The Press., 1915-03-24
Regular meeting of William Horton amp, Sons of Veterans will be held

Regular meeting of William Horto
 camp, Sons of Veterans will be hel
 this evening.
 There will be sociable at tn Congregational church this evening
 with supper at 6.
 MT. and Mrs. Martin J. Mattesel and daughter, Olive, have left tow
 to make their home at East Hartford
 MT. and Mrs. w. B. Demond o
 North Adams, formerly of this town
 are at Santa Barbara, Gal They
 are situated right on the coast, nea1
 Santa Barbara Mission, and are enjoy
 ing many beautiful drives.
 l April 1, Warden J. M. Leach vii
 move to Kuslansky's block where h,
 has rented suite of three rooms il
 the second story and for the remainde
 of the year will devote his time ex
 clusively to borough affairs
 | Frank Sadler, formerly of Stafford
 Springs, employed by the Electric
 Light Go, fell from a 5O-foot pole at Rockville last week and sustained fractures of both legs and internal in juries from which it is doubtful if he l recovers.
 The Mill Basketball league which
 was recently started with six teams representing the various mills around the Borough and also the Young
 Mems club and s. H. S., has made a good start and indications point to some good basketball in the future. The teams are pretty we'll matched and there is friendly spirit of rivalry between teams It is not known definitely whether the S. H. s. will stay in the league or not, but the league will remain intact with the probability that another team will be | added. The next league game is scheduled for next Friday at Borough hall between Orcuttv;lle and Rhode Island. Admission, 10 cents. To the Editor of The Press:
 In a previous letter tried to prove ! that expert supervision is an absolute | essential to school efficiency. Visi- tors making perfunctory inspection a few times year cannot do the work, especially where so many of the teach CTS are untTained and inexperienced, as is the case in the outlying districts. To anyone who considers the mak ing of good and intelligent citizens, the men and women of the future, as at least equally important with the making of cloth, argument in favor of supervision is superfuous. But the impression seems to prevail that desirable as it is, the cost of super intendent would be prohibitive This is very far from being the case, as [ hope to show. The statutes provide that in certain cases the state shall bear one-half the expense.
 CD Any town employing between 20 and 30 teachers may elect a superintendent, and the state will pay e-half his salary up to the amount of $500. At present we have 33 teachers. If, by closing some of the smaller one-room schools, we could reduce the number of teachers to 30, the board could then elect super intendent at salary of $500 or $500, of which the state would pay one half. Although there are ob- jections in the way, I am not pre- pared to say that this cannot be done.
 CD Two or more towns, employ ing together between 80 and 5O teachers, may combine to form a supervision district, and elect super intendent, in which case the state will pay one half the salary, up to $500. The only nearby towns, at present without supervision, with which we might combine are Union and Westford. Wilmington, Holland, Somers, Ellington and Ashford schools are already supervised by agents appointed and paid in full by the state. The rural schools in these places are, generally speaking, con- siderably superior to the rural schools in Stafford, simply because they have the benefit of scientific supervision. It is dou btful if either Union or Vest ford could be induced to combine with us. Certainly the partners would be unequally yoked.
 There is a third possibility. If one more teacher were added to the High school, as a principal, the princ- pal would be relieved of a certain amount of routine work in the class room, and would have free time to act as superintendent of all the schools in town. Very likely this would prove less expensive than any other way.
 The cost of supervision to the town, under either of the three plans. would not be much above $500. Of this more than $500 would be saved directly by cutting out the fees now paid the school visitors under the old system, and in addition considerable amount indirectly by more economical purchase and distribution of supplies mak ing the net cost less than $500. I he gain to the teachers ill efficiency, and to the children, for whose benefit the schools are run, cannot be esti mated in dollars and cents.
 Is it bad business to add two or three per cent to the school budget in order to increase many per cent. the efficiency of our schools, and to insure the taxpayers more adequate return on the twenty-odd thousand dollars we are spending each year maintain that education, the mak- ing of citizens, is just as much busi