The Portland daily press., 1900-02-17
Manual Training in Rur-
al Schools.
Improving Grounds and Build
ings in Appearance.
ESPECIAL TO The PREss.i

sEhNlAb ~ An fhhonsf
Augusta, Ferusry l6.-Ths annual re-
port OF State Superintendent Of Schools
Stetson has been issued. 1t makes q
volume Of one hundred aud fifty pages
With an appendix Of eightT-four pages
In addition. The book is illustrated with
many pictures Of school buildings recent
ly erected. In beginning his report the
state superintendent reviews the work
which the depar tment has been doing for
the past five years looking to the I'm
provement of the rural schools. II is
pointed out that In 1895 an exhaustive
INQUIRY into the cond ition Of the schools
erealed much that was not creditahle.
The report Gays "Ihese facts were given
to the public for the purpose Of enabling
our eopis to know the professional, In
telleotunl and physical conditions under
which their children were rscsiving their
school training. That It was go generally
acoept,d In the spirit In which 1t was
given has not only besn matter OF en-.
oouragement.to thosewho had the work In
charge, but 1t reflects the highest credit
upon the Intelligence. SELF control, public
spirit, emotional sanity of our e,pie."
The report then mentions the examin-
tion which was made in the foilowin g
year OF the schools by means OF questions
sent to the school officers In the 80 vera !
towns, an examination which brought
out replies emphasizing the conditions
stated by the superintendent In his report
for 1895. The next step In the depart
msnt's study of the condition OF the
schools was to learn about the way In
with the money was spent 1t was found
that large amount of money was spent
during the year 1867 In way to give
but small returns This sum aggregated
not less than qusrtsr Of . million dol
lars. In these ways the department OBJ
tained q knowledge Of the conditions Of
the schools so that. In the language of the
report, ait was believed that he had
knowledge Of the ssssnstial conditions ex
listing In and about the schools sufficient
to enable us to inaugurate plans for
their improvement
A detailed course Of study was prepared
and now about thirty five per cent of the
schools are using 1t In whole or in part.
"Perhaps the most deplorabls deficiency
connected with our Schools" says ths re-
port, "has bean the discouraging and Ia
tome-instanoes demoralizing physical
surroundings In which the children must
spend their school days, The yards. out
buildings. school houses, furnishings,
some Of them or all OF them, have bean
unfit for the purposes for which they
have been used"
As an aid to rsmedyins this state of
things the department proourrea permits
sion to publish the plans of the states Of
New York and Michigan. Plans prepared
in accordance with the recommendation
Of the state board Of health were also
used and drawings made by one Of the
of the statsL These were
printed with advice and instruction ~
to the location Of buildings, water sup
ply ventilation, etc., and sent to school
and municipal officers and many citizens
The wisdom of this course has been dem.
onstrated by the character Of the new
school buildings erected In the state. as
Is shown In the Illustrations which &C.
company the report.
MANUAL TRAINING IN RURAL
SCHOOLS.
To answer the objection that II was not
possible to teach music, drawing and
manual trainisg In the rural schools an
interesting experiment was tried in ore
hundred and ten Of the schools. Many Of
these were among the poorest In the state
poorly housed, taught by teachers who
had not received adequate training and
located in communities where many OF
the people were without education.
These schools were visited and In
spected by the stats superintendent and
by persons appointed BY him. The last
inspection reveals the following eondi-
tions: The teachers are using modern