On Inquiring The
Reason Of The Extraordinary Height Of The Balustrades, I Was Told That
Some Weeks Previously, As The Boys Were Hurriedly Leaving School, Forty Of
Them Had Been Pushed Over The Staircase, Out Of Which Number Nearly The
Whole Were Killed!
In the girls' room about 900 girls between the ages of eight and eighteen
were assembled.
They were the children of persons in every class in the
city except the very wealthiest and the poorest. All these girls were well
dressed, some of them tasteful, others fantastic, in their appearance.
There was a great deal of beauty among the elder pupils; I only regretted
that the bright bloom which many possessed should be so evanescent. The
rich luxuriant hair, often of a beautiful auburn hue, was a peculiarity
which could not be overlooked. There were about ten female teachers, the
principal of whom played some lively airs upon the piano, during which
time the pupils marched steadily in from various class-rooms, and took
their seats at handsome mahogany desks, which accommodated two each. No
expense had been spared in the fittings of the apartment; the
commissioners of education are evidently of opinion that the young do not
acquire knowledge the more speedily from being placed on comfortless
benches, without any means of resting their weak and tired frames.
Each desk contained a drawer or cupboard; and to encourage those habits of
order and self-reliance to which so much weight is attached in the States,
each pupil is made responsible for the preservation and security of her
books and all implements of education.
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