USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of Trenton, New Jersey : the record of its early settlement and corporate progress. > Part 13
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The rules for the government of the department are thorough and explicit. Qualifications for admission to the force are based upon height, which is not to be less than five feet seven inches ; weight, one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds ; breast measure of not less than thirty-five inches ; age, from twenty-one to forty years ; ability to read and write the English language; to have been a citizen of the United States at least two years and a resident of Trenton for five years ;
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never to have been convicted of crime ; in other words, to be in good bodily and mental health. The applicant for the force must present a petition certifying to his moral qualities and his residenee in the city, which petition is to be signed by two reputable citizens.
The members of the force rank as follows : Chief, the Captains according to appointments, the Sergeants as in the case of Captains, patrolmen, chancemen.
The Chief has practical control of the department ; in fact, is the personal representative of the Commissioners. He divides the city into "beats," details the men for duty and directs the route to be taken by the patrolman in going to and returning from his beat. The Chief holds the right of suspending, for any time not exceeding ten days, any member of the department, reporting the same to the Board of Commissioners. He also makes a detailed quarterly report of the happenings in the department, which report is sent to the Commissioners. In his custody are the record-books of the office, which consist of a "Force Book," a practical, personal history of every member of the force ; a "Complaint Book," wherein are recorded violations of the law, when such violations are the subject of complaint by citizens ; a "Time Book, " used in making up the pay-roll ; "The Record of Arrests," containing alphabetically the names of those arrested and sentence of the court ; a "Lodgers' Register ; " an "Ordinance Book," containing the names of all persons arrested for violating city ordinances ; a "Property Account Book," containing a description of all property coming into the hands of the police ; a "Missing Property Book " and an "Order Book," in which are entered orders and rules issued by the Commissioners.
The Captains are assigned tours of duty by the Chief. They have the charge and inspection of station-houses, of the prisoners, and are held responsible for the cleanliness and good order of the station-houses. The Captains call the roll and examine the blotter, adding thereto all necessary information.
The Sergeants inspect the men before roll-call, correcting neglect or deficiency in the dress of the men. They are, in fact, sub-Captains, assuming the duties of the latter when absent. The Sergeants have general charge of patrolmen when on "beat" and are responsible for the general good order and discipline of the force.
Regarding the patrolman, the prevention of crime is the most important object which he should have in view. He must make himself acquainted, in a minute manner, with every part of his beat, watch people who are suspicious, and places where the law is being violated, and by his vigilance prevent assaults, breaches of the peace and all other crimes about to be committed. Arrests are to be made as easily and quietly as possible and without undue force. The baton is to be employed only in the most urgent cases of self-defense. He is also required to report fires, direct strangers, return lost children to their parents or to the station-house, arrest beggars, give aid to the injured, and facilitate by proper means the taking of a declaration by anyone dying in con- sequence of injuries by violence. He is also instructed to watch suspected persons and places, note obstructions and perform other like duties. Patrolmen are also liable to special service. Chance- men follow the same regulations as the patrolmen.
The full dress of the Chief and Captains is of blue Burlington police cloth, double-breasted frock coat, with plain trousers. Upon the cap is a designation of rank. The patrolmen wear single-breasted frock coats. The summer uniform consists of blue flannel sack coat and trousers. Members serving five years on the force are entitled to a "service chevron" of gold braid, to consist of one bar on the front of the sleeve. Every additional five years entitles the wearer to an extra bar. Shields are worn without chains.
The men forming the Trenton police force are drilled in the school of the soldier, with baton exercise ; total abstinence from liquor and tobacco whilst on duty is required, nor is any member of the force allowed to belong to any fire or military company, nor is he permitted to be a delegate to any political convention nominating a candidate for office.
The city of Trenton is divided into two precincts, with two station-houses. The First or Central precinet is the building formerly known as Freese market, the Second or Chambersburg preeinct is the old " Borough Hall" on Broad street.
