Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

A DAY WITHOUT IT.

WONO SCHOOL SHOULD BE
THE GREAT BALL NOZZLE,

Revolution in Fire Fighting.

A Heat, Flame and Smoke Annihilator.

Simple, Effective and an Absolute Fire Conqueror.

No. 1. Ball Fire Nozzle (combination),
Spray, Straight Stream and Shut-off.
It consists of a bell-shaped nozzle, inside of which plays a
ball when operated on by water. The Ball Nozzle permits the same volume of water to flow
as that given by the straight stream and without back pressure, creating a powerful sheet of
water with power to drive smoke, quench flame and cover large areas quickly, doing little
damage. A woman or a child of ordinary strength can successfully operate the simple Ball
Nozzle and possibly be the means of saving the lives of many companions. THE BALL
DOES IT ALL. The ball remains in position against a strong opposite force. Its operation
must be seen to be believed. Send for Catalogue to the

American Ball Nozzle Company,

UNIVERSITY
PUBLISHING CO.

Ever alive to the interests of our pa
trons, and desirous of keeping in touch
with the progress of events,

THE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING CO.

837-847 BROADWAY, N. Y.

Arnold Constable &Co.

would inform its patrons that every year, SUITS & WRAPS

in addition to revision of the text, the
most recent events that occur, and dis-

coveries as they are made, are embodied

in a Supplement to their

MAURY'S GEOGRAPHIES, which will be furnished on application.

UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING CO.,

43, 45 and 47 East 10th Street, New York.
Represented by

H. T. DAWSON.
PIANO HAS NO EQUAL.
The only Strictly High Grade Piano sold at
a Moderate Price.

CASH or EASY Monthly PAYMENTS.

WAREROOMS:

97 5th Ave., cor. 17th St.

Autumn Styles.

Novelties in

COATS, CAPES,

SILK WAISTS.

Tailor-Made Suits

In all the new effects.

FUR GARMENTS.

Broadway & 19th st.

NEW YORK.

THE FUNK & WAGNALLS

O SERIES of School Music Books has ever received such unqualified endorsement by competent music critics and ex- Standard Dictionary perienced music teachers or such general official recognition as The Natural Music Readers by Messrs. Ripley and Tapper.

[blocks in formation]

Of the English Language. HIGHEST AUTHORITY: 247 Specialists and

for

500 Readers Quotations were engaged in compiling the work, which contains 301,865 vocabulary terms. 2.338 pages, and cost over $960,000.

The Journal of Education, Boston, says: "In thoroughness, completeness, accuracy, typography, style, and illustration, it challenges critici-maud commands admiration. It will make the world its debtor, and all

who write must praise it evermore."

St. James' Budget, (Weekly Edition of

St. James' Gazette), says: "It should be the pride of Literary America, as it is the admiration of Literary England."

INTRODUCTORY PRICE, $12.00 to $22.00.

January 1, 1896, prices will be advanced. SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION. Funk & Wagnalls Co., Pubs., 30 Lafayette Pl.,.

N.Y.

Caps, Belts, Swords, St. Denis Hotel, studio, 25 Madison avenue, above 4

Straps, Chevrons,

for the

AMERICAN CUARD.

Of best Material, Lowest Prices in the City.

Broadway and 11th St., NEW YORK.

EUROPEAN PLAN.

Within a radius of a few blocks from the Hotel are all the Educational publishers of the city. The American Book Company, largest Educational publishers in the

J. A. Joel & Co., world, are directly opposite the hotel.

88 Nassau st., N. Y.

SCHOOL ASSOCIATION NOTICES.

Association of Primary Principals holds its regular meeting the second Monday in each month, at the New York City College. President, Miss Josephine E. Rogers; Secretary, Miss S. E. Buck bee.

The "Emile" holds its regular meetings on the first and third Fridays of each month, at The College of the City of New York. William J. O'Shea, President; Bryan J. Reilly, Rec. Secretary.

Primary Teachers' Association. Regn'ar meetings held on the third Monday of each month, at The College of the City of New York. Mary A. Magovern, President, Mrs. J. E. Archer. Secretary.

The Teachers' Co-operative Building and Loan Association holds its regular meetings on the last Friday of each month, at No. 160 East 34th st., at 4 p. m. Joseph G. Furey, President: Magnus Gross, Jr., Secretary.

Teacher's Building and Loan Association. Regular meeting on the last Friday of each month, in Grand Central Palace, 127 East 43d st. David E. Gaddis, President: A. D. Stratton, Secretary.

