The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-11-26

Ok soH00L HOUSES.

Oar sEl,s. ....-- ....y '... divided in
To- lilr-r els, ~---....s. Ia-Gium. and
poor Tho~a 5sioaz.a.to 70 tie first elias.
Lov. been bgiituot - much with regard
10 eXpeu>,. IS 70 the wants of the school.
SOM Of these iir>t-class houses have
been baiit atacomparatively small cost.
II i not necessary 10 a house of thi,
Kind that il be erected at an extrava.
CANT outlay Of money. Adaptation to
the purposr for which it j. built should
be the guiding principle, and il the wants
Of the school can be properly provided
for az ia reasonable f.ure. il is certainly
better ia u 10 rush into extravaganza.
The locality in which the house Is built
very frequently wiiI determine the char
! acter Of the structure
Ia some OF our rural districts good
school houses are met witn-houses Of
the proper capacity, well built, neatly
! painted, furnished with suitable desks
and settees, black boards, maps, etc,
! properly heated and ventilated, audzwiih
sufficient playground enclosed and i'm
| proved ia a crediiable manner Such
condition of things can be had in some
localities for perhaps a thousand dollars,
and II is an evidence Of the friendlineSS
with which, oar free school system is re
garded, that We have common school
houses that have cost fifteen, twenty,
thirty. and even one hundred thousand
dollars First-class houses, whether in
city or country, are an exception, and not
the rule.
Medium school houses are more nu-
merous. These are comparatively com
Portable. but not furnished with many
OF the appliances to successful teaching.
They are generally not well ventilated;
sometimes not well seated; the school
grounds are sometimes not enclosed, or
properly improved. Perhaps schoolhous
es of this class are the rule, while good
and poor houses are the exceptions
Still, poor school houses are by far too
numerous. Many are the relics of other
times; fossils that. like the ichthyic re-
mains which Hugh Miller loved to de-
scribe, speak of ages past. Some of these
are tine log structures that mark the
transition era from the state of nature
to a condition of civilization, AMI as such,
are doubtless invested with peculiar
interest for those who revel IN the records
OF our early history. The little log school
house, with windows eight by ten, stand
ing, as it generally does, Oh some tract
50 utterly barren, rocky and useless, that
neither the hand of prcgreas, nor ofava-
rice, has been stretched forth 30 modest
its
Ancient, solitary reign,
may serve admirably well to remind the
rural Uoukbains OF the days of block
houses and Indian warfare; but it GER
tainfy does not reflect much credit upon
the present generation to retain and use
it fGF the purposes Of II school house
Not only these primitive log structures,
but some of those buildings of more
recent origin and pretentious appear
ance by reason Of their bal location,
aad the utter absence OF every conve-
nienc;, are totally unit for the purposes
for which they were erected.
nave seen school houses that seem TO
t,,yo Deeu bgi!t with studious disre-
gard for every quality which a school
iIuuse should have They are small,
poorly lighted, poorly heated, with no
means Gi ventilation, with seats and desks
uncomfortable. aud iii some cases posi-
lively injurious, without Fairgrounds,
without shade trees, without outhouses.
There have no maps. Bo charts, and fire.
,tuentiy uo blackboard or bat misera-
bIe apui - ior one, and the whole room
is 80 gloomy and Gna5traotiye that the
teacher might well sigh, with Hood, >
That shattered roof. and this naked floor,
Y ;abie-a broken chair
And e wall 50 blank, my shadow thank
For sometimes falling there.
This picture is not ov-rwrought 1t
fails fa- below the reality. That ghastly
room at Dotiieboye Hail, where the qua
king urchins that Fate had consigned TO
the Gaze OF WackfJri Square sat at their
cherries task. has many counterpart
among these buildings known among Us
as sohoo! houses. How can we expect
ohillren To develop.in moral, intellectual,
and physical health, strength and beauty,
surrounded by such untow ward influences.
The school house, Of all places after
home, should be made attractive aad
pleasing. When the house has been built,
it certainly viii not cost much more to
finish and fgrai-h it ia such manner rs
will delight the eye, instruct the mind
and heart, and p. eserve the health,
strength, animation aud huoyaucy Of the
young. Am. Ell. HoAthig