224 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
unlettered mountain girl as a teacher in favor of the 
one whiu can show a normal school certificate, there 
being three normal schools in the mountains, as well 
as normal departments in other mountain institu- 
tions. The school-houses are being rebuilt, and even 
now tk'. last log school-hoiio^^ 'nay have closed its 
doors forever on the yoatii of the North Carolina 
mountains. 
Ten yearj ago statfetics of illiteracy in these 
mountains were almost startling. It was calculated 
that there was a school attendance of only about 
one third of the children of school age, while the 
condition of the buildings, the quality of the teach- 
ing, and the length of the school year in the country 
districts were such as to leave those who attended 
school little better instructed than those who did not. 
Since that time much has been done to wake up 
the people to the value of education, as well as in 
providing means to such an end, but necessarily 
there yet remains a large army of mountain people 
who can neither read nor write. 
The older educational institutions are of course in 
or near Asheville, and these have steadily bettered 
their equipment with the passing of time. Now all 
through the mountains one finds the established vil- 
lage schools increasing in efficiency and new schools 
being started. Among the educational institutions 
none give better promise than the industrial schools 
that have sprung up here and there within recent 
years. Thf hurches are now as a rule putting forth 
their most eamest efforts in this direction, wisely 
