One of our missionaries writes: “A man who has a family of ten children, and next to no school privileges, came fifteen miles with a daughter of sixteen years to see me about getting three children into school. A good man, and deeply interested to educate his family. But I had to turn him away for lack of room. Such instances are constantly occurring. The only way the young people on these mountains who live remote from school can be educated is to hire rooms and board themselves.” There is a plea in these words for the erection of dormitories to accommodate needy and worthy students. Such dormitories would not cost much, perhaps not over $500 each. But the current funds must be used for our current work. Gladly would we tell our missionary to put up a few dormitories and let these pleading ones be cared for. But we have no money to appropriate. Can any of the readers of the MISSIONARY help us out? Only we must raise the caution, that the help given at this point should not be allowed to interfere with gifts to our general work. * * * * * SECRETARY BEARD has taken hold of the Southern Department of our work with a great deal of earnestness. He has just returned from a somewhat extended apostolic visitation of our churches and schools. Many of our readers will remember Dr. Beard’s enthusiasm and zeal for French evangelization, but he stands ready to confess that the necessities underlying the work of the American Missionary Association far exceed any that he has ever felt for mission work before. We knew it would be so. It is simply impossible to convey a full idea of the far-reaching needs and to set forth the imperative claims of the great work in which the A. M. A. is engaged. * * * * * The friends of the Indians have watched with much solicitude the action of the recent Congress on the numerous bills before it relating to Indian affairs. It is a matter of great rejoicing that the most important of these, the General Allotment Act, has passed. This allows the Indians to take their lands individually by allotments and patents, and makes the allottees citizens of the United States. This bill is far-reaching, and covers in a measure the objects aimed at by some of the others which failed. Among these last is the Sioux bill, which proposes to divide up and dispose of parts of the Sioux reservation in Dakota. In another column will be found an excellent article, by Rev. A. L. Riggs, showing the loss, and yet the incidental benefits, that may arise from the failure of this bill. We will only add, that some of the provisions of the Sioux bill can indirectly and after some delay be carried out under the General Allotment Act.