Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1853-01-27
educational Department.
Model School Report,

mit:ec Of Exeter New Hampshire, should be
read BY every one who feels an interest in the
elevation Of our Common Schools, and the
promotion of Universal Education. They are
rare and precious gems.
The picture drawn by the author of the
report, of little, old, miserable child-killcr
improperly called school house is true 10
nature. Ii reminds us Of many school houses
we have zen in tb1 "Wunlefdl Jewel Of the
Wonderful West, which, indeed,as the author
remarks, are not fit in respect TO "airiness and
amplitude of dimensions" to be called first
rate geese pens 1t is true as general re-
mark, that the common school houses of our
country, arc more than century behind the
age. We have churns constructed on scien
tiIic principles with thermometers to Indicate
the proper temperature of the cream, so that
out of a given quantity Of it, the greatest pos
sible amount OF butter, and that of the best
quality, may be obtained in the shortest time
But we have no thermometers in our COM
mon school houses, TO indicate the proper
temperature Of the air to be breathed by i'm
mortal souls.--no ventators TO keep the air
pure and fit for resperation-no comfortable
and well arranged seats-no well selected Ii
braries-no apparatus, for the purpose of Illus
tration and demonstration, save the birch and
ferule.-no gymnasium for giving power to
the nerves, strength to the muscles and an
abundance of pure blood to the brain--so
that there may be obtained, in the shortest
time possible the greatest amount Of intellect
ua and moral Development, in accordance
with natures beautiful and immutabe laws,
The remarks OF the author on teachers and
tcarhing are excellent; and we would like to
comment upon them at some length, but we
II have not the time u! present to do So
ave have so often spoken in terms of high
concentrations of these Teachers, and they
are so well and SO favorably known. that it is
hardly necessary for us to attempt.
"ro throw q perfume on the violet"
The County Commissioner, who has had
ample opportunity to know whereof he az
firms, has stated publicly, that one Of these
schools is the best Primary School in the
County. The other, we may add, is like in
all its essential characteristics
1t has become pleasant fashion in these
latter days to bestow suitable testimonials Of
approval and appreciation upon those, who in
responsible positions of trust or honor, have &C.
Quilted themselves like men, 1t is no unusual
thing for Sea Captains and Clergymen, Police
Officers and Statesmen to receive from their
friends Gold Medals or Silver Pitchers, as q
reward for long continued, faithful service
Now the elder (not elderly) Miss Ellis, has
not, it is true, commanded ship, nor worn q
white cravat ON Sundays, nor carried the staff
of Marshal Turkey, nor has her eloquence
Illuminated from the Capitol, bnt she has been
a laborious and successful teacher in this town
for twenty-five years, during which time she
has probably done more than any other single
human being to give shape and direction tc
the Young minds in this community. We
beg leave to suggest, with due difference to
District No. l, that some expression oi respec
and confdence--some betting testimonial o
grateful appreciation Of unremitting labors
performed with more and more effcienc,
through quarter Of century, might not b.
, inappropriate or undigniied."
II may be further stated, that the children
few as they are in number, are yet alread
altogether TOO numerous for the little box il
;. which they are packed Such a building i
n not large enough for any human instruction
q 1t is too inconveniently small to tend one bah
+ in-too ugly in Itself and in all its appoint
ments to be looked at without danger Of stra
a bismus A good sized boy of high aims an
expansive views would feel himself 'cabinec
confined, cribbed' in it, and in his attempts /
study would find himself unconciousy bat
bling of brooks and green fields, We sha
be pardoned for suggesting, that an ediice
not unlike medium looking goose pen in all
mess and amplitude Of dimension, set up on
few cobble-stones on the edge of a rongh an
rocky road, surrounded with no play ground
and overshadowed by no tree, with no plea
ant object without or within to address II
u eye or touch the heart is not exactly Il
~ place to kinde the intellect and develop II
= moral nature of the young"
There is in fact very little in the scho
house itself or around il calculntad to "stir Il
divinity within them" We have expresse
our mind in relation to this Temple of Apoll
and the Muses. on former occasions. 1t ce
g. tainly does not look any better now than
10 did five years ago. Indeed we did not pc
T. ceive any very striking difference. Perha
nc the walls are little more brown-the be
a. a. ches little more hackneyed-,he ton. enser
Io BILE, like the character of the First Consul,
d. little more "grand, gloomy and PECULIAR
o. The stoye-funnel, it should be observed wa
n possibly in honor of our last visit, tied up, al
- securely fastened with brand new tow strn
hss The bricks which at some remote peri'
!, formed the hearth have come TO be "ke a
. = gels visits. few and far between" so that no
:, in that wild waste of the billowy floor, Il
=, solid land looms up like an island in an A
a. chipelago. Time or sombody else, has, in
'at M good degree. stripped the plaslering from t
Il ceiling. as
ed "t'rom Tartar's skull they strip the Ae'
ON Or peel fig when the fruit is fresh"
In Ii ought, perhaps, to be mentioned, L