The times., 1900-12-18
The CotteSe system in Colleges.

| Inc tOtfeSe System in Colleges
The recent terrible fire at the State
Normal School at Fredenia. New York,
in which several young women lost their
lives. is like some other fires, an object
| lessen on the short-sightednes of PER
sons in authority. 1t is reported t1at
seventy-ive women, pupils and instruc-
tors, were sleeping in the top story of the
! building when the fire broke out. The
average observer will be likely to ask
why in the name of common sense such
ar arrangement was adopted.
In large city, human hives and tene-
| ments and hotels are more or less neces-
| sary, since ground is precious, and it is
undesirable to have sleeping rooms near
/ the street. But there is really no reason
why schools situated in the country should
| lodge their pupils in three and four story
buildings, with all the sleeping apart
mcnts at the top. Mount Holyoke College,
which was burned to the ground three
or four years ago, was built on this old
fashioned principle, all the teachers and
students being housed in one large build
ing of FIVE stories, in the basement of
which were the diningroom and kitchen,
with chapel and reception rooms above,
so that practically all of the students
were in or above the third story at night.
Fortunately. that fire occurred in the day
time. and no lives were lost, but it is un-
pleasant to contemplate what might have
occurred at night, when the three hun
dred and fifty women in the institution
were all asleep. The old building, which
dated from the early years of the century,
was replaced by cottages, and it is to
be hoped that all large schools and col
leges will eventually follow the plan of
having recitation rooms for convenience,
in l-Ige buildings. and the sleeping rooms
OF the students in cottages.
The superiority of the cottage system
over that of the large hotel-like building,
in case of fire. is perfectly obvious. What
erer happens TO one small house will not
happen to the others, and the chances are
that the inmates and their property will
be gotten out in safety. The advantages
OF this system are patent in some other
ways. Ventilation is better, since the
rooms on all sides are open to the air.
Noise is avoided-and noise is one of the
things which conduce TO nervous prostra-
tion in an overworked girl. II is not well
that girls should be overworked, of
course, but if they will do it, let the sacri- |
fee be made for knowledge, and not due |
to the strain of enduring continuous
racket. Finally. there is something like a |
family in each cottage. for natural Sc
lection generally brings about the result !
that gcod comrades secure rooms near |
one another and welcome strangers one !
by one, instead of IN a horde.
There was time in America when large |
things were considered superior to small, |
on general principles, and certainly a /
huge dormitory has more imposing look |
to the eye than a cluster of small build
ings. But it is not desirable to sacrifice |
health, safety, and comfort to a mistaken
effect, and it is to be hoped that the old
hive-iike enormous structure in which
dining-room, kitchen. parlors. recitation
rooms, and dormitores were all gathered
under one roof. has once for all he'd it's
day.