The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-03

| '99 will soon separate, never again to
be united in the schoolroom May pros
| perity and happiness attend both teach
| ers and scholars in their future career"
| After two beautiful selections by the
| High School Mandolin and Guitar club.
| Superintendent Hendricks introduced
| the class of SO and also President Muel-
| Ter of the board Of education, who
| spoke as follows:
Citizens of Butte, Teachers and Pu-
| pills, Ladies and Gentlemen: I assure
| you the duty assigned me this after
! noon is a pleasant one. AS citizen
of this city, from it's infancy almost,
| / take much pleasure in meeting with
| you in my position of honor to discuss
briefly our educational affairs, the pub
| lie schools, their growth and progress
and the problems to be solved in order
to continue the efficiency of this great
public interest. The rapid growth of
| this world-famed mining center the
past decade has brought with it many
questions of public interest, none of
which, however, are of more vital i'm
portance than the education of the chill
dren and youth who are to be the citi-
zens of this city of so many POSSIBLE
tiles.
This age of mechanics, steam and
electricity, with its higher civilization,
has brought with it such demand for
skilled labor and disciplined minds,
that the fullest possible development
of all the natural powers of the chill
dren and youth, who are soon to be
the citizens, is to-day recognized by
nearly every civilized land, not only as
a duty of the state, but also as neces-
sity of the times.
In this land of ours. now so proudly
moving in the front ranks of the great
civilized nations of the world. public
4, a. tI,@ In-
ton of our government A government
of the people and by the people, where
in all are equal. can prosper only
through the intelligence of it's peoples.
We must, therefore. educate. There is
no way of getting out of this duty, even
if we want to. The age in which we
| live, the development of the higher ma
| tonal civilization, the progress in the
| applied arts and sciences and the great
| corporate and private interests de-
| handing skill and intelligence make
public education not only duty, but
a commercial necessity as well. But
this is not all. We are not only COM
PEELED by these conditions to educate
| but we are also compelled to keep
apace with the progress and growth of
| the world about us. There appears to
| be no place in this age of activity and
wonders where we can stop and rest
1t is always onward and upward The
man or the city or the nation that stops
for a single day in this nineteenth cen
fury is lost in the place for rank. l
am sometimes given to wonder where
it will all end, and then turn to that
picture of the day when human ad-
vancement will have told man how to
live completely as intended by Him
who made the world with its wonders
and gave them to mankind.
| There is no better illustration of prog
ress, growth and development to be
| found in the world than that of our
| great mining city. Thirty years ago
Butte was not on the face of the map
of the territory. Twenty years ago the
| wealth of this mountain top began to
| give forth its stores of precious metals
and the eyes of the world turned in this
direction From a few struggling
miners cabins the camp has grown to
be a city of $4,000 people. In 1882, IT
years ago, IA teachers We're employed
| in the Butte schools at a monthly sal
airy of $7S5 to teach less than 900 pupils.
The census for that year was 1856, and
| the total expenditures were ST., 404. The
value of school buildings, sites and fur
niture was $44, $50. Ten years later, or
in 1892, the little corps of IA teachers
had been increased to 60 and the month
ly payroll to $500. while the census
had grown from Lass to 5,037, and the
total expenditure had been increased to
$95, 900, Last year, 1895 the number
teachers had increased to total of 112,
the census to S,447. with a monthly pay
roll of over $4,000; a total expenditure
of S170,A50 and school property valued
at $500, 800 This year, 1892 there are
now 1S1 teachers employed, an increase
of 10 over 1898, and conservative esti-
mate places the increase of the corps of
teachers for the opening of the schools
in September at $50; the census at
$3.50: the monthly payroll at $4,000;
the total annual expenditure for this
year at over 100000, and the value OF
school property at $425,000. The growth
of the schools the past years from 1894
as follows: