The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-04-11


State Agricultural School at Kingston
will demonstrate that, SO long as that in
stitution is located two miles from the
depot on Kingston Hill it can never be
in any sense "a State school although it
may prove a valuable appendage to
maintain the fortunes Of the village Of
Kingston.
The States land extends to within a
few minutes walk of the railroad station
at Kingston. The States most impor-
tant building has been destroyed by fire.
Seventy thousand dollars are asked to
rebuild. We invite the attention of the
General Assembly to this matter with a
view to suggesting that before appropri-
ating this money they look carefully into
the whole situation at theKingstonSchool
now that we have had the advantage
Of several years experience at running
ii. We think the result Of such an in
vestigation will be to bnild the new
buildings at the foot Of the States land,
within stones throw of Kingston sta
ton, when they will be in a position to
offer the advantages of education to our
youth, and not be devoted permanently
to supporting corps of professors and
accidentally maintaining real estate val
ues at Kingston village.
Let us examine the catalogues that
have been issued from Kingston school
the past three years aud see how tar the
facilities of our splendidly arganized State
institution have been made available to
our young men and young women.
Take the South County for instance,
the home OF the State Agricultural
School. OF the 81 students in the insti-
tuition from South Kingston named in
the catalogue of 1898. no less than III
were residents of Kingston village.
a few minutes walk from the school.
In word, more than one
third Of the school attendance from the
town was drawn from single village OF
a few score inhabitants. Only seven at
tended from the big village of Peace
Dale and only two from the big village
of Narragansett Pier. In the catalogue
of 1894 there were nine students in the
school from Kingston village and two
listed as graduates out Of total OF 20
and eight graduates from the whole
town. In the catalogue OF 1895 there
were nine students and three graduates
extra listed from Kingston village at
the school. the total membership from
the whole town, outside Of graduates
and others, amounting to only 81.
The school is located in South Kings
town and unfortunately located next to
Kingston village, where there is "quick
drainage and delightful view." One
third of its attendance from the town
comes from that poor little village, and
one-third of the whole attendance comes
from that single town. Out
side of South Kingstown the
balance of Washington county, which
includes the somewhat sizable commu-
mites of Wexford, Lafayette, Shan
mock, Carolina and Charlestown, was
able to place only 10 students in the in
stitution in 1892, IA in 1898, and % in
1894 Aud the total attendance from
Washington county, poor as it is, is usu-
ally as much or more than one-half the
total attendance from the whole State.
Newport County, the home of one Of
the most active members Of the Board
of Managers, is represented ir this State
institution by the considerable number
of 12. There is not much question of day
pupils from far away Newport and they
are all boarders. Great big Providence
County had only 10 pupils in
the school in 1892, nine in 1898 and IS
last year, while nearby Kent County, to
whose young people the school ought to
be of particular accessibility, was repre-
sented by only five pupils in 1892, seven
in 1898 and seven last year.
AS for Bristol county, not lad or
lass has ever appeared in the Kingston
catalogue from that section of the State.
These figures Of themselves ought to
be strong argument to demonstrate
that the location Of the Kingston
school is not what IL should be. 1t is
folly to urge the value of confning the
institution to pupils who can afford to
pay board or who can work
out their board. The school should
be made available to the hundreds who
would go to it every morning and return
home every evening. No one will deny
the advantages Of boarding school but
the majority Of the young people for
whom IL is the object of the State to
furnish educational advantages in this
splendid institution cannot become
boarding school pupils. And the present
location of the school freezes out these
hundreds and drives them elsewhere
and deprives them altogether of such