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THE INTERESTING ROMANCE OF THE WASHINGTON SCHOOL - How the Educational System of the State Has Developed from a Meagre Begin ning to the Best in the Land "W est ward the course of empire takes Its way"—s-wlth the school house close behind! Seventy-seven ,years ago the flrßt school in the state of Washington was built by Whitman and Spalding beside the sparkling Walla Walla river at Wallatpul. One pupil in this school, Mrs. N. O. Jacobs of Spokane, Is yet living —the sole sur vivor of the Whitman massacre. She alone has lived to see the realization of the purpose of Marcus Whitman ln the "Saving of Oregon," the re tention and settlement of the great Northwest, and its wonderful devel opment in Industry and education. She has witnessed the building of railways and manufactory's, tie hew ing down of forests, the- breaking up of the prairie' —she has seen ag riculture take the* place of hunting and trapping, and commerce th" place of primitive Indian trading. Lastly it has been hers, and hers alone, to see the advent, the early struggles, and tho present wonder ful growth of that one Institution which is the foundation stone of our western civilization—the school. Seventy-seven years have passed— in the first fifty of which appeared the little log sehoolhouse—ln the last twenty-five of which came the modern structure of brick and stone. The first fifty years saw school en rollment grow from 0 to 50,000 — the last twenty-five years from 50,000 to 225,000. The first half century saw the value of, school property rise from 0 to $2,000,359 —the quarter century following saw it rise from $2,000,000 to $19,089, --112. The first period saw the es tablishment of the State University and a number of private managed schools and colleges—the last period the founding of the State College, the three State Normal Schools, a large number of business colleges and Institutions of collegiate rank of the sectarian type, and lastly the great growth and development of the high school. When the State University opened on November 4, 1861, the popula tion of Seattle was estimated at 200, hence the "U" was little more than a pioneer, frontier school. In the second year there were 51 students, only one being above preparatory rank. Statehood marked a new ep o.fi, however, for in 1889 the site of the University was changed to the present beautiful campus of 355 acres overlooking Lake Washington. Since that time, its growth and de velopment has been in keeping with the growth and development of the state. It Ib one of the twelve insti tutions west of the Mississippi which the United States Commissioner of Education has put in "Class One" In his rating of schools of the coun try. It publishes a dally paper which Is everywhere acknowledged as one of the best put out by any school in the country. It has the third largest enrollment in the United States, and it owns as famous a set of chimes as is to be found anywhere in the world. It, like our own State College, is "Founded to promote the practical and liberal education of the Industrial classes." In conjunction with our Pullman school it is turn ing out trained men and women who can do expert work In the different industries of the state, who are en gaging in those manufacturing proc esses and those building and con structive operations which involve* civil, electrical and mechanical en gineering. From these two institu tions come many of our lawyers, teachers and newspaper men; our modern farmers, our artisans and our professional men; our home makers, our legislators, our officials — m short, a great number of our most broadly educated citizens. There are now nineteen regular de partments of work In the Washing ton State Collegeeach one having its own particular field in preparing future citizens, and in promoting the practical and liberal education of those who are already citizens. No statement could be more true than that of President Bryan when, in a recent report, he said The Stat-; College tries to fulfill the very widest function, and in so doing to com.- In contact with the Industrial life of all the people of the state." To make the services of the institution available to the greatest number, ex tension work has been established in the form of winter short courses, summer sessions of six weeks dura tion, farmers* institutes varying from one day to a week in length, and demonstration trains which cover entire sections of the state within a week. Each winter "The College on the Hill" gives short courses In mining, forestry, sericul ture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and home economics; each spring it sends out 'i school on wheels—a train equipped for the teaching of agriculture, horticulture and home economics; each year it makes educational exhibits at all the principal fairs and shows, and each year it sends out farmers' institute workers to preach the gospel of bet ter crops, better farm homes and better living. Our three normal schools, founded at bout the same time that the State College was established, and located at Bellingham, Ellensburg and Che ney, have had varied experiences, but despite the ravages of fire and the unfavorable wind of popular opinion, which deplores the mainte. nance of three institutions which du plicate the work of each other, they have grown and are doing great, work in