Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-06-23
DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND
INSTITUTION.
Scmi-Annual Meeting of the
Board of Regents ut ROmney.
Correspondence ul the Register.
ROMNEY, June %, 1879.

Correspondence Of the Register.
RoMNEY, June %, 1879.
The board Of Regents of the State
Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and
Blind, located here, have just held one
Of their srmi-annual meetings.
The members present were Craig, OF
Mason; Laidley, Of Kanawha; Hullihen,
of Ohio: Pierce, Of Mineral, Mason, OF
TAYLOR, AMI Lupton, OF Hampshire, Col.
Campbell, of Brooke, being the only
absentee.
The letter OF Captain Andrew Wilson
of your town, twice published III the
Wheeling fnlsliigeHcer, containing strict
urrS upon Major Covell, principal Of
the institution, had excited more than
usual int, rest in this meeting and the
public hereabUuts were on the ga r,rc
10 know what the Board of Regents
were going 10 DO about IL.
ID appears, however, that this laud-
able curiosity is, for the time being,
doomed 20 disappointment. The Boant
Ot Regents after tranSactlng the usual
routine business resolved themselves
INTO a Committee of the Whole To con-
slider the Wilson letter as it appeared
Tor the third time i'm the iatHigaTer un-
der the guiSe OF a series oi questions pro
pounded To the Board. ~ .
These questions We understand were
thoroughly examined one by one, and
the results forwarded To the Governor.
10 was considered neither proper nor
dignifcd iOr Il Board of Regents of a
State Institution tO descend to a per-
SDual wraugle with newspaper What
TIM. answers To the questions asked were,
we of course 10 not know, but We have
been told i'm general way that the
Board themselves We're perfectly salts
lied with their COnCluslveneSs.
1t seems that the chief charge Of
"cruoke,luess made against the Prln-
cipa was that in his report
To- the Governor, he represented
that he had l05 names OF pupils on the
rolls, while i'm fact only 81 were in ac-
tual attendance during the year, and
that this was done with the intent To de
rcive the Legislature and thereby Sc
cure larger appropriation. What
would be thought OF the fitness OF a
Principal for his position If, after having
been legally and properly notified that
lO5 pupils would be present, he only
made preparation for So? And this is
lust the position that Mai. Covell occu.
pies. BY what process of reasoning can
Capt Wilson or anybody else discover
ANYTHING % condemn IN this?
Again i'm these same articles IN the
E.EHggncr an attempt Is made to
show that the cost OF maintainancc ul
pupils per capita Is greater ut Romncy
tnau at most similar institutions.
We are sufficiently familiar with tins
subject 10 know that it Is simply impos-
sible 10 reach anything like an accurate
result i'm comparing the alleged per cdpi-
n of different institutions OF this sort.
No two sf them are ciphered ont upon
the same method OF calculation; where
am extremely low rate per capita Is
rIaimcd, II will be found that certain
items of expense have been eliminated
which are usually included IN such
statements. We are confident that our
institution here is managed as Cconuml-
rallv "a any in the United States. A
Itir examination will disclose the TACT
that the cost per capita, instead "t being
higher, us charged in the iatsHgfnrtr, Is
really much Uvsr than at either Raleigh,
y. c., or StauntOn, Va
These facts, we suppose, are all treat
Ell upon ut length by the Board in their
communication 10 the Governor, and aS
/, is to be hoped that that document
will De- given 10 the public at an early
ilv. We will forbear any further discus
sion of the different matters involved.
We are toh that in their late meeting
the Board made very few changes IN
the management of the institution. All
thr old officers and teachers were re-
elected % their positions, excepting
Miss Annie COyell, who declined a re-
election. The same salaries were all
continued, save in the case OF MIR. +. l..
Chaplin, who received an additional
hundred dollars.
The clause in the bylaws fixing the
charge of 500 for pupils from other
States was changed 10 500 per annum.
Mr.. Henry White was selected by the
Board % travel over the State and find
out all eases of blindness and OF deal
mutrism. properly subjects Tor the IN
stitutiou. We are told that this acton
will result in an increase OF probably
| thirty or more pupils.
The Board, at their next meeting IN
October. will till the vacancy caused 10y
tine resignation of Miss Coycll, and viii
further elect a teacher for the blind.
The opinion here is that the lnStitu'
/ tiun is admirably managed, and that II
/ i one of which the Governor and the
/ citizens of the State may well tcel proud
/ RTSTICUS