The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-23
BIRMINGHAM HAS MODEL HIGH SCHOOL Open Hour Yesterday After noon Drew Big Crowd SPECIAL COURSES FEATURE Great Merit and Practical Value. of In- stitution Can Be Appreciated Only
 By Inspection of Various
 Departments.

l The open hour at the High school yes terday afternoon attracted a great crowd of people and indifferent viewers who entered went away enthusiastic admirers | of Birmingham's model institution. The
 High school is, indeed all that is claimed of it and its true value from the view point of practical education can only be i realized after a thorough and careful in 1 spection of the various departments The number of people who appreciate the merit of the school is astonishngly small. Within the period of the semester just l closing the improvement and the increased breadth of opportunity offered the pupils attending the school has been great. Equipment previously purchased and placed on the ground has been installed in several of the departments, while new appropriations have been made by the ] city, the continuance of which will mean
 that the Birmingham High school will | in very few years take it's place among the best institutions of it's kind in the l United States. As the school Is equipped today it offers practically all of the oppor-
 tunities of a college, except that the scope is not as broad, which is caused 1 cnly by shortage of instruments and | other equipment
 Birmingham apparently does not appre- c'ate her excellent High school Several | weeks ago members of the City Coun- | cil visited and inspected the building. and 1 perhaps, for the first time realized the great advantage to which the money ap proprated by the board was being uti-
 lized. And so it is with the great ma- 1 Jority of citizens. Many have never paid
 the institution a due visit and to this is due the general lack of appreciation.
 Pupils Engaged In Work.
 The various departments were open to the inspection of the public yesterday aft ernoon during the last two periods of the day, from 10:10 to 2:3O o'clock The large number of visitors found the pupils busily engaged in their work under the able direction of the most efficient instructors obtainable and had the opportunity of seeing just how the work was done and what course of instruction was followed
 Here are the departments:
 Manual training.
 | Physics.
 Domestic science
 Commercial.
 | Physical culture
 Besides these special departments the
 school offers a general academic course, l supplemented by several of the languages | which is unsurpassed in any High school
 The manual training department is li- vided into four different branches: car l pentry, including wood turning and cab l met work forge work, mechanical draw 1 ing and free hand drawing. Roy L. Dim
 mitt is the chief instructor of the man l ual arts department and his assistants
 are R. F. Jarvis, who has charge of the
 forge classes, and Miss Alice Stafford, instructor in free hand drawing
 This department is practically complete 1 In any event it is one that would be | creditable to any institution. Visitors yes-
 terday found boys at the lathes turning cut chair legs and other round woodwork, | and others were at the work benches | making cabinets, tabourettes and other l articles of joinery In the forge shop
 they found boys welding chains and mak- ing various other articles about the an-
 wills and flaming forges. Within the past
 few months seven new forges have been
 installed in this department, making 12
 in all, and the special branch is com | plete in every respect. The mechanical ] and free hand drawing rooms are equally complete.
 The department of physics and chem | istry, under the direction of E. S. Me Glathery, chief instructor, and Miss Mary ! k. Robinson, in charge of the physical | laboratory, is very interesting. Pupils in
 the physical laboratory yesterday were | found making all sorts of electrical tests | of value in the elementary study of the
 subject. In the chemistry department one boy was making a test for the percentage
 of iron in piece of ore and another | pupil making a test for arsenic.
 Commercial Department.
 The commercial department is perhaps
 the least appreciated by those who do not l know of it's general course of work. Yet
 it is one of the most practical The .ie- 1 partment now offers the most minute in- | struction along commercial lines Book
 keeping in all of it's branches. shorthand, | mathematics essential to the young man | or young woman entering the commer- cial world, and typewrting are taught. 1 The department offers everything the l modern commercial school offers, and | while the course is not as rapid as IS the case in commercial schools the pupils
 graduate with a thorough understanding
 of commercial work and perhaps a more accurate knowledge of their work. With | in the past three or four years applca- tions by business men for pupils leaving the department have been far more nu-
 merous than have been the graduates, This is considered quite compliment, and is probably due to the fact that business men are aware of the fact that
 the graduate of the high school commer- cial department is backed up by prac- | tical education in other lines, which, | often, is not true of graduates of com
 mercial schools. Miss Laura Spalding. one l of the most able and efficient instructors | in the south is in charge of the commer- | cial department.
 Domestic Science.
 l The domestic science department, in l charge of Miss May Hansis and her 1 assistant, Miss Elizabeth Allen, is for ] the training of girls in cooking and sew l ing. Good cooks may be born but they | are certainly made in the High school. | The kitchen, spotless in every respect, ] was one of the centers of interest yester- | day. The bill of fare consisted of pea nut cookies The dainties were excel lently cooked and the visitors enjoyed l them highly. Skillful seamstresses are | trained in the sewing department | l.. H. Prince has done much beneficial | work since he took charge of the physical culture department of the school. The l pir Ivy iy, in licfba bari1 a