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THE VIDALIA ADVANCE
VOLUME XIX
New Branch Consolidated School District Leads
March of Progress In Improving Rural Schools
P BUILDING OSED
FOII FIRST TIME 10
OCTOBER USE TEAR
■
ABOUT 200 CHILDREN AT
TEND CONSOLIDATED
SCHOOI LARGER SCHOOL
MEANS BETTER WROK IN
SCHOOL ROOM AND HIGH
GRADE TEACHERS ARH
EMPLOYED— COMMUNITY
COMING TO BE LEADER IN
COUNTY AFFAIRS
Pioneer of consolidated schools
in Toombs county the New
Branch consolidated school, com
pleted last year and ready for the
October te m of the school, has
proved a success from the start
and through better work accom
plished by the students as well as
its stimulating effect upon the
people of the community, has
more than justified the highest
hopes of those progressive citi
zens who worked for consolida
tion from the start.
Not a citizen in the two * dis
tricts which combined for the
New Branch school can be found
who would be willing to go back
to the old one-room, one teacher
school of the two small districts
and to suggest such a thing would
cause a strike among the school
pupils of the district, who in the
large, efficient school, the mod
ern, up-to-date school building
have found a new joy in their
school work.
SSOOO Os Bonds Issued
The New Branch school is a
consolidation of the districts of
New Home and Long Branch,
pari of the names of the old dis
tricts being retained in the new
name. Agitation for consolida
tion was started in the spring of
1919, and in September, 1919
trustees for the consolidated dis
trict were elected. It was at
first planned to erect the build
ing by subscriptions, but this was
given up and at an election held
in the spring of last year, SSOOO
in bonds were voted for the build
ing.
The trustees of the school are
A. P. James Walter Powell, L.
L. Clifton, S. J Rockett and J. L
Sutton. The trustees named
Messrs Waker Powell. E. L. Clif
ton, S. T: Stanley and David Lind
say as a building committee and
these gentlemen worked faithful
ly on their duties and had the
building completed and ready for
the term beginning in October
Four Large Class Rooms
The building was designed by
Miss Caroline Lane who is under
the employment of the State
Board of Education, and is one of
a number of buildings approved
by that body and embodying the
best ideas of lighting, and ar
rangement, as well as being
easilv added to to meet the future
growth of the school.
The building contains four
large class rooms necessary
facilities, and back of the class
jrpom the Targe auditorium, 40
bv 60 feet and comfortably seat
ing 500 people is situated. Mod
ern desks have been purchased
for some of the class rooms and
the trustees hope at an early date
to have these desks for every
pupil-
Able Corps Os Teachers
The trustees wee detemine' 1
from the start to secure an able
corps of teachers for the new
school and were fortunate In se
curing Prof. Plato Wade, as prin
cipal, and whose death a short
time ago proved a great loss to
the community. Prof. Wade
taught the seventh and eight
grades. Mrs. Jessie Wade the
third and fourth grades, Miss
Ruby Jordan the primary depart
ment, and Miss Bessie Ethridge
the fifth and sixth grades. The
T f
i: School Progress In Toombs County 1 >
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' ■ 1...■! "■ ■l.ll ' 111 'I ll
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! New Branch Consolidated School
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l :: MODERN IN EVERY DETAIL, CONTAINS FOUR CLASS ROOMS AND LARGE AUDITORI- ;;
;; UM. INSERT SHOWS ONE-ROOM UNPAINTED SCHOOL BUILDING DISPLACED BY ;;
J NEW BUILDING. ;;
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’ attendance has averaged about
' 175 for the past term and next
fall it is expected that the enrol 1 -
’ ment will reach /-00.
The progress of the pupils in
the larger school has been most
' satisfactory to ihe patrons and
' the work done in this school will
compare favorably with the work
i in ths grammer school grades at
either Vidalia or Lyons. The
larger school has proved a delight
to the pupils who find compensat
ion in many ways for the time
■ taken in reaching the school and
' the inconvenience that may fall
: upon those pupils that have to
come a considerable distance. A
splendid atmosphere has per me a) -
. ed the school and all the teachers
1 pay tribute to the excellent spirit
of the pupils and iheir willingness |
to work and cooperate in every
way to make the school a success.
Community Spirit
For the past year children who
■ live a considerable distance from
: the school have been transported
in Wagons, and this plan has
I worked out very successfully. As
■ the district settles up and the
■ enrollment at the schpol en
- creases, later on possibly auto
■ mobile trucks will be put into
service.
