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ITEMS.

Everywhere the colored contestants in Civil Service examinations succeed admirably in their work.  In March just past, there was a competitive examination held in the Custom House at Newark, N.J., for clerkships.  Out of forty-three contestants, Mr. J.N.  Vandewall, a well known young colored man, stood No. 1, 96 per cent.  There was only one other colored contestant, Mr. G.W.  Harris.  He stood fifth, with an average of 86 per cent.

Mr. A.C.  Garner, our colored representative in the Chicago Theological Seminary, passed an excellent examination last week, and received praise not only from his Professors but from his student friends as well.  Out of a class of forty, he was one of seven chosen by the Professor of Elocution to represent the class in oratory at the closing exercises held last week.

During the recent illness of one of our teachers in the South, the pastor of the Church called every Sunday for volunteers as watchers during the week.  There was always a ready response from the church members.  The teacher relates that before leaving him in the morning, these watchers would almost invariably kneel down by his bedside and offer up earnest, fervent prayers for his recovery.  He was impressed with the simple faith and trust in God of these colored Christians, their belief in prayer and the contrast between them and an equal number of white brethren under the same circumstances.

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THE SOUTH.

OUR SCHOOL WORK.

PROGRESS—­OVER-CROWDING.

From Wilmington, N.C.—­Instead of sixty pupils as a year or two ago, we now have over ninety, and next year the number will be fully one hundred or more, if we have room.  The classes are very large.

From Grand View, Tenn.—­The classes are full and the accommodations inadequate.  The school numbers one hundred and eleven.  It is necessary to crowd four boys into each room of the Boys’ Hall.  Four boys are boarding themselves in a shackly log building at the foot of the hill.  Their grit is admirable.

From Tougaloo, Miss.—­Both the dormitories are crowded.  The Ladies’ Hall is supposed to accommodate seventy-five girls.  One hundred and six are crowded into it to-day.  We have turned away nearly one hundred more because we had not room for them.  Every indication is that the crowd of applicants will be greater next year than ever.  Already applications are coming in.  The American Missionary Association has the lead in Mississippi to-day.

From Marion, Ala.—­We need another grade established.  Our primary has numbered nearly or quite one hundred pupils.  The average attendance has been large and the school-room over-crowded.  Three grades are now virtually working in the primary department.  We may look for a large increase of attendance in all grades next year.