Town annual report of Saugus 1864-1888, Part 5

Author: Saugus (Mass.)
Publication date: 1864
Publisher: The Town
Number of Pages: 562


USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1864-1888 > Part 5


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9 00


J.Whitehead, supplies to Roswell Hitchings, Jr. 24 44


Geo. G. Spurr, supplies to M. O. Connell . . 44 91


Wm. Twiss, funeral expenses of Mrs. O'Conner 21 00


Overseers, traveling expenses, stationery, etc. . 45 17


Hiram Raddin, supplies to Mrs. Moulton . . 104 00


Evans & Mugridge, supplies to Wm. Peirce . 4 75


W. H. Twiss, funeral expenses of Mrs. Peirce . 20 00


Overseers' salary .


200 00


Wood from Town Farm to Mrs. Davis . 3 75


Wood from Town Farm to Miss E. Boardman 16 00


$1,921 06


Orders of Overseers


$1,921 06


ALMSHOUSE ACCOUNT.


LUCIAN WILLIAMS, Keeper.


RECEIPTS.


Cow


$11 00


Wood


18 00


Milk


100 40


Bull .


2 00


Hay .


25 75


Potatoes, produce, etc.


23 85


Overseers' orders


349 55


$530 55


14


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


EXPENDITURES.


Medicine .


$1 50


Sundries


5 30


Tin ware


5 47


Milk


12 47


Coal


18 00


Labor


21 55


Groceries


66 15


Meat


27 56


Grain


172 17


Dry goods


84 67


Salary .


39 58


Cash paid Lewis Brown


76 13


-


$530 55


LEWIS BROWN, Keeper.


RECEIPTS.


Milk


$1,445 87


Hay .


200 73


Horse labor


235 55


Ox labor .


61 70


Vegetables


86 43


Cattle


580 00


Calves .


38 25


Board and lodging


60 00


Grain


85 66


Manure


31 50


Wood .


130 20


Poultry


3 00


Barrels


4 65


Meat


75


Pork


43 93


Use of stock


11 00


Cash of L. Williams, balance due


76 76


$3,095 98


2,885 23


Orders of Overseers


$5,981 21


15


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


EXPENDITURES.


Flour


$120 20


Molasses


23 00


Crackers


40 70


Spices .


12 93


Apples


24 42


Oil


16 23


Coffee


46 84


Tea


18 88


Medicine


17 14


Beans


19 58


Fish


41 56


Soap


14 74


Glass and crockery ware


40 16


Cheese.


15 49


Nails


6 25


Grain


1,192 45


Tobacco


17 65


Matches


6 60


Boots and shoes


28 71


Clothing


88 59


Butter


113 27


Farming Tools


53 87


Sugar


98 73


Lard


32 06


Raisins


13 47


Groceries


115 62


Seed


78 81


Oil cloth


2 76


Wooden ware .


15 89


Hay, rope and bed cord


4 35


Labor


438 25


Ice .


18 00.


Horse hire


15 00


Legal advice


4 65


Meat


240 03


House paper


7 00


Cash to inmates .


2 25


Amount carried forward,


$3,046 13


16


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


Amount brought forward, $3,046 13


Cash to W. Noble and expenses on team


104 30


W. H. Davis, labor 37 77


A. G. Waldron, labor


6 59


Horse-rake and tedder 82 00


Mowing machine 100 00


Berries


7 00


Bedstead .


8 75


Grindstone


19 25


Salt grass


20 00


Geo. H. Davis, labor


10 50


Samuel A. Parker, labor


40 50


Express fees


2 55


Blacksmith and wheelwright


159 85


Bed bug poison


3 00


Expenses out of town


8 90


Cows .


530 75


Hardware


13 48


Stove and tin ware


47 28


Oxen


265 90


Repairs on pump


14 75


Coal


110 23


Manure


215 00


Harnesses


99 10


Ox cart


41 00


C. Merritt, hay and manure


371 50


Whitewashing


15 00


Towels


6 75


Ox labor


27 50


Horse blankets


6 25


Celery .


