Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-05-28

manned until the present time, with
the exception of broadening out from
time to time as the needs of our in
dustries demanded.
In spite of the fact that the need
of school of this type was received
with favor by the ambitious young
men of the city, as evidenced by the
enrolment in February. 1885. of IS
students, 125 students in the fall of
1885, $50 students in 1887 and 25s in
1888. when the preparatory class was
organized, the payments on the orig
inal pledges were rapidly diminishing.
until in July. 1888. the Common Coun-
ell of Newark came to the rescue and
increased its annual appropriation
from $500 to $1,000, thus assuring an
equal sum from the State. the maxi
mum under the law of 1884
From this time on the school
fiourished. the number of students in
1890 increasing to as The school had
already outgrown its limited quarters
in West Park street, and. after a
fruitless search for larger quarters,
the director was instructed to seek
location where a suitable building
could be erected as home for the in
stitution.
Present site Is Located.
In March of 1890 he reported he had
located the site on which the present
building stands that could be secured
at a reasonable price. This report
was accepted by the board Of trustees,
and it was decided to secure subscrip-
lions for the purchase of the plot and
the erection of a building Fitting it
was that this site should be chosen,
in the shadow of the Hedges home
stead. one of Newark's famous
schoolmasters.
Plans were at once drawn for
structure 126 feet by SIS feet, con-
sisting of three stories and a base
ment. The director was appointed a
committee of one TO solicit subscrip-
tions, and at first received but little
encoura cement. The amount re-
quired to realize the project was at
least $4,000. and the difficulty in in
teresting the citizens in this noble
work can readily be lima gined when
only $1,000 was subscribed for during
the first year. Here again Director
Colton's untiring efforts for the good
of our community proved themselves
worthy of commentator. He kept
steadily at his task until in May.
| 1892. the fund had reached $4,000 and
in March, 1893, s22,S4o.
As under the conditions of the sub
scription no money was to be paid
until the fund had reached $40, 600. the
future appeared anything but bright
Panic Darkens Prospect.
The panic of 1893 intervening gave
the fund quite a setback, and not
until December. 1895, was final eff
fort made 10 raise the balance re-
CURED In 1896, however, thanks to
our city, the Common Council voted
an appropriation Of $4,000, bringing
the sum to ss0,sTs
The erection of the building was
begun on March 80, 1896, and on May
II the corners stone was laid with ap-
propriate ceremonies. The following
December the building was COM
pleted. but owing TO delays by the
contractors an extra session COM
mencing January 4. 1891 was sub
stituted for the regular sessions, and
there was therefore no graduating
class that year.
May IL. 1896, was an eventful day
for the Newark Technical School. for
on that day was laid the corner
stone of an institution which was
destined to become known all over
the State and country by educators
1t marked the beginning, in New Jer-
sey at least, of Industrial education.
and has been the means of fulfilling
the dreams of many men prominent
in educational fields today