of this practice is, that our best teachers leave the profession entire or emigrate to some other State where better wages are paid. Ve few complaints have been heard relative to the new law and the criticisms have been wholly confined to that class who have be for years gradually growing into stereotyped methods and ruts at who are keeping school rather than teaching school.

The increasing demand for experienced, well-qualified, earn teachers is one of the encouraging results of the new law and is happy omen for the future success of the public schools in our Sta

EMPLOYMENT OF TEACHERS, ETC.

The selection of teachers is often a difficult and delicate dut The school directors are frequently beset by relatives of the applican Local influences are brought to bear. In some cases teachers a fearlessly and impartially chosen without regard to favoritism. nepotism in any form, while in others nepotism and partiality ha prevailed without regard to the ability and experience of the pe son employed. The present method of examining teachers h been thoroughly tested for the past two years, the results have bee carefully examined and the general outcome of the work is a sui guarantee for educational success and will aid in the selection ‹ teachers. Young teachers, and those who have had little exper ence in the school-room, must be allowed time to improve by pe sistent effort and advancement. Some directors seem to think th young teachers should be preferred because they possess claims o account of local residence, need of employment and other reason Such influences should not prevail, and only those applicants wh have the best qualifications, literary, professional, social and mor should be elected. The teachers make the schools. Young teach ers must necessarily be selected for many schools, and, in numerou cases, they have been successful from the very beginning. But t avoid unpleasant failures and the more important features of los of time to the pupils and waste of money to the district, director should, in employing young teachers, make educational qualification the basis. This will be indicated by the grade of certificate held.

QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS.

First of all, teachers should become perfectly familiar with the text-books they are to teach. Their knowledge of the subjects in hand should be accurate and their methods of presentation should

be clearly defined and carefully mapped out. Teachers cannot teach well what they do not know themselves. Again, they should learn the best and latest methods of teaching, and they should not be satisfied with one method only, but should secure a variety of plans for illustrating and explaining each subject taught.

They should not attempt too much. Many failures occur in this way. Not that teachers fail here through physical overwork, but they undertake to cover too much ground, and hence their work is scattering and not lasting. In teaching any subject they should be satisfied that their pupils thoroughly understand the work before advancing to more difficult grades of the same or other topics. The primary work should be carefully done in all cases, and teachers should not forsake principles for the sake of practice, neither should they devote all the time of their pupils to practice at the expense of principles.

Teachers should possess skill in imparting knowledge so that children may become encouraged and interested in the branches taught.

The teacher should be able to govern his school well and without much fuss, show or friction. Comparative ease and quiet should prevail at all times. This is absolutely necessary and important and is indispensable to the success of the schools.

SCHOOL HOUSES.

The statistics for the school year closing March 5, 1888, show 1.384 school-houses in the State. Subsequent reports from the several counties give the number built during the past summer at from seventy to eighty, giving an approximate total, December 31, 1888, of 1,450. Ninety per cent. of these houses are frame, a few are built of brick and the remainder are logs. While there are many creditable and elegant houses in the above number, on the other hand there are many unfit for occupancy. A neat, substantial school-house properly situated and constructed, invites the attention and commands the respect of every one who passes. It gives character, name and credit to the district, enhances the value of real estate in the vicinity and exerts a fine influence upon pupils and teachers.

School buildings should be centrally and properly situated in relation to the needs of the district. Its site should be easy of access, healthy, and in the geographical center of the district if practicable. It is a duty incumbent on patrons to supply their children at least

with ordinary requisites and comforts for pleasurable and profitable study, recitation and recreation.

School-houses should be carefully built, of good material, should have abundant space, heat, ventilation and light. The rooms should be comfortable, convenient and commodious, and each room should be supplied with good, durable furniture, seats, desks, etc., and plenty of blackboard surface. Every detail about the school premises, the grounds, walks, out-houses, fences, should be furnished and carefully looked after. In view of the fact that over one hundred school-houses on an average have been erected annually for the past six years in this State, it has been thought useful to school officers and patrons to suggest some approved plans for school architecture. The plans given below apply chiefly in erecting village and rural school buildings and were prepared and published in the latest edition of the school laws issued last year.

SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE FOR COUNTRY, TOWN AND

VILLAGE SCHOOLS.

1. Location.-It is assumed that the school district has been accurately surveyed and the metes and bounds recorded. Without this the choice must be to some extent guess work. The location should be as near as may be convenient to the geographical center of the district; but reference must be had to the roads by which it can be reached and the impediments that may lie in the way. In rural districts the geographical center when access is easy should be preferred to the center of population, because the latter is liable to change.

