The Washington herald., 1914-06-07
SCHOOLS RUN
BY ELECTRICITY
Only One of the Kind in Ex-
istence Is Conducted by
Government.
EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS
EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS
Everything in This Idaho Institution.
from Laboratories to Kitchen.
Works by Push Buttons.

The only electric school in existence
has been newly established in the town
of Rupert. on the Minidoka Reclama-
ton project. in Idaho. 1t Is run en-
tirely by electricity, from the heating Of
water for the pupils shower baths to
the cooking of the food which is pre-
pared by the girl students of house.
wifery in the domestic science depart
ment.
In this department each girl is pro-
vided with her own electric disk stove.
for her individual and exclusive use. All
the cooking utensils are made to At the
little stoves, including a chatting dish and
a double boiler for each pupil. These
arrangements are supplemented by a
large electric range and other electrical
equipments Tor serving lunches on a con-
siderable scale.
Even Plates Are Heated.
The Rupert establishment is a high
school which makes a feature of manual
training and elementary instruction in
physics and chemistry. Electricity fur
nishes the power for driving the lathes
and saws in tie manual training depart
ment, and in the science laboratory"
are electric hot plates, for evaporation,
while each pupil is provided with an
electric appliance to take tho place of
the ordinary Bunsen burner.
The school building is the only build
ing of size in the world that is heated
entirely by electricity In place Of fur
units" similar to the units used in
electric baking ovens. Fresh air from
outside is forced into the building by an
electric fan and motor at the rate Of
5000 cubic feet per minute, and. pass
ing through a room whose floor Is a tank
filled with water, is warmed by the cleo
trio battery before being distributed
through fiues to the various parts of the
schoolhouse. From the tank II gathers
moisture, so that the air is not dry,
like that supplied by a furnace.
A special contrivance in the way Of
an electric water heater supplies all
the hot water required for the domestic
science department, as well as for the
shower-baths.
Used as Social Center.
This model school. SO scientific and
more than up-to-date in all Its arrange
ments, is designed to serve incidently the
purposes of a social center for the COM
munity and its neighborhood. For the
grown-ups, as well as for the use of the
pupils. an auditorium is provided. spacious
enough to accommodate $50 opera chairs,
of comfortable size. 1t is intended to
be utilized as theater of occasions. and
is equipped with an electric lighting sys-
tenn and switchboard control equal 10
the best that city theaters possess.
The building and its equipment COM
plete cost little over $4,000. 1t is ex-
pected to serve as a model for many
other schools in the irrigated areas of the
West. where electricity derived from
falling water is cheap.
BY and bye, when the girls who have
taken the course of instruction in the
domestic science department come to be
wives. they will not only know how to
cook, but will be familiar with the ap-
paratus and use Of electric kitchens. This
Is important. for doubtless most of them
Will be managers of households that are
supplied with electricity for cooking
purposes
The little town of Rupert-one of three
on the Minidoka project-has at the
Present time more buildings heated by
electricity than any city in the world.
big or small