The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-01-31
THE STATE NORMAL.
A Glimpse Of the Great School Then
and Now.
To the Editor Of the Eagle.

TWENTY-FIVE years ago Hon, l.. b. KEEL
logg borrowed a few chairs from a
church, desk from the county treasurer S
Office, and other articles from other
sources, went up into the second story OF
a little building in Emporia and opened
to the world the Kansas State Normal
/ school. Outside the dusky American
savage, with his war paint on, skulked
about in companies of one: rumOrs of a
rebel invasion crept up on the southern
J breeze and the Original Eighteen" were
! scarcely more engrossed with their
( lessons than with the thought that some
Of Bill Quantrelr5 American citizens
might happen along between two days
/ and celebrate a fresh rebel outbreak by
/ building a bon-cOnhagratiOn on the
town site But Quantrell and his savages.
red and otherwise, are at rest beneath
where the cactus and cOcklebur should
bloom: rumors of rebel raids have sped
on and away forever, but the Normal
has grown into the fullest and brightest
realization of the prophetic significance
of the Kansas motto, ''Ad astra per
aspera."
The register now numbers more than
thousand students who have come from
the farms and workshops of eighty-two
counties of Kansas and from fourteen
different states and territories. As a
class they are model young men and
women who have accepted labor as the
object Of life, full of energy and lmbued
with an earnest desire to ''act well their
part"
The faculty is composed of seventeen
enthusiastic teachers selected from the
best schools of the country. They are
the life of the school, and meet their re-
sponsibilities we'll
The building is a stately brick edifice
with white stone trimmings, two hun
dred feet in length and four stories high
including the Easement 1t contains fifty
rooms; is heated by steam. lighted by
gas, and is supplied with water from he
City Water works. making it one of the
most complete and convenient school
buildings in the west.
Space forbids detailed description of
the several departments, but beg per-
mission to answer. briefly. the numerous
inquiries that have come to me from
readers of the EAGLE.
The gymnasium and laboratories oc-
cupy three large rooms on the base
ment floor The gymnasium is
well supplied with rings, wands,
clubs and chest-weights for light gym
nastics and walking rings. ladders and
such other material for heavy gymnastics
as space will allow. The laboratories are
fairly well supplied with apparatus for
the study of the natural sciences.
The library occupies three pleasant
rooms on the third floor. 1t contains
about 5000 volumes, which Is compare
lively small collection, but at first
sight it has thrilling. dazzling effect on
the lover of books. who, with the excep-
ton of a few cheap folios, has been
brought up on quotations and stale stories
cul ed from the patent inside of the aver
age village newspaper. 1t Is one of the
most important features of the inStitu
tiCn and should very largely determine
one choice of a school. \ friend wrote /
me asking of the advantages for acquir- /
ing q liberal education. In my answer /
| said: IF you cannot get liberal edU- |
cation after being turued Loose in the |
library you ought not to have one. He I
Is in the normal now.
The music department, under charge /
of Prof. \. :. Thompson, of New York, /
occupies two fine rooms on the fourth /
floor. The school possesses SIX pianos /
and an organ, thus supplying accom- /
modationS for all who may wish 10 /
practice. Prof. Thompson Is a specialist /
in his line and the school may well be 4
proud of his eminent service.
The department Of drawing, on the I.
same floor, Is well equipped with line /
of casts, reliefs, models, etChings, /
stereoptlCan views, etc. Miss MAY 1
Clifford has charge of this department /
and is a very proficient artist.
The department of bookkeeping and T.
penmanship has lately been incorporated /
into the course and IS under charge of /
Prof W. c. Stevenson. He is an expert /
book keeper and one Of the finest pen
men in the west. Prof. Stevenson Is a /
pleasant deviation from the usual order 1
of young men who hold such positions. /
He is in sympathy with honest effort, |
and Is ready to give one a chance in the /
world.
Reader, we cam 20 further in this /
direction. | wish ! might take YOU /
through Prof. kelley's museum. the eX-
hibit room aud the department Of man /
ual training. where Slojd has been re-
Gently introduced. The class room would 1
be an interesting study, for many of the I
teachers are authors of more than local
repute; and if You insist. we VIII, at /
some future time. with the permission of 4
the editor. take stroll through the
rooms and see him at work.
SO YOU glance at the school then. and .
now YOU remark that It has had a phe-
growth. Yes. but you viii re-
member that 1t l. in accord with Kansas
history and that there have been many J
men connected with IL whose names are
SYNONYMOUS with success - Kellogg,
Morse. Welch. Murdoch without whom
Wichita could not have been Wichita
Hoss. Wilkinson, Taylor and many
others.
1t is a pleasure 20 note the material
progress of the sch OF, but nothing con-
neCted with il j more interesting than a
character study OF the men and women
who have it under charge. No one who
has met the training teacher, Prof. J. y.
can forget the sly humOF
that occasionally steals out through his
eyes. or the pleasant smile which ALWAYS
precedes one of his good hUmored Jokes.
Il Is an Inspiration 10 meet ths genial
president of the Institution. No one who
has ever taken him by the hard or
looked into ms kindly ewes, or seen him
abOut MS daily duties. can faIl 10 under
stand the spirit of enthusiasm which
peryadss every department If the school
\ man with head on him and heart
IN INN, | thought, after a dsv IN his
oihce and about the building: man
with psetE. pacticablity. spirituality
and executive ability.
Ihe greatest normal school IN the west
4 the Kansas State normal. made 80 ID a
large measure by the active energy and
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