50


Milk trough.


11 00


Cradle .


2 00


Sundries


46 13


Keeper's salary


500 00


$5,981 21


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE. 17


Wm. P. Copp, Tax Collector, in Account with Town of Saugus.


DR.


Due on tax list of 1872 . $41 37


Due on tax list of 1873. 1,219 54


$1,260 91


, CR.


Paid Town Treasurer on tax list of 1872. $41 37


Paid Town Treasurer on tax list of 1873. 640 06


Balance due on tax list of 1873


579 48


-- $1,260 91


Chas. A, Newhall, Tax Collector, in Account with Town of Saugus


DR.


Uncollected tax list of 1874 $5,899 67


CR.


Paid Town Treasurer $1,854 59


Balance due on tax list of 1874 .


4,045 08


$5,899 67


Wm. H. Newhall, Tax Collector, in Account with Town of Saugus,


DR.


Amount of tax list of 1875 $34,334 77


CR.


Paid Town Treasurer $23,281 00


Paid County Tax . 1,428 90


Balance due on tax list of 1875


9,624 87


-- $34,334 77


3


18


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


Joseph Whitehead, Treasurer, in Account with Town of Saugus.


DR.


To cash on hand . $9,809 39


Cash North Andover 146 56


Allowance on Salem Turnpike 1,000 00


Dog licenses, 1874


84 11


City of Boston .


109 18


Martha Dana, rent of land, 1874-75 . 10 00


City of Lynn 196 77


Five Cents Saving Bank of Lynn . 20,000 00


Warren P. Copp, tax list of 1873 640 06


Warren P. Copp, tax list of 1872 41 37


C. A. Newhall, tax list of 1874


1,854 59


W. H. Newhall, tax list of 1875 23,281 00


Estate of Warren Mansfield, tax list of 1873 . 100 00


Roswell Hitchings 1,300 00


Grass at auction


65 00


Atwood & Bacon, rent of land


30 00


First National Bank of Lynn


10,000 00


Cyrus Cheever. 5,000 00


Mrs. Nancy Snow 3,200 00


Robert Harrison, rent of house 61 84


John E. Stocker, for school-books . 245 72


Wm. H. Newhall, wood sold . 300 00


Lucretia Floyd


2,500 00


Elizabeth L. Tewksbury


2,500 00


Commonwealth School Fund . 252 46


David Williams, use of pasture


10 00


Corporation Tax .


77 35


State Aid allowed


1,326 56


National Bank Tax


486 06


Wm. H. Twiss, Cemetery lots sold


223 00


Edmand Ward . 500 00


Interest from bank deposits 201 00


Allowance on Salem Turnpike, 1875


938 47


Dog licenses, 1875 . 97 00


Mrs. M. B. Hawkes, school-books. 206 98


- $86,794 47


19


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


CR.


By Cyrus Cheever's note


$2,000 00


First National Bank of Lynn, note .


. 10,000 00


Selectmen's orders


. 56,745 68


Overseers' orders


5,155 84


State Tax


2,080 00


Interest


5,758 33


Cash on hand


5,054 62


- $86,794 47


POOR DEPARTMENT.


DR.


Rent of House, value $1,750, at 8 per cent. . $140 00


Rent of barn and shed, value $950, at 8 per ct. 76 00


Rent of 362 acres tillage, $6,350, at 6 per ct. 381 00 Rent of personal property, $3,543, at 6 per ct. 212 58


Wood used


18 00


Doctor's salary


15 00


Decrease of personal property


867 89


Overseers' orders for supplies


$2,885 23


$4,595 70


CR.


By cutting and teaming 35 cords of wood $70 00


By improved condition of real estate 150 00


By 965 meals for tramps, at 25 cents


241 25


By 401 lodgings for tramps, at 25 cents


100 25


Eleven paupers, 482 weeks, at $8.39


$4,034 20


$4,595 70


20


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


Condition and Liabilities of the Town.


