Formation of Nevada Schools

THE SCHOOLS OF NEVADA. Early History Wrapped in Obscurity — Public School System Under State Organization — Growth of Schools — Diversity in Text Books The State University at Elko — Sectarianism in Schools — Private Schools— The Schools of Nevada Today. The early school history of Nevada is shrouded in mystery ; it is known that there were schools, but where located and by whom carried on is a matter for conjecture only. The first two annual reports made by the superintendent of public instruction to the legislature were lost. The third report and the first one on record, is that of A. F. White, December 12, 1864. In this report Mr. White states that when the state was organized there were but twelve school districts, eight schoolhouses ind eighteen schools, and the number of pupils in 1864 was nearly 1,000. Two counties only furnished financial reports, and the cost given for maintaining schools was placed at $71,739.79. There was not a school in the state thoroughly graded, and in 1862, in the whole territory, there were but five primary classes. There were no fixed sources for school revenue, and there were but few free schools maintained. People were liberal, when appealed to, and always contributed cheerfully, but the school system in the early days of Nevada was not of a public but private character. Many curious methods of adding to the school funds are related. In 1863 steps were taken to start a school in Austin, then the county seat of Lander county, and trustees were elected and a committee appointed to raise funds. Only $930 was raised. To add to this fund, it was decided to auction off a pair of Colonel "Dave" Buel's shoes. He was a very large man and his feet, of course, corresponded with the rest of his body, and he always wore his shoes very loose. On May 26, 1864, they were auctioned off by Tom Wade, and $106.05 was realized from the sale. Carson City contributed largely to the school fund in 1862. Two men prominent afterwards, while under the influence of liquor entered a theater, while a play was in progress, and ordered the curtain dropped as they walked down the main aisle. They were both armed with six-shooters and bowie-knives, and when their command was not obeyed they rushed on the stage. The actors fled in terror and the two men used their knives to carve the objectionable curtain. For this pleasure they paid $ 1,000 into the school fund of Carson. Great difficulty was encountered in securing school buildings. In some of the more sparsely settled counties adobe houses were used, with floors of dirt and thatched roofs, and in lieu of desks or chairs, wooden boxes of every size were used. Another great obstacle was the lack of uniformity in text books, and confusion prevailed. In a whole school there would sometimes be but two or threes books alike. All such obstacles were gradually overcome owing to the pioneers and not to the public fund. PUBLIC SCHOOL FUND After the organization of the slate a complete and rigid system was in force. The law provided "the principal of all moneys accruing to this state from the sale of lands heretofore given or bequeathed, or that may hereafter be given or bequeathed, for public school purposes ; all fines collected under the penal laws of the state; two per cent of the gross proceeds of all toll roads and bridges; and all estates that may escheat to the state, shall be and the same are hereby solemnly pledged for educational purposes, and shall not be transferred to any other fund for other uses, but shall constitute an irreducible and indivisible fund, to be known as the State School Fund, the interest accruing from which shall he divided semi-annually among the counties in this state, entitled by the provisions of this act, to receive the same, in proportion to the ascertained number of persons between the ages of six and eighteen years, in said counties, for the support of public schools." A state ad valorem tax of one-half mill on the dollar was levied on all taxable property, to which five per cent of all state tax collected is added. Semi-annually this money was apportioned among the counties by the state superintendent, each county levying the necessary supplementary tax. The donation of land by the United States government for school purposes has been more than generous. The first grant was of the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, but so much of it was barren that Congress later gave Nevada 2.000,000 acres to be selected anywhere in the state. These donations, with the indemnity grant of 12.708 acres, given in lieu of land under the sixteenth and thirty-sixth section grant, amount to 2,574,665 acres. It would be an endless task to find out how much land has been sold and impossible to prophesy how much more will be sold. SECTARIANISM. In 1865 the school law became operative which provided that no books, papers nor tracts of a sectarian character should be used in any school established under the provisions of the act, nor any sectarian or denominational doctrines be taught therein, nor any school whatever receive any of the public school funds, which has not been taught in accordance with the provisions of this act. The uniformity of text books is complete and rigidly kept so, the statute for the violation of this provision of law requiring that the school district violating it shall be deprived of its apportionment of state school money. STATE OFFICERS. The educational officers of the state of Nevada are superintendent of public instruction, county superintendents, school trustees and state board of education, the latter being composed of the governor, surveyor