Both station-houses are admirably-conducted institutions. The Central station is located upon Chancery street upon the corner of a small way, which is practically the eastern extension of Quarry alley. The interior arrangement is excellent. A large, well-lighted room contains the desks used by the Sergeants and Captains, and in connection therewith is the apartment assigned to the
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Chief. Adjoining the main room is the patrolmen's room, the walls of which are lined with lockers. Court is held in a well-ventilated apartment which adjoins the space devoted to the cells. Other rooms are especially fitted for the accommodation of the Police Justice, detectives and the storing of records, and the "Rogues' Gallery." Upon the second floor a large hall is the gymnasium and drill-room of the foree, whilst the Commissioners and their Clerk have handsome quarters.
In the Second preeinet station a smaller, but none the less convenient, system is in use. Both station-houses are electrically lighted, warmed by steam and have lavatories. The cells are in excellent order. Special systems of communication between the patrolmen whilst on duty and the precinct Captains are employed. It is in fact a method of telegraphy whereby the man on duty can advise his superior officer as to his movements on the beat, can call the patrol or aid and can ring an alarm of fire.
In her police department and station-houses, with the efficiency of men and the care of build- ings, Trenton has especial reason to be proud of her police. When it is taken into consideration that during the entire year only two thousand three hundred arrests are made, the efficiency of the department is shown in a very apt manner. Trenton has a heterogeneous population, lies between Philadelphia and New York, and, being in a neutral State, could easily become the harbor of the more expert men and women of the criminal class. In spite of this, it is a noteworthy fact that in Trenton not a single noted eriminal resides. An energetic policy has cleared the city of nearly every menace to peace and good order. A score of years since, several "gangs," such as infested the "East side" of New York and the "Neck " in Philadelphia, were a constant source of annoy- anee to the city. These associations have been nearly eradieated. Certain resorts, such as the "Lava Beds," some of the small back streets in Chambersburg and Millham, are now entirely free from disturbanee. "The Swamp," with its " Bowery," alone remains as a monument to old days in Trenton. To the energy of the police department eredit must be given for such a record in municipal reform.
The Police Commissioners are W. J. Convery, President ; Charles P. Kitson, H. U. Coleman, John K. Ashton ; Richard Lutes, Clerk. Meet second and last Wednesday of each month. The Chief of the department is Charles H. McChesney ; Captains, John J. Cleary and William Hart- man ; Sergeants, Andrew Sweeney, Frank Van Horn, Michael MeGowan, First distriet ; William Dettmar, Judson Hiner, William Aleutt, Second distriet. In the First precinct the Police Justice is Louis Coutier ; in the Second, William J. Crossley.
CHAPTER XVII.
EDUCATION IN TRENTON.
COLONIAL INFLUENCES-THE SCHOOL AND THE LOTTERY-A COLONIAL LIBRARY-TRENTON AND HER FREE SCHOOLS, 1833 To 1895-THE TRENTON ACADEMY-ITS ORGANIZATION AND HISTORY, 1781 TO 1883-THE EARLY LIBRARIES AND THE FREE SCHOOL MOVEMENT- SKETCHES OF THE MOST PROMINENT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS-BUSINESS COLLEGES.
HE STRONG Presbyterian influences which had such an effect upon the genesis of 302.20.22 Trenton, united the church and the school-house under one government. Minis- ter, or Domine, and schoolmaster were interchangeable terms. The chartering of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University), in 1746, marked a new era in intellectual life in New Jersey. The removal of the college from the care of the Rev. Aaron Burr, in his classical school at Newark, to Princeton, about '55, gave an impetus to education in all the near-by towns. The Rev. David Cowell, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, was one of the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, and had established, in all probability, a school under the charge of his congregation. In these early days, a teacher received £25 and boarding per annum.
