The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-20

school carried with 1t the time ho1ored custom of an address to the young women who have said their fare wells The principal address of the day departed from the usual lines of advice, in which commencement orators are prone
 to deal in glitterng generalities.
 In the talk of MT. Carlton Bartlett Gib- son, principal of the public schools If
 Columbus, Ga, there was a commendable absence of generalities in that sense of admonitlon in regard to future conduct
 and that roseate future so frequently pie tured by the minimizing whenever they have an opportunity The young woman graduate has long been the patient vic tim of such addresses, and the particular
 prey of commencement orators. While Mir Gibson's talk this morning was not espe-
 cally applicable to the young women either within or without college walls, the scope of It covering too wide a field
 as far as feminine endeavor is concerned it was refreshingly free from the usual plattudes.
 Industrial education as presented by Mir Gibson is fast becoming an integral part l of our national life. In presenting the
 reason and the growth of the industrial idea the speaker laid particular empha- sis upon the natural resources of the
 south. Technical schools, the ineorporat- ing of manual training into the public 1 school system, gave Mir. Gibson an op- 1 portunity for exploiting those ideals upon
 which his own work for industrial edi- ] cation is based His whole address, some 1 40 minutes in length, was strong plea 1 for technical education, but there Was l only one short paragraph dealing di- 1 rectly with the working departments of | the Girls Industrial school.
 can readily see how young men would l nave been inspired to gC forth with new 1 endeavor and don their overalls, which according to MT. Gibson should be worn l as gracefully as a dress suit, but it was
 not clear to me what part he expected the young women to take in industrial
 lines. The address in no way dealt with the education of girls and the choice of professions suitable for them.
 There were other addresses of an in l formal nature by Governor Conner and the trustees. the annual meeting held in l connection with the commencement bring l ing them to the school. The, delivery of
 diplomas, the programme interspersed
 with musical selections, closed the ex-
 ercises of the morning, the school girls filing out in the recessional.
 The day was bright after an indictment afternoon and evening, which interfered
 somewhat with the programme yester- day.
 The social features of commencement
 week have been very entertaining for the
 many visitors informal receptions follow ing the recitals in the large assembly hall.
 Tuesday the industrial departments held their annual exhibitions. Of special interest were the dressmakng and mil- linery departments. The art exhibition | teld this week was also most creditable. | The development of the several depart ments could be judged by the varied ex- l hibits, the extent of which emphasized l the need of additional facilities, some of
 which will be provided in the new bulld- | ings now going up, the sight Of large
 working force in overalls blending rather | strangely with the procession of White- robbed girls on the campus.
 The new wing is fast nearing comple- ton. and work in enlarging the main building has progressed rapidly. | With the additional dormitory room, the | new building to accommodate 5o0 girls, It l would seem that the fondest dreams are | about to be realized, and that there would be no further reason for complaint.
 I regret that I must chronicle cause l for dissatisfaction.
 The first remark addressed to me when
 I reached the school Monday was in ref
 erence to the new building. An Alabama
 woman, who said that she was the | mother of seven children, two of whom | had graduated from the Industrial school, came to me in great alarm. You
 must take time,'' she said, "to see this | building. It is fire trap. 1 have tried | to get some one to say something about
 it. to call attention to it in the news
 papers They have spent thousands of l dollars and have not thought 1t worth
 while to make the building fire-proof. 1 want you to see this narrow stairway and ! the door opening from the inside, through which hundreds of girls would have to 1 soueeze in case of fire. Think of what A holocaust such conditions would en-
 gender.
 l sSomething must be done to remedy this
 condition It seems to me criminal to put | 800 girls in a building that is not fire l proof but it is worse than criminal not | to provide them with wider egress. Every | one who has seen this narrow door is l mortified and every mother who has ] daughters to send to the Industrial school considers it the duty of the board to see that at least some of the danger in this building is eliminated.
 Another woman said that each room in
 the new building would be equipped with
 modern fire escape, something like an
 adjustable life preserver, but 20 more
 omen wondered if there was girl in
 the world who would have sufficient
 presence of mind to get into one of these
 fire escapes at the right time.
 Those who have inspected the new build
 ing which 800 young women gre to rsc
 as dormitory, shudder al the thought
 of fire and are not indifferent to the in c1 easing responsibility that falls on Pres iGent Palmer and the teachers
 An article which appeared recently in the Times along this line has been com-
 mcnded by parents, pupils and teachers Il is worthy of reproduction here in oon- nection with what the women of Alabama are saying about the danger of fire in the