general and superintendent of public instruction. In order that the provisions made for free education in Nevada might attain their fullest scope, an act was passed by the legislature in 1873 compelling children to attend school, but the compulsory law has proved a dead letter. When Nevada was admitted into the Union, her statutes drew the color line, provision being made only for the education of white children. All colors are now educated in the free school ; several schools for Negro children were started but died out. PRIVATE SCHOOLS. In December, 1861, the territorial legislature passed a law authorizing the incorporation of the Sierra Seminary, at Carson City, but the incorporation was never made. About that time Miss H. K. Clapp, one of the pioneer educators, started a private school for boys and girls, under that name. Associated with her was Mrs. E. G. Cutler and Miss E. C. Babcock. The Sisters of the Catholic church established a school for girls at Reno, and they also established an orphanage and school at Virginia City. At Reno was also established the Diocesan school for girls, described in a previous chapter. STATE UNIVERSITY. When the state constitution was adopted, its provisions made it obligatory upon the legislature to provide for the establishment of a state university, embracing departments for mining, mechanic arts and agriculture. The board of regents, for the first four years, was composed of the governor, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction. The regents were ordered to immediately organize and maintain a mining department. The United States government donated 42,080 acres of land to aid in the establishment of the university. The same grant was made to Nevada as to the other states of 30.000 acres for each representative in Congress (90,000 acres) for the maintenance of a School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Mining being the chief industry of Nevada, this fund was afterwards made available for the support of the Mining College instead. The site was selected at Elko, in Elko county, the citizens themselves building and furnishing the brick edifice. This was completed in the winter of 1874 and accepted by the regents. THE PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT. In 1874 the "Preparatory Department of the University of Nevada" was opened by D. R. Sessions, A. M. and B. P., of Princeton College. His first class consisted of eight boys and girls, all residents of Elko. In 1876 a dormitory was erected and great effort made to induce pupils to attend the university from the other counties of the state. No charge was made for tuition or lodging, and board was reduced to the lowest possible minimum ($30 per month). There were never more than three pupils at a time from outside points. Elko won the state university by offering the greatest inducements, and her citizens paid $20,000 in building and furnishing the university. The placing of the university at Elko was always felt to be a great mistake as the town had less than 1,000 population. Elko, however, did not want to lose the money she had put into the university. Reno was in first place when the transfer of the university to some more favorable point was discussed. She agreed to pay Elko $20,000 for her title and also to give $5,000 with which to erect buildings. The legislature of 1885 passed two bills, which conflicted with each other, one authorizing the transfer to Reno if $20,00 is paid; the second authorizing Washoe county to pay $20,000 to Elko county after Elko transferred title to university site to Washoe. Happily all difficulties were smoothed over and the university removed to Reno From the time it opened in Elko to the time of its closing, in 1885, the university was such only by courtesy, for it was only a preparatory school at Elko. It is now as it should always have been, the head of the educational system of Nevada. It is in fact the only institution of university or college grade and equipment within the state boundaries, beginning its life as such with the academic year 1886-87, when it formally opened in Reno. The Constitution of Nevada provides that the legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, literary, scientific, mining and mechanical improvements, as well as agricultural and moral improvement, and shall provide for the "establishment of a State University which shall embrace departments for agriculture, mechanic arts and mining." The support of the university is provided for under the provisions of the general government, which says: "Each state and territory to maintain at least one college, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and mechanic arts." It is further aided by means of biennial appropriations from the legislature of the state. From the general government the university receives $25.000 annually, and the sum from the state varies each year. The legislature of 1891 appropriated $12,000 for the construction and equipment of a stone and brick building to be known as the "Chemical and Physical Laboratory." It has been completed and is used for instruction and research in chemistry. The same year the legislature appropriated $3.500 for a hospital for sick students. The two buildings are a handsome addition to the university. The hospital is well equipped with a competent nurse always in charge. Since it was finished. September 22, 1902, to March, 1904, forty-four students have been cared for. The president's house has proved quite a bone of contention. It is always desirable that the president's house should he upon the grounds proper, personal supervision otherwise being an impossibility. Unable