Janitors' Association of the New York Public Schools will hold its regular meeting on Saturday at 4 p. m., Nov. 16th at 3rd ave. and 79th st. Samuel C. Haight, President: Frederick Meyer. Secretary.

Teachers' Association of the City of New York holds the regular meeting of its Board of Directors on the third Tuesday of each month, in the City College, at 4 p. m. Matthew J. Elgas, President; Henry M. Farrell, Secretary.

KNICKERBOCKER

TRUST CO.

234 FIFTH AVE., COR. 27TH ST.
Branch Office,

[blocks in formation]

Prices are Very Moderate. WILLIAM TAYLOR, Proprietor.

AMUSEMENTS.

Academy of Music-Fourteenth street and Irving place, at 8:00- The Sporting Duchess."

American Theatre-Forty-second street and Eighth avenue. at 8.00-"The Great Diamond Robbery."

Abbey's Theatre-Broadway and 38th st. -Francis Wilson in "The Chieftain." Bijou Theatre-Broadway, near Thirtieth street, at 815.-May Irwin in the "Widow Jones."

Broadway Theatre-Broadway and 40 h street, at 8:15-"His Excellency." Daly's Theatre-Broadway, near Thir tieth street, at 8:15-Opera Company in "Hansel and Gretel."

Eden Musee-Twenty-third street, near

Sixth avenue-Waxworks.

Empire Theatre-Fortieth street and Broadway, at 8:15-Mr. John Drew in "Christopher, Jr."

Fifth Avenue Theatre-Twenty-eighth Street, near Broadway, at 8:15.-Nat. C. Goodwin in "David Garrick" and "Lend Me Five Suillings."

Fourteenth Street Theatre-Fourteenth st. and Sixth ave., at 8-"Mavoureen." Gaiety Theatre-Broadway and Twenty ninth street, at 8:15-Burlesque. Garden Theatre.-Madison Square Garden, at 8:15.-Joseph Jefferson. Garrick Theatre-Thirty-fifth st. and Broadway, at 8:30-Modjeska in "Mrs. Betty."

Grand Opera House-Twenty-third street and Eighth avenue, at 8:00-"The Black Crook."

Harlem Opera House-One

Hundred

and Twenty-fifth street, near Seventh ave., at 8:15-"A Social Highwayman." Herald Square Theatre-Broadway and Thirty-fifth street, at 8:15-Pudd'nhead Wilson."

Hoyt's MadisonSquare Theatre-Twentyfourth street, near Broadway, at 8:30."The Gay Parisians."

Koster & Bial's Music Hall - Thirtyfourth street. bet. Broadway and Seventh avenue, at 8:15-Variety.

Lyceum Theatre-Fourth avenue, near 23d st., at 800-E. H. Sothern in "The Prisoner of Zenda."

Madison Square Garden.-Madison avenue and 26th street.-Food Exhibition, 10 A. M. till 10:30 P. M.

Palmer's Theatre-Broadway and Thirtieth street, at 8:15-Della Fox in "Fleurde-Lis."

Proctor's Pleasure Palace-Fifty-eighth street, bet. Lexington and Third aves.continuous from noon to midnightVaudeville,

Proctor's Twenty-third Street Theatre -continuous from 11:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. -Vaudeville.

Standard.-Thirty-third street and Broadway, at 8:30.-"The Capitol."

Miss Curtis's Singing Classes. Miss Emilie C. Curtis's Singing Classes for Public Teachers are held at her street, on Monday and Tue-day afternoons. The lessons include instruction in Miss Curtis's method of training children's voices from the top downward and grade work in sight singing. The teachers' own voices are cultivated, and all are enabled to sing.

Special attention is given to the speaking voice. Terms: $3.00 for 12 lessons.

DRAWING.

Summer Terms, beginning June 1st. The knowledge of the rudiments of Perspective is absolutely nece-sary to enable one to make a correct drawing of any object, in the house or out of doors. What more delightful than the ability to make a of, and how helpful such knowledge is in sketch of any thing you may see or think teaching, even in the Primary Grades.

I will impart this knowledge to any one in six lessons.

$5.00 each. Apply early and secure mornOne or two pupils together at my studio ing hours for July and August, afternoon lessons in June.

I will also enable Teachers to teach their own grades in Drawing successfully, on the same terms.

N. B.-The advantage of private lessons is obvious: The pupil secures the whole attention of the Teacher.

Address by letter or postal card,
EDWARD MILLER,

44 So. Washington Sq., City.

New York City Course in Drawing.

