The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1898-10-06
boards, globes, fuel etc. To better !
school, nothing so much does it as free
text books.

TEACHERS WAGES Es-CERTIFICATEs and
READING CIRCLES.
There was paid last year $33782
for -tsachsss~swages. Twenty-four
males at an average of $38 per month
were employed, and lO4 females at an
average of $31 per month. These
averages do not include Redwood
Falls and Lamberton, where the males
received $9l per month and the fe-
males A7 per month. City and village
pay we'll as compared with rural
schools. There is one very striking
fact about city and village personal at
tendance of pupils as compared with
rural pupils. The average personal
attendance of each in city and village
schools was last year, 1872 days while
in the country it was only 81 days.
Our city and villages have $50 days of
school-our rural pupils have but an
average of 14O days. The per cent. OF
attendance in city and villages of our
county is high, if we take the rural
school asa standard. It will be seen
by the above that the city and village
pupil has 13 per cent. greater attend
ance and % per cent. more of school
days to accomplish his work.
Two years ago, it was rare sight to
find q Normal graduate in our. rural
schools. Last year there were en-
ployed in this county II Normal
school graduates, not including city
and village schools, who were paid
an average of $38 per month. Did the
experiment pay! All such schools,
save one, are convinced it did. All
save one, are going to try it again this
year.
STATE AID TO RURAL SCHOOLS.
The law, giving aid to the extent of
$50 to schools not located in corpor-
ated city or villages, to such schools
that employ teacher who holds q
first grade certificate, or Normal
school diploma, said school to be fur
nished with a library, sufficient black
board surface, an unabridged diction-
ary, a. comfortable schoolroom and
outhouses for the sexes, and said
school to be 9 months in length, shall
receive from the State $50. There
we're Is districts that received such aid
last year. Only 20 per cent. of the
total number of districts in county
can receive such aid. The law should
be amended to include 30 per cent. of
the districts. The indications now
point in this county, to the fact that
we shall have more applications, than
can be by law allowed. No one law
has so much aided our schools as the
above mentioned law.
SANITATION AND sCHooLRooM VENTILATION
We are not making the improve
men: in this matter that we should.
The old box of a schoolroon, the
poor stove, the narrow, small fues in
chimneys, the poor light in the
schoolrooms, the poorer still out-hous-
es, that half of the year are unfit for
use, the poor quality of drinking water
for the children, all these subjects we
have not yet solved. But some school
officers are thinking seriously about
them. Some are pulling down the
little narrow aued chimneys, and
building them larger. No chimney
should be built with aue less than 1Ox
II inches. The chimney should be
built with two fues-one for smoke
and one for foul air. At the cost of
SIS, a simple plan for ventilating q
schoolroom may be put in, whereby
sweet, pure air can be given child all
day. lisa great mistake to put on
tight fitting storm windows and leave
no provision for admittance of fresh
air. How many times have / found,
when going into schoolrooms, the
children with irritated eyes and head
aching pains, all caused by bad CHM
neys and poorly ventilated rooms.
From the bottom of my heart I have
pitied them. 'Tis true, we use the
windows for air. We jacket our
stoves. but these are make shifts.
They are not solutions of the questions
we must face. Two schools last year
tried the plan of double fues in the
chimneys, with fresh air box 8x1O in
ches leading from the outside to an
opening under the stove. The stoves
are surrounded by tight fitting jackets,
is inches larger in diameter than great