LIABILITIES.


Notes of Cyrus Cheever $5,000 00


Lucretia Floyd


2,500 00


Elizabeth L. Tewksbury


2,500 00


Edmund Ward


500 00


Roswell Hitchings


1,300 00


Lynn Five Cents Savings Bank 20,000 00


Nancy Shaw


3,200 00


George R. Stetson 5,000 00


Caleb Stetson . 2,000 00


H. N. Flint 4,000 00


Charles W. Raddin, guardian


5,000 00


Mary S. Wilson


1,600 00


Isaac Guilford


1,000 00


Sarah Raddin .


6,000 00


Lynn Institution for Savings


5,000 00


Heirs of George Smith .


10,000 00


George Pranker .


18,000 00


B. W. Westermann


10,000 00


Gilbert Waldron


1,000 00


Interest accrued .


2,313 00


$105,913 00


ASSETS.


Cash in hands of Treasurer


$5,054 62


Due on tax list, 1873 .


579 48


Due on tax list, 1874 .


4,045 08


Due on tax list, 1875 .


9,624 87


Due for State aid


1,734 62


Due for school books, with stock on hand


354 00


Due from other towns


130 00


Due from est. of W. Mansfield, tax of '73


27 78


Balance due for wood


145 00


Deficiency


84,217 55


-$105.913 00


Cost of New Town Hall to date.


Amount paid last year $14,947 29


Amount paid this year 29,095 90


$44,043 19


21


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


Inventory of Real and Personal Property at the Town Farm, Feb. 24, 1876.


REAL ESTATE.


House and outbuildings $1,750 00


Barn and carriage-house. 950 00


162 acres land, at $250 3,350 00


20 acres land, at $150 . 3,000 00


$9,050 00


PERSONAL PROPERTY.


12 cows, at $44 each, 1 bull, at $20 $548 00


1 black horse, $166, 1 bay horse, $150 316 00


5 pigs, 600 lbs. . 60 00


45 fowls, at 75 cents each 31 75


1 ox wagon, $36, 1 ox wagon, $10 . 46 00


1 ox cart, $52, 1 ox sled, $60 . 112 00


2 ox yokes, $3.50, 1 ox bogy, $15, 1 drag, $7 25 50


1 two-horse wagon 142 00


1 express wagon, $12.50, 1 pung, $3 . 15 50


1 horse cart, $53, 1 horse roller, $8 61 00


1 horse shovel, $5, 1 road scraper, $5 . 10 00


1 hay-rick and marsh wheels 50 00


1 set rackets, $4, 1 mowing-machine, $75 79 00


1 mowing-machine, $2, 1 hay tedder, $70 . 72 00


1 horse-rake, $6, 1 drag, $2 8 00


5 scythes and snaths, $2, 2 hay-ropes, $4.50 . 6 50


8 hay-forks, $5, 3 hay-rakes, 50 cts. 5 50


1 cultivator, $7, 5 plows, $46 53 00


2 harrows, $14, 1 set double harness, $70 . 84 00


1 cart harness, $30. 1 light harness, $13.50 43 50


2 sets brace chains and harness


3 00


8 binding chains, $3, 1 wheel-jack, $2


5 00


5 wrenches, $3, 4 horse blankets, $7.50 . 10 50


3 horse brushes and currycomb 1 00


3 barn buckets, 75 cents, 15 feed boxes, $2.50 3 25


2 feed baskets, $2, 1 grain chest, $5 7 00


Amounts carried forward,


$1,799 00 $9,050 00


22


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


Amounts brought forward, $1,799 00 $9,050 00


1 grindstone, $11, 1 grindstone, 3 . 14 00


3 ladders, $3, 1 wheelbarrow, 50 cents 3 50


3 iron bars, $5, 2 blocks and rope, $3 8 00


3 wedges, beetle and adze . 2 00


1 saw, 50 cents, 3 augers, 50 cents 1 00


3 axes, $2, 1 stone-hammer, $3 . 5 00


1 bush hook, $1, 2 manure hooks, $2 3 00


6 manure forks, $4, 9 shovels, $5 .


