The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-05
On the fifth ballot. Inspector scholle

On the fifth ballot, Inspector Scholle
moved the unanimous election Of Cur
tbs; seconded by Inspector McNair Tho
motion was carried and the entire vote
OF the board cast for Prof. Curtis
virgil u. curtis has a national repu-
tatlon in educational circles. In an
pointing him to the important tr11st
the board of education secured a man
who combines rare qualities. for ths
work before him. To be the s,1nertno
tendent Of school system such as is
Doasted of by st. Paul. REQUIRES q
many sided man. 1t requires a three
corhered man, so to speak A man
must pc scholar, a keen business
man and diplomat all at once. and
those qualities are all believed 70 he he
present in Mr.. Curtis.
Mr.. Curtis is flfty-one years old but
ne looks younger. His hair is steel
gray and every spear Of it appears n
be in place, for there is not fra ca
OF badness on his classic head. Then
again the new superintendent is a
VlVaclous talker, a splendid converse
tlonalist, natural diplomat, polished
suave and unaffected
AS an educator he ranks among the
foremost IN the country He has held
many important positions, and eaolr
mas been higher and more responsihIe,
that the one proceeding. He beor,rS
begun. teaching a country school for
years, put all the time rising above his
surroundings and improving his rninI
SO that when the opportunity present
eu ltSeil, ne might step into a highen
post. neg
ne IS progressive man whose am
ohau ot.,Uir Is 70 piace the schools under his
cnarse on the topmost round. He
cemes to st. Paul realizing fba+ -
scnools OF the city rank at the head ~
any IN the country, but his pluck feIls
MN that they may still be made her
ter. Yet Mr.. Curtis cannot be said r.
pe q feVoiutionfst. He approves OF
many modern reforms but he is said
to have faculty Of introducing then
without friction and without sacrificinc
those traditions of school educatio6
Wnlch are precious and dear to the
hearts of the people,
Mr.. Curtis is not a faddist. for tba
reason he believes there are. no fade =.
e6lstence, SO far as public schools are
OF manual training in the n1bIse
SCHOOLS and during his five vearss cor
nection with the public schools of Ta,,3
maven, Conn.,, he placed the mannaI
training department in that civ al ~
nead or any In the East He believes
az that sne leacnlng OF mechanical arts in
the public schools is prime ren,,is;tta
10 well rounded education. M
eIln 1urlis " Is Ilrther, an ardent believer In
tne theory that any special trait which
IS developed in a school should be c,,l-
uvated to its fullest limit. and. that a
prescTiDed course Of study maintained
as matter of form, against tbe na+1,
raj tastes and inclinations of the st,1-
dent, Is crime against that studonf
IN other words the new superintendent
Is believer in individuality. Where Il
ever he has labored in the cause -
edueat1on. he has followed out this
has Travelled largely in Europe an5
while investigating the schools Of Cen nl
many, he found much TO corrc,borata
this idea that the individual Is ereater
than the text book The policy Of enl-
t!vating the Individual Is followed
closely In the Ia ther1and. 1t has pro<