Fully explained and illustrated to New York City teachers in the Drawing Classes of the Metropolitan Normal Art School, in the new building of the University of the City of New York, east side of Washington Square. For circulars, address, while you think of it, the Principal,

Langdon S. Thompson,

30 l'ark st., Jersey City, N. J.

TEACHERS' LICENSES.

Candidates for examination at the Board of Education, also Normal College students coached. Experience; success; ref

erence.

MRS. ANNIE M. ATKINSON,

236 West 130th St.

FREE TO TEACHERS. Prof. Paul Bercy will give a course for beginners in French,free to teachers, every Thursday, at quarter past four, in the Institute, 39 West 42d st, New York.

"Le Français pratique" will be used. First lesson: Thursday, October 10th.

EXERCISE FOR HEALTH The Victor Pulley Weight Machine No. 5, has no equal for general physical exercise. Everybody seeking good health should have this machine at home for daily use. Price, Japan finish, $15.00. Nickel Trimmings, $18.00. Estimates and plans furnished for school gymnasiums,uniformsfor gymnasium use,also for allsports,outing and yachting. Our illustrated Catalogue, also

Union Square Theatre-Fourteenth street book, Physical Culture, free.
near Broadway. continuous performance
from noon to 10:30 P. M.-Vaudeville and
Opera.

A. G. SPALDING & BROS., 126-128-130 Nassau St., New York.

Exhaustion

Horsford's Acid Phosphate

Overworked men and wom

en, the nervous, weak and debilitated, will find in the Acid Phosphate a most agreeable, grateful and harmless stimulant, giving renewed strength and vigor to the entire system.

Dr. Edwin F. Vose, Portland, Me., says: "I have used it in my own case when suffering from nervous exhaustion, with gratifying results. I have prescribed it for many of the various forms of nervous debility, and it has never failed to do good."

[blocks in formation]
[graphic]
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed]

CAVEATS, TRADE MARKS, DESIGN PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS, etc. For information and free Handbook write to MUNN & CO., 361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. Oldest bureau for securing patents in America Every patent taken out by us is brought before the public by a notice given free of charge in the

Scientific American

Largest circulation of any scientific paper in the world. Splendidly illustrated. No intelligent man should be without it. Weekly, $3.00 & year; $1.50 six months. Address MUNN & CO PUBLISHERS, 361 Broadway, New York City.

COUNCIL STATE SUPERINTENDENTS.

The Council of State Superintendents takes place this week at Newburg, and will be the thirteenth annual meeting. The opening session is on Wednesday, and the meetings will occupy Thursday and Friday. The following is the general programme:

Wednesday-Report of Committee on Legisla. tion, Supt. Charles W. Cole, chairman.

Chapter 1031 of the Laws of New York: “An Act to Encourage and to Promote the Professional Training of Teachers." What points should professional schools emphasize in taming teach ers, as shown by the actual work of the graduates of these schools?

What Legal Examination Should be Required for Teachers of Special Subjects?

Thursday, 9.30 A. M.-Compulsory Education: A report of the Committee of the Whole, as to its practical results. How to enforce it.

Thursday, 2.30 P. M.-Temperance Legislation and Instruction; Why are educators opposed to the act entited: "An act to amend the consolidated school law providing for the study of the nature and effects of alcoholic drinks and other narcotics, in connection with physiology and by giene in the public schools."

The Necessity of a Uniform School Charter for Cities, thus avoiding a Special Act for each city. Election of Officers and Choice of Place of Next Annual Meeting.

Thursday, 8 P. M.-This Session will be held in the A-sembly Rooms of Newburgh Free Academy Study of Geography and History. Visual Education. Lecture, illustrating-Prof. A. S. Bickmore, A. M.. Ph. D.

Friday, 9:30 A. M.-Changes brought about by the new consolidated School Law. Vertical Penmanship. Should public funds be distributed to schools on the basis of the number passing official examinations.

Friday, 2:15 P. M.-An excursion to West Point. It is believed that a visit to this celebrated Military School will prove both interesting and profitable. Colonel Ernst states that it will give him pleasure to designate an officer to show the members of the Council about the Post. The Manual Training School will open at 8:30 A. M., during the session of the Council. Other topics may be added, or the programme may be otherwise modified at the discretion of the Council. Persous interested in the work and discussions of the Council are always welcome at its sessions.

The following are the officers of the Council: R. V. K. Montfort, president; A. B. Blodgett, vice-president; Emmet Belknap, secretary and treasurer.

