Darling Range (Australia) School by H. R. Martin

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Apr 1, 1909

Darling Range (Australia) School

By H. R. Martin

THIS estate comprises one hundred acres of hill and valley land, and was donated to this conference for school purposes by Brother Ashcroft. We have five acres of land cleared, and planted with oranges and peaches. There is still about twenty acres of good land that can be used for fruit and vegetable growing when we get it cleared. We are planning to run the school as free from debt as possible. I was given a pound to start with, to buy a few tools, to get the orchard in better shape, and was told that I would have to make the place self-supporting from the start. The Lord helped us; and we helped ourselves by chopping wood, raising vegetables, etc., and after the first year had a credit balance of £54, which grew to £81 the next six months, and I am anticipating that when I get out the balance sheet up to Dec. 31, 1908, it will reach £200.

I have had to let the books go, as we are busy building a wing of twenty rooms, each thirteen by eleven feet, in order to accommodate the students for next year. I have only farm boys to help me, but the building is growing nicely. The Lord has indeed blessed in the work here in many ways, and we expect to open on February 3 with a school of forty students, ranging in age from sixteen to forty years.

H. R. MARTIN.