Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1868-01-29
BUILDINGS.

suitable buildings in which to educate
their children. The idea so long pre-
Valent, that any shed or covering, how
ever shabby or inconvenient, is good en-
ough for school house has had its day,
and is rapidly passing from the memo: y
of man. The school buildings erected
the past year, are real ornaments and
sources of pride to the people of the dis
tricts in which they are situated While
the comfort and convenience of the schol-
ars have been subserved, SO a greater de-
gree of advancement has been secured in
proportion to the increase facilities afford
ed by these new erections. The advan-
tages Immediately resulting from these
substantial erections, UNNECESSARILY over
balance the expenditures consequent up
on their e: ection. And while many dis
tricts readily receive and favorably act
upon this doc trine, yet there are num-
Der lamentably deficient in this particul-
ar. Indeed there are few school hous es
in the county, 80 miserably deficient in
| the first comforts of a honse, that it is a
question, whether it would not be better
for the scholars, especially their physical
health and development, were they RACED
to the ground. If parents only knew
what disastrous results are entailed upon
their dear ones by these cold bleak, I'm
comfortable school houses, they would at
once see to it, that their children are
provided with a proper shelter from the
cold storms during the six hours every
day they are required to attend school.
A school house in such dilapidated con-
dition that the wind is whistling through
the doors and windows and up through
the floors, is the vineyard y here are
sown the seed Of the worst deadly dis
eases. Why is it, that long cold winter
term, the tender child brings home that
flushed cheek and deep hacking cough SO
much dreaded by the parents Simply
because Of exposures in a room which
would go far toward destroying the con
stitution even of the stalwart adult
May We not reasonably ask the co-or-
GRAFTON of all in the endeavor to remove
the few school houses of this kind rema n
ing in the county, and to replace them
with erections at once com Portable to the
scholars and well adopted to, the accom-
plishment of the ends desired t
FURNITURE. ca
@ While better style of building has
been demanded soa proportionately greater
degree of comfort and utility has been
secured in the internal arrangements.
Not content with the rough board
benches upon which many of the men of
to-day were educated, you will find in
many of the school houses of the county,
furniture Of the latest and most approved
patterns. But while this is true, We
must not forget, that there are some
school houses in the county absolutely
destitute Of school furniture. Aud this
! is owing almost entirely to the lack of
interest that the people ofthese destitute
districts have in their schools. tits there
fore our duty to use every effort to create
such sentiment in these districts as will
place them on level with the more fav-
ored districts of the county 'aj 81 ~
TEXT BOOKS. ,..se
Experience has shown, that next to a
worthless teacher, there is nothing more
detrimental to the advancement OF school
than diversity Of text books [ have there
fore endeayored during the past two3years
to secure a uniformity Of text books in
the schools of the county, and my efforts
/ to this end have been crowned with q
reasonable degree of success. 1t has not
been deemed of so much Importance that
every school in the county school be pro-
vided with the same text books, as that
each scholar in a particular school should
be furnished with the same books as the
other scholars in that school, thus OBJ
tanning an uniformity in each school. In
regard to the different series Of text books
now before the public no one series has