Evening star., 1923-09-09


and advantages have been urged f"l
M any years ar
Educational half century ago the,
Facilities. we're strongly. present.
| thus summarized in The star Of Sep
tember =. 1878
The very volLminous and valuable
/ bureau of education, for the ycal
! 1872. devotes a liberal amount o.
space TO an enumeration and descrip
! tion of the various educational
agencies of the District of Columbia.
and a glance at the statistics is suf
ficient to convince even the mos
skeptical that in point Of educational
facilities the Capital city of the coun-
try outranks in many respects am
other in the Union. Il is gratifyin-
to notice also that our progress j.
not only steady but rapid in this
direction. Omitting anything NOR
than a mere reference to our pubii'
schools. which are now admitted L"
be among the best in the country. let
us look for a moment at the list o.
toned in the report of Gen. Eaton
:: :: ::
First, we have the Smithsonian In
stitute, an important distinctly"
agency for the diffusion of knowledgt
among men, and which is no noblH
fulfilling it's mission. 1t stands pre-
eminent as the only institution OF tn
kind in. the world, and its contribu-
tions TO human knowledge i'll the
shape of original disquisitions on dif-
ferent branches of science are souGhl
and treasured by the savants of every
land, while it's extensive collection
in the museum is Il mine OF wealth
to the student of natural history and
source of interest and pleasure I"
thousands of visitors yearly.
columbian College, Howard Tn
versity and Georgetown College have
a deservedly high rank as institu-
tions of learning. while the National
Deaf Mute College can boast of being
the only institution in the world for
the higher education of the deaf
mutes, another prominent feature
among our educational agencies a.
the Capital A large number of Law
and medical schools and secondarN
institutions of learning are given, all
of which are unsurpassed in the
facilities they offer for instruction
within their particular spheres.
:. ::
THE model room of the pater.
office. which contains over 10000
models of inventions and which. in
connection with the drawings. l-
ing, as it does, and developing thy
inventive genius of the world, has TO
counterpart in existence and is thc
admira ton of foreign as well as dc
mestic visitors. Peculiar facilities fog
the prosecution of various branchcs
of study are afforded in Washingtor
which can be found nowhere else il
the country. For instance. we have
the Botanic Garden, with 1900 specie
of plants. geographically arranged
from almost every quarter. of thr
globe; the Corcoran Art Gallery, with
it's paintings and statuary, soon. TO
be opened to the public; the museum
of the Smithsonian, already men
toned: the museum OF the Depart
ment of Agriculture, the Army am
Navy Medical Museum, the Cnltcd
States Naval Observatory and MANY
other institutions which are inval-
liable to the student.
'Still another prominent feature OF
our educational, agencies is found 'in
the various public libraries at the
Capital. which contain in the aggrr-
gate 793,702 volumes. OF these. the
Library OF Congress. with over 245.-
900 volumes. and the library of The
Army Medical Museum. with 32,eha
volumes, are rapidly swelling in mag
,nitude yearly. Congress annually
making appropriations for the pur-
chase of additional works. All the
other public libraries are also grow
ing steadily.
I'VE instance these facts to show
that our city has advantages as an
educational center possessed by no