The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-05-28
COMMUNICATED.
E1it0r OF The Pilot.


fore the people forthwith, in order to
give sufficient time for thought and to
insure maturity of conviction aud pur-
pose. With this object in view. l beg
leave to submit the following discussion
of the subject to the thoughtful consider
alton of such Of your patrons as may be
personally interested In 1t.
In 1872, | am informed, the corner
stone OF the present magnificent edIhce
was laid, which is to-day, net only the
chief architectural ornament of the city
and gratifying pride to every ore OF its
inhabitants, but in point of adoption,
comfort, suitable furnishing, and pleas
ing appearance, easily excels nine out
of every ten buildings of similar nature
in the state, even OF cities much larger
than Manitowoc. Since its completion
this building has been a worthy monu-
ment to the Thoughtful providence of its
founders, and an inspiring evidence of
the educational interest and activity OF
the community.
Without question, the spirit Of education
and intellectual life has been greatly
stimulated, during the past eighteen
years, If only by its mere presence.
Let cynlcs carp if they will. In spite
of their cavils, it remains incontestably
true that externals exert a large influence
upon communities as we'll as on indlvl-
duals. The beautiful and symmetrical,
in both nature and art, have ever been
silent educators and potent forces as fac
tors of refinement. A beautiful thing,
whether of art or of nature, stirs and
quickens the aesthetic side of human life;
and since the truly good and the truly
beautiful are inseparably connected in the
human mind, it follows that spirituality
and morality receive a sensible and posi-
ii 70 impetus through the influence of the
beautiful. The practical application of
| this principle follows easily: If the
school houses and school rooms through
out the state of Wisconsin were ell
! beautiful, in the right sense of this word,
half the difficulties of order and discipline
some districts of the state. would in all
probability, never arise. 1t is just as
natural for boy, who has reached years
of discernment, to assume gentlemanly
demeanor and dignity in a place express
sive of refinement, be it a lady's parlor,
or public saloon, as it is for him to be
rough and boisterous in a wood house.
Whatever is true of boys in this connec-
ton is true with equal force of girls. In
close relation to this thought is the no.
ticeable fact that the school houses which
have been erected with some regard to
fitness and aesthetic taste, many of them
after more than quarter of a century of
use, are still in excellent condition;
whereas, almost all OF those built with
| out regard to such qualifications, in less
| than ten, or even five years, have leen
found marked, and whitfield AMI dis
figured, and in a.general state of insight
ly dilapidation and dlsrepair.
The past experience of this community
assuredly furnishes most conclusive
proof that it pays in the long run to
erect a substantial and, in a measure,
elegant school house. On the other
hand we know of places whose expert
ence furnishes sufficient evidence to es-
| tablish the opposite of this proposition.
| Indeed, from an prlori consideration,
| it seems but natural that this should be
So People generally prize what is of
| great value and the care exercised to pre-
vent property from being injured, is very
| largely in proportion to its value. A
community takes great deal more pains
to look after costly school building
than a cheap one, hence the former en-
dures longer, and is in the end the cheap
er. It may therefore be said, with genu-
ire sincerity, that the citizens who were
interested in the founding of this build
| ing are to be congratulated upon the ex-
ercise not only of spirit of loyalty and
| homage to the cause of education, but of
sound Judgment in making suitable pro-
vision. The past is an earnest of the
present, and future; hence I hope to
escape the charge of presumption, if l
! indulge the expectation that the same
| spirit which characterized this community
nineteen years ago, will be manifested in
the readiness to assume new respor-
siblhties and burdens, when the necessity
for such shall become thoroughly appar-
ent. The amount required, to provide,
with wise foresight, for both present and
future will scarcely be more than one
third of the requirement in 1872; conse
quently the burden will be comparatively
light
1t goes without saying that no provi-
sion for school purposes however bounti-
full and munihcent, can reasonably be ex-
pected in a growing community to meet
the demands of all time. However rapid
or slow may have been the growth of this
place III eighteen years. 1t has been sutfi-
GENTLY great to more than double its de-
{ manu- VI SSuJOl iOoul loD2 even
ten years ago, according to the records
OF the school, some of the lower depart
Ients began to be seriously crowded. In
the spring term of 1881 it was found
necessary to relieve the crowded condi-
ton of the first primary department by
dividing the school into forenoon and
afternoon divisions. This arrangement,
L believe, has obtained IN that depart
ment ever since, with the unimportant
exception of short season when the de-
partment was divided into four divisions
As matter of course the school did not
stop growing at this point: but with a
very few fluctuations has maintained
steady increase. In the past three or
four years, the total yearly enrolment
of the primary department has ranged