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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1923)
- 4 ! .': k if V. m I t 4 4 -i i ' - SEVENTY-SECOND YEAR f ' , MiBG3lHl923 ' ; 1 I . ;T . 5; ; - PRICE: TETCENTS" x -2 j yj ! l-lSlem High School, which ranks ' ' , V ."II I i I ft I I - J . rk v II T II II 'flvB'l V. fl'J I ;EJacatiort in Oregon Got First Impulse Here History of Struggle for Mental and Moral the Early Days of Willamette University Public and Private Schools of City Efficient One-" of tbe most remarkable htinka Interest stories of the whole West 1 that of Educa tion. . " -1 - . Thera were,, and even still are, tiro Wests. The one "was : the gold-hontlng. adventurous West: the roaring Forty-niners, the bon anza argonauts . to Idaho ' and Montana when there was noth ing In the j mind bnt gold and adventure. 'The Santa Fe trail to the south,' and" the Missouri river steamboat line to Hon tana Bar, Aider Gulch and Bannack and Last Chance ' Gulch In the early 'SO's, and the eastern sec tion "of the Oregon Trail to Ida ho la the days of Florence and tie Boise Basin were gold-roads with hardly a thought of any taing else. r'-' -1; .-J These adventurers had hardly a rudimentary thought of farm ing, of permanent homes, of ed ucation. The development of ed ucation has vividly carried on "the early ambitions of the first set tlers In. these countries. They never did have, and do not now have, Jn these .typical, gold, states, a real educational history; the early days were filled with far other thoughts than books! But Oregon was the education, al paradise. Men came to the Willamette valley which was al most the whole of the early Ore-gon--to establish homes and to worship God anftito educate their children. Almost every little community had ita little "col lege," established by the evan gellstic -efforts of some denoralna tlonal church. There are more than a score of communities, per haps as many aa 50, that hare had ai icasi me ruaimenis oi a conege. JJever in the history of mankind has 'there been "such a perfect fury, such an utter devotion ;to the cause of education, as that which marked the early Willam elte valley settlement. There were more than a score of these "colleges," A either established, or projected In ; Oregon, before the Civil War. In the gold states. they would have seemed as strange as for ;' the people of nebut ous Mars to come here with their strange : bodies and J stranger minds and ideals. But: in the - home-hunting Oreroa program high among the Institutions of its they were as logical as two and wo to start the multiplication table. . : 1 Salem - Home of - Education Salem was the very first edu cational center in the northwest; In the whole WestWIUamette University is the oldest west of the Mississippi river! The city grew up around, and because of, the pioneer ; school, for which a charter as a. university was asked n 1849. iThat was the year of the great gold rush to California; when : men aold their souls for gold. It is a strange picture, tne difference of the two ideals; the Oreeonians putting their beaver skins and bear-skins and labor into a christian college that In their children should live on through the ages, and the argo nauts of the South shooting and blasting their way to the cold. yellow metal ; of their adventur ous dreams! . N 1 j The Willamette University is the foremost of the educational Institutions! of Salem; In age and in national standing. The old school , has Bad a checkered ca reer; "marked by superhuman struggles, (disasters, with enough triumphs, to keep its hope alive. It has graduated more than 1,000 students: 1 it has served more than 10.000 who did not gradu ate, but' who T carried - some of ; Its Impress - out into . the world. Its oldest student. Hon. Joseph Baker, still lives in Salem; he attended first in' 1849,' 74 years ago. What a procession of young life has passed through its doors in: that long period of time! Willamette has struggled on under crushing loads of debt, al most from the beginning. One of the early professors thought he was mighty lucky to get $300 a year for all his time and the use of his diploma aa a drawing card. The1 University once owned a large tract of land in Salem, covering where the jcapitol build ing now stands; but it was too heavy . A ; : load to carry, and gradually! the holdings were re duced to the present campus. This is hardly adequate to the present ? ambitions of the school; but it .would "not be easily possi ble to extend Its holdings, what ever the-future 'needs, - r j. , " kind In the state 2 and 3 Englewood and Garfield schools, two of The university has had a small endowment, of about 1600,000, for the past. 10 years.-. This was not, sufficient , for its ' needs; it has been a constant fight for enough money to carry on ' the school. The ;tuition - has ; cost practically three times what tne students have ever paid; for the effort has always been : to fairly drag the young people . into school, and to find enough mon ey from, other sources to pay the greater part of their expenses. Million Dollar Endowment Cam- 1 " paJfin, 1 During 1922; however, an en dowment campaign was started,' that has brought an additional endowment of $1,000,000 for the university use. This was started by a gift of $3fcO,000 from the R eke feller Foundation, which after an exhaustive investigation designated Willamette as a col lege of superior character and promise, and worthy their sup port. So ' certain were they that Willamette would ; succeed, that they have been paying the Inter est on this endowment