That touchstone of all colonial enterprises which depended upon popular support-a lottery- was to be tried in aid of education in Trenton. An advertisement in the Philadelphia papers of May, 1753, thus reads :
"We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, sons of some of the principal families in and about Trenton, being in some measure sensible of the advantages of learning, and desirous that those who are deprived of it through the poverty of their parents, might taste the sweetness of it with ourselves, can think of no better or other method for that purpose, than the following scheme of a Delaware-Island Lottery, for raising 225 pieces of eight [Spanish dollars] towards building a house to accommodate an English and grammar school, and paying a master to teach such children whose parents are unable to pay for schooling. It is proposed that the house be thirty feet long, twenty feet wide, and one story high, and built on the south-east corner of the meeting-house yard in Trenton, under the direction of Messieurs Benjamin Yard, Alexander Chambers, and John Chambers, all of Trenton aforesaid. * * * The managers are Reynald Hooper, son of Robert Lettis Hooper, Esq .; Joseph Warrell, Junior, son of Joseph Warrell, Esq .; Joseph Reed, Junior, son of Andrew Reed, Esq .; Theophilus Severns, Junior, son of Theophilus Severns, Esq .; John Allen, Junior, son of John Allen, Esq .; William Paxton, son of Joseph Paxton, Esq., deceased ; and John Cleayton, son of William Cleayton, Esq."
The drawing was to take place June 11th, "on Fish Island in the river Delaware, opposite to the town of Trenton, and the money raised by this lottery shall be paid into the hands of Moore Furman, of Trenton, who is under bond for the faithful laying out the money for the uses above. * * * And we the Managers assure the adventurers upon our honor, that this scheme in all its parts shall be as punctually observed as if we were under the formalities used in lotteries ; and we
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flatter ourselves, the publie, considering our laudable design, our age, and our innocence, will give credit to this our publie declaration." After the drawing of the lottery, there is little doubt but that the building was erected immediately afterward on the spot indicated. The minutes of the Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church record that in 1765 Alexander Chambers and Benja- min Yard were elected by the congregation "Directors of the School-House." In a lease of 1800 to the "Trenton Academy," the premises are deseribed as "a certain brick building, which was erected on the lot belonging to the trustees of the said church for the purpose of a school-house." The lessees added a story to the building, and it continued to be used for school and church pur- poses until it was removed upon the erection of the present church.
In connection with this school, an attempt was made to establish a library in Trenton. This is shown from the fact that upon the twentieth day of March, in the ycar 1752, Governor Belcher wrote from Elizabethtown to William Morris in reference to a library in Trenton. It seems that Mr. Morris addressed a letter to His Excelleney in reference to this project, which document is probably lost. The Governor replied, in part, " You may depend I shall always be willing to do everything proper on my part for promoting and strengthening any scheme that may have a tendency to propa- gate & advance Religion and Learning which will be of so great advantage to the present and future generations."
The development of education during the latter part of the colonial period and through- out the Revolution was, perforce, slow. There were attempts during the period of the Confederation to found private schools, which plan was materially aided from the fact that Philadelphia-the great intellectual center of the times-was near by. In the early part of the present century, Trenton was renowned for her private institutions, to which came, in particular, the young ladies of the oldest families of New Jersey, of Philadelphia and New York. The story of the development of the modern free school system of the last half century is thus told by Professor B. C. Gregory :
"Trenton has the honor of having estab- lished the first free school in New Jersey. JOSEPH WOOD SCHOOL. As early as 1833, a sehool was organized in old Masonie Hall, in Front street. In 1838, this school was removed to the old jail building, in Academy street, the upper portion being used as a school and the basement as a jail. The township of Nottingham, now a part of Trenton, in September, 1844, opened the school on Centre street, near the First Baptist Church. The old jail was bought, and a High School was organized in this building in May, 1844, and was free only to the indigent until 1848, when all pupils were admitted free of charge. In March, 1850, Trenton was made one school district, and the election of a School Superintendent and two Trustees provided for.