9 00


2 pickaxes, $2, 75 F. F. sacks, $11.25 .


13 25


25 meal bags, $6, 65 cords manure, $455 . 461 00 13} tons English hay . 305 50


6 tons salt hay, $90, 1 ton rye straw, $20 . . 110 00 600 lbs. meal, $8.10, 4,200 lbs. shorts, $52.50 60 60


5 bushels oats, $2.50, 2 bushels rye, 2 . 4 50


36 00


3 tons coal, $25.50, 7 cords wood, $35


125 bushels potatoes 62 50


1 bushel apples, $1.50, 3} bush. beans, $8.75


10 25


1 peck cranberries, $1, 100 cabbages, $8 . . 9 00


1 bbl. pickles, $2, ¿ bbl. soft soap, $2 . 4 00


2 bbls. salt pork, $60, 1 bbl. flour, $8.50 . 68 50


40 lbs. lard and can 8 00


40 lbs. brown sugar


3 60


200 lbs. granulated sugar 22 00


15 lbs. butter, $5.70, 7 lbs. cheese, $1.05 . 6 75


35 lbs. crackers, $3.50, 4 lbs. tea, $2.60 . 6 10


40


2 lbs. coffee, 20 cents, 10 lbs. salt, 20 cts .. . 15 lbs. salt fish, $1.05, 6 dozen eggs, $1.50 . 2 55


Spices, $1, molasses kegs and contents, $5 . 6 00


4 pork bbls., $3, 2 cider bbls., $1 . 4 00


1 k. oil bbl. and faucet 2 50


25 flour barrels 3 00


1 cooking range, $55, 1 cooking stove, $5 60 00


1 parlor stove, $20, 1 do. $15, 1 do. $14 . 49 00


6 flatirons, $3, 1 porcelain kettle, $1 . 4 00


1 dinner bell, 50 cents, 1 clock, $5 5 50


3 bureaus, $5, 25 common chairs, $6 25 11 25


Amounts carried forward,


$3,244 75 $9,050 00


6 tons mangel wurtzel beets . 60 50


23


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


Amounts brought forward, $3,244 75 $9,050 00


4 dining chairs, $6, 4 side tables, $2 . 8 00


1 centre table, $3, 1 long table, $8 11 00


3 kitchen tables, $5, 1 sofa, $8, 1 mirror, $3 16 00


3 mirrors, $1.50, 1 ice-chest, $5 6 50


1 washing-machine, $10, 1 wringer, $4 14 00


1 meat bench, $2, 1 cradle, $3 . 5 00


11 bedsteads, $12, 12 feather beds, $60


72 00


11 straw beds, $11, 20 prs. sheets, $20 31 00


9 prs. pillow slips 4 75


15 pillows, $11.25, 15 comforters, $22.50 33 75


2 quilts, $2, 12 curtains and fixtures, $6 8 00


4 table covers, $4, towels, $3.50 7 50


4 wash tubs, $2, 2 wash boards, 50 cts. 2 50


Clothes-horses, baskets and lines 2 25


Water pails and firkins 1 50


Rolling pin and board, $1, brooms, $1 .


