In rendering to you an account of our stewardship for the past year, we are first reminded of our sincere gratitude to Almighty God for having directed and led us into paths of peace and pleasantness, and for having provided the Home with health, strength, food, raiment, and a most glorious and unprecedented yield of all the crops planted by our hands, and for the spiritual, submissive, and industrial turn of mind in the children committed to our parental care.

Although the management of the orphanage changed hands on the first of this year and to us everything was new, and notwithstanding the severe and embarrassing panic and floods, which have caused unusual hard times among the people, subjecting us to hardships and responsibilities of almost two years in one, especially is this true when we take into consideration the advanced prices in provisions, clothing, fuel, farming utensils, and building material, this has been to us a prosperous year. Friends in every section of the Commonwealth have responded most nobly to the assistance of the orphans and thereby lifted the bowed heads of suffering humanity, comforted the unfortunate, the penniless, and the poor.

Boys Girls Total Number of children January 1, 1908 40 65 105 Number admitted during the year 16 27 43 Whole number in charge 56 92 148 Become selfsupporting 2 2 4 Remaining October 31, 1908 54 90 144

As a stimulus and encouragement to the larger boys who may be adapted to trades, as well as for convenience and financial profit to the orphanage, we have made the following additions along the industrial lines: Blacksmithand wood-working shop 30x20 erected and in operation since March 1st, 1908 and are succeeding beyond expectation, shoeing horses, mending and repairing in a general way, all kinds of vehicles for the public as well as for the home. These shops are under the management of Lawrence Young, an experienced and competent mechanic who has a class of five apt boys who are learning the trades with great satisfaction.

Also shoe and harness shop 16x20 erected and in operation since May 1st, 1908. This shop makes and repairs all kinds of harness and shoes. Like the other shops it has been busy the entire year, under the management of A. R. Allen who is also experienced and competent and a most valuable assistant in many ways to the home. He has six boys in the shop who are making remarkable progress in the shoe and harness trades. Some of the class can do good work now. These shops seem to have aroused the public to the extent of a liberal patronage.

The outlook being good for more than an average yield from a diversified farm, such as wheat, oats, stock peas, corn, peanuts, potatoes, syrup, white potatoes and a large crop of different kinds of turnips for the winter for the children and for the stock, we realized the importance of erecting, at once, a granary with sufficient capacity to handle and store these several products, and around which build large and substantial sheds under which to store and shelter all wagons, carts, farming utensils and machinery belonging to the premises, so immediately after our Anniversary, July 29,1908, with scanty funds but with hearty determination, prompted by an irresistible demand, we undertook the erection of this much needed house and by the time the crop was ready for harvesting, the three story 40x40 granary was ready for use. This house is built of good material, each of the floors of first class dressed, tongue and grooved plank. The doors are modern farm style, with heavy slides. The building has ventilators on back and sides to each story and glass windows in each on front, giving sufficient light and ventilation with doors closed.

On account of the large number of little children in infant department, as well as the inconvenience and hardship of getting them to and from the main school building, and for fear of endangering their health during the winter months by going out to attend classes, we thought wise and best to build a school room in connection with department of fifty-eight infants. Thus a school room 20x14 has been built on the north side of the said infant department. A special teacher for them is employed and the school is running to great advantage.

It was found necessary to make small but very needy repairs to the boys building on the first and second floors.

With little expense a small out house was changed into a convenient and much needed milk dairy.

We found it necessary to have a wall of partition built in the hospital, making separate wards, this would have been absolutely necessary before the building could have been used for the purpose it was intended, also it makes it convenient for residential purposes, since the insurance laws require that houses insured must be inhabited by some person. It is also necessary to prevent natural decay of the property, since we have had no sickness in the Home, so far, to require use of it otherwise.

During the month of February we bought for $50.00 two good milk cows additional, and during the spring two more equally as fine were given the Home by Mr. Rufus King, of High Point, N. C. Thus the Asylum was blessed with milk and butter in abundance during the summer and even now.

