River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-12-24

should be provided for the poor farm. of about
three four tons capacity.
And we recommend that the improvements
and repairs mentioned be done as soon as
practicable, the work at the poor farm to be
that the County Buildings in the village
under the direction of the County Superin-
tendent of Public Property.
Dated November I4th, 1908
James McNassar,
T. M. Manion,
d. w. Kinne,
Committee on Buildings.
George w. Weldon, Supt of Schools,
read his annual report, and the same
was on motion accepted and ordered
to be placed on file.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF the County superintendent of Schools
To the Honorable Board of Supervisors
| of Pierce County:
| Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: l have the
honor to present herewith my fourth annual
report of the schools of Pierce County. The
work which is being done for the education
future citizens is the subject OF this report;
The theme is old one 1t has been presented
annually to County Boards by County Super
intendents for nearly forty years. but the on
1 ferent phases of school work always furnish
something new something that should attract
/ the attention of this board at least once year
1t gives me pleasure to report on the con-
dtion of our schools this year, especially on
/ physical conditions. Eighty-four OF the one
hundred rural schools had installed heating 1ei
and ventilating systems and supplied all ap.
/ paratus required by the State Superintendent
for first class rural schools, before June 80,
| 1908 These districts have made application
| for the fiftv dollars special state aid and my
inspection reports show that nearly all OF t men.
can reasonably expect to receive 1t. ms rs
school officers of this county. AS result
our children will work in well heated, Wen
ventilated. and well equipped, buildings, Wnere
conditions in most cases will compare FAVOR
| ablv with their homes This means more
| efficient work on the part OF our pupils ana
more efficient teachers to instruct tnef nj
| This is as it should be. Is there any good
reason why our public schools should not snare
| in the general prosperity? NO; the stanoa :S
Of our schools should certainly KEEP GO that
every child may receive the liberal, practical
education and training which the times demand
| In fact, l believe this general advancement
| depends primarily on the efficiency OF our
| public schools. :u $500
| forward into the first class column leaving only
seven without adequate systems of ventila-
ton, None of these seven have. an enroll
ent of more than twenty-five m IN Hee Oh 'ne
| Tho school boards have been active IN I'M
proving physical conditions and we have met
with phenomenal success we naGe o IN some
| districts from people who were mIsinforneo
and failed to see that it was to their pest lnteI
| ests financially for the district to comply with
Chapter 600, Laws of 1927 not consi led nd
what it meant to the health, comfort ana ed
| ucation of our children .:u,o.,+.
| Nearly all districts met the requirements
| at an expenditure of from seventy-hve 10 one
hundred twenty-five dollars and by mani
| tanning an efficient school, they VIII su.e.y
receive one hundred fifty dollars from the state
| that they would not have received otnerWlse.
There was no occasion for the statement mace mace
by that no money would , eyer De 1ece ales
from the state The State OF Wisconsin makes
GOOD its promises. and l trust the statement
| won't be repeated after the district treasurers
receive their first fifty dollar draft tins winter,
Cordc
the notion somehow that they were opngeo
| to install patent system to be entitled 10 the
bonus. The State superintendent 80 cn schnal
officers certainly made it clear that Manuel
Smith or Waterbury system, good Dase1nenC
furnace or a homemade system would be accSpteo.
Of course the homemade system had to be in
| stalled according to the requirements hxed
| bv the State Superintendent and l believe
they would cost fully much as one OF the
patent systems, to say nothing of the trouble 1T
| would have given school boards to install them
| Many complained that the price charged 1or tne
| patent systems was much in excess OF the ac,
| tual cost of material. No sane person Wouid
attempt to dispute that statement. Gan
anyone name an article or lmplenlehf conS s;eb
| we aren't obliged to pay. conSlderaple more more
| than the cost of material and labor! TOY :tw
| does the first cost of binder compare with
the price charged farmers? Isn't it less than
one-half?
A few still insist on cnging to the, idea that
| either an experienced or a first grace teacner
/ is required in first class school, Let me
| state again that the only requirement, SO Iat
| as the teacher is concerned, IS tnat enc.1 5
! cannot conscientiously make sworn statement
| that the work done by the teacher or teachers
| this school year was satisfactory shoulo MOI
| apply for the bonus next july
NEW BUILDINGS
Three new buildings were erected during
| the year The buildings in it. S, Salem ana
| No. (. Ell Paso, are splendid modern struct-
u te Which the people Of those districts are
and have just reasons to be p roudq Oh do,b 1te
the best rural school building in the county
is brick structure q it. long tBe anq 1o3 st. or or
east side under the befry for two entries s: ana
a library The alcove used for the library a
which is between the entries is open TO tne
| main room and is lighted by three small WIN
| dows placed close together in the front OIL the
building This leaves the. school room IS
by 81 feet facing south There are ten Ve a tge
west side put in so that none of the pupils
have to face the light and leaving the entire
south side and half of the west side unoDstruct-
ed for blackboard space; eu
They have a good deep basement. the full
size Of the building fitted with first class
tiation through a 14x1S inch register in the
chimney at the floor line. The inside meas
urement of the chimney is I6x2o and nine
smoke from the furnace. This building cost
The plan Of the building in No. S, Ell Paso,
is similar but theirs is 3ox3o frame struc-
ture and they have Manuel Smith i system
instead of a furnace. Their building cost
about S12oo Considering the low valuation
of the district the people have certainly man
Tested their progressive spirit by displaclng
the last log school house in the county by TINS
splendid modern building. fine building
was also built at Exile, in place. OF the one
burned by lightning in September, 1907:
The building in the Carmichael district
town of Maiden Rock, burned Oct. S,
1908, and will be replaced next spring by.
modern frame building, the plan of which
will be similar to the plan for the building IN
it. S, Salem. They will finish the years work
in the town hall.
SCHOOL BOARD CONVENTION
The third annual school board convention
under the new law was held at the Ellsworth
high school, Saturday, December T. 1907.
One hundred sixty school board members
attended, an increase of twenty as compared
with the attendance in 1906. Rural School
Inspector L. w. Wood present for the
third time and gave two very practical ad-
dresses. His clear explanation OF the Con-
solidation Problem well received by the
school officers. He did not resort to misrep-
reservations as to the comparative cost. He
state that it was both feasible and desirable
in some communities, that it added much to
the efficiency of the school as result OF better
grading and a proper division or labor, but
that it would add some to the cost OF main
tenance. John T. Beddall, in his talk on Dis
trict and Town Clerks Reports. gave som