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Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, May 21, 1901.
STRIKE IS UNIVERSAL.
Machinists Throughout the Country Lay Down Tools.
MANY HAVE GRANTED DEMANDS.
Everything Passes Off Quietly, the Men Simply Refusing to Work, There Being no Display of Disorder or Violence—O'Connell's Statement.
WASHINGTON, May 21.—Approximately 50,000 machinists throughout the country are in the fight for a nine-hour day, a scale of wages equal to the present 10-hour per day scale and other demands. This is the rough estimate of President O'Connell of the National Association of Machinists, based on the telegraphic advices that have reached him from the machinists' headquarters in the various cities.
The strike thus far has not extended to the allied trades, save in one or two instances, as at Scranton, Pa., where men in a part of the allied trades are out. No machinists engaged in government work are affected. This is due to the fact that on such work an eight-hour a day scale already prevails. Railroad machinists as a rule are not involved in the strike, though the men on several roads are out.
The Central Vermont shop machinists at St. Albans, numbering probably 200, have struck. The Lehigh Valley railroad machinists at Buffalo, Sayre, Wilkes-Barre and Elmira are out, aggregating about 500 all told. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western men at Buffalo, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and intermediate points are out. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe men are also out. The strike order, however, does not apply to the railroads generally. It is explained at headquarters that there is no competition between the railroads and the private work and that work among the private establishments is to be adjusted first.
The situation was summarized by President O'Connell in the following statement to the press:
"We are demanding a nine-hour day universally throughout the trade with an increase of wages sufficient to overcome the loss of the hour in time; regulation of the apprenticeship system and the number that shall be employed, in accordance with the number of journeymen machinists employed; agreements as to arbitration of all disputes that may arise in future; the rights of the machinists to be represented by a committee and agreements that there shall be absolutely no discrimination against machinists because of their membership in the union.
"From the present indications and the statements issuing from headquarters at the various points the orders are being generally obeyed and in larger numbers than was anticipated. In certain cases where only a few hundred were expected to be involved, the indications are that the number will be increased 50 per cent. The number of firms signing indicates that in localities where the agreements are being made the strike will not last over a few days.
"In other localities, where a large number of men are being involved, I look forward to an adjustment being reached within the present week."
Following is a statement of the number of men out at important points: Hartford, Conn., 1,000; Ansonia and Derby, Conn., 500; Hamilton, O., 1,000; Buffalo, 1,200; Scranton, 2,500; Cincinnati completely tied up and 3,000 men out; Connersville, Ind., 200; Palestine, Tex., 200; York, Pa., 300; East Orange, N. J, 300; Oswego, N. Y., 300; Norfolk. Va., all shops out, 500,
Word from other large cities is tardy in reaching here. Telegraphic reports to Mr. O'Connell show the following as the number of firms which signed the agreements yesterday:
Kenosha, Wis., all; Milwaukee, 5; Wilmington, Del., 2; Toledo, 1; Auburn, N.Y., all firms; Anaconda, Mont., all; Denver, all; St. Louis, all; New Orleans, all; Danbury, Conn., all; Cleveland, 15; Rochester, 90 per cent; Buffalo, 50 per cent; Niagara Falls, all; Tonawanda, all; Trenton, N. J., 75 per cent; Baltimore, 11; Philadelphia, 25; New Haven, 8. These establishments having conceded the demands their men are at work as usual.
Mr. O'Connell said that reports show that firms employing approximately 30,000 men had signed the agreements for the nine-hour day or made satisfactory arrangements with the local organizations.
Suit Growing Out of Fredonia School Fire.
ALBANY, May 21.—William Fizzell, as administrator of the estate of his daughter Maud Fizzell, yesterday filed against the state a claim of $25,000. Miss Fizzell was one of the unfortunate victims of the fire which destroyed the State Normal school at Fredonia two months ego. He alleges that the state is liable because it did not provide sufficient fire protection and an adequate system of alarm and was negligent through the acts of its agents in that the windows leading from the dormitory were barred, and the only possible means of escape from the burning building thus cut off. Several claims of a like character will be filed, it is said, against the state.
Americans Attacked by Insurgents.
MANILA, May 21.—It is officially reported that a body of rebels under Angeles attacked a detachment of American troops, supposed to be of the Twenty-seventh regiment, near Pasaco in South Camarines province, killing two soldiers and one native scout and taking one soldier prisoner. The insurgents are still in possession of the mining town of Paracale, North Cararines. The nearest troops are at Indan, 30 miles away.
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| Ferdinand E. Smith. |
PAGE FOUR—EDITORIALS.
The School Question.
The following correspondence has passed between the secretary of our city board of education and the state superintendent of public instruction:
May 1, 1901.
