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ance of fifteen students, which, in 1902, had increased to two hundred and six. The courses offered deal with theoretical and practical agriculture, dairying and correlating branches, such as mathematics, botany, chemistry, physics and economics. In 1903, a course in judging corn and live stock was added to the schedule. About ninety-seven per cent of the seven hundred and twenty-three students who have taken courses in this department are now on Nebraska farms profiting by their study. At the last session of the legislature, $100,000.00 was granted for buildings and improvements.
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State Normal School.

Nebraska State Normal School, Perue (sic)

     The Nebraska State Normal School came into being with the public school system of the State. It is located at Peru, a healthful location, free from the annoyances usual to the city or town. It has five large commodious buildings finely equipped with all modern conveniences. The State Normal School had its beginning in the year 1866 as the "Mount Vernon College," a private school under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first term of this private school opened August 29, 1866, with thirty-eight students enrolled. The Principal, J. M. McKenzie, was the only teacher in this term. In August of the following year, the year in which Nebraska became a State in the Union, the property of this College, sometimes spoken of as the "Peru Seminary," was turned over to the Board of Education of the State Normal School. The first term of the Nebraska State Normal School opened October 24, 1867, With three regular teachers, Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie and Mr. P. M. Martin. Mr. McKenzie was Principal for four years and was followed in rapid succession by Mr. Straight, Mr. Williams, General Morgan, Mr. Nichol, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Freeman, Mr. Thompson, and Dr. Curry, some of these gentlemen serving as Acting Principal for a few months only. No one served as Principal more than two years from Mr. McKenzie to Dr. Curry. Beginning with Dr. Curry in 1873, the tenure of office has been somewhat more secure. Dr. Curry served six years; Dr. Farnham, ten years; Dr. Norton, three years; Dr. Beattie, four years; and Dr. Clarke, six years. J. W. Crabtree took up his work as Principal in 1904. The first building for the school, known as Mount Vernon Hall, was erected in 1866 by a subscription from citizens amounting to $8,000.00. This was a brick building eighty feet long by forty feet wide, three stories high. The Legislature in 1869 appropriated $10,000.00 for refitting this building and for current expenses of the school. Mount Vernon Hall was destroyed by fire in

148

SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF NEBRASKA

January, 1897, and was rebuilt in the same year as a modern dormitory with accomodations (sic) for ninety-four ladies. The north wing of Normal Hall (the main recitation building) was erected in 1872 at a cost of $28,000.00. This building was enlarged in 1885 by the large south wing, containing the present Chapel, the Laboratories, and additional recitation rooms, at a cost of $20,000.00. The Library building, a frame structure costing $15,000.00, was built in 1887; the heating and lighting plant was built in the same year. A good system of water supply was provided in 1896, which was completed by an eighty-foot steel standpipe in 1900. In the same year a large ice-house was built on the dormitory grounds; and in the following year the greenhouse and the athletic field were added to the equipment by private subscription. The Legislature of 1903 appropriated $43,500.00 for a new Chapel and Gymnasium building. It also appropriated $50,000.00 for a second Normal School, which was located at Kearney.
Nebraska Institute for the Feeble Minded Youth.
     In this institution, of which A. Johnson, M. D., is Superintendent, seven instructors are employed. It is located at Beatrice and was established by the State of Nebraska in 1885 for feeble minded children between the ages of five and eighteen years, who are necessarily dependent. They are entitled to care and training free of charge, except the expense of clothing and transportation to and from their homes. Girls are instructed in all branches of domestic employment, while the boys receive training in carpentering, farming and other useful branches of employment. On November 30, 1902, the number of inmates enrolled was three hundred and four. The Superintendent receives a salary of $2,500.00 annually.
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Fording the North Platte

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