Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1867-09-13
For the Bulletin.
HINTS To sUD.DaRECTORs.


you hold your annual meeting 70 make ar
engagements for your winter schools. Upon
the nature Of those arrangements must de-
pend very largely, the success Of your schools
let them be literally and judiciously made,
strictly and vigorously followed. Among
the many important things TO be lone II
this meeting, do not forget 10 make ample
provision for putting your school buildings
aud furniture in perfect repair. II should
be a matter Of personal interest if not Of lo>
cal pride, with every sub director 70 have
his school buildings models in every respect.
If repairs are necessary-and there are few
school buildings in this county in which they
are not-get an appropriation for that pur>
pose and then attend to the matter at once.
Do not wait till the Saturday before the win
Ter term is TO IN and then 70 to the
school house to find the door off ito hinges,
the lock broken, the plaster of in places,
desks loosened from the floor, the black,
board useless for want Of paint, the hoops
Oh the water pail, the broom used up, the
stove standing on three legs and the window
glass broken. Unless you attend to these
things no~, if they are attended to at all,
the work will be done in a hurry f; and what
is done in Q hurry Is seldom reU done. In
. somewhat careful inspection of school
buildings in this county, the writer remem,
bers having seen one, and only one wood.
house. 1t is always u, pleasant, always un>
profitable "a burn green wood, but trying TO
warm n school room, when the mercury
stands below zero, with green wood dug out
of a snow>bsnk is decidedly the greenest
Every sub>district in the CO unity, owning q
schoolhouse should have q wood-house, Gil.
ed with good, sound, dry wood before the
6rst day Of December next.
OF the whole number Of sub.dis,ricts in
in the county that have built school houses,
st least forty are destitute Of outhouses Of
any kind, while Of those already built man,
are sadly needing repairs, and a .fer are in
such a beas,ly condition that no man OF
ON on decency would allow them to stand
on his Orn premises for half an hour. A
personal inspection of such buildings, BY the
sub.iirector, followed by q little vigorous
exercise Of his authority, would not only i'm.
prove their condition but elevate the morals
Of the neighborhood. Where such buildings
are needed, let them be erected at once the
usual plea Of want of funds will not excuse
any community for neglecting so obvious .
duty. There is hardly . sub>district in the
county where a small sum could not be rails.
ed, at any time, for the spread Of Christiani.
ty among the heathen-I hope there are
mono in which . like sum could not be rails.
ed to prevent the spread Of heathenism At
home.
Is your schoolhouse lot enclosed by q good
substantial fence: If not one thousand feet
of fencing will fence it, and this is q good
time to buy lumber.
Do your children climb into and out Of
your schoolhouse door over . stick Of cord
wood for a step IA good plank platform
provided with not less than half q dozen
good door scrapers, will add vastly to the in
door comfort and neatness.
And last, but most important Of all-the
black board. No one article of school furni.
.ure is so absolutely indispensable as the
blackboard. 1t is to the teacher what the
workbench is to the carpenter, the anvil to
the blacksmith. II can, AID should be ad-
v~antageously used in all reci,ations in oil
studies.
Nearly all our school rooms are provided
with blackboards Of some kind, but. with 4
few exceptions, they are 50 very small as to.
be Of little value and many Of them are en-
tirely useless from want of paint.
The use Of states undoubtedly suggested
the use of blackboards, but their use being
similar, it does not necessarily follow that a
blackboard should be just the size and shape
of a slate, and vet l can only account for
the existence of the many little tire i, by four
things which are to be found hanging, like
picture frames, on our school room walls, on
the supposition that the difference between
a slate and . blackboard is not well under>
stood. Every school room should have q
blackboard FIVE feet wide extending entirely
across the end wall in front Of the desks.
have heard many teachers complain Of the
want Of blackboard surface, but never heard
of one who had too much Of il. The VIM
throp schoolhouse has q black. wall five by
thirty feet, and though an old fogy or two
complained that the new house had been
dressed in mourning l noticed that du>
ring the term just closcd, the teacher found
daily use for every yard Of its surface, and
none Of hisp.trons can doubt that a good,
large blackboard, in the hands Of . live
seacber is a good investment.
Blackboard paint, prepared from the fol-
lowing recipe has been found to make an
excellent surface
"For one gallon Of paint, take 10 ounces
pulverized pumice stone, s ounces pulver.
i.ed ro,ten>sione, I pound Of lampblack, and
mix them with alcohol enough to make .
thick paste. Grind the mixture thoroughly
in q paint mill, and then dissolve IL ounces
shellac in the remainder of the gallon Of al>
cohol. Stir the whole together, aud the
-. =. ~.Iu r.