Hon. Charles R. Skinner, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Albany, N. Y.:
DEAR SIR—At a special meeting of the board of education, held at the office of the superintendent at the Central school on Monday evening, April 29, 1901, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the secretary instructed to forward a copy of them to you. The preamble and resolutions are as follows:
"As the public schools of the city of Cortland will be inadequate to accommodate our pupils during the next school year, and as the board of education are charged by law with a duty and responsibility of providing suitable and adequate school accommodations for the children of said city, we, the board of education are compelled to ascertain from the state, before we proceed further, if more pupils of academic grade cannot be provided for in the academic department of the Cortland State Normal and training school, therefore,
Resolved, That the state superintendent of public instruction, Charles R. Skinner, be requested to advise this board if the state is not under obligations and bound by deeds of conveyance, and by contracts or agreements, made by or between the (village) city of Cortland, and the state of New York in regard to the State Normal and Training school located at Cortland, N. Y., whereby the state agrees to provide academic accommodations free for all the pupils of academic grade residing in the city of Cortland at said school.
Resolved, That if, by virtue of the aforesaid deeds, contracts or agreements, or by virtue of the equity in the case, the state of New York is bound to furnish and maintain an academic department in the State Normal school, we would respectfully request the state superintendent to so modify the requirements for admission to said academic department, so that the pupils from the Central school may be admitted there next September upon the same standard of admission as is fixed for the pupils of the intermediate department in said Normal school for promotion into the academic department of said Normal and Training school.
Yours respectfully,
F. E. SMITH, Secretary.
ALBANY, N. Y., May 9, 1901.
Mr. F. E. Smith, Supt. of Schools, Cortland, N. Y.:
MY DEAR SUPERINTENDENT—I am in receipt of your letter of May 1 enclosing resolutions adopted by the board of education of the city of Cortland on April 29, 1901, relating to the academic department of the Normal school of Cortland. I have carefully read the conveyance by the trustees of Cortlandville academy to the superintendent of public instruction of certain promises, bearing date Oct. 18, 1869, and note the conditions contained therein. If this conveyance imposes any obligation on the state of New York, it would seem to be one which the trustees of the Cortlandville academy, or their successors, and not the city of Cortland, would be entitled to enforce. The city (formerly village) of Cortland in its corporate capacity is not a party to this conveyance; and even if the city of Cortland were entitled to insist under this conveyance that adequate accommodations be furnished by the state in an academic department at the Normal school for pupils residing in the city of Cortland, it would hardly be claimed—it seems to me—that such obligation on the part of the state ever extended beyond the Normal building toward the erection of which the village contributed. The state could hardly be called upon in equity to constantly erect new buildings to meet the increasing demands of the growth of that city; but let that pass.
The situation confronting your city is as follows:
The legislature appropriates a certain fund for the maintenance of all its Normal schools. This fund in not adequate to maintain enlarged accommodations for the Cortland school beyond those now in existence. In the disposal of the fund appropriated I am directed by statute to apportion it among all the Normal schools, not with a view of maintaining adequate academic accommodations in any particular one of them, but with a view to the proper maintenance of all these institutions in their highest degree of efficiency, according to my best judgment, and for the purpose for which they were established, viz: the training of teachers.
I have given to Cortland that appropriation which in my judgment the exigencies of the whole system demand. Therefore, to attempt to compel a compliance with the conditions contained in the conveyance executed by the trustees of Cortlandville academy would require a direct application to the legislature for more money for this specific purpose. I need hardly say that in the present temper of the legislature such an appeal would be fruitless. The opinion is very prevalent in the legislature that the city of Cortland has received much more advantage from the Normal school located within its borders than the Normal school has ever received from the citizens of that locality, and there is a very deep seated conviction that this co-partnership which existed between localities and the state in the erection of these earlier Normal schools was an unfortunate policy.
If the question was ever presented to the legislature I, as the head of this department, should certainly advise that the state return to the trustees of Cortlandville academy the property conveyed by them, rather than attempt to maintain an academic department for all the pupils residing in your city, at the sacrifice, possibly, by some succeeding legislature, of the true purpose for which all Normal schools are constructed.
Should an attempt be made to enforce against the state for the benefit of the city of Cortland the obligation contained in the deed from the trustees of Cortlandville academy, I suppose the legal remedy would be the appointment of a receiver for the old academy, and the bringing of an action in equity by the receiver to enforce the conditions contained in the conveyance, or in default thereof to obtain a judgment that the title of the land conveyed revert to that institution, or its assignee. The result of any such action would of course be disastrous to your school. I am confident that the progressive people of the city of Cortland do not want to inaugurate any such campaign, and I feel very certain that an added appropriation for the purpose of maintaining an academic department in your school would not, under the conditions, be made by the legislature. Beyond all question the wisest thing for the citizens of Cortland to do is to cease leaning upon the state for assistance in the maintenance of their public school system; and to realize that the great advantages accruing from the Normal school in their city have already much more than compensated for any contribution which may have been made towards the erection of their Normal school building.
