Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-04-29
hat something should be done 10 make

| Election of Teachers.
The superintendent also decided t
stand by the present law which requires
that teachers shall be elected by the
entire board, instead of being appointed
by subdirectors, us they were under the
old law before the new code went into
effect last October. bill to repeal
! this law and restore the old system
passed the senate last winter, but failed
in the house. 1t is believed that the
new law has n wholesome effect in re-
straining the employment of incompe-
tent teachers through the favoritism OF
local directors. 1t was agreed among
the superintendent that the number OF
| school-teachers is in excess of the de.
mand and that some action should be
/ taken to raise the standard and reduce
the number of teachers, in order that
/ they may receive better salaries and
the schools may be supplied with better
| teachers. The salaries now paid in
| Iowa are smaller than are paid in any
surrounding states. Strong efforts
have been made by Superintendent Bar
rett, aided by the county superintend-
ents, to secure n uniform system of
/, teachers certificates and the blanks
upon which reports of school directors
are made to county superintendent.
Upon these reports are based the edu-
cational statistics prepared by the state
superintendent, and great deal of diff
ficlilty has been experienced in the
past because these reports were not uni
form and are often inaccurate, requir-
ing too much guessing and estimating
TO he done in the final compilation.
Iowa building Mt Omaha.
The contract for the Iowa building
has been let to p. II. Wind, of Council
Bluffs, for $7,795. The first bids were
far above the $4,000 limit fixed by the
legislature for the cost of the building.
1t had been estimated that it could be
built for less than $4,000. but the labor
unions of Omaha formed a combination
aud advanced the price of labor, pre-
venting the Iowa working1nen from
coming into the field unless they joined
the Omaha labor unions. This added to
the cost of tbe building, which had to
he chnnged and some elements of ex-
pense cut out in order to bring it with
in the appropriation. Secretary Chase,
of the Iowa commission, will open his
Office in Council Bluffs at once, and the
Iowa building will he commenced i'm
mediately and finished by the time the
exposition opens, June 1.
Sons of the Revolution.
The iowa Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution, lineal descend
ants of soldiers in the revolutionary
war, held its annual meeting in Des
Moines last Tuesday and passed strong
resolutions indorsing the action of
President Mckinley, declaring for free
Cuba and offering their services in case
of war with Spain.
management of Crcnmeries.
One feature Of the new dairy law will
tend to increase the confidence of the
patrons of creameries in their manage
ment. This law requires that every
milk-testing machine used in a cream
cry must be submitted to the dairy de-
partnent of the state agricultural col
lege at Ames to be tested as to it's accu-
racy, and it cannot be used unless it is
ny a CCl lIOul tuC
college authorities stating that the ma
chine is reliable. In addition to this
the milk measure and test bottles used
in creameries in connection with the
testing machine to determine the
amount of butter fat in milk, upon
which the price Of the cream is based,
must be procured from the state dairy
nn pr1,ic rhp ho,, Ill
them to the creamerics at cost. This
insures absolute accuracy in the test
ing of milk, and every patron is paid
just what his milk is worth.
Insanity in Criminal Cases.
Lawyers are of the opinion that the
decision of the supreme court 10 the
case of j. w. Stone, he insane man who
murdered Frank Kahler in Des Moines
last year, will have very important
bearing upon criminal trials in the
state. In that case the defense of in
sanity was set up and forthwith the
man was tried before jury impaneled
under the insanity law and was sent to
the insane ward of the Anamosa peni-
Tertiary for an indefinite period. 1t is
held that the court had a perfect right
to do this and thatits jurisdiction of the
person was superior to that of the in
sane commissioners, who would have
sent him to the hospital for the insane.
This will render it very dangerous to
set up u defense of insanity in criminal
cases, because it will give the court the
power to send the man to the insane
ward of the penitentiary practically
for life, otherwise he might escape with
a shorter sentence.
Arbor Day.
Arbor day is April 90 this year, and
1t will be observed in all the public
schools by the setting out of shade trees
by the children, with suitable exercises
to impress upon them the lesson of the
day. 1t has been observed in the state
since 1887, The date being fixed by the
Of public instruction
each year. Nearly every state and ter
ritory In the union now observes Arbor
day, which was started in Nebraska
April %, 1872, by j. Sterling Morton,
who was then governor of the state.
T. W. BICKNELL.
Commander Elmer Dead.
New York, April 27.-Commander
Horace Elmer, until recently command
er of the mosquito fleet, and who was