Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-02-14
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John D. Rockefeller presented the Uni
versity of Chicago with 100000 as a
New Years gift, thus making the total
of his donations to that institution SOL
416,921. OF the latest gifts 100000
goes to make up the years deficit and the
rest to the permanent endowment. The
trustees also announce that $500, 900 more
had been pledged by other people. This
brings the permanent endowment up to
$10.500,000.
The public schools figured out some
numerical progress during 19O4-5. En-
rollment increased 213,O00, making total
of 16,496,067. The rates of enrolment
to total population advanced from pool
to 2003 per cent. The average number
of days attended by each pupil advances
from 1927 to 1O4.7 and the average
length of the school term made a new
record, advancing from 1867 to 1903
days. The public school system cost 3d. 40
per capita of the population, and S25.17
per pupil, or is cents a day.
The New York School Journal pub
fishes statistics showing the growth of the
trade schools movement in this country.
There are six building and mechanical
trade schools in New York and Brooklyn,
three in Boston, two in San Francisco and
two in Philadelphia. New York has two
brewing academies, Chicago and Milwau-
kee one each. Philadelphia. Lowell. New
Bedford and Atlanta have textile schools
Chicago. St. Louis, Omaha, Peoria, Wal.
than, Winona and LaPorte have watch.
making and engravers' schools The uni.
versities of Wisconsin and Mir aesota and
the Iowa college of agriculture have
schools of dairying. For dressmaking.
millinery and the domestic arts and sci
ences, schools exist in Boston, New York.
Brooklyn. st. Louis and Philadelphia.
Eight cities contain schools to teach bar
bering. st. Louis has a school for rail-
way telegraphers; Effngham. ILL.,. has q
college of photography, and New York ar
academy for shipbuilders.
The trustees of Hobart college. Geneva,
n. Y, have accepted the proposition of
William Smith of that place to found a
college for women with an endowment of
S350OO0. 1t will be known as the Will
liam Smith college for women.
The Modern Language Association at
its recent New Haven. Conn.,, meeting
voted to use simpli6ed spelling in the
journals of the association and approved
the campaign of the spelling board The
Wisconsin Teachers Association has in
dorsed the Simplifed Spelling Board and
The action of President Roosevelt in fur
thering phonetic spelling.
One of the trustees of the Louisville
university is authority for the statement
that John d. Rockefeller has offered 81
100000 to the institution. The gift is to
be contingent upon the raising o. sim
liar sum from other sources.
Sidney Lee, editor of the National Die
tionary of Biography. in an address at
London. said it was a significant fact that
at Harvard university there were twenty
professors of English, while at Oxford
there was only one and that America,
Germany and France were all outdoing
England in English scholarship The
American people are becoming more accu-
rate readers and writer's.
A dental clinic for school children is to
be established in the Forty-third street
industrial school. New York City. Similar
work has recently been vigorously pushed
in the public schools of Germany, where
several cities have established free dental
clinics.
The Public Education Association of
Philadelphia is making vigorous cam
paign to take the management Of the
schools out of politics. A formal request
has been sent to all political organiza-
tions. asking them to seek the election of
efficient directors, regardless of party. In
this work the Civic Club is also joining
and list of available names has been
published.