Yours respectfully.
CHARLES R. SKINNER, State Supt. of Public Instruction.
The above correspondence calls for very little comment. It tells its own story, and suggests its own conclusions. The answer of the superintendent of public instruction is simply a statement of facts and conditions, and could not have been different. It is precisely what every one who was acquainted with the situation expected.
Very few of our citizens appreciate fully the advantages which this place has derived from the Normal school. The former village of Cortland bonded itself for $90,000 to secure the location here of this school. The old Cortlandville academy grounds, building library, etc.—in value, all told, probably not more than $5,000—were also turned in to the state. In return for this, we have been receiving ever since the following benefits:
First—Free tuition for 400 or more pupils (now about 450) in the primary and intermediate departments of the Normal.
Second—Free tuition for between one and two hundred pupils in the Normal and academic departments. The present registration of students living in the city of Cortland in these departments is 194, or one-third of the entire registration.
Third—Free text books for all in the Normal department.
Fourth—Board paid and money spent in the place for other purposes by students from abroad attending the school.
Fifth—A large part of the salaries of the faculty, now more than $20,000 a year, spent in the place.
Sixth—The benefits accruing from the residence in Cortland of many families who have moved here for the education of their children.
Estimated in dollars and cents the yearly benefits resulting to Cortland from the Normal might be very conservatively stated as follows:
Schooling 400 pupils in Primary and Intermediate departments at $20 a year each (the average price in the state), $8,000.
Schooling 150 Academics and Normals, $3,000.
Use of books for Normals, $1,000.
Profit from board and other money paid out by 300 foreign Normal students, 40 weeks each year, board $3 per week, $5,000.
Profit from salaries of faculty (amount now over $30,000) expended here $3,000.
Benefits to place from families moving in to educate children, $2,000.
Yearly total $22,000.
The above figures are very low, yet they show that the former village, now city of Cortland, has been getting more than 20 per cent return on the investment it made in the Normal school. And this does not take into account the immense advantages which have accrued to the village, and are now accruing to the city every year from the mere fact of the location of the Normal school in our community. Hundreds of pupils, resident here, whose parents could not have afforded to send them away to school, have been able to live at home and prepare themselves at the Normal for the work of teaching, and step at once after graduation into well paid and desirable positions. The board at only $3 a week which 150 students from Cortland would have had to pay yearly had they attended Normal schools elsewhere, would amount to $18,000 for the forty weeks of the school year.
Had this place been bonded for $250,000 instead of $90,000 to secure the Normal school, it would have been a most profitable investment.
Cities and villages where Normal schools are not located appreciate their value and are jealous of Normal school towns and of the state expenditures for sustaining these institutions. One year the appropriation for Normal schools passed the assembly by a majority of only a single vote. If Cortland is wise, she will congratulate herself on her good fortune in enjoying the great benefits resulting from this school, and will not try to force the state to educate gratuitously any more of the children of the city. Such an effort, we believe, would not only be useless but might be disastrous. And should Cortland be deprived of her present Normal school privileges, she would then learn—when too late—to estimate them at their proper value; and bitter would be her condemnation of the agitation which had cost the city the great advantages which it once enjoyed.
The city of Cortland is neither pauper nor bankrupt. She should meet squarely the question of educating her children in a proper manner, and should provide the necessary buildings and teachers for the purpose, and pay for them as other localities do where there are no Normal schools to take a part of the burdens. The city needs more room and teachers in the lower grades and it needs a good high school or academic department. The STANDARD believes that the board of education was wise in recommending an appropriation for putting up an additional building, but inasmuch as the delay which has been caused has made it impossible to provide such a building before the coming fall, the board has done the next best thing in the action taken last evening. This, to be sure, is only a temporary expedient, but we believe that before another spring public sentiment will heartily sustain the board in asking for whatever money may seem necessary to provide ample room for all children of school age in the city, and also to allow something for our steadily increasing numbers.
[Mr. William Clark, editor and proprietor of the Cortland Standard, was also chairman of the Normal School Board of Education—CC ed.]
BOARD OF EDUCATION.
Graduating Class at Central School—Teachers for Next Year.
The board of education at its meeting at the office of the superintendent in Central school last evening discussed the the letter of Superintendent Skinner to the board which will be found in another column. After considering this matter it was decided that another academic teacher should be hired by the teachers' committee to begin her labors next September. This extra teacher will hold recitations on the third floor of the Central school building, and it will be necessary for the students who recite there to do their studying at home. This arrangement to merely a temporary expedient to provide for academic students till something better can be done. If it becomes necessary, rooms will be hired outside of the school buildings for class work.