The City Superintendents of Schools of the State of New York expected to be present are: Albany, Charles W. Cole; Amsterdam, Charles S. Davis; Auburn, Benj. B. Swow; Binghamton, M. W. Scott; Brooklyn, Wm. H. Maxwell; Buffalo, Henry P. Emerson; Cohoes, George E. Dixon; Corning, Leigh R. Hunt; Dunkirk, J. W. Babcock; Elmira, E. J. Beardsley; Gloversville, James A. Estee; Hornellsville, William R. Prentice; Hudson, J. Mace Smith; Ithaca, L. C. Foster; Jamestown, Rovillus R. Rogers; Johnstown, Wm. S. Snyder; Kingston, Charles M. Ryon; Little Falls, Thomas A. Caswell; Lockport, Emmet Belknap; Long Island City, John E. Shull; Middletown, James F. Tuthill; Mount Vernon, Chas. E. Nichols; Newburgh, R. V. K. Montfort; New York, John Jasper; Niagara Falls, N. L. Benham; Ogdensburg, Barney Whitney; Olean, Fox Hol. den; Oswego, George E. Bullis: Poughkeepsie, Edward Burgess; Rochester, Milton Noyes; Rome, W. D. Manro; Schenectady, S. B. Howe; Syracuse, A. B. Blodgett; Troy, John H. Willets; Utica, George Griffith; Watertown, William G. Williams; Yonkers, Charles E. Gorton.

The Village Superintendents of the State of New York, who will be represented, are: Albion, F. A. Greene; Batavia, John Kennedy; Canandaigua, J. C. Norris; Catskill, Edward L. Stevens; Cortland, C. V. Coon; Flushing, No. 5, John J. Chickering; Flushing, No 7, Mary L. Lyles; Geneva, Wm. H. Truesdale; Glens Falls, Sherman Williams; Hoosick Falls, H. H. Snell; Jamaica, No. 4, Wm. J. Ballard; Jamaica, No. 7 (Woodhaven P. O.), Cyrus E. Smith; Lansingburgh, Geo. F. Sawyer; Malone, Sarah L. Perry; New Rochelle, Isaac E. Young; North Tonawanda, Clinton S. Marsh; Norwich, E. W. Griflith; Nyack, Ira H

Lawton; Oneonta, W. C. Franklin; Oswego, Edwin P. Recordon; Penn Yan, Wm. J. Pelo; Plattsburgh, James G. Riggs; Port Jervis, John M. Dolph; Saratoga Springs, Thomas R. Knell; Seneca Falls, F. S. Porter; Sing Sing, J. Irving Gorton; Tonawanda, F. J. Diamond; Waterford, Alex. Falconer; White Plains, Ralph Stewart.

A GREAT FLAG RAISING. A clear and beautiful morning last Friday made the flag presentation at the handsome new Grammar School No. 10, at St. Nicholas ave, and 117th st., one of the prettiest pictures that has been associated with these patriotic occasions. The building, which was only opened last month, is now filled with pupils, having over 2,700 on register in the Grammar department, of which Dr. Ernest R. Birkins is principal, and the Primary, Miss Hester A. Roberts' department. Three months ago there was no school for this locality in a circuit of a quarter of a mile; now the building is unable to take any more children. Along the streets many of the houses were decorated with flags on this morning. Judson Kilpatrick Post, 143, G. A. R., presented, on the part of several gentlemen, a stand of five flags to the several departments. With a band of music, the veterans of the Post marched to the school, assembling first in the Primary department, where Trustee W. G. Stillings, Commissioners Goulden, Wehrum and Sweeney, Superintendent Jasper and Superintendent Snyder were among the many guests waiting to receive them. Col. De Witt C. Ward, of Morgan Post, G. A. R., made a brief speech, presenting the department two handsome flags. These were gracefully accepted by Miss Roberts.

In the Grammar department the exercises were more elaborate. Trustee Stillings presided, and the programme was directed by the Principal, Dr. Birkins, and his assistants. The Rev. Mr. Philputt read a selection from the Scriptures, and this was followed by a series of patriotic quotations from pupils. A boy in middle of the room arose and shouted, "Three cheers for the flag!" Col. Henry Bartlett, who was bugler in the Federal Army under General Sherman during the march to the sea, gave the army calls on his bugle and a salute to the colors. "Marching Through Georgia” was sung by the school, and Gen. George B. Loud delivered an address, presenting two flags similar to those given to the Primary department. Three young girls, dressed in the National colors, received the flags, and one of their number, Miss May Remington, made a pretty speech of acceptance. Speeches were made by Commissioner

Goulden and others.