2. Site.-Hollows and the edges of swamps should be avoided. Hill-tops are also objectionable. A moderate elevation from which the ground slopes in all directions is to be preferred. A piece of woods which would shelter the house from the prevalent winds of winter is a great protection; but no trees should be allowed to stand within fifty feet of the building.

3. Orientation.-This question has not yet been settled by theorists. So much depends on the location and the site and the kind of building that is erected that no general rule can be given. Considering that the country schoolhouse is usually closed for about four months in summer, it will generally be most convenient to have the house built so that the pupils may sit facing the north; the windows should then be on the east and west sides.

4. Plan and Size.-Let us for the sake of simplicity confine our

attention to the country schoolhouse with one teacher and an attendance of from 20 to 50 pupils. In such schoolhouses more than twothirds of the people of the United States have received and will receive their elementary education. A square house is objectionable. The length should be about one-third greater than the width. This gives room for the teacher's platform and for a recitation bench, and places the desks in a square block in front of the teacher. There should be at least twelve square feet of floor space for each pupil. The ceiling should be twelve and a half feet in average height; this will allow each pupil 150 cubic feet of air-space, and under no circumstances should there be less than this amount. A house 24x18, inside measurement, will accommodate twenty-two pupils; a house 28x21 will accommodate forty pupils; 24x32, fifty pupils. It is advisable to build a house large enough for an attendance one-fourth larger than the number usually going to school in the district. The new house attracts better teachers and the double attraction secures more pupils.

5. Light, Heat and Ventilation.-If the teacher's platform is on the north side of the house and the pupils' entrance on the south side the windows should be on the east and west, none on the other sides. The eastern windows should be grouped towards the north and the western windows should be grouped towards the south. If the windows are equally distributed over the walls the lighting is bad for some purposes, and there is no good place for black-boards. If two-fifths of the length of each of the two walls (the eastern and western) is assigned to a group of windows, the remaining wallspace is ample for black-board surface and each black-board is exactly opposite to a window. The placing of black-boards on

the piers between the windows is very objectionable. Whether the black-board surface is wood, or slate, or plaster, it should be a permanent part of the wall itself. Slate is in the long run the cheapest, as it is also the best material. Movable black-boards in small houses are troublesome.

A ventilating stove is the best available source of heat. It costs but little more than an ordinary stove. Almost any stove can be converted into a "ventilator" by surrounding it with a sheet-iron jacket, and bringing a tube from the exterior air to the space between the stove and the outer casting. The chimney flue should be divided longitudinally into two parts, one for the escape of smoke and the other for the escape of vitiated air. The opening for the latter purpose should be at or very near the floor. The best place for the stove is usually the northwest corner of the house. Two

moderate sized stoves placed in different corners are better than one large one. Only one of them is needed in moderate weather and two will make the room comfortable in the coldest part of winter. A large stove in the middle of a schoolroom is an unsightly obstruction and tends to produce disorder. A ventilating stove placed in the northwest corner, with a stove-pipe extending almost to the ceiling and by a horizontal branch entering a flue in the south west corner will give an almost equable temperature in all parts of the room. The opening into such a smoke flue near the floor will be a very efficient aid to ventilation, but the opening should be protected by a register which can be closed at pleasure.

It frequently happens that such aids to ventilation as have been described are not sufficient. Our reliance must then be placed on the doors and windows. The windows should be within twelve inches of the ceiling, and should come down to the level of the desks. They should be in two sashes, with cords and pulleys to move up and down. It is quite a common practice to lower the top sashes a few inches and keep them in this position while the school is in session. This is a double error; it lets out the pure warm air which we wish to retain, and lets in a stream of cold air directly on the heads of the pupils. If the ventilating flue with an opening at the floor is not sufficient to carry off the impure air, the best plan is to open every door and window in the building for one or two minutes, not more than three minutes, and when the room has been thoroughly flushed with fresh air close all the openings. If necessary the operation may be repeated at the end of every hour.

6. Wardrobes or Cloak Rooms.-A place for depositing the outer garments in safety and in an orderly manner is a necessity in even cheapest and smallest schoolhouses. Such a place is often obtained by building a vestibule in front of the house. This arrangement improves the external appearance of the house, but it is comparatively costly and not free from other objections. The cheapest and best plan in a house of only one room is to cut off from the south side of the room two small cloak rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. The pupils' entrance is by a door leading into the small passage between these two closets. There is no door to the closets; an arched doorway always open exposes the interior of the closets at all times to the eve of the teacher whose desk is in the north side of the house. These closets should be furnished with suitable clothes pins and with shelves to hold lunch baskets.

7. Larger Houses.-If two rooms are needed they should be on the same floor and separated by a glass partition with movable