p. 12 | VICKSBURG, MISS

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 19, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 12.

VICKSBURG, MISS.

We cull the following from a report of Dr. W. H. Kynett, a volunteer medical missionary among the colored people of Vicksburg, which appeared in the Medical Missionary of February:—

The city is said to contain between ten and fifteen thousand negroes, and from five to eight thousand white people. I should judge that more than half of the population is outside of the limits. The city is built on an uneven elevation from one to two hundred feet high, and on that account is considered a very healthful place. There are no wells, but cisterns and the river furnish the water supply. The colored people as a class are in a deplorably destitute condition. There are some who own their homes, and a few are well off, but these are rare exceptions. The site of the suburban or negro portion of the city is very uneven, consisting of high knobs and ridges and correspondingly deep depressions and gorges, with their steep sides dotted with little shanties not much larger than children's playhouses, which look like swallows' nests under the eaves of barns. Most of these shanties are but a poor protection against rain or cold, and many of the people are destitute of shoes and proper clothing. Women and girls often tie old coffee sacks to their feet in lieu of other foot covering. I believe we could make good use of a thousand pairs of old shoes if we had them. Old clothes, blankets, quilts, and pieces of carpeting would be a Godsend to many of these people.

A few days ago I walked out over the high places of the outskirts of the city, and it made my heart sick to look down over these destitute, poverty-stricken people. Ignorance must be bliss, for in spite of adversity they seem to be happy. There are no public or private schools that I can learn of in the outskirts of the city, and the children from these sections can not attend the city schools without paying tuition, so many of them have never been to school. I have talked with some who say they would send their children to school if they could clothe them. Everything is a little higher in price here than in the north.

Brethren White and Palmer raised up a company of about thirty Sabbath-keepers, and built a little chapel twenty by forty feet. It is wonderful what the truth has done for this little company in the way of cleaning them up and freeing them from some of their vile habits. Nearly all of the men and many of the women and girls here use tobacco in some form. This little company raised over $15 as a Christmas donation to the missionary work, and their Sabbath donations average over $1.00.

What the colored people here need is something to work at,—some way to make a living. If our northern friends would send their worn-out ingrain and Brussels carpets and carpet rags, I would have a loom or two sent down, and start a rug and carpet factory for them.

So far the work has not been hindered on account of prejudice from the whites. They seem quite friendly, but the colored churches in some instances are quite bitterly opposed to us. There are about twenty Baptist Churches here. There are also many Methodists, whose ministers are educated, and their church service quite consistent.