standardizing the degree of effi ciency required in the teachers of the state. We may get some idea of the trend of education in the Northwest today by noting the courses that, are being emphasized in tin- noma! schools. Manual train ing, woodwork, agriculture, sewing, cooking, and play—these are the practical subjects which are being taught along with the three "It's" of our own childhood days. The nor mal schools are aiding in the estab lishment of the model rural districts, where the proper correlation of classes in an ungraded school, the arrangement of a flexible program for daily work, a limited amount of domestic science, manual training and agriculture, the hot lunch, im proved school grounds, suitable play apparatus, and the social center Idea are being tried out. The state is not narrow in its conception of education, for it pro vides not only for those whom nature has endowed with unimpaired facul ties for making their way ln the world, but also ,for those who are at a disadvantage because of some physical defect. The School for the Deaf and Blind is located at Van couver, and the School for the Fee ble Minded at Medical Lake. There are at present 122 children in the School for the Deaf, where the course follows closely that of the public schools. Not a single grad uate of this novel and most beneficial institution has ever bean in jail or in the poorhouse record which none of our institutions of higher learning can equal. At Chehalis is located the State Training School, where boys between the ago of 8 and 18 are committed for unruly behavior. It has a farm of 250 acres, scientifically manage by a State Colege graduate, where the boys find plenty of work to do, and where much of the food for their subsistence is grown. The State Reformatory is con ducted on the principle of the re formative value of education, and inmate work Is required em all sorts of constructive work — barberlng, baking, laundering, boot and shoe repairing, nursing, and, in fact, ev erything that pertains to the lite* of those confined there. F. F. Nalder, '01, was appointed director of edu cation at the reformatory January 1, 1912. Not the least of the educational factors of th.- state are the large pri vate schools, such as Whitman, Gonzaga, Whit worth, and Spokane College., and the University of Puget Sound. The business college, which has been the means of furnishing night schools for many ambitious workers, also occupies a prominent place. lt was only a little over a year ago that the State Inspector of High Schools, Mr. Edwin Twitmeyer, re ported that "The school situation in the state of Washington Is exceed ingly full of hope and encourage ment. With the character and in telligence of her people and with her marvelous resources now in a pro cess of rapid development, there is no reason why she should not rank among the* very foremost education ally." Just a few weeks ago came the re port of the division of education of the Russell Sage foundation that "The schools 0 the state of Wash ington are the most efficient in the nation." This bureau in making "a comparative study of school systems in the forty-eight states," places Washington first, with Massachusetts a close second and New York third. This is the romance of the Wash ington school—the story of its hum ble beginning In a log cabin at Wai latpul, until Its present standing as the- best In the nation. LOREN DUMAS,?,I4. CO-OPERATION AMONG FARMERS (By H. J. Waters, President Kansas State Agricultural College.) (Continued from last week) Another way In which the breed ers might co-operate to great profit would be to lay aside their prejudices and breed one class of stock ln a com munity. That is, instead of one farm er in a community breeding short horns, another breeding Herefords, another Angus and another Gallo ways, let all concentrate on a single breed of each class. If this were done, there would be enough short horn cattle, for example, produced In the community that specialized in this breed to establish a reputation throughout the state for that com munity as short horn center and buyers would be attracted without a large outlay for advertising or show ing. Another source of great loss in animal breeding is the sacrifice of sires before their value becomes known or before their usefulness Is ended. The owner seldom is able to dispose of a useful sire at more than common stock prices, even though Its value is known to be very great. Every year hundreds of very valuable sires are slaughtered at the packing houses long before their usefulness Is ended and young and untried sires take their places at the heads of our herds. By such a co-operative arrangement as is here suggested, a breeder having an impressive sire could notify the college authorities and a member of the staff could visit the farm, inspect the get of the sire and record him for sale* according to his actual merits. The Agricultural College of each state should become a clearing house for its farmers, helping them to sell their products and to buy what they need. To illustrate the value of such a bureau, this fall Kaunas had a large apple crop and it was certain that many of our farmers would have dif ficulty in selling their apples to ad vantage. A member of the College Extension Staff is an experienced ap ple merchant as well as a successful orchardist. It was made his business to find