cial, moral and religious obligation, their regeneration involves the harmonious co-operation of earnest philanthropy, missionary enterprise, and sanctified wisdom. The districts of all our large cities where this class of children are found, are the appropriate field of home missions, of unobtrusive personal effort and charity, and of systematized plans of local benevolence, embracing friendly intercourse with parents, an affectionate interest in the young, the gathering of the latter into week-day, infant, and primary schools, and schools where the use of the needle, and other forms of labor appropriate to the sex and age of the pupils can be given, the gathering of both old and young into Sabbath schools and worshipping assemblies, the circulation of books and tracts, of other than a strictly religious character, the encouragement of cheap, innocent and humanizing games, sports and festivities, the obtaining employment for adults who may need it, and procuring situations as apprentices, clerks, &c., for such young persons as may be qualified by age, capacity and character. By individual efforts and the combined efforts of many, working in these and other ways, from year to year, these moral jungles can be broken up,-these infected districts can be purified, these waste places of society can be reclaimed, and many abodes of penury, ignorance and vice can be converted by education, economy and industry, into homes of comfort, peace and joy. PLAN AND DESCRIPTION OF DISTRICT SCHOOL-HOUSE IN CENTREMILL, NORTH PROVIDENCE, R. I. This house was erected after designs by Mr. Teft, of Providence. It stands back from the highway, on an elevated site, in the midst of a grove, and for beauty of design and convenience of arrangement, is not surpassed by any similar structure in New England. It is 26 feet by 51, and 13 feet high in the clear, with two departments on the same floor. 1918191919 10 O O O Ο OCO O PLAN OF SCHOOL-HOUSE AT WASHINGTON VILLAGE IN COVENTRY, R. L The following cut presents the ground plan of the new school-house in the village of Washington, in the town of Coventry, R. I. The location is on the high ground in the rear of the village, and commands an extensive prospect in every direction. The site and yard, occupying one acre, was given to the district by Governor Whipple. The whole structure, without and within, is an ornament to the village, and ranks among the best school-houses in Rhode Island. C-Primary school-room. F-Desks for two, with iron end-piece. D-Secondary, or Grammar Depart- R-Flue for ventilation, within which ment. E-Teacher's platform. is carried up the smoke-pipe. The two school-rooms can be thrown into one, for any general exercise of the two schools, by sliding doors. The two rooms are uniformly heated by a furnace in the basement. There is a well, sink, basin, mats, scrapers, bell, and all the necessary fixtures and appendages of a school-house of the first class. The cost of the building and furuiture was $2,300. The district possesses a library of upwards of four hundred volumes, the cost of which was raised by subscription in the District. ALBANY NORMAL SCHOOL CHAIR AND DESK THE above cut exhibits a front view of the Public School-house erected in the village of Warren, at the expense of the town, in 1847-48, after drawings made by Mr. Teft, of Providence, under the directions of a committee of the town, who consulted with the Commissioner of Public Schools, and visited Providence, Boston, Salem, Newburyport and other places, in order to ascertain the latest improvements in school architecture, before deciding on the details of the plan. To this committee, and particularly to two of its members, Mr. E. W. Burr and Mr. G. S. Gardiner, is the town largely indebted for the time and personal supervision which they devoted to this public improvement, from its first inception to its completion, without any other reward than the realization of their wish to secure for their town the best school-house, for the amount of money expended, in the State. The Commissioner of Public Schools remarked, in his address at the dedication of the house, in September, 1848, "that, for location, style, construction, means of warming, ventilation, and cleanliness, and for the beauty and convenience of the seats and desks, he had not seen a public school-house superior to this in New England. It is a monument at once of the liberality of the town, and of a wise economy on the part of the committee." The town appropriated $10,000, and the committee expended $8,594. The opening of the Public School in this edifice was followed by a large increase of attendance from the children of the town. The lot is 225 deep and 100 feet wide for a depth of 125 feet, and 161 feet wide for the remaining 64 feet. It is divided into three yards, as exhibited in the ground plan, (Fig. 2,) each substantially inclosed, and planted with trees and shrubbery. The dimensions of the building are 62 feet by 44 on the ground. It is built of brick in the most workmanlike manner. Most of the details of construction, and of the arrangement in the interior, are similar to those described on page 214. Each room is ventilated by openings controlled by registers, both at the floor and the ceiling, into four flues carried up in the wall, and by a large flue constructed of thoroughly seasoned boards, smooth on the inside, in the partition wall, (Fig. 3, x.) The whole building is uniformly warmed by two of Culver's furnaces placed in the cellar. Every means of cleanliness are provided, such as scrapers, mats, sink with pump, wash basin, towels, hooks for outer garments, umbrella stands, &c. The tops of the desks are covered with cloth, and the aisles are to be cheaply carpeted, so as to diminish, if not entirely prevent, the noise which the moving of slates and books, and the passing to and fro, occasion in a school-room. |