The following graduates for the June commencement were reported to the meeting by Superintendent Smith and accepted: Maude Collins, Harry Dunsmoor, Frank Farrell, Elsie Gilbert, Jesse Graham, Elizabeth Lyons, Norma Markley, Milton Mott, Lorena Palmer, and Morton Synder. These young people are the first that have ever graduated from Cortland with full high school diplomas. The date for the commencement exercises has been fixed for Monday evening, June 24, in the Opera House. All ten graduates will appear that evening with orations which will be limited in length so that each one shall not occupy more than five minutes in delivering his article.
All the teachers of the city schools were retained for the work next year, and this certainly speaks well for the condition of the schools at this time. Miss Bessie E. Park was added to the force and will assist Miss Lena R. Conable in academic work the rest of this school year.
Mr. James R. Brown, who has been the very efficient janitor of Central school, was retained by the board in that capacity.
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| St. Mary's Church before improvements. |
IMPROVEMENTS AT ST. MARY'S.
New Roof to be Put Upon the Church and Other Changes.
The trustees of St. Mary's Catholic church are making arrangements for some repairs and improvements to be made the coming summer. Architect Archie Medes Russell of Syracuse has been consulted and is drawing the plans. Until these are submitted it will be impossible to give exact details, but among the things that are sure will be a new roof which will stand probably 10 feet higher at the ridge pole and be correspondingly steeper. There are also likely to be some changes in the interior. It is purposed to case all the iron pillars with polished marble slabs which will produce a most beautiful effect. Whether there shall be any changes in the ceiling is yet undecided. Further particulars will be given later.
City Band Concert.
The Cortland City band will give a concert tonight in Taylor hall, the proceeds of which will be devoted to new uniforms. Mr. P. Conway, the leader of the famous Ithaca band, and a former leader of this band, is in the city and will assist in the entertainment. A fine program is in prospect.
Obituary.
Mr. J. Fletcher Loope, who died at his late home at Polkville on the sixth inst., was born at East Freetown in August, 1843. At the age of 21 years he married Miss Jennie E. Balch of Oron, Onondaga county, and three years later moved to the then far West, Iowa, with his wife and daughter Florence.
During many of the twenty-five years of his life in Boone county, Ia., he was superintendent of the Ogden M. E. church Sunday-school. He served his fellow citizens of his town many years as justice of the peace and assessor, holding one or the other of these offices nearly all the time.
His wife died in 1887, leaving four children, Florence, George, Lola and Charles, all of whom are now living except George who died in 1894. In 1891 he chose for his wife Miss Josephine H. Carlson, then residing at Chicago, and in 1893 returned to this, his native state. He retired from active business, bought the small plaice at Polkville about four or five years ago, and has since been gradually transferring his investments from the West to Cortland county realty.
In 1896, he and his wife made an extended visit to her old home in Sweden, also visiting points of interest in Norway, Denmark and England.
At the time of his death he was a member of McGrawville M. E. church, and the McGrawville grange, P. of H. He is survived by his widow and four young children, besides three children of the former marriage, a sister, Adelphia Grant, a brother L. M. Loope, and his father, J. H. Loope, aged nearly 88 years, residing with L. M. Loope at 48 Union-st., this city.
BREVITIES.
—The Ladies' Literary club will meet tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 o'clock with Mrs. C. P. Walrad, 13 Lincoln-ave.
—The Fortnightly club will meet tomorrow afternoon at 8:30 o'clock at the home of Miss Hinman, 55 Tompkins-st
—New display advertisements today are—Boy Phenomenon, Magnetism, page 4; Palmer & Co., Bicycles, page 4; Warren, Tanner & Co., Drygoods, page 8.
—A new revolving combination hat rack for straw hats has just been put into the store of F. Daehler and is something of a novelty as well as a great convenience.
—Pearl Beach, claiming to be from Buffalo, who was arrested last night by Officer Day Baker on the charge of vagrancy has been committed to jail to await an investigation in the matter.
—All interested in our public schools will find food for thought in the correspondence between Superintendent of Public Instruction Skinner and Superintendent of Schools Smith, which appears on our fourth page.
—Mr. Ira D. Sankey was at the Normal school this morning at chapel exercises and sang a couple of selections for the students in addition to addressing them briefly. He was accorded an enthusiastic welcome.
—Word has been received in Cortland of the death of Theron Brown of Taylor on Sunday morning at 4:30 o'clock. Funeral at the church in Taylor Wednesday at 1 P. M. Deceased was a brother-in-law of Mrs. D. L. Finn of Clinton-ave.
—The Buffalo Bill advertising car, No. 1, arrived in Cortland last night from Utica and will go from here tonight over the Lehigh Valley tracks to Elmira. The car is a combined sleeper and office arrangement, carrying its own cook and a retinue of twenty men. The city and surrounding county are today being billed for Buffalo Bill who comes to Cortland June 14.
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