Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-10-14
THE BLIND SCHOOL.
Superintendent Capwell Given an
Hours NOticejtO Show Why She
Should Not Be Removed.

lu6 5ldlS DOdIu S6eu1S 10 Juluk IneTc
is no way out of the matter but to
remove Miss Capwell.
The state board of charities and
corrections has never completed its
Investigation, has never made re-
port, and has never reported every
thing in good ORDER" and its inves-
tigation is still pending.
To cut the whole matter short, the
state board of education, of which
Mr.. McElroy is head manager, rec
ord keeper, aud pretty much all-in-
all, decided very suddenly to remove
Miss Capwell. At 3 p. m. Tuesday
she received the following note from
the board:
OFFICE OF THE STATE BoARD1
OF EDUCATION,
SALEM, Or, Oct. 12, 1891
Miss Olive NJ. Capwell, Salem, Or;
You are hereby notified to be, and
appear before the state board of edu-
cation, as the board of trustees for
the institute for the blind of the
state of Oregon, at the state house,
in the city of Salem, Or, at the
hour of o'clock p. m., of Oct. 18th,
1891, then and there to show cause
before said board, if any exists, why
you should not he removed from the
uperintendency of the said institute.
BY order of the board, this 18th
day of October, 1891.
f. B. MCELRoY,
Secretary of Board.
Miss Capwell appeared and refused
to resign, as it had been intimated
to her would be acceptable by the
board, and simply asked that charges
against her be presented in writing.
The board informed her that she
could have until Wednesday morn
ing to decide whether to resign or be
removed. The board had evidently
decided to remove her and thus end
its difficulties with the blind insti-
tute.
Public opinion seems TO be that
the state board of education has
weakened it's hold on the peoples
confidence by its action in this mat
ter. The public know that an inves-
tigation of the management of the
blind school has been going on and
is not completed. The public know
that the investigation was not of
Superintendent Capwell, but of de-
fects in the administration of this
state institution. Furthermore the
investigation was brought about III
the best interests of the school and
it was by Miss Capwell's efforts that
the school has secured a set of rules
for its government.
In the face of these facts the state
board of education on an hours
notice and with no charges before
them, demand Miss Capwell's re-
moVal at a Star Chamber session.
The public can only conclude that
the board is not so much concerned
about improving the service at the
blind school, or advancing the inves.
tigation there, or securing any re-
forms there of any abuses, as it is in
protecting itself, and that the only
way to protect itself is to remove
Superintendent Capwell. This is
not a creditable attitude for the
board TO get itself into. 1t will not
satisfy the people to merely remove
Miss Capwell.
THE BOARD
went to the blind school this morn
ing and met Miss Capwell and the
Misses McFadden. The entire force
rendered their designations, and
those of Miss Capwell and Miss
Alice McFadden were accepted.
Rev. E. S. Bollinger Of the Evan.
gelical church was chosen superin-
tendent of the institute for the blind
and will take charge at once. He is
a gentlemen of the highest character
and integrity, and well qualified for
any educational work in state in
stitutions.
The resignation of Miss McFadden
was dated Oct. 6. Mrs. Lille f.
Bollinger is elected matron, and
Mrs. s. b. Barcelo assistant matron.
Miss Capwell's resignation is dated
Oc'. IA. To a reporter of THE
JOURNAL she stated she had only
resigned on promise of the board to
make complete change in the