Piedmont High School - Summit Yearbook (Lawndale, NC)

Page 12 text:

8 Piedmont High School presented the needs of the School to the audience, and asked for five thousand dollars to pay off the exisitng in¬ debtedness, to paint the buildings and to install water¬ works. A wave of enthusiasm, such as is seldom seen when the people are asked for money, passed over the audience. Wealthy men, boys and girls working their way through school, women and children, all caught the spirit of the hour. More than six thousand dollars was raised. The thanks of the school are due to the friends of the institution whose loyalty and liberality have made is possible for us to take another step forward in the march of progress. Piedmont is not dead. Piedmont is no longer in its infancy. PIEDMONT IS NOT AN EXPERI¬ MENT. From small beginnings, through toil and sac¬ rifice, it has ripened in efficiency till it is now generally recognized as one of the strongest preparatory schools in the State. It has eighteen years of steady growth be¬ hind it, a large patronage and many friends in the pres¬ ent, and glorious possibilities for the future. Our water cannot be surpassed. At a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the school buildings is a fine, large spring of pure, sparkling water, affording more than twelve gallons per minute. This water is piped to us by means of an electric pump. A tank of fifteen thousand gallons capacity, standing on a steel tower more than fifty feet high, gives us the best means of fighting fire. With this and with electric lights, with no danger of exploding lamps nor deadly fumes of gas in our dor¬ mitories, with buildings of only two stories in front, we feel that we have less to fear from fire than ever before. At a distance of not more than four hundred yards from the school are springs of health-giving sulphur- lithia and chalybeate water.

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Lawndaix, North Carotin a 7 disaster. In all there are six buildings on our campus. The main building, Schenck Hall, contains four well lighted and well ventilated recitation rooms, a dining¬ room, thirty-three by seventy, a kitchen with many con¬ veniences, an office and rooms for the Principal and his family. The whole of the upper story of this building is used as a dormitory for girls. The next is a stately building containing the department of Music, the business school, the primary department and an auditorium fitted with raised seats and modern stage scenery. Its seating capacity is about nine hundred. The Waters’ Library building was completed at the beginning of the last ses¬ sion. This building, by the bequest of Miss Nancy Waters, was erected in memory of her brother, Capt. A. G. Waters, who was a brave Confederate soldier killed in the battle of Gains Mill, near Richmond, Va., June 27, 1862. The legacy was not sufficient for the building de¬ sired but the deficit was made up by Major H. F. Schenck and Mr. John F. Schenck. The building, thirty by thirty- six, two stories, built of pressed brick, the smallest but the finest of our buildings, adorns the crest of the hill. It is a fit monument for one who gave life for native land —more appropriate by far than glistering marble or lofty granite. On the evening of February the fifteenth, 1913, when the majority of the boys were attending church in Lawn¬ dale, fire broke out in Newton Hall, and in spite of the water-works and heroic efforts on the part of those pres¬ ent the building could not be saved as it was too far gone when discovered. There was some insurance and the hall was duplicated by the opening of the next ses¬ sion. May the seventeenth, 1911, the last day of commence¬ ment, after an inspiring address by Hon. T. W. Bickett, Major H. F. Schenck, President of the Board of Trustees,

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Lawndai,!;, North Carolina 9 Situated on the top of a majestic hill sloping in every direction, thus giving perfect natural drainage; command¬ ing a magnificent view of hills, vales, grassy, undulating plains, and of the Blue Ridge in the distance; shaded by a forest of stately oaks ; enlivened by the music of rippling water; with excellent drinking water and air free from the taint of malaria, nature has made this an ideal spot for an educational institution of a high order. But what has man done towards perfecting it? He has given us daily communication with all the world by telephone and telegraph, a railroad within a mile of the school, electric lights, water-works, dormitories adequately furnished, large recitation rooms fitted with patent desks of the most approved pattern, and last, but not least, by his efforts as instruments in God’s hands we are unpolluted by bar-rooms, gambling dens and other moral dangers of town and city life, which too often blight the lives of boys from Christian homes and blast the hopes of their dearest friends. We are nearly one-half mile from Lawn¬ dale ; thus we have the advantage of the village with the perfect quiet of rural life so necessary to sustained men¬ tal effort. Sunday Schools and Churches Two flourishing Sunday Schools are within easy reach of us. The Baptists have regular appointments for preaching at New Bethel and Lawndale. The Methodists hold regular services at the latter place. The Presby¬ terians also hold services at Lawndale, but at irreguiai intervals. These churches are only a good walk from the school. All students are required to attend at least one of these churches. Students are required to attend daily roll-call which consists of singing, reading the Scriptures, and of prayer. At these services occasional short talks will be made by the Principal and others, for