, 1879-01-23
GROWING INTEREST ~ EDUcArloN.
BY \. Il. llUFFlIAS,l

The healthy glowth Of school Interests |
in Washington Territory during the last
few wears ha, been such IL to excite CON-
mcnt from many quarters. Parents. leg
i.latorS. leachcr>--all begin to recognize
the Importance Of more thorough means
of Instruction, and the demands of the
times for more efficient teachers, il we
lwoud rise to the true dignity ot state;
and not merely Il STATE but such state As
shall produce mCu and women of note and
ability. We look forward to the time
when WaShington's legislators. judges,
teachers and agriCulturists shall vie with
| those Of older countries IN skill in their
reS Srective CallingS,
! May not our beloved land of beauty be
( the mother OF Il Horace Mann, PeSta|oz-
ri, Krr>r. II Mis- Lathrop. Il White,
Harvey? Shall we not have men who.
! like these. shall arise and shake off the
SlmckleS ut bIin! customs and bring order
and Symnctry ont OF coiiinSion and chaos?
| Shall not our river aud mountain scenery
| inspire another Bryant. Irving. Longtel
/ low or Carey? One who will but reflect
on our beautiful mountains, crystal rivers.
| fails and catarautS. and our broad plains
and giant forests. can but be impressed
tImt our young aad growing Territory is
/ destined TO produce men and women in
every department OF life, that shall be Il
credit to the natOn that has already br!et
| her young crown with so many briiinnt
stars. Where is there so grand field tor
the NgricutuTiSt the mineralogiSt, the bot
alist or the poet:
Within the past few years. the Seattle
University has shaken of the dust aud
ashes Of inactivity and is rising to disni-
ty aud usefulness that will soon give it
came and influence abroad. The Olym-
pia Academy needs but to be mentioned "a
another institution that is doing good
work: but while Others have been ut work.
we on the Lower SOurd have not been
sleeping. The schools OF Port Townsend
have been nominaIly graded and their
eilrctuI work thereby greatly enhanced.
and instead of the rod and ferrule of the
"naster" we now have calm guidance Of
the friend and teacher, and we point with
pride to our harmonious schools.
Or school board are especially to be-
commended. With the limited amount
Of money at their disposal they have lur-
uiSled the school with better and more
/ extensive apparatus than can he found in
Hy other district school in the Territory;
aud yet the schools have been kept mp
eight or nine months yearly.
BY the energy of the pupils we ha veGa
mll~rum of natural curiositieS and speci-
mems for genera Instruction thlt would
be "a credit to many mare pretentiou' in
SttIuiouS. But We must not stop here.
| We need aud must haV.. ere long, n new
and more commodious building. The de-
mands Of our pupils require 1t; besides
there are hundreds Of boys and girls in our
surrounding counties who should lave
better advantage thaH are afforded in the
little clone school," which, in many
cases, is kept up but for three or four
months in the year.
The profit to the town arising from the
foreign pupils is far more tllan any one
unacqminted with the subject will imag-
inc. Ask those who have maintained Il
boy or girl at school away from home and
you will be surprised at the amount. Ev-
ery pupil who attends school away from
home spends from $400 to $500 annually.
This. of course includes board. tuition.
and incidental expenses. Ii would be no
difficult matter To have twenty or thirty
foreign pupils to-day if we hut had the
| proper room Tor them. and any one can
realty see the advantage aud profit aCcrIl-
ing from it. There are teachers to he
trained, for teaching is no longer a meuial
service IN which ANY bloclihcad with Il big
muscle may engage and why may they
not be trained here? With little more
expense we can have school of a higher
grade and our pupils who desire to go be-
yond the limits OF Il district school can do
so. Our system could be made more and
more perfect and cur deeds would merit
Us the plau'lits of the rising generations
through all the days and years to come.
Port Townsend, Jan. 20, 1870.
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