Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-06-20

| to -. There was a crash, the
golden gate vanished and in letters of
! fire read these words; 'lnasmuch rs
We did it not unto the least of these,
We did it not unto Me- Iawoke; Mrs.
Brown was opening the shutters, and
the rays OF the morning sun fell on my
face. Doctor, l have seen those chill
dren all day long, and did not dare to
60 to the school this morning." and
Brown fixed his gaze intently on the
fire.
There was silence for some moments,
broken at last by the doctor, who said:
on have seen the children released
frsm their bodily sutferings; | to-day
have seen them writing under their
pains. Ill-yentilated and over-crowdsd
school-rOOms are the remote causes of
| a large amount of this suffering. Both
public and private schools are equally
guilty. We wonder at the stupidity
of our fathers. who provided seats
without backs for their children, but
gave them plenty of fresh air and of
room. Posterity will condemn us, who
! provide comfortable seats and deprive
our children of air and of room. Your
| plan of putting six and eight children
on bench, so closely seated that they
Can hardly move, is horrible. Itch,
| lice and sore eyes travel along the
whole line "No such children are
| allowed in my school,, said Brown.
Nothing but minute daily exami-
nation can determine that" continued
the doctor. land have your young
and inexperienced teachers, who, with
fatal blindness, are placed over them,
the time, tact and judgment to make
this examination % Brown did not
reply, and the doctor went on. "As
! z citizen OF this commonwealth, each
| child has right to his individuality
to a separate and distinct seat; to at
least six square feet of space, over
which he is master and for which heis
responsible. Citizens Of Republics can
be made in no other way. All this
abominable arrangement of settees,
galleries and extra seats must be rele-
gated to the dark ages. Doctor,
you are crazy. On this plan, p. $. No.
50j, with its 1000 pupils, would be-
come one-horse affair OF about 800,
| said Brown; land from being Chair
man of the first school in the city, |
! should come down to the level of Jones,
who is Chairman Of a little primary in
/ the suburbs. | never would consent
/ to that. \ Frenchman, in my pres
/ ence, boosted of his famous schools,
! with a beggarlv two or three hundred.
/ When | told him that mine had over
1000, you should have seen him open
! his eyes Think of the cost. Four
schools do the work of =. ). 505 -
Not all the work, Brown" replied
the doctor: they couldn't fill the
cemetery so fast. There is money for
! jails, alms-houSes and prisons when
overcrowded-why not for schools?'
1--WE don't get half Of the money now
for which we ask objected Brown.
because" replied the doctor, "you
do not ask in faith. Back up your de-
mands with facts and figures SO potent
that the powers that be dare not re-
fuse. If they do, appeal to the public.
No American community ever re-
fused adequate support to an energetic
School Board" Meanwhile, what
shall we do when children apply %
asked Brown. If the class is full,
refuse Them answered the doctor
refuse them in justice to those
already there, in Justice to themselves
"But is not half loaf better than
no bread - queried Brown. Not if
the half offered contain the seeds of
ill-health and premature decay re-
piled the doctor. Brown said moth
ing and the doctor continued: "Meti-
cal men have written volumes upon
the evils of overcrOwdmg the schools.
, Again and again have they demon.
strated the least space child should
have; the lasting evils of foul air; the
: eye-deStroylng power OF lll-llghted
, roomS-and yet this crowding Cuntin-
ues, tine same ill-arranged barracks are
, continually repeated. Brown, take a
step in advance to better the physical
condition of L. ). No. sos. Reduce
your grammar classes to forty pupils,
, your primary classes to fifty: give
each pupil separate desk; put over
) him 4 man or woman for Il teacher.
not a girl who still ought to be III the
academic class or the normal school
and then, when YOU approach in real
ity the gate of the Golden City, no
pupil of I. :. No. sos will he there to
accuse you Of crOwding him out of
! life"
, Toby, there's my hand; I'll do it,
= said Brown, and the good doctor went
, home with the happy consciousness
= that that resolve meant life and health
, 10 many a child, for Brown was a man
of his word.