"What is now the Chas. Skelton School, in Centre strect, was constructed in 1844, and was then a building two stories high. In the spring of 1849, the trustces endeavorcd to raise a loan of $6,000 to ereet the building in Academy street, but they were not successful until in 1850, the Legislature coming to their relief and authorizing the loan. The building was erected in 1850, and was opened on October 7th, 1851. In May, 1852, owing to insufficient school room, the Superintendent gave permits to children to enter private schools at the rate of one dollar per pupil. In January, 1856, resolutions were introduced by Mr. J. S. Yard demanding greater school accommodations. The result was the beginning of measures looking to the erection of the Bellevue Avenue School, which was completed and entered by the school committee in 1857. Measures were also taken at the same time which resulted afterward in the building of the Market Street School, which was opened in 1859, Two rooms were also added to the Centre Street School building. N
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"No new school buildings were built after the erection of the Market Street School, in 1859, until that of the Union Street School, which was completed and put into use by the Board in January, 1869. The Rose Street School followed, which was opened in January, 1870. Then came the Grant Avenue School, opened in May, 1872. In 1876, a third story was added to the structure in Academy street. With the exception of the High School, there was then a lull in the erection of school-houses until 1881, when the Sixth Ward School was dedicated, after which the opening of new buiklings went on very rapidly. In 1889, a new style of school architecture was introduced with the Monument School; since that time every building that has been erected has been of modern type, and all improvements made to old buildings have had the tendency to bring such buildings to correspond with modern ideas of school construction. Fourteen per cent. of the rooms now occupied for school purposes have been built within five years. Twenty-five per cent. of the rooms in the city are supplied with single desks.
" In 1892, the Committee on Grounds and Buildings determined upon a systematic renovation of the schools in the city. School after school was thoroughly attended to, and at the conclusion of the summer vacation of 1893 the schools were in excellent condition.
" In passing it is to be remarked to the credit of the teachers that they are urging the asthetie conception of the children, and in some places the rooms are greatly beautified by pictures, flowers and other means of decoration.
"In 1855, there were 17 teachers employed and 912 pupils enrolled, while there were 30 waiting for admission. In 1856, the Board graded the schools as follows : Primary, Secondary, Grammar and High School. In April, 1850, there were 335 white and 20 colored children attending the public schools of Trenton. In 1850-51, the amount received by the Super- intendent as the apportionment of the State fund to the city was $486.88.
JOHN A. ROEBLING SCHOOL.
"In 1861, the Board of Education placed the northern and southern divisions of the city under two separate Principals, the Assanpink creek being the boundary. In June, 1864, the system of employing two Principals to supervise the schools was abolished, and one Principal was elected to supervise all the schools of the city. As the schools multi- plied, this method was found not feasible, and two Principals were again appointed, having jurisdiction respectively of the districts north and south of the Assanpink creek. When the High School was erected, the Principal In May, 1888, when the schools of Chambers-
of that school had jurisdiction over his own school. burg and Millham came under the control of the Trenton Board of Education, two new school districts were added, and over the whole system a Supervising Principal was appointed. In June, 1888, a committee consisting of Messrs. John A. Campbell, Frank O. Briggs and Leslie C. Pierson was appointed to secure a Supervising Principal for the schools of Trenton, and B. C. Gregory, of Newark, was appointed ; he entered upon the duties of his office July 20th, 1888. In the same month, the Supervising Principal was asked to sit with the Board of Education.
"In May, 1885, a committee was appointed to revise the rules for the government of schools and the Board. The next month the same committee was ordered to revise the course of study in the High School. In 1887, a committee reported in favor of free school-books, and Common Council was asked to appropriate 815,000. In July, 1887, Mr. Macpherson, Chairman of the Committee on Books and Course of Study, reported that the time had arrived to introduce free text-books, which report was adopted. In 1893, a new course of study, prepared in accordance with the most modern ideas of education, was adopted by the Board and introduced into the schools.
"The points involved in this course of study are the following : 1. The necessity for adapting the course to those who cannot complete it. 2. Abridgment in the treatment of the subjects now
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on the course to make room for other lines of instruction. 3. The co-ordination of studies, with a view of more harmonious development of the pupil. 4. Consideration of the needs of the pupil as an individual rather than in the mass. 5. The evoking of advanced and independent thinking on the part of the teacher.
