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Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 39, 10 August 1870, Page 2

.the Cromwell School Committee, after six months' inaction, met last Friday evening, when some new members were added to the staff of committee-men, and other business that awaited the attention of the Committee was overtaken. The existing schoolhouse accommodation was discussed ; but, as we are informed, nothing was determine 1, further than to refer the matter to a future meeting, when it is to be hoped the new members will be present to assist with their counsel. The present schoolroom is rapidly becoming too small for the increasing number of children needing accommodation. The building does not out at the sides and gables, to meet tl growing demands for room. Under t' old school regime, when the children were potted, and became almost fixtures from the time of entering to the time of- Isavißg the school, a room of the present 'dimensions would have been ample for thechildren in Cromwell. But the system of drill, and march, and circular stampede which nVraj prevails, requires a wider sphere—a of much larger dimensions/ —if the nevsl dicipline is to have anything like fair play But there is a still weightier reason for more space—one that will avenge itself hy a terrible penalty if neglected ; one that is of vital consequence to the parents of the children, and to the children themselves. Anything that impairs the vigor and irtir pedes the healthful play of the physical powers during the school age will be felj: far up into manhood and womanhood, an ft may be, in all after life. In the Cromwell schoolhouse, with the te:icher and forty oi fifty children, there are at this season siy twenty feet of heated iron surface, carrying oft' the life-giving properties of the air. The latter is soon exhausted of its vital principle, and what remains is unfit for use, and cmnot bo inhaled with safety by children of tender age and delicate health. Let the visitors, whose business it is to attend to matters of this sort, step into the sch,Qplroom just before twelve o'clock a.tn. t and the. scent and even the sight will reveal the state of things inside. The mas'er and the. children alike have a weird and weary look, indicative of a deficiency of that element for the absence of which nothing can compensate. The room is as if built for the express purpose of doing away with all chance of a fresh supply of air to take the place of the used-up an<i contaminated article: there is no ventilation in the roof; what air does com* in. comes in through the windows, on a level with the heads of the children, so that the almost certain consequence is that in curing one evil another is inflicted. It is not surprising that this state of things should not have impressed the minds of the master ot the children. They enter the schoolroom while the air is fresh and sweet; it impart? to them its supporting quality freely ; the work of deterioration begins—goes or gradually ; nature adapts itself to its altered conditions ; the powers of keen perception, to a certain extent, suffer ; and the existing evil dois not reveal itself, because the acute sense of detection ceases tc act. Those who are the first to suffer arc the last to understand the producing cause. Nature has not made us its confidant, or entrusted us with secrets denied to out neighbors. All men are aware that ait minus its oxygen is unwholesome to men, and much more so to children. There may be some reason for delay in building a new schoolroom, or enlarging the old one, but there can be no'reason or excuse for keeping the one we have an unsafe workshop for the intellects of the children who at tend it. We have the raw material, thanh goodness, in infinite abundance outside the school; let us not suffer any obstruction iri the way of all needful supplies inside. II all the ills resulting from the use of an adulterated atmosphere by. children could be seen by their parents, the sight would astonish and appal them, and they would be the most surprised who think least or the subject. Let the Committee, for the sake of the schoolmaster, as well as the children, apply the remedy. Ventilate i ventilate ! without delay. But this is buf a temporary remedy. Whether the permanent cure should take the form of an enlargement or a new building, we are not prepared to say

Would not a side sclioolhouse meet l requirements of the case] Is one mi equal to the high duty of imparting atoros to the minds of more than fi children 1 Is ono hand sufficiently stn and steady to hold a firm control oyer ml than fifty colonial childron 1 If the ( Vernmeut could be induced to build a si school, it would relieve the pressure ui the limited space now available. But th is another mode of meeting the difficult and for this we are indebted to a lady Ciomwell, and if she form one of our i readers, she will recognise her own pli We need not say tliat there is a gooi number of girls of school age, and oth are growing up, whose parents could affi to pay a somewhat higher sum for tli education ; and as the matter t <w stan with all the careful attention of the mast these little girls are not equal to the and boisterous ways of grown boys. Tli timid and tender nature unfits them deriving all the advantages they wo derive from a more select system, atfi milder and gentler management. If t parents of such children could hold out sufficient inducement for some respecta person to settle in Cromwell and open] school, a want would be supplied, and pi haps the question of school accommodate might be postponed for a short time—b only for a short time. We have only spai to say, in conclusion, " Why cannot tl schoolmaster and children have a half-hq day on the Wednesday here, as in otl places where masters work less and child! are fewer V ~.v, %•*, I