buyers for Kansas apples. Over 400 carloads were sold through this means. In the main, these sales were for small growers, men who are least experienced in selling this crop. One morning a letter came to the College from a man In Leavenworth county requesting a buyer for a car of Jonathans. The same morning a telegram was received from a mer chant in the farmer's town not three miles away inquiring where he could buy a car of Jonathans. The two were brought together, the sale made and the apples and the money both were* kept at home. Co-Operative Stores A co-operative store is a very com plicated business and a majority of the attempts along this line have failed. I believe that the establish ment of proper relations between the farmers and the townspeople, where by both work toward the develop ment of the country and the upbuild ing of the town, will prove more profitable to the community as a whole than an attempt on the part of the farmers to operate their own store. Nevertheless, if it is desired to es tablish such a store, and doubtless there are communities where such an establishment would do a great good, the career of the most successful of the co-operative stores is commended. The Rochedale Stores —The foun dation of all successful co-operation In this line is what is known as the Rochedale stores. The first store was organized in 1844 by 28 poor, op pressed, half-starved weavers In the English town of Rochedale. Their original capital was $140. Now it is the most powerful system of stores in the world. There are fourteen of them and their yearly business is something like 350 millions. They do both retail and wholesale busi ness. They operate furniture stores, butcher shops, savings banks and sell practically everything that people want to buy, and furnish practically any service they may re quire. In Edlnborough alone, the Rochedale Stores have more than 40,000 members. In Leeds, they have nearly 50,000 members. Johnson County Co-Operative As sociation— On.* of the most success ful co-operative stores in the United States is at Olathe, Kansas, and is conducted by the Johnson County Co- Operative Association. It is a Grange store and was founded in 1876 with a capital of $385 and with 77 members. Its present capital is $100,000, and its membership 900. Its first year's business amounted to $36,840 with a profit of $1,334. Last year the aggregate . business was over $250, --000 and the profit was in round numbers $14,000. Since the store was founded, it has done a business of more than eight million dollars and its total profits have amounted to more than $500,000. The same society now operates a bank with a capital stock of $50,000 and a sur plus of $50,000. It also operates a farmers insurance company, carrying risks of more than six millions at an average yearly cost of $2.26 per thousand. . The Right-Relationship League— The most extensive co-operative store enterprise in this country has its headquarters in Minneapolis and op erates chiefly. In Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and lowa. There are more than one hundred stores in this group with a membership of more than 10,000 and a yearly business above two millions. It is patterned after the Rochdale Stores. One un varying policy, however, is never to establish a new .store In a commu nity, but always to buy out a suc cessful store Instead, and hire, if possible, the former owner as man ager and his clerks as salesmen. They have a wholesale store to act as purchasing agent for the retail stores. The retail stores act as ship ping agents for their members. None of the stores operated by this league has failed and all have been profit able. Co-Operation In Selling Meat Animals Kansas' chief live stock business is producing meat animals. No attempt so far as 1 know of has been made to co-operate in this matter. The Meeks County (Minn.) live stock shippers organized a shippers' association and employed the best live stock man in the county as man ager. The first year they effected a saving of from $30 to $80 a car. At Centralia, Missouri, last winter the stock feeders felt that it was costing them too much to market their cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, and organized a live stock shippers' sssoclatlon covering four counties cornering at that place. They asked for membership In the live stock ex change at East St. Louis and were re fused at first, but finally were ad mitted. They now have a local man ager at Centralia and a sales agent in East St. Louis. Co-Operative Butchering and Curing Associations Nearly all of our meat comes from the central packing plants at Chi cago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Omaha. The farmers of Kansas last year bought from five to seven mil lion dollars' worth of meat from the butcher shops while they were ship ping millions of dollars worth of live stock out of the state. Co-operation in eliminating this waste has reached its highest de velopment in Denmark. The Danish bacon Is celebrated the country over. In that little country, about one-fifth the size of Kansas, there are thirty five co-operative curing plants with ninety thousand members. They kill annually about one million and a half hogs. These curing plants are owned by the farmers who produce the hogs and are conducted by the men whom they hire, thus the farmers own the bacon and hams when they