hese things true, the one-room
log cabin can not survive, and is rapidly giving way to houses having
three, four, and, in some places, six and seven rooms.

After having been here at Snow Hill for a few years, we felt that while
we were helping the children in the class-room, something should be done
to help the parents; so we organized what we call the Snow Hill Negro
Conference, on January 13, 1897. This conference is modeled after the
famous Tuskegee Negro Conferences, and meets once a year. At this
conference the farmers from this and the adjoining counties come
together. There were 500 at our last conference. The school is almost
wholly given up to farmers on Conference day. Here we listen to
educational, religious, moral, and financial reports from many sections.
Those who have succeeded, tell the others how they have done so, and
those who have not succeeded tell how they are trying to succeed. From
these annual meetings the farmers get new ideas, new information, and
take fresh courage; they return to their farms more determined to
succeed than ever before. When we commenced these meetings the reports
were discouraging, and from many sections the condition of the race
thereabout seemed hopeless. Many said that in the same section they
could not buy land at any price. There were only twenty acres of land
reported at the first conference. At the last one, reports showed that
the people had purchased more than four thousand acres since the
beginning of these conferences seven years ago. At our first meeting the
reports showed that the one-room log-cabin home was the rule; at our
last meeting it had become the exception. These conferences have tried
all along to induce the people to raise more of their own food-supplies.
We also waged a ceaseless war upon the one-room log-cabin home, which
has resulted in almost annihilating them. This war shall never cease
until there is not a one-room log cabin left in all this section. The
one-room log cabin is a pestilent menace to decent living.

Following the farmers' conference, we have the workers' conference
during vacation. This conference is chiefly composed of teachers and
preachers, and represents an idea got from Tuskegee. In this conference
we get a clear idea of what the teachers and preachers are doing, the
methods they are pursuing, and the results being achieved. The teachers
are encouraged to make education less theoretical and more practical;
the preachers are