to secure an appropriation for one, the public-spirited citizens of Reno erected a building costing $9,000 which will be repaid so that the state may own the building. The president sadly needs a library building, the present quarters, in the basement of Morrill hall, being badly cramped: $25.000 will build one and the only hope seems to be outside of the state legislature. Some friend of education may donate one. Another building badly needed is a Metallurgical building. Appropriations have been asked for and not granted. The present Mining Laboratory contains the metallurgical laboratory and one class room, the chemical laboratory of the School of Mines and the mineralogical laboratory. The assay office has accommodations for only twelve students and the quantitative chemical laboratory for but sixteen. The students have built a small mill in connection with the concentrators, amalgamating and leaching plant. The state legislature of 1895 passed an act authorizing citizens of Nevada to send ores and minerals to the university for assay, without cost to' themselves. The value of the analytical and assaying work has been very great to the citizens of Nevada. Now that the mining industry is advancing so rapidly in every part of the state, much more interest is being manifested in the School of Mines. An annex will be added to the present School of Mines, containing a metallurgical laboratory and an assaying laboratory under one roof. The School of Mines of Nevada, handicapped as it has been always, has established an enviable record. Graduates have taken the highest of positions, notably in South America. BUILDINGS OF UNIVERSITY. The University of Nevada now has eleven buildings on a campus of thirty-five acres. The oldest of these is Morrill Hall, named in honor of Senator Morrill. It contains the college administration offices, the president's office, the faculty room, the departments of Latin, physics, history, drawing, the commercial school and the library in the basement. Northeast of Morrill Hall is the United States Agricultural Experiment Station. It is devoted to the research work in agriculture. In the basement is one of the recitation rooms and a laboratory ; on the first floor there are two recitation rooms and the third floor is devoted to the botany recitation room and the second to a laboratory. The chemical laboratory is used also by the station. The station laboratory, the dairy laboratory, and the nitrogen laboratory, used exclusively for station purposes, are on the second floor of the building. It is often called the Hatch Experiment Station, confounding it with the Agricultural Station proper in which are taught not only botany but zoology and entomology. Stewart Hall, named for United States Senator W. M. Stewart, is west of Morrill Hall. It contains the normal school, departments of French, mathematics, English, domestic arts and science. The basement contains the dining room for dormitory students. The Y. M. C. A. rooms are also in the Stewart building. The Chemistry building is devoted entirely to chemistry for university courses and for experiment station as detailed above. The Mining building is occupied by departments of mining, geology and civil engineering. The Mechanical building contains the mechanical shops and the draughting room. On the ground floor are the machine and blacksmith shops, boiler room, etc. The wood shop is on the second floor and contains jig saws, band saws, wood-working machines, wood lathes, trimmers and grindstones. There are twenty-four benches for the students and twenty-four lockers, fully equipped. Every department is finely equipped for practical work. The gymnasium is devoted to physical training and indoor sports. It is also used as an assembly hall for the faculty and students. It is modern in construction, 60 feet wide and 120 feet long. The equipment is modern and ample for all college purposes. Lincoln Hall is the dormitory for young men, the legislature appropriating $35.000 for this and the "Cottage," the dormitory for young women. It is a delightfully modern college hall, and a well furnished home for the young men. ' " The Cottage" is the hall for young women and is also modern and well furnished. It is located upon the plaza in the southwest part of the campus and overlooks both Reno and the whole valley. There are single and double rooms to accommodate forty young women, and there is a reading room and parlor for the students as also for the lady in charge, best known by the title "Mistress of the Cottage." The rightful title of "The Cottage" is "Manzanita Hall," but it is seldom spoken of by the latter name, as its name was changed from the former to the latter as late as 1903. If only the library had pleasant quarters it would be a great addition to the university. It has over 10,000 bound volumes, and about 8,000 pamphlets. Daily and weekly newspapers are supplied, many by courtesy of the publishers. The liooks of reference are especially fine. The library is classified according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System. EXPERIMENT STATION FARM. Five minutes' walk from the university campus is the Experiment Station Farm. It contains over sixty acres of land, with ninety inches of water for irrigation. Not only ordinary experiments but special irrigation experiments have been carried out. It is finely located, and since its purchase the land has nearly doubled in value. This land has not all been made available for the production of farm crops, there being about three acres on a rise of ground in the northwest corner of the farm, for which water is hard to secure. The buildings for