The health of the Home has been wonderfully good, comparatively speaking there has been no sickness among the children. One of the girls who came to the Orphanage with consumption died of the disease on May 24th. Also a small boy who entered the Home with dropsy died with same, aided, I think, by the kick of one of our horses which the boy was trying to bridle in the stables here. Other than these cases we have been greatly blessed and have cause to rejoice and praise the Father of the Fatherless, especially so when we are reminded of the most wonderful escape of the Home from the attacks of the typhoid and scarlet fevers which so annoyingly infested every nook and corner oi our healthy city, the scarlet fever even invading our “sister home,” the white orphanage here.

Industrial training, in a diversified way as near as possible, is one of the chief mottoes of the Asylum. Our farm began with the setting of 10,000 cabbage plants by the children in the month of February, the yield of which was remarkable; also an early garden was planted with the same results.

On account of the poor and broken condition of our farm lands we were compelled to plant a large acreage of different products to obtain anything like satisfactory results.

The harvesting of the different crops now in progress and the yield is about as follows: 100 barrels of corn, 200 bushels stock peas, 400 bushels sweet potatoes, 100 bushels white potatoes, 200 bushels pea nuts, 100 bushels onions, 58 bushels wheat, 65 stacks of forage, 300 gallons syrup, a large crop of different kinds of turnips for the winter.

To successfully handle these lands we were compelled to add to our list of farming utensils the following tools: 1 double iron tooth harrow, 1 weeder, 1 pea nut planter, 5 one horse turning plows, 5 cultivators, 1 clover sower, 30 weeding hoes, 2 spades and 4 shovels.

We found it necessary to do a great deal of ditching, most of which was done by our boys.

There are two important demands which draw very heavily upon the small amounts of income for the support of the Orphanage, which we hope the Board of Directors will see fit to obviate in the near future. While the Home owns 200 acres of land, there is not a cord of available fire wood upon the whole farm, and one of the most expensive and important necessities of the Orphanage, the year around, is fire wood. It is impossible to get along with less than eighteen stoves during winter months and four during summer, for cooking and laundry purposes. In order to get anything like a profitable and satisfactory yield upon our farm lands we have been compelled to buy several tons of guano, which could and would have been avoided this year if the institution owned a few acres of wooded land from which we might have gotten straw or leaves to litter our cow pens and stables and hog pens, from which we could have raised hundreds of wagon loads of compost from the large number of horses, cows, and hogs which of actual necessity we are compelled to have on the farm and in the Home.

Therefore, we most respectfully recommend that the Board of Directors purchase a certain tract of 26 acres of heavily wooded land situated about two and one-half miles east of the Home at the cost of $500.00 The place has at least $600.00 or $700.00 worth of fire wood on it, which also constitutes a splendid meadow of five or six acres from which we can harvest thousands of pounds of forage every year.

We desire to remind you and to keep before the public the following real needs of the Home, viz: New dormitories for both boys and girls as the buildings in which they now live are very dilapidated and dangerous, also a very great need of bed and beddings. Special mention should be made of a nice barrel of flour given by Gen. J. S. Carr.

We are delighted to mention the many boxes and barrels of clothing and confectioneries for the holidays, sent from different sections of the State, among which our white friends have been especially generous.

You and the public should know of the deep interest manifested in and great kindness extended to the orphanage here by our white merchants and business men of the city of Oxford.

COST OF NEW BUILDINGS AND REPAIRS. Blacksmith and wood-shop $ 400 00   Shoe and harness shop 200 00   Carried forward $ 600 00   Brought forward $ 600 00   Granary for farm products 1,000 00   School room for infants 200 00       $1,800 00       REPAIRS TO OLD BUILDINGS.     Hospital $ 30 00   Superintendent's residence 20 00   School room and chapel 30 00   Boys' building 10 00   Cane mill and shed 10 00   Stables 10 75   Windows to all resident buildings 15 00   Changing outhouse into milk dairy 35 00       $ 160 75       TOOLS FOR SHOPS.     Blacksmith and wood-shop $ 102 00   Shoe and harness shop 35 00       $ 137 00 Sum total   $ 2,097 75

