Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-01-23
LOCAL SCHOOL TALK.

read your school articles with a good
deal of interest. We are building
12 room building on a one acre lot and
already everybody sees the mistake.
When the question of site was under
consideration, some of us wanted to
buy a three acre field for $4,000. We
had an offer of $4,000 for the old lot,
had an offer of $4,000 for the old lot
would have cost only $4,000. Our
plan did not appeal to the people be-,
cause they did not understand, and
we had to build on the old lot. The
new building is going up, and every
body now sees the mistake. The
building, though only just started,
looks bigger than the lot. It's too bad
to spoil nice buildings that way, but
you can't help it. The majority wont
understand It'll too late"
Another out-of-town reader said last
Saturday: your board of education
ought to go to Greenwich, Conn.,, and
see the school there. GreenWs1n is
about the sis Vi Woodbury., and its
school and grounds are the pride and
admiration of the town, and every
body who visits it. They have ball
grounds, tennis grounds, flower gar
dens, ETC., and the latter are all cared
for by the children"
In the annual report of the State
Board of Education which we picked
up the other day, we find in the re-
port of Superintendent Davey, of East
Orange schools, that a newly acquired
lot for a new school house has "a
frontage Of 300 feet, widening in the
rear, and a depth sufficient to permit
the laying out of running track and
a good sized ball f1eldi" Further on
in the report Mr. Davey speaks of the
purchase of a lot 200x322 as a site for
a primary school, and still further he
says: "The expenditure of $14,500
was made for widening and beautify
ing the grounds of another school,
East Orange is said to have the
finest schools in the state, and thou
sands Of dollars are being expended
to enlarge the grounds of old school
buildings.
In many ways Woodbury. is progress
sive beyond many towns of her size,
and we believe if given an opportunity
the people would express their prefer
ence for progression in the erection
of her new schooIhouse. The new
building must be erected to conform
to progressive ideas as to light, heat
and ventilation, and we have about
reached the conclusion that there
should be some state regulation as
to the extent of the land a Board of
Education would be allowed to build
new buildings upon. %
In a communication to local paper
a few weeks ago, signed "A. S. NJ"
the writer asserted:
"In my judgment more good could
be done for the physical and mental
condition of the pupil by a regular
open air exercise in proper breathing,
and lung expansion than in any other
branch of study"
We have no means of knowing how
many people in Woodbury. agree with
"A. s. NJ" that instruction in proper
breathing is the most important the
public schools can bestow If that
idea be general, then this idea by "a.
S. NJ is logical here:
The John M. Saunders (Dillon lott
is in the judgment of the best friends
of education, the most central and one
of the most healthy sites that can pos
sibly be secured. q
No one will deny that the Dillon lot
affords space for scientific breathing,
even for 800 children, who might be
assembled there.
"A. S. M" talks as learnedly about
children as the "old woman who lived
in shoe" might, but we will venture
guess that he is neither the natural
parent nor the adopted parent of al
boy or girl. Yet he knows all about
children and probably counts himself
zone of the best friends of education. "
Such people usually do.
Again he says:
Gould not the physical, mental and
financial condition of most countries
be bettered by increasing the mar
riageable age, say twenty-five for the
male and twenty-one for the female
even in warm climates? Would not
this rule or law decrease a vast
amount Of misery and poverty, lesson
the need of almshouses and charitable
institutions, both public and private?"
There are good many things about
this old world that we all complain
about. It's either too hot or too cold,
too wet or too dry, but mighty few of
us have the nerve to question Gods
plans, for His children, men and wom-
en- have loved and married since the
world began; some at an early age
and others later; some marry for
love, others for profit. money or a
home Some rear families and some
do not, but as for regulating this by
1aw-well, it's just as sensible as
some other things "A s. NJ" thinks
he knows about If all the males
born in the same decade, "a S. NJ"
first saw the light of day had follow
ed his example there would not be
worldwide investigation of systems OF
education, of methods for insuring a
vigorous. healthy, intelligent posteri-
ty; but all anxiety would be directed
to the one question of how much long
er am I to be allowed to breath scien-