The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-03-25
ON BRAS DEPARTURE
Twenty-Five Years Connected With
Educational Matters Creates a
Vacancy in the State.
Vacancy in the State.

vacancy III the state.
In the column of the Department
of Education of the Sioux Falls Ar
gus-Leader of Saturdays issue, o.
w. Coursey, II of the editors of
the department, paid the following
tribute to the departure of II. l..
! Bras, of this city, who has left the
! city to become a resident of the
northwest at Everett, WASH:
con Tuesday venln of this week
Hon. II. l.. Bras, one of the pioneer
educators OF the Dakotas. departed
! temporarily for his new home at
Seattle, Wash. Late in the spring he
! Will return again to Mitchell for a
few weeks, after which he will be-
come a permanent resident of Seattle.
MIR. Bras came to Dakota in the
spring of 1883 and accepted the prin-
cipalship of the Mt. Vernon schools,
Ia position he held for three years.
In the fall of 1856 he was elected
superintendent of the Dawson county
schools and served in this capacity
for six consecutive years. During
this same period he served as one
of the trustees of the Madison state
normal school Cat that time each
state school had it's own Individual
board of ~trustees.) He helped to Or
ganize the South Dakota Teachers
Reading circle and served for twelve
years as one of it's directors. He was
also chairman of the committee that
prepared the first course of study
for this state.
"In the summer of 1892. Mr.. Bras
bought from Professor Dempster at
Madison, the "South Dakota Educa-
ter, a monthly school journal devot-
ed to the educational interests of
the tate; moved it to Mitchell II
merged it with the Mitchell Printing
company becoming equal partners IN
the latter Institution with Ralph
w heelock, who later became famous
With the Minneapolis Tribune, and
with A. e. Dean. This combination
+. lasted until 1894 when Mr.. Bras
withdrew and established the Ed
ucator School Supply Co." on of the
thriving business institutions in the
city of Mitchell. He maintained
control of this plant until January
list of the present year, when he dis
posed of it to Ransom & Pope of
Redfeld.
MIR. Bras represented Dawson
county in the lower branch of the
state legislature, 1S9S-19O2. During
the famous state capital fight of 1903
and 1904, he was chairman of Mitch
ellis campaign committee. From
1902 to 1907, he also served as post
master of the Mitchell office.
Mr.. Bras move westward at the
present time is for the purpose of
making money. There is no school
desk factory west of the Rocky noun
tains. The Spanish-American war
which thrust upon us the Hawaiian
Islands and the Philippines, greatly
stimulated traffic along our western
coast. by reason of these islands de-
tendencies. "Westward the march of
empires takes it's way" For the past
ten years the drift of population over
the Rockies has been rapid and in
cassant. Mr.. Bras evidently foresaw
the development of the school ndus-
try which this would necessitate. He
and his brother, together with some
other parties, will engage in the man
ufacture of school supplies at Everett,
: Wash. They have also purchased and
will publish at Seattle the "North-
west Journal of Education," using
the same as a mouth-piece to adver-
tise their new products.
.sThis hasty sketch will show that
Mr.. Bras for the past twenty-five
years has been a very active man
( active in educational affairs, active
! in politics. Harry is distinctly a self
7 made man. He came to Dakota witt
? nothing but the clothes or his back
He leaves rated at upwards of $50.
900. That he will die rich cannot
be doubted. He has in him all the
elements necessary to make money.
foresight, determination, sagacits
and native shrewdness. Here's on
I best wishes for a successful career
I ..1 - 1o-pr ola r .