"An attempt has been made to encourage the training of the observation in every department where this is possible, and, in order that the attempt may be successful, science study has been introduced. The plan is to have the observa- tion and study 'begin during the first year of school with the simplest and most interesting objects of the child's environment and year by year introduee such other objects of study as the ever-widening horizon and the growing faculties of the child shall make possible.'
"In arithmetic elimination is practiced to such an extent as to leave time enough to teach what is attempted with thoroughness. On the other hand, algebra and geometry are introduced in the eighth year. An effort is made in the course to introduce the carly devel- opment of more advanced subjects, which is now advocated by many educational thinkers. Thus, percentage and interest are introduced in a rudimentary manner very soon after fed- U. S. GRANT SCHOOL. eral money is taught. The idea of introduc- ing the germs of all subjects early, and allow the course of study to be the evolution of these germs is rigidly adhered to.
"In language, formal grammar is subordinated but not eliminated. In the discussion of formal grammar however, everything which is of no value to the child in forming a reasonably- correct grammatical style is eliminated. In reading, after the third year, literature is progressively substituted for the reading-book, and in the seventh and eighth years supplants it alto- gether. Oral reading is subordinated to silent reading.
"Geography and history are co-ordinated very carefully. In both of these subjects the topical method is emphasized.
"In penmanship an effort is made to secure movement writing. The effort to secure a uniform style of letter is abandoned, a grace- ful, fluent and readable handwriting being all that is required. In spelling, these errors in methods of teaching are opposed : first, taking the words from their environment, that is to say, teaching lists of words ; second, the rapidity with which the new words are often introduced, defying all power to assimilate ; HEWITT TRAINING SCHOOL, third, trying to teach the child in school all the words he is ever going to use ; fourth, the practice of giving a vocabulary too difficult for the child. A word must become a part of the child's vocabulary before it is learned in a practical sense.
"The Ling or Swedish system of physical culture is introduced. In music Trenton has made a great advance ; most of the children are reading music of ordinary difficulty with considerable facility.
"The High School was opened with impressive ceremonies in October, 1874. As early as 1858, Judge William S. Yard, who was then Superintendent, had urged the erection of a High
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School as the necessary complement of our school system. Great changes have since been made in this school. It formerly had a department known as Junior Section, which was really a collection of grammar school classes. This section has been abolished and the institution placed upon a sound basis as a High School. A new course of study was introduced about a year ago. The ends accomplished by the new course were re-adjustment of the studies, a subdivision of the curriculum into English, scientific and commercial courses ; the provision for the teaching of high school studies in accordance with advanced methods of teaching ; the enlargement of the facilities for teaching drawing and the scientific branches ; the introduction of German, stenography and business studies. A small buikling has been purchased to carry out the purposes of the Commercial Department. The Board has purchased typewriters, and the work in the stenography and typewriting depart- ments is very practical.
" In the matter of promotion, the honorary system has been introduced. By the operation of this system every pupil who, throughout the year, up to the date fixed for the annual examination, has averaged 'good,' is promoted with what is known as an 'Honorary Certifieate,' and without examination. If a pupil does not reach this high average he is subjected to an examination, which counts one ; his . term average' counting four in determining his standing-i. e., his work during the year is made four times as important as his work on examination. This does not put a premium on cramming for examination. The 'term average' given is determined in a rational manner- the pupil is not marked from day to day, but his progress is estimated at the end of the month. By thus taking long periods of time the teacher is able to judge more intelligently of his progress than by the microscopic method of daily marking.
"The greatest advance in Trenton, how- ever, has been in the adoption of improved methods in the training of teachers. Formerly there were no methods whatever ; there is now a well-equipped Training School, offieered by a corps of trained teachers as good as is to be found in most training schools in the country. The course involves lessons in psychology, methods of teaching, and special courses in methods in each of the following subjects: Arith- COLUMBUS SCHOOL. metic, geography, drawing, music, language, writing, elementary science, kindergarten, read- ing and history. It comprehends also a course of reading in pedagogy, and eighteen weeks' practice in the Training School, said practice to be reviewed in a series of critic classes.
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