After the exercises in the school the brigade of 2,700 children marched in regular order from the school and formed on the sidewalks opposite the building. By this time an audience of as many parents and friends were also gathered on the street. Colonel Henry H. Adams, of Lafayette Post, made a patriotic address in presenting the great flag that was to hang from the building; and Janitor John Lester, who was a sailor in the navy, carried the mass of bunting to the roof, and hoisted it in a compact bundle to the top of the great flag staff which towers fifty feet above the school. Then the band played the Star Spangled Banner; the Fife and Drum Corp beat a salute; Colonel Bartlett, a bugler in Sherman's Army, sounded the bugle call, when Miss Marian Sproulls, a pretty school girl in a costume of American colors, appeared as if by magic, like a perfect fect Goddess of Liberty, on a small platform beside the flag staff. As the notes of the bugle still rang upon the air, she placed one arm around the flag pole and pulled a knot of dainty white ribbon. The great flag unrolled slowly, a puff of wind caught it, stretching out its folds until they fluttered and waved above the streets to the thousand of men, women and children gathered there. The spectacle was the crowning event of the day, and the cheers of applause that went up from the throats of the spectators were ample testimony to their patriotism.

IN A ROSE GARDEN.

A hundred years from now, dear heart,
We will not care at all.

It will not matter then a whit,
The honey or the gall.

The summer days that we have known
Will all forgotten be and flown;
The garden will be overgrown
Where now the roses fall.

A hundred years from now, dear heart,
We will not mind the pain.
The throbbing crimson tide of life
Will not have left a stain.
The song we sing together, dear,
Will mean no more than means a tear
Amid a summer rain.

A hundred years from now, dear heart,
The grief will all be o'er;

The sea of care will surge in vain

Upon a careless shore.

The glasses we turn down to-day
Here at the parting of the way,
We will be wineless then as they,
And will not mind it more.

A hundred years from now, dear heart,
We'll neither know nor care
What came of all life's bitterness
Or followed love's despair.
Then fill the glasses up again,
And kiss me through the rose-leaf rain;
We'll build one castle more in Spain,
And dream one more dream there.
-John Bennett, in the Chap-Book.

MALE PRINCIPALS' ASSOCIATION. At a meeting of the Principals' Association on Saturday, the session was largely devoted to the consideration of suggestions to be made for school legislation. Dr. Edward H. Boyer, president of the association, presided. There was a good attendance, among others most of the principals from the new district. There was a general participation in the discussion, and the session extended over several hours.

The sentiment of the meeting was an approval of the administration of the central Board of Education as at present, with some provision for a representation of the school districts in that body. Not that all commissioners should be elected from special localities, but that it would be more equitable that each district should have its local representative, while the remainder and perhaps the majority of the Board, should be appointed from the city at large without reference to locality. The present jurisdiction as exercised by trustees and inspectors was approved. Most of the principals seemed in favor of a general redistricting of the city, and of a comprehensive local supervision by trustees. The meeting approved of a resolution favoring the distribution of the city into nine districts for inspectors and trustees. The resolution provided that the supervision should be equally distributed over the city, but no specific number of trustees was mentioned in it.

Other resolutions provided that the meeting favored giving power to the Board of Education to transfer teachers in excess when necessary from one portion of the city to another; that the terms of the Superintendent and his assistants should be extended; that there should be an Eligible List for principals and teachers on a basis of merit and length of service; that the Board should have power to regulate the appointment of teachers on the same basis; also to take initiation in the purchase of school sites in case of any neglect on the part of trustees. The principals expressed their disapproval of the appointment of so-called division superintendents.

These resolutions were referred to the president, Dr. Boyer, to report on at the next meeting of the Association, when they will receive final consideration.

THE BUDGET FOR '96.

The Board of Estimate and Apportionment give a hearing this, Friday, morning, at eleven o'clock. All the chairmen of the committees have been asked by President Maclay to be present.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

REDISTRICTING WILL COME. One issue has defied itself clearly in the public hearings that have taken place the past two weeks before the Committee on School System. That is the need of redistricting the city with respect to school Trustees and Inspectors. Of course this has been a recognized need for a long time past; for at least five years it has been pointed out, and its importance reiterated in these columns. That some plan for effecting such a redistricting will be adopted during the coming winter by the Legislature, appears now beyond doubt. The Twenty-fourth Ward, which has had affixed to it a territory as large as Manhattan Island, cannot continue all these schools under the direction of the trustees of that ward. They have had quite enough to supervise in the district which they formerly held, and the time of five men, which can be contributed to the city gratuitously, must necessarily be limited. The old boundaries may afford room for several. sub-divisions, and the new territory will naturally fall into nearly as many districts as there were under the Westchester supervision.