The patrons of the school have
- taken much pride in their new
school and are found eager to co
; operate in any way for the good
of the school. In the spring tin
monthly teachers institute for
Toombs county was held at thisj
I school, and the occasion develop
! ed into a schoo 1 rally for the dis
■ trieju both Superintendent You
raans and every visitor being im
pressed with the interest in thin*.s
educational displayed by the peo
ple of the districts.
That this get-together spirit is
having its effect in the district is!
shown by the recent organization I
perfected by the farmers of thei
district for thfe purpose of selling-,
i farm products cooperatively.;
: This meeting was held at the'j
school auditorium and the N-
Branch Farm Bureau was organ
ized with Mr. Roscoe Clifton as
president and W. L. Durden se
retary. At this meeting there;
was listed for sale by different!
VIDALIA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 1921
) farmers of the community over
|2OOO bushels of corn, 900 gallons
of syrup, 40 head of hogs, 400
bushels of sweet potatoes and
over a carload of fat beef cattle.
Mr. Dess Gray of Lyons, wn
named to have charge of securing
markets and makmg sales of the
farm products in carload lots.
To Increase Term
For the past year the school
has only run five months, and
the district tax levy has been held
down to | : ve mil's. The trustees
have paid good salaries and have
secured thoroughly competent
teachers, believeing this a better
way/to build up their school than
jto have a longer term with med
| iocre teachers. i‘he coming year
;it is expected that the term will
!be increased and that it will he
only a few years until the schoo 1
can he eondudted for eight
months in the year.
Land Values Affected
Since the consolidation of the
two districts and the building of
*,the school residents of the dis
trict say there has been, a notic
able increase in land values and
that farms in districts are much
sought after and bring exception
al prices. The country has built
a splendid road through the twe
districts and the New Branch
section is rapidly coming to the
front as one of tht fading ruxal
communities of the county.
CONGRESSMAN LARSEN
IM OF MIS
SPEAKS OF POSSIBILITIES OF VI
DALIA SECURING PUBLIC
| BUILDING AND DETAILS SITU
ATION IN IZTH DISTRICT
i Congressman W W. Larsen, the
i popular representative of the 12th
I congression district, who is home for
a brief rest between sessions, was
I the guest of the Vidalia Kiwanis
i Club at their regular meeting last
[Thursday evening, and made a very
Official Orcaß dtp al VM
Baptist Rally Here
Sunday April 3rd.
Representatives of every church in
the Daniell Association are expected
to attend' the rally to be held at the
city auditorium Sunday evening, be
ginning at 7:30 o’clock, in the inter
est of riie 75 Million Campaign.
Addresses will be delivered by Dr.
Scaraboro, general director of the
movement, and by Dr. Weaver, chan
cellor of the Mercer University
System. The public is cordially in
vited to attend the meeting.
Sunday afternoon at 4:30 a rally
will be held at Brewton-Parker In
stitute, at which Drs. Scarbaro and
Weaver will speak.’
Revnival Meeting Start* Sunday
Rev. J. T. B. Anderson, pastor of
the local Baptist .hurch, announces
that Sunday a series of meeting will
begin at his church to continue for
interesting address to the members.
Mr. Larsen has been invited to
speak to the club along the lne of the
possibility of this city securing a
government building and in his ad
dicss he went at ’ength into the sit
uation.
Four cities in the district had postal
reciepts which entilled them to pub
lic buildings. Mr. Larsen said, and
while no public building bill had been
passed by congress since the war i
started, congressional leaders hoped 1
to put a bill through the toning con- «
gress. Districts were considered 1
separately, and it was a comittee i
i rule that no district could secure i
more than two buildings in one bill, l
Ft. Valley, according to figures of i
' postal receipts, was entitled to first
consideration, the speaker declared, i]
,Esastman, Hawkinsville and Vidalia 1
all being entitled to public buildings
and being near the same size and
with receipts totalling about the i
same figures. However, bills for a t
public building at Hawkinsville had i
been introduced for a number of 1
years “iind ahd been uniformly pass-
ed on favorably by. the committee,
the speaker leading the impression 1
that Ft. Valley and Hawkinsville <
would first have to secure public J
possibly two weeks.. Preparatory
for the services a large number of
cottage prayer meetings have been
held at different points in the city,
these coming to a close Friday even
ing with a joint prayer meeting
the auditorium. rAISV
Rev. Anderson will do the preach
ing during the series of meetings, Mr.