appro priation, for the past 'two "years, in anticipation of the successful camagn now ended. The rest ot the money was raised by popular subscription; two lOyal Oregon- lans, Hon. R. A. Booth of Eu gene and E. S. Collins of Port land, each added $100,000 to the fund. - s v y f i New Gymnasium Made Possible In addition to this; permanent endowment fund, enough money was , raised , in, this campaign to build a fine new ; gymnasium, a cent raj heating plant and to clean up all warrant and note indebted ness: The school? starts In its ISlS year in far the best finan cial condition: it has" ever known. The enrollment was limited to 450, last year; but the demand for room has been so Insistent, that this limit was exceeded by 100 students.; With the erection of more buildings, a registration of 1000 Is expected within the next three years; they, could be had this year If the buildings would hold them. Salem School System Leads , Following In the wake. of -Willamette and , it actually ! that, for the present Willamette aetu- r r- ' ' i - r- iiimi'iu'i i .ii'ii i i' 'i n . I i Tin i i Sin-'' Ni&fSt;' .-V-L 1 , administration hall of Willamette University. 6 Sacred Heart Academy; EARNING Betterment Clusters Around $500,000 Bond Issue Voted v ally preceded the present public schools the school system is one of the justifiable boasts of Salem. The . school now comprises 10 buildings, with an enrollment March first of 412V These buildings and pupils are served by '138 teachers,' an average of 3 0 pupils per teacher, including all the grades. , ' The schools have been badly crowded, . because of their excellence; the army ot stu dents coming in from out of town, is almost like the army of argonauts seeking the gold of California. Half Million Bond Issue A recent election, provides for a - city bond issue of $500000 for additional school needs. This money is. to be spent over 'a per iod of years, building new, perm anent, fire-proof units tp supple ment and eventually to supersede the present older wooden struc tures. The schools are growing with really startling rapidity; with the present high school en rollment, of about 960, it is cer tain that by spring of 1923 it will be at least 1200, for a high school building that Was original-; ly calculated to be "chock full', with 800. Most Of the school buildings are similarly crowded; only two of the whole number, and these being in the less popu lous outskirts of the town, where they were given modern .build ings in advance of the city needs, are really only comfortably filled; Because of the congestion in the high school, in 1915 the' Junior High School system was adopted. This takes the seventh, eight and ninth ' grades, putting them in separate schools that, are 'espec ially aimed to meet the needs of adolescence. They are supposed to ' be " provided -with assembly rooms, where the pupils' meet fn the growing "gang spirit" stage that demands attention. The three Junior - high schools have been so terribly ; overcrowded that " they hare no, assembly rooms, and in that much the Salem school system T has fatten seriously short of Its doty. . The junior high system calls for treat ment of Its pupils as miniature men - and. women. ' not . cnuaren who are to obey because author (Continued onpag"5) ' ' in ii' n. u u.i. . in in' "in mi j.j. ' 1 ......'..:...l.l',.iiiiiiiiliM the most recent type of tochool buildings recently erected. sm E M Has Attained National Reputation for Efficiency in Spite of Handicap in Equipment Calculated to Improve Physical, Mental and Spiritual Cond ition of City's People Brief In the magnificent cathedral St. Paul's, London, there is no specific memorial to the great architect. Sir Christopher Wren, who planned the building; , but there is a simple tablet which says: "If you would see his mon ument, look about you." The snlendid structure Is indeed a monument to the man who drew the design and worked it into stone. One can find the memorials to the Salem YMCA In almost the same way, anywhere In Salem one needs but to look around him, to Bee what the association is, by what it does. Here is a partial list of the public activ ities in which the Y has engaged during the past: year; most of them it has carried on as its own initiative, and others it has as sisted materially, either . through tits workers or its building facili ties. Perhaps no one in Salem would have believed that so many things, of public moment have been carried on, even by the whole city: Vacation Bible School, 629 pu pils, 81 teachers. Municipal play ground Summer Camp, on Salmon riv er N , Community Swimming -Week Twilight Baseball League Boys Twilight League Tenni3 Tournament , , Willamette Class, accredited Y work Commercial basketball league Midget Basketball League - Snnday School Athletic League 'Boys' Baseball Pitchers course Open house, Willamette Y Open house, high school . H1Y Club , - ' Cooperation with Marlon coun ty S.