Most of the trustees in the Twelfth and Nineteenth Wards now recognize and admit the necessity of what is now inevitable.

Both the Bell Bill and the Seventy Bill, it seems, will be considered by the committee in its formulation of the new statute; and in both bills the question of redistricting has been carefully considered. Owing to the continuous changes that are taking place in the population of the city, there is little doubt but that the lines of the districts should be determined and regulated by the Board of Education. It will then be possible to extend them and to increase the number of districts when required, or to curtail them when the decrease in population in any section makes unnecessary the former number of schools.

While there was a wide variety of views presented by many of those gentlemen who appeared before the committee, and doubtless there were suggestions made by them which will be available, yet there cannot be said to have been anything particularly marked or remarkable; certainly nothing that was entirely new or important advanced. This subject of the public schools reform has been so continually threshed for the past few years that there is little new to be said upon it. It strikes us that the chief thing will be to get out of this mass of suggestions the few valuable ideas that are essential and practical, and which may be introduced gradually or with as little radical change as possible. A few still cling to the idea of a Paid Commission. Trustees Samuels, Rush and Mundorff are among these.

President Seth Low, of Columbia, expressed his sympathy with all efforts to improve the public school system. He did not think favorably of a Paid Commission, and recognized no distinct value that would accrue from it, that might not be expected from a capable body of men appointed as those are at present. His actual knowledge of the public schools was derived mainly, he said, from his experience of Brooklyn schools, while Mayor of Brooklyn, but there were no trustees in the Brooklyn system, and he could not speak from knowledge, of their value or otherwise.

Commissioner Wehrum, of the Finance Committee, has been devoting a great deal of time recently to trace out the amount of unexpended balances in the several wards of the city, which he can apply, when transferred, for the payment of those teachers whose absences were excused on account of illness during 1893. The amount required for these absences reaches a total of $16,000. Mr. Wehrum has been able, by repeated reminders, to obtain from a number of the wards the balances unexpended, which aggregate a sum of $9,000. About five other wards remain to be heard from, and the chairman of the trustees have again been asked to give the matter their attention, so that it is hoped that word will be received from them the coming week, that a report may be made by the next meeting, and the transfers obtained so that the teachers may get these long deferred amounts by Christmas day.

Mr. Rush made an emphatic and vigorous statement in support of the work and the influence of the public schools. With all the defects that could be urged against them he insisted that the value of their work far outweighed any of the evils with which the system could be charged. He spoke from the standpoint of a public

school pupil and graduate, and of one whose children to-day were studying in the various departments of the schools. The difficulty with the critics of the system, he held, whatever their pedogogical skill and wisdom, was that almost invariably they knew absolutely nothing from actual experience or observation, of the practical workings of the schools. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler said that he did not favor the division of the city into districts under division superintendents. He thought that the general control should be vested in a single superintendent, and that High Schools should be established.

Superintendent Jasper, in an interesting statement, pointed out some things that the public school system of New York has done; and he stated that so far from being behind in educational ideas and methods, or indifferent to them, the New York schools have always in the past been among the very first to adopt and to put into general practice well defined and approved methods of education. This, he pointed out, had been the case in the introduction of Manual Training in the schools, of physical instruction, and of other ideas that have occupied the educational thought of to-day. In its school buildings he believed that New York had some of the most complete in all sanitary details in the country. The teachers of the city, through their organizations, were, he said, continuous students of their profession. There were necessarily exceptions, as would be found in all great systems, but the general trend of the work of the schools was, he insisted, in no respect behind those of any city in the country. Among the recommendations that he regarded as advisable for improving evils that exist, was the readjustment of trustees' supervision, the provision of Eligible Lists from which all principals and teachers should be selected and advanced on their records of merit and service, and the establishment of High Schools.