2 00


Brushes and baskets


3 00


Spice boxes and knife tray 50


Pails, $3, pans, 80 cents 3 80


3 coffee pots, $2, teapot, 50 cts. . 2 50


Coal hods, wash boilers and wash bowls 4 25


12 tumblers, 2 dishes, 12 fruit jars, 2 salts 5 20


8 lamps, 2 lanterns . 5 50


2 bread pans, 1 pudding pan, 4 milk pans . 1 00


2 bean pots, 3 pail pots, 3 stone pots, 3 jugs . 5 40


24 dinner plates, 24 tea plates . 4 50


12 soup plates, 12 common plates, 4 platters . 5 50


7 vegetable dishes, 2 potato dishes . 3 50


2 gravy dishes, 2 sugar bowls, 10 bowls 2 10


1 water pitcher, 2 cream pitchers


1 00


3 doz. cups and saucers, 11 chambers


6 50


3₺ dozen knives and forks 14 00


I carver and fork, 6 spoons 1 25


$3,541 00


$12,591 00


WM. T. ASH, T. O. W. HOUGHTON, GILBERT WALDRON, Appraising Committee.


24


REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.


TOWN CLERK'S REPORT.


The Town Clerk respectfully submits the following report, viz : MARRIAGES.


Number of Marriages recorded in 1875, 11.


First marriage of 7 males. Second marriage of 4 males. First marriage of 10 females. Second marriage of 1 female.


Certificates of marriage were issued to 9 couples,- 15 less than in 1874.


BIRTHS.


The census of Births, in 1875, gives 61. Males, 29 ; females, 32. 14 more than in 1874.


DEATHS.


Whole number of deaths in 1875, 37. Males, 19 ; females 18. Five less than in 1874.


POPULATION.


According to census of 1875, 2579.


STATISTICS OF THE TOWN OF SAUGUS.


Real Estate. Personal Property. Total Valuation.


Debt.


Rate Taxes per $1000.


1875


$1,289,433


$448,825


$1,738,258


$52,676 73


$19 00


1874


1,253,233


543,000


1,796,233


36,832 18


18 50


1873


1,165,474


541,710


1,707,184


36,142 44


13 50


1872


1,110,125


492,225


1,602,350


35,730 42


12 50


1871


1,048,908


451,937


1,500,845


37,709 40


18 00


1870


1,004,929


457,160


1,462,089


12,769 89


15 00


1869


973,342


469,629


1,442,971


14,900 87


13 33


1868


914,214


396,558


1,310,772


16,143 62


14 50


1867


906,464


385,429


1,291,893


18,103 84


18 00


1866


895,312


453,366


1,348,678


20,201 36


15 00


1865


904,544


444,973


1,349,517


22,749 58


17 00


1864


909,646


397,400


1,307,046


20,080 86


12 50


1863


880,314


324,490


1,204,804


30,235 16


13 33


1862


876,690


270,005


1,146,695


18,407 98


8 00


1861


889,693


286,189


1,175,882


16,580 17


7 80


1860


877,605


301,987


1,179,592


16,601 33


6 80


WILLIAM H. NEWHALL, Town Clerk.


ANNUAL REPORT


OF THE


SCHOOL COMMITTEE


OF THE


TOWN OF SAUGUS,


FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 1, 1877.


LYNN : THOS, P. NICHOLS, PRINTER, No. 24 MARKET STREET. 1877.


ANNUAL REPORT


OF THE


SCHOOL COMMITTEE


OF THE


TOWN OF SAUGUS,


FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 1, 1877.


LYNN : THOS. P. NICHOLS, PRINTER. No. 24 MARKET STREET. 1877.


SCHOOL REPORT.


EDUCATION, in its widest meaning, is a word of very extensive application. It denotes whatever calls into ac- tivity powers before lying dormant, or gives greater scope and efficiency to power already called into some degree of activity. It includes all that development which extends from our earliest childhood to mature manhood, and even to the end of life,- for we are always learning something, and either forming. or strengthening habits. But, as we commonly use the word, it refers not only to such develop- ment, but also to the result of that process. We are accus- tomed to speak of education as a source of blessing to the individual and the community in which he dwells ; but it is evident that training and discipline, as mere processes, may be employed to produce evil or good results. Good and bad education are relative terms. They refer to the good or bad results to which a course of culture tends. By education, however, we generally mean such a course of development as enables a man to enjoy the fullest use of all his powers, and builds up in him such a character as secures the use of these powers for good purposes.


