The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1917-05-17
The Chemistry Department.

Inc SnemIStry DtpdftIueIt.
Chemistry is the science which
treats of the nature, laws of combina-
ton, and actions Of the minute parti-
cles of the different sorts of matter
composing our universe, and the prop
critics of the compounds they form.
! AS science, it is entirely of modern
origin, its phases being identical with
alchemy. By aid of Dalton's, Priest
ly's and Lavoiser's experiments and
discoveries, chemistry is now recog-
nized science. Since the war started,
the need of new explosives and other
inventions has called for number of
chemists and chemistry has been
brought to the front. A person is not
considered educated nowadays unless
he can refer to water as HOO and talk
about other common things in scien-
tifc terms. There is wide opening
for chemists now and for this reason,
many students are studying chemis-
try. Modern high schools and COL
leges pay special attention to chemis
try, and are fully prepared to teach it,
especially the Sank Centre High
School.
The study of chemistry here was be-
gun in a very conservative way, a
number of years ago. They had linn
tied space and not very much appar-
atus. When the new building was
built, the chemistry department was
given ample room, having large
laboratory and separate recitation
room. They have installed a splendid
equipment of chemicals and appar-
atus, and each student has his own
separate desk and a complete equip
ment of apparatus. All equipment is
modern and up to date.
The present class has about % stu
dents in it. The custom is to do lab
oratory work twice a week, but this
is changed to suit the conditions. The
class divided up into two divisions
there being too many to work all at
once, and each division has a separ-
ate day to work in. The laboratory
work does not interfere with the reci-
tations as it is done at another period.
The work is enjoyed very much by
most of the students, as it is all new
and the work is interesting. After
school we often have bunch of spec
tators watching what they think is the
most mysterious things they ever saw
done. We learn to handle the different
acids and other chemicals without dan
ger and we are taught to be careful
and exact. A careless and Indifferent
person cannot do his experiments
without trouble and he soon learns
that doing things right the first time
is the most economical. All expert
ments have to be written up and hand
ed in, so we have to pay close atten
ton to what ever we are doing and
notice everything that occurs during
the experiment.
The recitation work is just as i'm
portant as the laboratory work as we
must know the nature and peculiar
tiles of substance in order to under
stand the experiment. In this way
we find that many things that appear
ed difficult in class are quite simple
after the laboratory work. By study
ing chemistry we can better under
stand the changes that are occurring
around us every day, and we also
learn about the production of food
stuffs, cloths, metals and other things
in daily use. We find that many of
them have to go through very co1n-
plicated process before they come to
us as the finished product. We get
much better insight into the working
of nature, and although the chemistry
is but drop in the bucket compared
to what real scientists know, we lay
a good foundation for future study.
For these reasons, chemistry is one
of the most popular, entertaining and
instructive subjects in school, and it
will be more so in later years when
scientific knowledge is required more
than it is now. "Here's to Chemistry"
Denton Reed, Class of 1918.
The Organization and Aims of Nor
NAL Departments in High Schools
The first Normal school in the
America was organized in 1888 by
Horace Mann, who was conspicuous