Justice Bolte, a trustee of the Fourth Ward, gave a statement to the Committee of his experience in this office in one of the lower wards of New York, in a popu lation of poor people, and one of the most varied in point of nationality to be found in the city. He expressed his approval as a trustee of a revision of the school districts in a manner that would distribute the supervision equitably among all the schools. He was opposed emphatically to the appointment of trustees who had not a residence in the vicinity of the schools, which would enable them to become acquainted with the needs and characteristics of the population about those schools. He denied, with a vigor that called forth the applause of some of the audience present, that

[ocr errors]

trustees only regarded their position from the value of its patronage. He said that he did not think that there could be any more interesting duty for a citizen to perform or one that reflected greater honor upon him, than that of the local school officer. The question of patronage was the very last to be considered in the lower wards of the city, and that he believes would generally hold good with the trustees of New York. In the Fourth Ward the annual number of appointments of new teachers, he said, did not average one for each of the trustees. They were selected by the Board at large, usually, if possible, from those who had attended and graduated from the schools in the ward, but invariably on a record. of merit as reported by the superintendent.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

In presenting a report on the taking of a school census, as provided by the law, President Maclay made the following statement:

To the Board of Education:

As President of the Board, I'deem it my duty to present for your consideration certain facts in relation to the law providing for a biennal school ceusus, and the execution of the same in the city of New York. On October 3d the State Superintendent of Public Instruction visited this city and bad a conference at the Hall of the Board of Education with the Committee on Legislation, the President of your Board and the City Superintendent of Schools, at which conference there was present also Rev. James M. King. The requirements of the law were considered and a full discussion took place as to the best meaus of taking the census in the city of New York, it being a known fact that the Board of Education had no funds with which to employ enumerators and to purchase the supplies necessary for recording the required facts.

ment.

After the conference had ended your president and the chairman of the Committee on Legislation, Nathaniel A. Prentiss, Esq., bad an interview with Avery D. Andrews, Esq., police commissioner, and requested that the census be taken by his departHe was of the opinion that it could not be done. Believing that the taking of the census was a work that could be properly entrusted to and im posed upon the police force, I sent a communication to the president of the Board of Police Commissioners, a copy of which is appended; the reply to this communication made by President Roosevelt is also appended.

In order that there might be no possibility of failure to obtain the meaus for taking the census, I addressed a letter to the Controller of the city, a copy of which letter will be found annexed, accompanied by the reply of the Controller to the

same.

Alter the receipt of the Controller's reply, I communicated with Hon. Wm. L. Strong, Mayor, urg ing that he, as the official bead of the city, should obtain from the Board of Apportionment sufficient money to pay the expenses of the census, if any fund could be made available. The letter to his honor, the Mayor, is appended.

To enable your Board to obtain a complete understanding of the requirements of the law, I submit for your informatiou a copy of "Au act in relation to a Biennial School Ceusus." A reading of this in connection with the several letters to the officials, and the replies thereto, will make clear all that has been done by me up to the present time in my at tempts to secure full information, in accordance with law, in relation to the school population of our city.

In this communication I also submit for your information a letter from the City Superintendent to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The State Superintendent has expressed his willingness to forward, as soon as ready, sufficient census books in which to record the names of all persons coming within the limits of age set in the act, together with the additional blanks needed for the tabulation of the statistics obtained; and he has agreed to wait for payment for the same until the city shall have had an opportunity to secure the money which is needed. You will see from the reading of the law that it must be complied with, and that there can be no postponement of the census until the coming year. I believe that the sum of $35,000 will be sufficient to cover all contingencies that may possibly arise in taking the required census, and I would urge the Board to make an official request that the Board of Estimate and Apportionment place this sum in the budget for the year 1896, to cover the payment of the work that must be done at the present time.

I believe that competent enumerators could be secured who would be willing to wait for payment until the beginning of the coming year, if the Board of Estimate would guarantee that the needed sum would be appropriated. Very respectfully,

ROBERT MACLAY,

President, Board of Education. Commissioner Prentiss said that as the law was obligatory, the only thing that could be done was to go ahead as far as the Board could. He introduced the following resolutions, that were adopted:

WHEREAS. By an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed at its last session, it is required that a school census of this city shall be taken in the month of October, 1895; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Estimate and Apportionment be and it is hereby requested to place in the budget of the Board of Education for the year 1896 au appropriation of the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars for payment of the necessary expenses which may be incurred in taking the school census required by chapter 550, Laws of 1895.

WHEREAS. By the provisions of Chapter 550, Laws of 1895, it is required that a school census shall be taken in the City of New York; therefore be it

Resolved, That the City Superintendent of Schools be and he is hereby empowered and directed to cause to be taken the school census of the City of New York in accordance with the requirements of chapter 550, Laws of 1895, and in conformity with the regulatious established by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

NEW ATTENDANCE OFFICERS.

Committee on By laws presented the names of four candidates for attendance officers. They were Miss Mary C. Alger, Wm. Doane, Morris Strauss and William W. Locke.

