The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-05
Insp'ct'rs, First. Sc
Insp ctrs First. Second. Third. IFourtb
gay. -. Smith Smith Smith Curtis
NJ Nair. + 'nsw' tn F nSw'th Smith Trendlev
M.N'meei F'nsw'th Fnsw'th Spencer Curtis
Scholie. CarhaTt ,Carhart Curtis Curtis
Wilkes Carhart ,Carhart Curtis Curtis
=: + nsW IN + nsW tn Trendley Trendley
Fppott. =. Irendley lIrendley tTrendley TrendleY
On the fifth ballot, Inspector scholle

- NA40iOJ II IISHQIey
On the fifth ballot. Inspector Scholle
moved the unanimous election of Cur
It's; seconded by Inspector McNair. The
motion was carried and the entire vote
OF the board cast for Prof Curtis
virgil G. Curtis has a national repu-
tatlon in educational circles In an
pointing him to the important trust
the board of education secured a man
VINO combines rare qualities for tha
work before him. To be the superfn
tendent of school system such as is
boosted of by st. Paul. requires a
many sided man. 1t requires a three
cornered man, so to speak. A man
must be a scholar, a keen business
man and a diplomat all at once, and
those qualities are all believed to be
present in Mr. Curtis.
Mr.. Curtis IS f1fty-one years old. but
he looks younger. His hair is steel
gray and every spear Of it appears to
be IN place, for there is not trace
OF badness on his classic head. Then
again the new superintendent is a
NlNaclOuS taIker, a splendid converse
tlonaHst, natural diplomat, polished
suave and unaffected
AS an educator he ranks among the
foremost IN the country. He has held
many important positions and eacIt
has been higher and more Responsible,
that the one preceding. He began
where dozens of ether educators haVa
begun. teaching a country school for
years but all the time rising above his
surroundings and improving his mind
50 tnat Wnen the opportunity present.
ed itself, he might step into a higher
post.
he IS progressive man whose am
pitlon Is to place the schools under hIs
charge on the topmost round. He
GENES 10 81. Paul realizing that the
schools Of the city rank at the head Of
any IN the country, but his pluck tells
MN mat they may still be made bet
ter. Yet Mr.. Curtis cannot be said 70
be a revolutionist. He approves ~
many modern reforms, but he is said
to have faculty Of introducing then
without friction and without sacrificino
those traditions Of school education
Whlch are precious and dear to the
hearts OF the people.
Mr.. curtis is not a faddist, for the
reason he believes there are no fade in
existence, so far as public schooIs arc
concerned. He is an earnest advooa+o
or manual training in the nITbI;ee
schools and during his five years con
nect1on with the public schools of Na-,J
maven, Conn.,, he placed the manual
framing department in that city at the
neao OF any In the East. He believes
that the teaching Of mechanical arts in
the public schools is a prime rennisitta
70 a We'll rounded education. M
curtis is rurther, an ardent believer in
the theory that any special trait which
- developed in school should be cuI-
tlvated to its fullest limit, and that
prescribed course of study maintajnAd
as a matter of form, against the natl1-
raj tastes and inclinations of the SIN
gent, is crime against that student
In otner words the new superintendent
Is believer in individuality. Where 4
ever he has labored in the cause A.
education. he has followed ont This
idea During the past year Mr. Curtis
has travelled largely in Europe. and
while investigating the schools Of Ger
many. he found much to corroborata
= loea that the individual is greater
than the text book. The policy Of cuI-
t!vating the Individual ) is followed
closely in the Fa theriand. 1t has pro-