live stock will be placed here and also supply an area for testing range grasses without irrigation, eighteen acres having been plowed and mapped into acre plats and fractions of acres. There are several low places which are being gradually leveled. The balance of the farm is seeded to alfalfa and "Kentucky blue grass. Five acres of the hay land was used for crops the past two years and more money realized than from the hay. The station staff in 1901 held the first farmers institute ever given in Nevada, and in 1903 three institutes were held, one in Elko, one in Lovelocks and one in Gardnerville. The vice director was in charge and highly pleased with results. The recent fire caused great loss to the station, plants, insect? and birds being destroyed, but the loss has been nearly replaced already. The station is supported entirely by the United States Hatch Fund, and what is realized from the sale of farm products. The state of Nevada has not given a dollar to the station, ranches and stockmen receiving all benefits without cost to themselves. The board of regents of the university constitute a "board of control" for the station, having charge of all moneys. THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT. All male students, unless physically unable, are required to belong to the company of cadets. The course includes instruction in military tactics, with company and battalion drill every day. A commissioned army officer is always in charge, detailed by the War Department. A number gave unsatisfactory results, being totally unfit to have charge of young men, and Captain H. C. Clark, by reason of his wounds, was incapable. The cadets are known as "The Battalion of Cadets of the Nevada State University." There are two companies and a fine band. The cadet officers receive commissions from the governor, who is entitled to their services in case of insurrection or rebellion. There are literary societies and social clubs, which with the informal dance once a month serve to make social life pleasing. The various classes also give dances. Football, baseball, tennis and basket ball have many followers. The athletic field consists of six acres, loaned to the university by Regent J. N. Evans. The tennis courts and baseball and military drill fields are located here. The Athletic Association comprises every student. Semiannual assessments pay expenses. The track team, the baseball team, the football team, and the basket ball team for 1904 are all doing good work and indulging in competition with other varsity teams. In the way of music, in addition to the cadet band, there is also an excellent orchestra and an equally fine Symphony Club. THE .UNIVERSITY PAPER. In September, 1893, the upper classmen agitated the matter of publishing a college paper. At first the regents agreed, then forbade its issuance. The Adelphi, then the literary society, had the matter in charge, but upon the action of the regents severed all connection with the idea. Twenty students of the senior, junior and sophomore classes, decided to issue a paper in defiance of the regents. It was call "The Student Record" and in secrecy printed by the Nevada State Journal. It has grown in size every year and is a credit to the students. The students who publish it form an independent association and have made money, donating $200 to the gymnasium fund. The college annual is also published by the association. It is l>eautiful!y bound in blue and silver, handsomely illustrated, with full records of all 'varsity societies and proceedings. The literary work, fiction especially, is entitled to high praise. In addition to the social and literary societies there is a Young Men's Christian Association and a Young Women's Christian Association of the University of Nevada. The dramas and farces played are sometimes written by the students and sometimes culled from the outer world. From the beginning the university has had much to contend with. It started off in Reno with $12,700 for the first floor and exterior. Burke Brothers receiving the contract in July, 1886, and it was gradually added to. Her first presidents accomplished all that was possible, excepting Professor Le Roy Brown, who was asked to resign in November's, 1889. The present president, Joseph Edward Stubbs, D. D., LL. D., was appointed in 1894, and has given great satisfaction to students, regents and the state. The development of the institution has been remarkable in his nine years of administration. The course of study has been raised, the enrollment of students increased from 189 to 350; a number of fine buildings have been erected, the campus enlarged, and his efforts in organizing University Extension classes has made the university influence widely felt. He has shown great tact, energy, enthusiasm, and sound business judgment, and his influence is felt not only in the university but by the community at large. Dr. Stubbs was born in Ashland. Ohio, March 19, 1850, receiving his early education in the Ashland high school, later entering the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. He has held many responsible positions. When president of the Baldwin University at Berea, he was given two years' leave of absence, which he spent in the University of Berlin and in travel. Dr. Stubbs is assisted by a faculty of 24. The standard of admission to the University of Nevada is reasonably high, and is equal to the colleges of second rank throughout the United States. The faculty is made up of young men and women of approved learning and ability, and they are pushing the work of the university in all its departments as fast as possible to a practicer but yet