Commissioner Meirowitz asked that the report lie Over. He said that he had examined the papers of the candidates and discovered that one of them, named Werner, stood highest, but he had been rejected for physical reasons, the committee thinking him too stout and heavy a man. He said that a physician's examination was necessary, and it should be applied also to the other candidates. Commissioner Beneville said that it was urgent to take action at once, as these agents might be required to aid in taking the census. Commissioner Hubbell thought that too much weight might propely bar out a candidate who would not be able on a 100-yards sprint to catch a truant in the short Tenth Ward blocks. The report of the committee was adopted. Mr. Locke is a member of Good Government Club E, and was Superintendent of the Vacation Schools. Mrs. Alger is the first woman who has been appointed a truant officer in the city.

NUMBERING THE NEW DISTRICT SCHOOLS. Commissioner Holt on the part of the Committee on Studies reported that the addition to the school system of the schools in the district recently annexed to the city, has made it necessary to assigu numbers to those schools. In selecting numbers for the Primary schools the committee followed the recent practice of filing in the numbers now vacant in the list of existing schools; but the same method has not been pursued in numbering the An examination of the list of Grammar schools. schools shows that the Grammar schools added to the system when the Twenty-third and Twentyfourth Wards were annexed to the city are easily found, for they were numbered from 60 to 66, both inclusive. For convenience of reference, it is recommended that the Grammar schools now added be numbered continuously, beginning with number 97. Your committee, therefore, submits for adoption the following resolution: Resolved, That the Several schools placed under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education by the recent annexation of parts of Westchester County be numbered and known as follows:

Grammar School No. 97-Union Free School No. 1, Town of Westchester: Michael Devlin, principal. Grammar School No. 98-Union Free School No. 2, Town of Westchester: William H. H. Dunn, principal.

Grammar School No. 99-Union Free School No. 3, Town of Westchester; Philip O'Ryan, principal. Grammar School No. 100-Union Free School No. 4, Town of Westchester; William H. Story, priucipal.

Grammar School No. 101-Wakefield Grammar School, Town of Westchester, Grammar depart

[blocks in formation]

The action taken by the Board of Education last January contemplates paying the janitors the full rate of compeusation allowed by the present bylaws, for the months of November and December, and for that purpose suspending the rules to November 1st, only. An inspection of the foregoing figures shows that it is impossible to pay the increased rates. I would, therefore, respectfully suggest that a resolution be presented to the Board by your committee at the next meeting, suspending the by-laws for the months of November and December and authorizing payment on the basis of the by-laws of 1891, upon which the janitors have been paid hitherto. CHARLES C. WEHRUM, Chairman Finance Committee.

GENERAL BUSINESS.

The Board approved the contract of Hardman & Peck, furnishing five pianos to Grammar schools Nos. 5 and 10. S. W. Mapes, Chas. Tarbox and S. Berrian were awarded $100 each as experts in a report on a school site. The Twelfth Ward trustees were empowered to re organize Primary schools Nos. 19 and 23. and trustees in other wards where there were children unable to attend school were empowered to have suitable buildings. The Board adopted the resolution placing Dr. J. W Cremin, principal of No. 27; Eliza R. Knapp, of the Prinary of No. 54, and Alice E. Myers, of No. 21, on the retired list. The Committee on Supplies was authorized to advertise for printing bids, and to arrange for the delivery of supplies next year.

The following reports were adopted: Committee on Nomination of Trustees, recommending the appointment of trusteess for several wards, that relating to the Eighth Ward withdrawn: discharging committee from the further consideration of the complaint relating to the licensing of a saloon near Grammar No. 55. Auditing, recommending the payment of sundry bills; recommending the readjustment of the salaries of Assistant Clerks, in the office of the Board. School Furniture, appropri ating $20 to pay bill of John Buchanan, for repairing, etc., to pianos in Grammar No. 67. Teachers, recommending the retirement of three teachers.

The resolution offered by Commissiouer Strauss, relative to the period of daily recess in all the schools under the jurisdiction of this Board, was referred to the By laws Committee, with a protest against it. Mr. Strauss said that he understood that there was much objection to the proposed increase in the noou recess. He said that he should like to get a hearing from parents, if possible. He also called attention to a statement that children were in some instances punished by being kept in the school room during recess, in violation of the by-laws.

Commissioner Hubbell gave notice that at the next meeting he snould ask to have the second Friday in May assigned as Public School Day for a public parade.

A LABORATORY IN HIS MIDST.

A woman educated, a "new" girl graduated,
He took his bride to be,

And now he is despairing, for his meals she is preparing,

On chemical formulæ.

-Philadelphia Press.

« PreviousContinue »