Evening journal., 1915-04-05

scope of the school has been Widencd
and that the moving from city 10
county will mark what might be term
ed new era in the work Of the school
IL would be just as we'll, perhaps. 70
review briefly the history or this most
important educational and moral in
sttutiOn
Twenty-Five years ago Mrs. Eliza
beth c. Marks. wife of the. Rev. Lalay-
cite c. Marks, at that time minister
of Hanover Presbyterian Church, be-
came interested in the problem OF the
incorrigible girl SO many OF whom
she saw brought into court aud re-
leased by the Judge simply because
there was no place TO send them. Re
alizing the indlscriminatc turning out
into the streets again of so many girls
who were mentally and morally alb
normal was not only a menace to
society in general but that the girls
themselves were not being given a
fair chance. Mrs. Marks saw the need
for school to meet such cases. So
in the year 1893 what is now known as
the Delaware Industrial School for
Girls was informally and unonlcially
started by woman vitality interested
in the future womanhOOd of the State.
In that same year such was the
acknowledge influence OF the school
that an act incorporating il and
naming il the Delaware Industrial
School for Girls was passed by the
Legislature, with Mrs. Elizabeth c..
Marks. Frances A. Mather. Frances s..
Garrett, Emma l. Weldin, Emaloa p.
Warner. Josie =. Fogg. Mary Smith
ers, Mary b. DOnnen, Tillie +. Sud
Ter. Hannah Tunnel. Margaret S.
Hilles and Helen Porter constitut-
ing the corporate body.
In May of last year the property
owned by the school and known as the
Pfromm estate was soid Tor $1,000
and on July 30 1913. a tract of land
situated on the Darby road at Clay
mont, and known as the George Boyd
property, was purchased for $3.50.
This property has proved 10 be an
idea situation for the school with its
seventy-fve acres Of rolling land, an
abundant supply of excellent water.
shade trees and stone enough for all
the buildings. The contract for the
two cottages was awarded 10 the A.
S. Reed and Brothers Company for
s57 800 and ground was broken last
May.
In January, 1914, arrangements
were made TO take out the stone on
the place with which to build the
two cottages called fOr IN the con-
tract The buildings are beautifully
located on a slight elevation several
hundred feet back from the road.
They are both painted a glistening
white with Bay State cement while
the roofs are painted a reseda green.
Altogether they create a most pleas
ing impression and are beautiful.
The two cottages arc built exact
ly alike with the exception that one
has the laundry while in the other
is the gymnasium. Each cottage has
35 dormitories which will allow each
girl to have separate rooms and each
has its own kitchen. dining room.
storage plant, filtration plant Offices,
teachers rooms. etc. In building the
cottages the colonial idea has been
carried out in a simple and harmoni-
GUS manner. The entrances to each
building are colonial porticoes. with
high white benches on either side of
the doors while the reception halls
and other rooms are wide, many win
dowed and attractive.
All the floors are of hard wood, the
doors are made Of birch, while the
casing is of North Carolina pine. Each
cottage has an up-to-date filtration
system, fire escapes and automatic
firehghting apparatus. A feature OF
one of the cottages is the gymnasium,
which is SO feet long, 30 rect wide and
has a cement floor The laundry
also is complete in every detail with
stationary tubs, etc. An interesting
feature is an arrangement of a bell
system in the teachers rooms. To
each bell is attached the number of
each room and the moment that q
door is opened the bell corresponding
! to that room Immediately rings in
the teachers room, thus allowing nc
girl TO either come in or go out OF
her room without being duly regis
tered.
1 With only 2S sleeping rooms in the
| old building it will easily be seer
how inadequate that was to meet the
present needs of the school. which
I now has 81 girls. Each cottage a
Claymont, will have its cottage man
ager, to be appointed later, and i
is thought that each cottage will b'
named, though the latter matter vii
lcome up before the next meeting q
the board before anything can be an
nounced concerning II. 1t is probable
however. that one of the cottages viii
be named after Mrs. Elizabeth c.
Marks, the founder and first presiden
OF the school.
Twenty-three Of the rooms In thi
new cottages have been furnished b.
Woman's Christian Temperate,
Unions while seven have been fur
nished by various persons.
And now just a word concerning
the school work itself, as TO give tn
reader an idea of the splendid sys
tenn that is being employed there
In the first place all the work of thl
institution is done by the girls them
selves, who are divided into corp
of workers, each corps being appoint
ed for two weeks to do certain work
While the girls are under strict su
pervision at all times, they have reg
ular periods of recreation and amuse
ments which are healthful and pleas
ant.
Upon entrance 10 the school eacl
girl is charged with $500 marks. Thi
is betrayed by receiving ten marks
day, and for every months clear rec
ord a hundred extra marks are given
thus making the shortest possibl
time in the school eighteen months
and the average time two years an,
two months. Those who remain long
or in tho Enhnnl arc .ifhnr r,,nrtnll.