CONDENSED STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS FROM JANUARY 1ST TO DECEMBER 1ST, 1908 State appropriation $5,000 00   Band Concert 1,009 27   Grand Lodge of Masons of North Carolina 400 85   Blacksmith and wood shop, for public 69 09   (Amount saved for the home $145.15)     Shoe and harness shop 68 17   (Amt. saved in repairing shoes and harness $159.12)     Anniversary 264 15   Wood saw 31 70       $ 6,843 23       INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS.     John T. Pullen, Raleigh $ 5 00   D. Y. Cooper, Henderson 10 00   R. F. Riggan, Littleton 2 00   Woman's State Convention of North Carolina 50 00   Baptist State Convention of North Carolina 4 00   Mutual Provident Association, Durham 33 44   Royal Knights of King David of Durham 10 00   Rev. D. W. Smith 50   Carried forward $114 94   Brought forward $ 114 94   Mrs. Morgan 1 00   Garfield Graded School, Durham 10 04   E. L. Love, Raleigh 5 00   Churches, Sunday Schools, and other sources 788 46   Hire from labor of children 30 00   Also from the farm 1,000 00       $1,949 44 Total   $8,792 67

DISBURSEMENTS FROM JANUARY 1 TO DECEMBER 1, 1908. Salaries and wages $ 2,643 00   Clothing and bedding 1,000 00   Subsistence 2,500 00   Wood and oil 700 00       $ 6,843 00 Office expenses $ 85 00   Farm, domestic, and outdoor 415 00   Express, freight, and 'phone 150 00   Ordinary repairs 75 00   New buildings 2,097 75   Repairs and sundry expenses 35 00       $2,857 75     $ 9,700 75

Our order of religious exercises is as follows:— Chapel exercises every morning.Sunday School at 11 o'clock every Sunday.Prayer meetings every Sunday and Wednesday evening.

A standing invitation is extended to the ministers of the different churches to preach to the Home any hour on the Sabbath convenient to them.

One of the most important features of the Home is the day and night schools in which three teachers are employed.

The night school is of great convenience, in that it accommodates larger children who, from necessity, have to work during the day.

We cannot give too much praise to our faithful and untiring workers, matrons and teachers. We work together in perfect peace and harmony, all striving one object to accomplish, and that the proper care and training of the children.

We, the Board of Directors of the Colored Orphan Asylum, having heard the report of the Superintendent, Hon. H. P. Cheatham, do heartily receive the same.

We note with pride the prosperous condition of every department of the Asylum and congratulate our worthy Superintendent on his successful year's work. His harness and shoe shops and blacksmith shops are all timely and needed improvements. We find in these shops, boys at work being taught trades under earnest and proficient workmen. He has built a large and well arranged granary, and has filled it from bottom to top with farm products. Our hearts were made to rejoice as we walked around the grounds and viewed the harvest. We could but exclaim, behold what God has wrought?

While our hearts are elated over the material prosperity that has come to the institution as our Superintendent must be conscious of having accomplished a marvelous work in the very short time that he has been here, we nor he must not forget that this is the Lord's doing, and at His feet with thankful hearts lay the honor and praise.

We commend the Asylum to the generous and kindhearted people everywhere as a worthy object for their charities, and the Superintendent, Hon. H. P. Cheatham, as a capable and worthy custodian of the same.

We take pleasure in saying to the Honorable Board of Internal improvement of our State, and to all who have contributed to the support of the institution, that the Superintendent has wisely spent and intelligently accounted for all the charities that have passed through his hands. We appeal to the public for a more hearty support of the Asylum. Though much has been accomplished during the year, the needs of the institution are still urgent. Children are being refused almost daily, because of the lack of room and support for them. With a sufficient increase of your gifts, in a few years we will have here an institution doing an ideal work for the State and for humanity.