It should not be forgotten that education is merely a process of development. It is evolution, not involution. It unfolds powers potentially present. It does not create new powers. The province of education is not to change the natural constitution, but to mould and fashion it. What a man may become by education is necessarily limited by what he is by natural constitution. Nature has distributed her gifts to each one as she saw fit. Our duty is to make


1


SCHOOL REPORT.


the most of these gifts. Education is the process of bring- ing these into full activity ; and that, therefore, is the true education which takes the given nature under the given circumstances, and gives it the widest and noblest sphere of exercise.


Again, education has to do with all the sides of our nature. The constitution of a human being is exceedingly complex. Its truest state is one of harmonious develop- ment. Every element should receive its just proportion of culture. To neglect any is to mar the perfection of the whole. If the physical, or the intellectual, or the æsthetic, or the moral, or the religious department of our nature is allowed to remain in a dwarfed and imperfectly developed condition, the harmony of the whole is destroyed, and the others are deprived of the widest range of exercise which is possible for them. Like a complicated piece of mechan- ism, the ease, grace and power of the whole is dependent upon the free and ready working of every constituent part.


But under the present system of common school educa- tion some of the most important departments of our nature receive little or no culture.


The physical training of the young, for example, which formed so important a part of education among the Greeks, and which contributed so much to the high physical devel- opment and beauty of that race, is entirely neglected. We know the importance of well developed physical powers, but the care of producing them is left to the care of parents, who often bestow little attention upon the subject, or to the accidental education of the play-ground and the street. It may not be advisable to include physical training in the work of public schools. But, if this be so, care at least should be taken that positive injury be not done to the health of scholars. Yet the ventilation of the great ma- jority of school-rooms is so very imperfect, that the air which is breathed by the pupils is so impure that it must


5


SCHOOL REPORT.


be injurious to their health. It is a suggestive comment on the wisdom of a period which boasts of its .scientific advances, and of its superiority over past ages in ingenious and beneficial inventions, that, in most cases, ventilation is feasible only by opening windows, thus creating currents of air, which are apt to be as injurious as the impure air displaced. It would seem one of the first dictates of sound wisdom that pure air, indispensable not only for perfect health, but also for the most efficient exercise of the mind, should be introduced into our public schools.


Again, in our present system, very little if any attention is given to the culture of the æsthetic element of our nature. It is not possible, of course, to do much in this direction, but that should make it all the more important for us to secure as much as is possible, consistently with other demands. The culture of this element of our nature is largely the result of association. Much would, therefore, be accomplished, if care were taken to provide pleasant, attractive and tasteful school-houses and recitation rooms. The exhibition of taste in all the surroundings of the school would tend, by its silent influence, to develop taste among those brought into almost daily contact with it. The intro- duction of drawing is an influence which tends in the same direction. In the higher grades, especially in the High School, considerable culture might be obtained by furnish- ing the room with some works of art, of various descriptions. The elevating and refining influence of such surroundings could be obtained without an extravagant expenditure. By adding articles from time to time, perhaps not more than one each year, collections would in course of time be made, which would make the rooms attractive, and induce an appreciation for a higher style of ornament and decoration than is now common. Persons interested in the prosperity of the school, if they saw that such objects were appreci- ated, might manifest their interest by the donation of objects of permanent usefulness ; while graduates, who had them-


6


SCHOOL REPORT.


selves learned in the school-room a love for the beautiful in art, might be inclined to manifest their gratitude by offering wider opportunities to their successors.


The complete severance of the Church and State is one of the fundamental principles of our government. Re- ligious instruction, therefore, has been left to the care of the home or the church, which may be safely allowed to train their children in the way best suited to their feelings. It is only necessary for the community to be assured that only persons of high moral character, reverent also towards the great fundamental truths of religion, are allowed to occupy positions of so great influence in character as those held by teachers in public schools.


