Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-07-11
vi Ea,,ori.I written by Geo. ". Bun.

An boLloElhN UElNNCD " z
gay, the Distinguished Poet, Writer,
and Lecturer.
from the New York Independent, Nay "a, 1885,
On my return from q lecture tour at the
West, Ihalted at Oberlin, Ohio, to keep
an appointment in that far-famed seat OF
learning. A little more than thirty years
ago this town was consecrated to Christian
culture, and The school, which commenced
with only one hundred students, soon be-
came a leading college in the land, and
its graduates were distinguished as East
ern men expanded by Western culture
and experience. An educational center
having been established with rare facili-
ties, clustering about it as particles to a
magnet, other institutions were attracted
in hat direction among the most prom
inent, and useful and famous of these was
the Union Business Institute vigorous
and prosper commercial college, founded
on the solid granite of theoretical knowl-
edge and practical common sense.
Its unprecedented success is due chiefly
to the character and competency of its
principals and professors, the healthy tone
of society, which excludes intoxicating
drinks, and cards, and billiards from the
neighborhood, and the refinement and
intelligence which follow learning when
it is tempered with virtue and piety.
The citizens of Oberlin have solved the
problem that a community can be happy
and sociable without indulging in dissipa-
ton, that industry and learning can clasp
hands, and that hearts can beat in unison
without the stimulation of excess. A
large number of the students in the liter
airy, and q considerable number in the
business school, are ladies; and the REIN
ing society of woman is far more iHtoIl-
eating and deGreT than 1giHe.
= Prof. CAlkins, u gentleman of large ex-
perienee and rare attainments, established
the Business Institute in 1859, and was
soon Joined by Prof. P. r. Spencer, whose
name is associated with the Spencerian
system of penmanship. In the fail of
1864 Prof. Chas. P. Griffin, an accom-
plished and thorough teacher, became
connected with the school, and his cleo
trio energy added not a little to its sue
cess. Since that time, the Pond brothers,
famous teachers of telegraphy, and MI.
D. A. Curtiss, Ia merchant to the manor
born" have been added to the firm.
Over four hundred students are now in
attendance, and each year witnesses an
increase of numbers, simply because its
teachers work in harmony, with their
hearts in their work. The Institute pros
pers without the allurements of false
fghts-without noisy parades-without
unfuflled promises-without the spangled
robes and sleight-ofhand which become
the Snowman and the mountebank rather
than the thoughtful, earnest, and cultiva-
ted teacher.
A four months curse of instruction in
his college, for a fee of small account, is
cheaper than a four years clerkship at
starvation salaries. The commercial
course embraces four departments bank
ing, railroading, importing, and every
other style of bookkeeping in use among
business men. At the close of each part,
the student must pass a thorough written
and verbal examination before he takes
up the next. 1 was present at one of
these examinations, and how exact, and
critical, and interesting, and instructive,
even TO business men, these examinations
are; students are not only taught how to
do things, but why they should be done;
and many of our metropolitan merchants
might take lessons there that would be
beneficial to them personally, and a great
advantage to the commercial communi-
ties within the radius of their business
relations.
Writing is one of the fine arts. Bad
writing is not q proof of talent or genius;
but a sure sign of slovenliness, or inartis-
tic skill, or look of early cultivation. Both
plain and ornamental penmanship are
now taught by W. a. and L. Z. Drake,
worthy successors of the late Professor
Spencer.
The art of Telegraphing is taught at the
Uoion Business Institute of Oberlin, with
tbs utmost care. Students are taught to
write at a rapid business rate, to receive
intelligence by sound, and make a fair
copy at the ame rate. They are made
familiar with t~elegraphing accidents, such
as breaks, crosses, grounds, &c, and the
manner of detecting and repairing them.
basfzs--
forms, and methods of checking and book
ing messages, and making out reports
and science is brought to their aid, TO
teach them the principles of conduction,
insulation, and induction, and whatever
pertains to electricity and electro-mag-
After the most painstaking and
thorough teaching, the student is subjected
to g careful and critical examination, in
presence of a competent board of ex-
aminers. This famous business institute
has the endorsement of the Rev. Charles
Finney, Doctor Morgan, and other
members of the faculty of the Oberlin
and Theological College, and
hat is a guaranty of its excellence.