scholastic standard. COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS. The university has three colleges. College of Arts and Science, College of Applied Science, and College of Agriculture and Domestic Arts. The first has two schools, the School of Liberal Arts and the School of General Science; the second has three schools, the School of Mining Engineering. School of Mechanical Engineering, and School of Civil Engineering. The third has two schools, the School of Agriculture and School of Domestic Arts and Science. The State Normal School is a co-ordinate part of the university and has two departments one for schools of the grammar grade, the other preparing teachers for high schools. The university also maintains a high school designed for students from sections of the state which have no high schools. The University high school offers a three years' course, either Latin, German or commercial. The high school is organized separately from the university. In the high school are 146 students. The degrees given are : Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, and Master of Science. In addition are the engineering degree;. Mining Engineer, Mechanical Engineer and Civil Engineer. The university is delightfully situated on the northern bench of the Truckee Valley, with a beautiful view of the mountains sweeping in a semicircle around it. Mt. Rose and Mt. Slide of the Sierra Nevada range are on the west, and a lower but not less beautiful range of mountains to the south and east. The surroundings all make for health and beauty. The university is at the junction of three railroads, another fact in its favor. The town of Reno is growing so rapidly that the enrollment at the university is certain to keep pace. NEVADA'S PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. The public school system has not greatly improved in Nevada. It is not from lack of money, for in December. 1901, there was a net balance in the State Educational Fund of $1,596.958.62, the total amount of bonds, with accrued interest, and cash held by the State of Nevada in trust for the State Educational Fund. In December, 1902, there was $1,631,002.63 and relatively the same amount in 1903. One great drawback is the inequality in the length of the .school terms. There are four schools whose terms are less than three months; there are nineteen maintained three months ; there are thirty maintained over three and less than six months ; 83 are in session more than six and less than 9 months, while 132 are maintained nine months and over. Of these forty- four are primary, 211 unclassified, forty-eight grammar and fourteen high schools, a total of 273 in 239 school districts. In consequence the teachers of the short term schools are often poorly paid and inefficient. When the children of these schools come in to the graded work of towns and cities, the showing is pitiful. If the population were not so scattered, districts could be consolidated but the state is so sparsely populated, and the 60,000 people so widely scattered, it is almost impossible. A great mistake was made when the office of county superintendent was abolished and district attorneys compelled to act as ex-officio superintendents without additional pay. The office should be re-created and salaries commensurate allowed. Another false economy, or so regarded by the teachers, is the non-allowance of help for the state superintendent. He has to do clerical work and cannot visit the schools. The sum allowed him for expenses has been nearly all turned back to the state treasury. Yet with all this lack of supervision the schools are improving, noticeably so the past few years. When one stops to think that these rural schools are scattered over 110,000 square miles of mountains, valleys, plains and deserts from thirty to fifty miles apart, the teacher often a graduate of Nevada's high schools or university, it seems wonderful that so many find their way from them to the State University. Although, as stated, many of the teachers are inefficient, many more are wide-awake, progressive and earnest workers in the cause of education, but you do not often find them in poorly paid, short-termed schools. The educational achievements of Nevada have made her an enviable name in the older and more populous states. It rests with the people of Nevada whether the school system shall be improved and placed where it should be. Many forget that conditions change with the flight of time, rendering new modes of education, new school laws, imperative. What was all that was required in 1863 is totally inadequate in 1904. One thing was done which was commendable, and that was the adoption of a new series of text books in 1901, the same year the legislature appropriated $200 to pay the expenses of a state institute, the first one being held in Carson the April following. The State Board authorized in 1902 the purchasing of United States bonds. 