These departments of education not being included, or only slightly included, in the work of the common school, there remains to them, as their peculiar province, the training of the intellectual faculties, the teaching of useful knowledge, and the formation of habits which may con- tribute to a beneficial exercise of those faculties and the acquired knowledge. We are inclined to think that the last of these does not receive a sufficiently high place in the common estimate of benefits of an education. The success of schools is too much measured by the knowledge imparted. Yet habits of industry, perseverance, self- reliance, respect for constituted authority and allegiance to duty are the foundations of all valuable character and of all desirable success in life. Without these habits all other acquisitions are apt to be more than useless. The cultiva- tion of these habits, however, does not devolve upon the school alone. The home circle especially has a work to do here. But it often happens that the indifference or ignorance of parents leads them to neglect this important part of a child's training. The influence of the school becomes doubly important in such cases. It may be that the school-room is the only place where a child may be obliged to form habits without which he cannot be a valua-


7


SCHOOL REPORT.


ble member of society. The formation of these habits constitute what is known as the discipline of the school. The maintenance of discipline, in every case, will sooner or later resolve itself into an attempt to produce in scholars one or more of these important habits. The discipline of a school, therefore, becomes of primary importance. If this be at all defective, one of the most important purposes of a school is unfulfilled. Whatever, therefore, tends in any way to injure or destroy discipline, in so far hinders the usefulness of the school. Whatever creates an impression that discipline will not be enforced, or that in efforts to subvert it scholars will receive the sympathy of any part of the community, is extremely detrimental to the success of a school. Committees and teachers should be able to feel that. in all cases, they have the hearty support of parents, guardians and friends in all reasonable attempts to secure obedience and the formation of habits of industry, perse- verance and courtesy.


In the more obvious provinces of our public schools, the cultivation of the mental faculties, and the teaching of use . ful knowledge, disappointment is often expressed at the result obtained. This disappointment is not unnatural, but we think there are explanations of the facts which give rise to it, in the hindrance to securing the greatest results of education.


The most perfect system of education is that in which the methods are adapted to the peculiar demands of each case. No two persons being constituted exactly alike, the processes by which their powers should be developed ought not to be exactly similar. Differences of mental character, of disposition, or even of physical constitution, demand variations in ways of treatment. Some minds develop more easily in one direction, other minds in some other direction. Some faculty may exist in an unusual degree, through which the education of the whole mind may be the more readily approached, or some radical defect may de-


8


SCHOOL REPORT.


mand for the removal unusual attention and care. It is evident that the greatest results can be obtained only when the peculiarities of each case is allowed to modify the pro- cesses of development. But, under our modern system of education, it is clearly impossible to do this. The num- ber of scholars under each teacher is so large as to render it impossible for him to become acquainted with the pecu- liar character of each mind, much less to vary his methods for its special demands. One uniform course of study, and one unvaried method of instruction, is an absolute necessity under the present system. Scholars with keen, active minds must be kept back to the capacity of the average intellect, while the dull, sluggish, plodding mind cannot, without entailing too great a loss on the majority, receive a disproportionate amount of attention. This evil is of course lessened as schools are more thoroughly graded, and schol- ars of almost the same attainments brought into the same classes. But even then the evil is increased as the classes are increased above a certain limit. Private instruction is generally thought the most advantageous, but the great cost of it, in most departments, leads to the forming of classes, where the proportional expense is least. But then classes are always as small as possible, and they are chosen, at any rate, as the lesser of two evils. Apply the principle involved to our common schools, and it is clear that the best results they can give must be very far below what each mind is capable of under more favorable circum- stances.


There can be no doubt that public school education is advancing. Considerable improvements have been made in the character of text-books, in methods of teaching, and. most of all, in the employment of more competent teachers. This progress in the past is only a pledge of what we should expect in the future. In two directions great advance can be made without any radical change in the present system. Care should be taken not to put too many scholars under


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SCHOOL REPORT.




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