The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-03-03
They Seek to Learn the Nee DIS
of the institution.
Well Pleased With What They
Saw and Heard.
Lawmakers Address Students
in the Chapel.
From Tuesdays Daily.

From Tuesdays Daily.
Surely the legislators who visited the
Mankato normal school this morning
were favorably impressed with this, the
largest institution of its kind in the
state. During the morning until eleven
O'Clock the various members of the
committees of the house and senate,
sent to look over the school and its
workings and to observe its needs, visit
ed here and there through the building
and chatted informally with the in
structors and with each other concern
ing what they saw and what should be
done. There were other visitors, who
came along with the legislators, many
of the lawmakers bringing their wives
and other friends. An intense interest
was displayed by the visitors in all
that they saw and heard concerning the
school, and, judging from the talk and
the formal speeches that were deliv-
cred afterwards, the legislators all found
themselves swayed on irresistibly to
one unanimous conclusion, namely, that
the Mankato normal needs and should
have more money to run it and enlarge
its facilities in proportion to the de-
mands of an increasing patron
AGE. How much can and will be done
in that respect is another question en-
tirely A multitude of factors enter in
to the apportionment of the states
money.
At eleven o'clock the gong sounded
and the students marched into the as
sembly hail. and took their places. The
visitors also filed in and just filled the
rostrum, without overcrowding it. Sew
eral prominent citizens were with them,
among these being President Cooper,
Senator Eberhart, G. n. Andrews, w. A.
Funk, John C. Wise, resident director,
and a. II. Lossow. The party of guests
included Senators Patrick Fitzpatrick
of Winona, NJ. r. Everett of Waterville,
John c. Hardy of st. Paul, Charles H.
Dart of Litchfield, John L. Frater of
Brainerd, III. +. Barker of Cambridge,
and +. III. Peterson of MOorhead; and
Representatives j. j. Pehler of Winona,
w. C. Fraser of Rochester, j. R. Morley
of Owatonna, Nicholas Juliar of Man
kato, Frank Haskell of st. Paul, B. III.
Timberlake of Minneapolis, NJ. l.. Eos
seen of Minneapolis, John Lardeen of
Garfield, George E. Perley of Moorhead,
and C. n. Haugen of Pelican Rapids;
also Senators H. II. Witherstine of
Rochester, Julius HI. Nichols of Pipe
stone, c. A. johnson of st. Peter, and
John G. Schultz of st. Peter.
President Cooper opened the exercises
by announcing the first chorus by the
school, which rendered pretty song
entitled Sailing" under the direction
of Miss Paulsen and accompanied at the
piano by Miss Robe Pheononum.
The president now made few in
troductory remarks in which he called
the attention of the legislators to the
fact that since their visit at the school
two years ago, the enrolment had in
creased fifty per cent, and more money
was certainly needed to carry on the
school. If the amount of money appro-
priated by the legislature two years
ago to carry on the normal school was
needed then, when there were about
three hunrded normal students, then
surely a considerably greater outlay is
needed now that there are to be about
$50 at the close of the year. One of the
library. Students now stand up, sit
on the windows and on the floor in the
present cramped library quarters. He
would like to have an additional one
story wing built to the rear of the
building, extending about eighty feet by
forty. Another crying need is a gym.
nasium. Here there was great applause
from the students. At present physical
culture is being taught in little room
about thirty feet square. Money is
also needed to put the building into
better shape. The normal also needs a
dormitory, but perhaps that is a ques,
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