4 per cent, of the par value of $i i 5,000. which cost $158.766.07, or a premium of $43.766.07, greatly reducing the income. HIGH SCHOOLS. In March, 1895, a bill was passed by the legislature, allowing the establishment of County High Schmls. Elko county took advantage of this at once, locating one in Elko, the county seat. Funds were raised by taxation and a fine brick building erected. Considerable apparatus, chemical, physical and physiological, was purchased and three teachers employed. Elko was the only county taking advantage of this opportunity of educating children at home after they passed out of the grammar grades. Nearly all the principal schools have high school departments. Carson, Gold Hill, Virginia City, Reno, Wadsworth's. Gardnerville, Winnemucca, Austin and Eureka give three-year courses in high school work. A number of other schools give instruction in high school branches. The number of children in Nevada is constantly changing. From 2,601 in 1865 it jumped to 10,592 in 1880, then down a thousand or so until 1890, when it reached 10,022, and in 1904 it has increased several thousand, no census having been taken since 1902, when it was 9,277. That is the number of school children between the ages of 6 and 18. Only 6.952 were enrolled on the public school register. A compulsory school law is needed and will probably be framed and approved. The present one is, as stated before, a dead letter, and is not effective, and when put into execution is unable to stand the test of legality. The salary paid to teachers is high, averaging $100 per month for men and $61.58 for women, which means that good ones are very well paid and poor ones very badly, and yet in accordance with their deserts. There are 281 women and 38 men teachers in Nevada. In January, 1902, $69,918.43 was apportioned to the different counties, and in July, $61,524.44. The school census marshal, one in each district, has to take an annual census every May, and his report is embodied in the report of the state superintendent. Although the legislature of 1903 authorized school trustees to unite school districts on the plan outlined above, so far little has been done. Under the act school children can be transferred from one district to another, with all school moneys apportioned to it. Under the old law children could not be transferred, and if there were not ten in a district, that district could not draw any money. The text books have not always been accurate and the teachers experienced great trouble with them. For instance, when Harper's Geography appeared in 1885, it was found to be full of inaccuracies. High schools and even towns were wrongly located, populations either far above or far below census reports. It was soon superseded by reliable geographies. The legislature of 1901 made many radical changes in the fish and game laws, and all teachers are now required to read them to the pupils. In July, 1887, the industrial school at the Orphan's Home, the gift of Senator Sharon, was discontinued, owing to the small number of pupils who could take advantage of the opportunities afforded. In 1887 the Land Office at Washington approved the selection of 773.72 acres of agricultural land made by the state of Nevada for university purposes. Carson City has tried repeatedly to secure an appropriation for a new school building, but the best that could be secured was the addition to the old buildings. The matter was submitted several times to the vote of the people, the last time April 30, 1889, but was always defeated. The school bond election, $40,000, was again defeated in Carson in May, 1892. In 1884 the regents of the State University raised the price of school lands from $1.25 to $2.50 per acre. There was trouble over this, for it was when the cattlemen were at war with the farmers, the latter contending that the cattlemen would secure land near water and then use all land adjacent for grazing purposes, for the farmers could not use the land without having access to the water. In 1886, about the time the university was accepted by them, the regents reduced the price of land to the old price, $1.25 per acre. In 1885 the state was deeply indebted to the school fund, and also borrowed $20,000 from the University Fund. And the state has gone on borrowing intermittently from the School Fund whenever necessary. At Reno a $40,000 schoolhouse was finished in 1904, and small school houses erected in the new mining districts. A small schoolhouse was also built in Harriman (now Sparks). But the majority of the school children of Harriman go over to Reno to attend school. Private schools are an unknown quantity in Nevada. The university has removed all necessity for such a fine school even as Bishop Whitaker's Girl School in Reno, which closed its doors forever in June, 1894, having been in existence for over eighteen years. So popular was the school that an addition of 50 by 24 was made in 1886. In 1884 there were forty day scholars and forty-four boarders, eight teachers being employed. In 1886 a friend of the school and of the Bishop left $10.000 to the school. The will was contested but. the school won the suit. Senator Sharon also left the school $5,000. The Bishop worked hard to make the place attractive, and his garden was a marvel of beauty. The school building was sold in 1903 for a private hospital, it being admirably adapted to such an institution. The children of Nevada celebrate ever holiday. Arbor day is a day for special stress is laid upon. The first Arbor day was celebrated April 13. 1887. Adolph Sutro gave 1,000 trees to the children to plant, evergreens maples and locusts. Governor Stevenson sent east for another 1,000 and it was estimated that 10,000 trees were planted in all that first Arbor day. The day is set by the governor and is a legal holiday. Admission day is also celebrated by the schools, and the children are well drilled in patriotic exercises, flag-raising and kindred exercises. Reno has a fine kindergarten, the corner stone of which was laid by the Masons, the Grand Lodge, on May 29, 1901. It is known as the Babcock Memorial Building,, its erection as a free kindergarten being the labor of love of Miss Clapp and Miss Babcock. Source: A History of the State of Nevada: Its Resources and People By Thomas Wren, Lewis Publishing Company Published by The Lewis publishing company, 1904 Contributed by Barbara Z.