-S. association Cooperation with YMCA All - secretaries ' members of some -Salem Civic club ! Educational Extension work Men's Handball tournament Handball classes for men . . Volleyball classes for. men Swimming instruction 400 have earned to swim in Y tank during year - -Bible study classes . Sunday campaign. School membership ...i . j . .. .11 n i n i MM -f - r -Lausanne "Y" GREAT CIVIC LEAB Y" ' "Twenty-Four-Hour-Day" club -.' , Inter-clty contests, men with other cities ' Inter-city contest, boys ' Older boys conference Boxing classes Junior Hi-Y club, McKinley schoo i " Service 'membership Boys' clubs, 16 clubs Thrift Week Campaign Mother-and-Son Banquet . Visitation Team j Cooperation with churches for Easter Week Sunday Park Services ' Men's Class In Public 'Speak ing I Men's - Class in Salesmanship : Men's Class in Citizenship Boys' training class in Wil lamette University Hikes, paper chases, etc. s Cooperation with County work ' , ' Life Saving " Classes , Tumbling Classes i Pentathlon, fori boys, April. , Pentathlon for boys, Christmas week . Hexathlon for boys, classified Christian Citizenship Training. Advertising church services Swimming contests for boys Work Highly Efficient . The work of, the Salem Y as described by one nationally known Y obserrer. has been . pronounced &3 without equal considering . its equipment. And Harry Stdne, of Portland, interrupting irt the great :YMCA conference in Port land last week, where John R. Mott, the greatest: Y worker in the world, was the 'principal speaker, said: "The work of training- Y, workers is being done better through the Salem YMCA, and Willamette University, than anywhere else west of: the Miss issippi " river." f Heshould know be hss ' three of the WLHamette Salem Y graduates already, ; and will have three more this year -they furnish - him; all, his new men. and they are making ex traordinarily good.. t . - So much for the quality of work that goes outside of the city.- One -would Hardly "need to" add to these superlatives from such eminent authorities. J.--; AM..-' Hall, women's dormitory at AVillamefto UnlTersity. But the .real - quantity, - and much of the real quality, is done right at home. . Take, for,, in stance, the swimming week, con ducted for the past two years by Tom Gawley, swimming instruc tor' of tbe . Portland YMCA. During -, Swimming Week, last May, almost 1000 young people, all the way from children up to the young women of the business classes and the Willamette Uni versity, attended; 400 became proficient enough through the : Y teachings during the year,' to be come real llfesavers in the water. "Bill" East, one of the Y boys, was life guard ' at the municipal play grounds last summer; he did save at least one - life that was surely lost but for his " Y skill. , The classes . in life-saving are ot the highest efficiency; the swimming has . the skilled super vision of swimmers who can teach tbe ' art and .400 - learned it during the year. This swim ming ; week is a regular Salem Y Institution. ; : Helps Municipal - Playground - Either Secretary Kells or Phy sical Director Boardman of. the Salem ,Y was somewhere on the job through most of the eight weeks of the municipal r play ground season, last year; and for weeks before the season opened, 'in planning and install-, leg the apparatus and the gener al scheme of the work. What this play, ground meant to the tired' mothers of Salem, and to the children .. themselves, is- be- yound the power of mere figures to estimate. Salem has been curiously re luctant or unfortunate in keep ing up professional . base .ball teams. But the people like base ball; it : is food . and drink for many men and boys. The Salem Y has taken over most of the burdens of the annual Twilight League, that. Is . growing to be a real baseball classic. The sche dule is arranged mostly through the T. the listing of - members, the annual banquet, and in every way It is a recognized Y activity, though . of course it enlists some excellent assistance from ' outside its -own Tegular membership. " r . Supervises Boys League . The Boys - Twilight League . Is ; vlatcn II Sets Pace for All Movements Review of the Year's Wo rk a pocket edition - of t';e same idea, cut down to boys': size. Th league last summer functioned so well, that It 'is . definitely planned for this year. . It occu pies the time , and energies of tbe boys at a time when they most need 'the -fine, manly t-uiervisfoTi that, the , Xseriea gel3 from the trained Y' workers. , . - FIfty;ioy"s took "part in the Boys tennis tournament list summer, held mostly ' urider the Y supervision, and" played mostly by Y members. It was one of the reddesthottest meets of tha kind ever held on "the coast, and it produced some stars among its 50 ; players. They oka sissal honors In the Portland tourna ment. The meet In Salem wa3 al most thrilling in its - rivalry; ' and it attracti)d the attention of a good many men who would have given -a thousand dollars to -be able to play as well as some 1 ot the Y "kids. . Public Takes Interest The New Year Open lloasa was attended , by. almost .2,000 itecpla of Salem, who crowded in to see what their boys and girls are doing. They found a delightful program of clean athletics and gymnastic i, and - good music, and good fellowship: The Y has 'al ways .been the center of thea young, people's - public ? meetings. The Willamette Y held such- a re ception there, attended by 300 ot the students; and the Salem Hfga school held- their- open house, which vu largely attended. ' There " are 16 Boys' "CIu'.. j, groups of from slx to : ten I . 3, each group under the' laadersl!? of a young man from - Willai..- i ta University. These classes I - a been '.wonderfully helpful to t ".i the members and; tha !ea, Most of the Willamette - men u r planning either-for regular T secretarial -work, or for tit; citizenship In which service co-" ' j as the first duty " and privi'. ; some are planning for the r.i! try. and it is not to bs a 1: -faced, -sacredotal black-clc I ministry, but a good-fpllo-Vi understanding of humanity r 1 what it heeds to make it : -and healthier, and . bett?r. - of the leaders take their boys t;t their homes, for little parties; c:. (Continued on pas 2)