Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 21.djvu/159

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OREGON NORMAL SCHOOLS 149

theoretical, and the thought is kept constantly before the stu- dent teacher that the work of the school is to equip the child for complete living."

At Ashland there were four buildings, two for school pur- poses and two dormitories. There were twenty-three rooms in the school buildings. A gymnasium was built in 1902, and is described as good sized and well equipped. The three labo- ratory rooms were said to be provided with abundant apparatus of the very best quality. The library consisted of 1,500 vol- umes outside of departmental reports.

These descriptions are really better than conditions war- ranted from the view of an impartial outsider. President E. H. Anderson of Drain, who was known to speak very frankly, when asking for an appropriation in 1897 says :

"We have not received a cent from the state, but we cannot keep pace with the others without state aid unless some rich Klondiker shall soon die and leave his find to the school. The school needs recitation rooms, a library, laboratories, piano, gymnasium, heating plant, some apparatus, and a chapel organ."

Yet this was after the new building was constructed. The secretary of the Zamzamian says that a meeting of the society broke up early (the month was December) because the room was too cold. In 1905, Drain announces:

"We have repaired the building, two good laboratories for the sciences have been equipped, and the library has been improved. A new heating plant has been installed, and the school has a fine water supply, from a large spring of excel- lent water, piped into the building, thus making the building healthful and pleasant."

Data has been presented that will enable one to judge of the justice of many of the criticisms brought against the normals. An important thing to keep in mind is that they should be judged by the standards and possibilities of their own times, not by the standards of today. On the subject of vote-trading and log-rolling tactics in the legislature, Repre-