are cured. At that point a co-operative export association takes charge of the pro duct and sends it to markets like Liverpool, London, Paris and Berlin, to be sold direct to the consumer, and ance is remitted to the men who raised the hogs. Co-Operation Between the Farmer and Consumer The farmer will not make much progress in shortening the road to consumer until the consumer himself becomes interested and meets the producer half way. Obviously, the consumer has no particular interest in where he buys or from whom he buys, unless he can buy at a lower price, or can get better goods at the same price. In a word, the advan tages of direct selling must be shared by both parties to the transaction. We are now trying to educate the farmer regarding the benefits to him of co-operation In production and marketing. It is Just as necessary that the consumer be educated re garding the advantages to him of co operative buying. Our present sys tem of buying is essentially wasteful. When we were producing more food than we could consume, there was no particular reason for economy. Food has since become scarce, yet we con tinue these wasteful methods. Form erly, the village or town lived large ly off the surrounding country. Then the local market was the farmer's chief market. The town and country were inter-dependent. Now the farm er ships wheat he has to sell to a central market like Kansas City, Chi cago or New York. Now, the town and country are Independent. ,'h It is said that Troy, New York, re ceives Its milk supply from New York City. With a favorable season and a bountiful harvest in Kansas, Minnesota cabbage, Washington ap ples, Texas onions, New Jersey peas and corn, Wisconsin butter and cheese, are staple articles of diet in Manhattan. ?/,? lowa does not produce as much wheat as her people eat. Yet, she ships out of the state one-fourth of what she produces and buys back several times this amount. The farmers of the South ship live cattle from 300 to "but! miles to St. Louis, and buy back beef sides ship ped in refrigerator cars with icing charges added. The farmer has lost whatever in terest he had in the town and the city man his interest ln the country. There is nothing truer than that the country and the town are independent while they should be ln ter-dependent. The man ln tbe town should be as much Interested in the development ot the country, and in providing a good market for what is produced locally, as he Is in develop ing the streets, parks and schools of his town, and as he ls in establishing new Industries in the town. In Kansas City they are conducting 'a campaign to educate the people of that city and of the regions round about to use Kansas City-made pro ducts. Do you suppose they have thought the proposition through far enough to include in that campaign a suggestion that their own people give preference to those things that are grown in these regions? In short, are they willing to meet us half way, by buying our products if we buy theirs? How much of the yearly business of the local grocer originates in the locality in which he does business.' How much of it comes from a hun dred miles away, and how much from five hundred miles away? It would surprise you to know how small a part of what is consumed in your town is produced in your county, and I know you do not re alize how much of what is locally grown is shipped out of the com munity; and of similar material grown elsewhere is shipped in. This is not wholly and perhaps not chief ly the fault of the merchant, but it is really the fault of the producer and the consumer quite as much as of the merchant. We are all creatures of habit Con venience weighs heavily with us. The local merchant or the local consumer has no inherited objection to patron izing the local producer. In fact, If his attention were called to it, he really would prefer to do so, all things being equal. But the local producer cannot expect the merchant or the consumer to put himself to too great inconvenience, merely to discharge what he may clearly rec ognize in the abstract as his duty to the local producer. The farmer must plan to have his supply come as regularly as possible, and, above all things, to keep it up to the stand ard in quality and to have It so packed and handled that it Ib at tractive to the eye and easy to sell. In short, the farmer must cater to his market Just as the merchant does. Unlesß he will do this much, he cannot get the business and does not deserve to have It. Burdens of the Consumer Lay Upon the Merchant and Farmer As stated before, the consumer is as much in need of education as Is the producer. We give little thought to the effect our purchase may have upon the development, of local or state Industries. We are just as happy with a broom made in Michi gan, the brush for which perhaps was grown in our own state and ship ped six hundred miles to have a handle attached, as we would be with one made In our own community. We buy western apples by the peck and let better apples rot in the neighbor hood for want of a market. A neigh bor kills a beef or a few hogs and part of the meat wastes because he cannot use it all In his own family. In the meantime we have patronized the butcher shop, the meats of which come from the city. The consumer buys in small lots usually over the telephone and in sists upon Immediate delivery. He has gotten out of