St. Paul daily globe., 1893-02-06
NEEDS OF NORMALS.
Minnesota's State Schools Of
High Grade and Great
Usefulness.
The Pressing Need Of All Is
Additional Room for
Their Work.
Review Of the Reports Of
Directors and Presidents
Of the Schools.
Appropriations Asked For
Amount to a Goodly
Figure.


Figure.
The present legislature will be asked
to appropriate something like SlS3,0OO
for increasing the facilities and eff
cheney of the state normal schools.
At first glance this amount appears
large. Friends of the schools. however,
maintain that if deliberate, unbiased
consideration is given to the facts of the
case they will bear out the statements
of advocates of the system that the
sums requested by the different schools
are reasonable. 1t is asserted further
that the amount of money asked is
limited to the actual needs of the
schools.
The GLOBE has taken considerable
pains to ascertain the exact situation at
the different normal schools. Its repre-
sentative has personally examined the
school at st. Cloud, which alone has a
ladies' dormitory; and the school at
Moorhead, newest and most poorly pro-
vided for of the four. The dormitory
feature will be spoken Of further along.
AS to the bills to provide two new
normals, one at Duluth and one at
Tracy, this may be said: Examination
of map of Minnesota will show that
Tracy, at least, has no possible chance
of securing what she asks. Only Brown
and Redwood counties divide Lyon
from Blue Earth, where the Man
kato school is located. In the
Dodge and Olmsted lie between Blue
Earth and Winona. st. Cloud is an
ideal location for normal. Moorheai
has tremendous sweep of country
which will send scholars to its school.
site for a fifth school, but it is not
likely to have its wishes in this direc-
ton gratifed at the present session.
The committee on normal schools will
probably visit the head of the lake at
an early date simply to look over the
ground.
This article is written to give fair,
impartial statement of the needs of the
normal schools as those needs are pre-
scented by their advocates and well
WSherS.
Crowded at Winona.
President Shepard, of the Winona
normal, calls attention to the pressing
need for additional room and more
teachers, if the efficiency of the situa-
ton is to be kept unimpaired. The
building is in splendid shape as it
stands at present, but the president
points out that the only normal school
in the country that compares with Wi
mona as to numbers in graduating
cIasses-that at Oswego, N. Y.-has
thirty more rooms. Additional room is
held to be imperatively necessary for the
model and training school work, also
for recitation rooms.
A ladies' home Is referred to as a
feature greatly needed, but for
the present overshadowed by the
want of room in the school
proper. Prof. Shepard has adopted the
rule of taking no more pupils than he
can handle well with present accommo-
dations. Consequently many appli-
cants are turned in sorrow from the
doors of the school. The proposition is
to build an addition at the rear OF the
present building, SO that the front
would not be altered in tie least. Care
ful figuring has resulted i'll an estimate
vi sDO,OUO lOI DHlIGIIlSs luIliiOIlllIS ollN
heating and equipment of the labora-
tories. 1t should be stated that much
of the available room at Winona is
taken up by the really admirable kin
dergarten training school, maintained
for dozen years past, whose graduates
have won laurelS in the educational
fields of many states and countries.
NEankatO Handicapped.
At Mankato surprisingly steady
growth has been experienced. Two
years ago great urgency for extension
was pleaded on account of CTamped fa-
cilities. but relief was deferred with the
Implied promise that at this session
Mankato's needs would be given spe-
cial consideration President Soaring
states IN his report that the assembly
room is utterly inadequate to the needs
of his school, and is very badly located
on the third floor. He asserts they lack
proper rooms for laboratory purposes,
for natural history museum, for phySi-
cal training, for a Kindergarten, and
that the recitation rooms are entirely
too few to accommodate the additional
teachers and pupils.
The desire is to complete an addition
partially erected three years ago, and
make some extensive alterations in the
old building An architect has pre-
pared plans for the needed changes, ,and
the resident director OF the school COM
puteS $50,000 as Il fair and necessary
sum to be appropriated for the MankatO
school. Should the legislature acQuleSce
il is confidently stated the usefulness Of
the school would be broadened many
fold.
ST. Clouds Pride.
AS it stands at present the st. Cloud
school looks lopSided and unfinished.
When the building is completed as its
friends desire and the legislature origi-
nally planned, it will be handsome. com
m0dious and eXcelently suited TO fulfill
its destiny. To accomplish this a new
wing must be erected at tile north end
of the main building. The south wing
must also be completed, else much of lis
capacity will remain unavailable. The
ctliar,and attic have been pressed into
service heretofore, though totally un-
suited to school purposes, especially for
young children, at least ih-the present
state.
Resident Director Mitchell and Pres
ident Carhart went over the needs of
their institution very Systematically for
the benefit of the normal school COM
mtteP, With this result: To wipe out
debt heretofore incurred to make addi-
tlonal room available, $4,000; to build
a new wing. SOB 600; for necessary re
pairs, $4,000; addition to current eX-
| pense. 5000; total, $4,000. Specifica-
tons as to the proposed manner of
| spending this money were very minute,
! and neatly every member of the COM
mittec expressed himself as fayOrably
impressed by the strong pleas of Messrs
| Mitchell and Carhart.
Attached to the ST. Cl0ld school is a
ladies h0mc. 1t is the envy of all the
other schools, and the pride of the au-
thGrities of the school. Accommodate
ing nearly all who at present desire to
avail themselves of its shelter, it at
tracts to and holds at the school class
of desirable pupils who are bound to do
splendid educational work in the future.
| Located on the normal grounds. it is a
home indeed to the inmates, and tacili-