
Some eight years ago, Rev. W. E. Mumford, of
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REV. J. R. GUNN.
Macon, rose in his pulpit one memorable morning
and revealed to his listening congregation a picture
of the work to which he felt himself strongly
called, and so eloquently did he tell his story
that his hearers felt the tide of the speaker’s
wonderful enthusiasm engulf themselves as well.
Mr. Mumford was a man of family, a min
ister of prominence, and yet his great heart
heard a human cry which seemed to call him from
the appointed ranks of his chosen work, and to
urge him into new and untried fields. This cry
was the voiceless appeal of the destitute children
of the state who. by reason of unfortunate birth
and surroundings, were far worse off than natural
orphans, and yet for whom there was provided
no sheltering roof, no wise guidance and no pos
sible escape from criminal careers unless some brave
man found away.
His own life having been a hard one, and his
childhood deprived of all that makes youth lovely,
Mr. Mumford could but listen when the sacred
call came. His struggle with worldly considera
tions was short, and soon he had severed his offi
cial connection with the church of his choice and
without money and with only one small frame cot
tage and two hundred acres of land, he began to
care for three destitute children, hoping, pray
ing and believing that the way for more would be
provided, and the great work would be at least
begun.
The Golden Age for December 20, 1000.
The Work Today.
Todaj one hundred and fifty homeless children
are being cared for and trained into paths of use
fulness; property has been slowly gathered which
represents a capital of $30,000, and the current
expenses of the institution average SI,OOO each
month. •‘And how is this accomplished?” one
will ask. The answer is, because the founder and
his followers have lived close to the Spirit which
prompted the work at the beginning—.because
“Faith in God and Humanity” has been justified
and the “way” which seemed so hard and dark
and beset with untold dangers and difficulties has,
at last, been cleared, and the path of the future
seems to be clearly revealed.
Class of Children Helped.
It will readily be seen that there is, necessarily,
a large class of helpless children who, because of
crime alone, are destined from birth to a condition
far worse than that of ordinary orphanage. This
class cannot, in the nature of things, be cared
for by the denominational orphanages which are
designed for the care of children without living
parents, and whose inmates are confined to those
of the different denominations. Each city and
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county has more than one of such institutions,
each one could testify to the number of applicants
each year which it is impossible to accept because
they do not come under the specified conditions
of the institution. The Georgia Industrial Home
is designed to meet the needs of this very class,
and the recognition of this urgent need constituted
the call which Air. Mumford heard, and the an
swer to which is shown in the wonderful insti
tution under consideration.
Its Striking Features.
As has been said, the class of children cared for
in this home is helpless and homeless, and without
some strong influence for good they would, in all
probability, grow up a menace to the state and so
ciety. They are given here 1 ‘ religious, moral and
industrial training, which prepares them for useful
citizenship.” Both boys and girls are taken, be
tween the ages of four and fourteen years, and their
young lives are guided and directed until maturity.
At present it is impossible to provide for infants,
although one or two have been accepted when the
appeal has been too urgent to refuse.
While being a non-sectarian institution, it is
highly Christian, and the moral training is one of
its most distinctive characteristics. It is, also,
non-sectknal, children being accepted from any
county - c the state. The only requisites for admis
sion are the applicant’s need; a need which, in
TUE “11GME" OE THE BABIES.
most instances, is amply testified to by a mere
statement of the conditions surrounding the small
outcasts of society who seem almost pre-ordained
to the fullest heritage of suffering.
Personality of the Children.
The visitor to this unique and unusual institu
tion is, perhaps, first of all, impressed with the
personality of the small inmates. Unlike most or
phanages, here it has been possible to preserve a
certain individuality in the children themselves,
and the fact that each one is encouraged to devel
op any special talent or bent, or even inclination
which he or she may have, is, in a large measure,
responsible for this. Then, too, the location of
the home among the picturesque and salubrious
hills of middle Georgia, affords an opportunity for
a wholesome system of outdoor life, which tends
to the amplest physical development as well as
to a certain broadening of mind and soul which
only contact with Mother Nature can ever truly
give.
Again, the dormitory system is so divided that
the children of different ages are together, and
each one serves as a sort of educational stimulus
to the other, and the pride shown in the different
dwelling houses has in it a pathetic touch of the
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home-spirit, which is so often completely lost in
an ordinary orphanage where the institutional
feature is the mainspring of the life.
Training of the Boys.
Necessarily the children cared for here must
take rank as workers in the world, and that, too,
at the very earliest possible moment. No attempt,
however, is made to place either boys or girls in
positions of outside employment until the age of
eighteen, but pending that age, the most careful
industrial training is given them in addition to
a graded school course, which corresponds to that
in use in the public grammar schools of the state.
In addition, the work for the boys is directed to
ward productive (training and every branch of
farm work is taught with the thoroughness which
can only be derived from actual practical elfort.
The broad and fertile acres which now surround
the home form an ideal field for this kind of in
struction, and it is designed to give a thorough
agricultural training, both from a practical and
theoretical point of view. The farm supplies both
good and bad lands so that it is possible to teach
fertilization and reclaiming of bad lands which
is a valuable adjunct to the ordinary farming
knowledge. Everything for use in the home is
produced on the farm and there is even some cot
ton raised in order that it may be studied.
Canning of fruits and vegetables is also taught
REV. W. E. MUMFORD
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