The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-06-05
THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

stiles. Some of the worlds oldest
are smaller than the Ocala High
School and far less useful. Many of
the new ones are trying TO be worthy
of the name, which stands for the
highest and broadcast in education. A
state university should be one in
which any citizens son can finish an
education which should be of the
greatest use to himself and the state,
and that is the end that the board of
control is trying to attain with the
University of Florida.
The state board of control consists
OF P. K Younge of Pensacola, chair
man; Ed. L. Wartmann of Citra, w.
D. Finlayson of Old Town, T. B.
King of Arcadia and F. p Fleming,
Jr., of Jacksonville. They serve
without pay, and not one of them is
a resident of a county in which
ed. They are all men who have been
successful in their own affairs, and
they are we'll acquainted with the
affairs of the state. They are trying
to carry out the logical idea of
state university as expressed above,
and it is evident from what they have
accomplished that they have laid a
good foundation and are building
well.
We all remember the condition
higher state education was in a few
years ago when there were nine in
stitutions in different parts of Flor
ida, and the best of them hardly
more. than a local school. The high
est was the Lake City college; next
Gainesville, with others scattered
around. The Putnam bill, which
passed the legislature after a savage
fight, consolidated these into four,
and established the board of control,
the greatest work of which is the
state university, closely followed in
proportion by the State College for
Women at Tallahassee, with the
school for deaf. dumb and blind at
st. Augustine, and the normal school
for colored students at Tallahassee.
The members of the board had not
~much money to start with, but they
certainly we'll expended what they
had. They sold the property of the
East Florida Seminary, and with the
proceeds and a fund periodically
raised by the citizens they laid the
foundation of the university. There
was nothing to it at first but one of
the big dormitories, the little build
ing used as chronological school,
and the experiment station, which
was built and maintained by the fed
eral government. All these were
started right out in the woods, some
thing over a mile from the business
center of Gainesville, alongside a
country road, on which, or in which,
the wagons carrying machinery and
material sank almost to their hubs
in sand. There were SIT acres of
ordinary Florida land, not a square
foot of which was extra good or val
liable from any standpoint
But, as the old Greek artist said,
Il mix my paints with brains,'' so
brains have been mixed with the
Florida sand, and a picture of beauty
and utility is steadily growing within
the setting of the pinywoods.
Monday afternoon, the writer &C
companied by Mr.. Wartmann and
Mr.. Edwards, the architect of the
board, drove out along the aforesaid
sandy road, now well-hardened ave-
nue., with many handsome homes
along it's sides, to the university
grounds. What at a distance looked
like an irregular group of buildings
took on plan at near approach, and
resolved themselves into the result
of we'll laid and orderly system.
On the northern side of the i'm
mense campus, are three big struc-
lures, in any one of which all Ocala's
school population could find ample
room. The latest of these, in the
northwest corner, is Language
Hail." In it next year will be located
the administration offices, from which
the president will direct the work,
where the scholars will be assigned
to their classes and a large part of
the teaching will be done. 1t is a
type of all the buildings-strong,
plain and intensely practical, but very
comfortable and convenient 1t
might be said in the beginning that
the plan of this building applies to
all the new structures-all are con-
structed wit ha view to present use
and future Improvement. Language
Hall had an appropriation of S40,-
900; all the money has been used,
and the building is ready for use,
and there is a large part of it in the
basement and top story, not needed
now, which is left in the rough-that
is, it has not been given the finish
of the other floors, but when more
money is available that can be added
and the university will have a fifty
or sixty thousand dollar building in
stead of a forty. This lack of finish
does not mean that the incomplete
rooms are unavailable. They have