the habit of buying In quantity. Formerly the winter supply of apples, potatoes, onions, etc., were laid in in the fall. Now they are purchased as needed from day to day, and usually ln quantities not to exceed a peck. This prac tically prevents the farmer from sell ing direct to the consumer. He has not the time to deliver daily and in such- small quantities. The remedy is to be found in the consumer being encouraged to buy in larger quanti ties, or in establishing local co-oper ative markets where the farmers' rep SPRAY CALENDAR FOR 1913 , The State Agricultural Experiment Station at Pullman, Washing^ | has just issued Popular Bulletin No. 52, "The Spray Calendar for 1918. I prepared by Professors A. L. Melander and H. B. Humphrey. This bulletin, like former Spray Calendars, gives ln condensed tabul* j form the latest and best remedies for the insect and fungus pests wW j infest orchard, garden, and farm crops, which have been discovered ..' j the Experiment Stations or ln actual field work. This partlc-i 1* I "Calendar" Ib more complete than any former one and contains sugg*^ remedies for practically every pest which has been found to occur in *' - state. » Directions are given, not only for the method of applying the t_* j materials or other remedial measures, but also for the preparation of •** ] of the more common of the washes or solutions which , are used W i spraying purposes. ? Copies of the bulletin may be obtained free by writing to ** J Director of the Experiment Station, Pullman, Wash. resentatlve may take orders and __\ I deliver the material for all the _?_ • hereof the association. „•■■* I A merchant in Emporia, Kan*, told me that It cost th. retail m* chants of that city of ten thousand 1 habitants thirty thousand d 011... ; last year to deliver their goods fro" the stores to the homes of their ci tomers. Why Should Not the Farmers (_, Operate? The farmer is the only class 0 < i large economic Importance that i ! not compactly organized for its 0 _ protection and progress. He buys aw sells, and conducts all his busmen as an individual without any regard for the welfare of his fellow farmer ; He accepts without successful p-^. test the price fixed by others 08 what he produces. He pays the prl* l fixed by others on what he buys. ■ does not fix the price upon either what he buys or sells. Economically the most important member of society, the farmer, ha. nothing to say about the terms under which he will work. Co-operating _. might easily remedy this situation and become an efficient business mat as well as an efficient producer. Co-Operation Will Help »<» Bevel,. Leaders The great need of the rural districts is capable leaders. This is the firs; real step in rural progress. These leaders must be found among the rural people. There has been i notable lack of leaders in the coun try, not because men and wome capable of leadership have not bet. developed among the farmers main): 1 because the farmer has refused to . led. The laborer in recent years h. been easy to organize and easy ti lead. The farmer has always bee: difficult to organize and difficult tc lead. The laborer has been ready tt reward his leaders and has been in tensely Interested in the cause o! labor. The farmer has been preju diced, suspicious and in no parties lar degree Interested in the cause i agriculture. Politically he has bee inefficient. His devotion to party ii general has been greater than his de votion to occupation. The govern ment thus far has failed to formulate an agrarian program because tit farmers have been divided political,; and content to vote mainly on city problems. A characteristic of the manage nent of our great railway system: and of all successful big business I that of recognizing merit within it | own ranks and rewarding this mer; with its prizes. By this means _ railways and other big corporation ? have been able to attract and to hoi the best talent of the country at coir paratlvely low wages merely for t_ chance at the larger opportunity ahead. We must not, however, lose sigh: of the fact that the largest and mo; important task is to encourage tlf country people to help themselves This strengthens; to help them de - stroys. They must be taught how t< render effective community service Up to this time the farm has beet looked upon as merely a place te making a living. It is too much c' 1 a factory and not enough of a home | The farmer has regarded the tow: or the city as the place in which I spend his money and his leisure. Institutes must be established ' the country that will satisfy the re qulrements of all the members of tt family. There must be communis tasks if we are to interest and hoi the best people in the country. Witt out a task a community is a decadet rural village. Oberammergau, wit the Passion Play as a communi: task has held its best people, M has commanded the attention of tl | world. The annual rendering of tl "Messiah" at Lindsberg, Kans* has been a community task lart enough to hold the best stock ( that community for more than '- | third of a century. Special prices on Dry Cleaning. Until March Ist, ladles' pi*l skirts, dry cleaned and pressed, IV ladles' plain suits, $1.50. Met suits, dry cleaned and pressed, $1-5' dyed and pressed, $3.00. We pay" turn postage. Write for Dry CleU ing and Laundry price list. Mob' | must accompany order.—ldeal Lam dry Co., Spokane. feb 7-'