Taylor, of Atlanta, will have charge
of the music during the services and
hopes to build up a choir of at least
100 voices..
Two services each day will be held,
a morning service at 9 o’clock, the
evening service at 8 o’clock.
* Sunday morning the service will be
xn the nature of a Decision Day for
the Sunday school and the pastor
will preach a special sermon to boys
and girls.
buildings before Eastman and Vida
lia could be taken care of.
Mr. Larsen’s address was enjoyed
1»y the members and was greatly ay- i
predated by the club, as it gave them (
a clear understanding of the situa
tion. 1
Ladi e « Night Tonight 1
The meeting thi.•> week marks the (
first Ladies Night the club has had 1
since its organization, with the ex- *
ception of the charter presentation (
Tjanquet, and fully 100 plates will be <
served by Manager Oinberg. Clean- i
Up week will be discussed and plans jl
made by the Kiwanians for coperat-)J
ing with the ladies in every move- t
ment leading to the beautifying of I
the city. <
/ f
POTATOES AND COWS
BEING SHIPPED FROM VIDALIA j s
c
The local market for sweet pota
toes continues good, the past week
two carloads having been bought
from local farmers at 75 cents per
bushel. Shipments will be made next t
week. 3
Cattle shipments contiue steady, t
fully 20 cars of cattle having been
shipped from this point within the [a
last two months.
NUMBER 13
JOHNSON’S CORNER
MED DIST.
10 HAVE FINE BUILDING
BUILDING WILL BE MOD
ERN IN EVERY DETAIN,
WILL CONTAIN SIX CLASS
ROOMS, LIBRARY AND
SUPERINTENDENT’S OF
FICE AS WELL AS LARGE
AUDITORIUM-SIO,OOO BOND
ISSUE VOTED BY THREE
DISTRICTS
for the erection of
the consolidated school for John
son’s Corner district will be let
at an early date and by fall the
trustees and the county school
authorities hope to have the
county’s second consolidated dis
trict in successful operation.
Johnson’s Corner district is a
consolidated district composed of
three old districts of Merriman,
Anderson and Johnson’s Corner.
Consolidated was perfected last
year, local tax voted, and a $lO,
000 bond issue for erecting the
building approved by the voters
of the three districts.
To Contain Six Class Rooms
The Johnson’s Corner school
building will be modern in every
detail and a beautiful plan, ap
proved by the State Board of Ed
ucation, has been agreed on. The
building will contain six large
•class rooms, together with supt
erintemlent’s office, 'ibrary, cloak:
rooms, and large auditorium for
chapel exercises and for com
munity gathering. Proper light
ing methods have been studied
and the building can also be easily
added to as the growth of the
community may make it neces
sary.
Other Districts Talking.
Consolidation
Other districts of the county
are talking and planning for con
solidation. The consolidation of
seven schools in the Cedar Cross
ing section was approved by the
board of education, but the busi
ness depression of the past year
cast a damper upon it, many
of the leading citizens of the dis
trict feeling that it was not the
time to vote bonds and finance
the building necessary. The re
sult was that local taxation was
defeated, but those who are work
ing for better schoofs in this sec
tion feel that as ooon as normal
times return the citizens of the
districts will take the matter up
again and vote for a bond issue
for the largest and best rural
school in the county.
In this event this is done, Ce
dar Crossing district would have*
a school with an average attend
ance of about 400 pupils, employ
ing at least 10 teachers and mak
ing it one of the best rural schools
in this section of the state.
Center Church May Consolidate
Superintendent Youmans is au
thority for the statement that
there is considerable talk of the
consolidation of the districts in
the Center Church section. These’
districts are Gilbraith, Hughes'
Chapel and Center, and a splen
did district could be maintained
in the Center Church neighbor
hood. The success of the New
Branch community in improving
their school by consolidation has
been watched closely by other
districts and it is but a question
of a short time until there
will be a least a half dozen con
solidated school district in the
county.
CHANGE OF SCHEDULE.
Effective Sunday, March 27th,.
trains >0 and 11. operated between
Vidalia and Millen, will be discon
tinued. Trains 7 and 8 will run daily
on approximately' same figures as
at present.
G. F. DICKSON, Supt.