THE INSTITUTE BUILDING. Nearing Completion. Mr. Roys and Other Homes to Add to the Appearance of the Locality. Contractor A. E. Mouton is unusually happy these days. After many months of constant work he is on the eve of seeing the completion of the main building of the Industrial Institute. A few more days and the elegant and spacious structure will be finished. Aside from its great architectural beauty, this building has many exceptional advantages possessed by few others in the country. It is a thoroughly modern in every respect, and now that it is about completed, one may have an idea of how well it was planned. That the plan was conscientiously executed there seems to be no doubt. All, the president, building committee, architect, contractor and everybody else connected with it, tried to give the State a good job, and the building itself is the best evidence of the success of their efforts. It is a grand structure which will stand for ages as an eloquent monument to the intelligence and skill of the builders and to that enlightened spirit of progress which the people of Lafayette displayed in their efforts to have the institution located here. The cost of the building is about $41,000. In this are included a few extra improvements not stipulated in the original contract, amounting to a little over $2,000. As soon as practicable the dormitory and other buildings will be erected, preparatory to the opening of the first term next September. An engraver is working on the corner-stone. The lettering originally made on the stone was not satisfactory. The residence of Mr. J. A. Roy near the Institute is a very handsome and commodious structure, and adds greatly to the appearance of the surrounding. The building is the work of Contractor Ross. We are informed that Dr. Moss and other citizens of the town intend to build fine homes in the neighborhood. Mr. Geo. K. Bradford, of Rayne, was at work during the week surveying Mr. Girards land, with a view of laying it out in lots. We understand that it is Mr. Girards intention to sell these lots. Surveyor Charles S. Babin has marked out the lines for the opening of Johnston street. If the land-owners will exert themselves just a little bit that locality can be made very beautiful. The employment of some taste and a little cash will make the land adjacent to the college grounds exceedingly desirable for the building of residences. Lafayette Gazette 1/26/1901. TECHNICAL SCHOOLS. While the youth of Louisiana are enjoying the advantages of technical education in the State University at Baton Rouge and in the Ruston Industrial Institute, it should not be forgotten that all the world elsewhere is enjoying the same advantages, and that it becomes imperative for us in Louisiana to keep pace with the rest of the world or else lose our place therein. We are led to these reflections by reading a descriptive article concerning technical instruction in Queensland, that thriving English-Australian colony, where they are doing things in the English way, improved by American enterprise and energy. The Brisbane Technical College has about 1600 male and female students studying in day and night classes, all of whom are endeavoring to avail themselves of the excellent education that now becomes possible to them. All this should be very suggestive to us in Louisiana, and we trust that the youth of this State and of the other Gulf States will avail themselves of the technical education now so readily secured in our splendid educational institutions. - From the La. Farmer. Technical or industrial education has been neglected in the United States, particularly in the South. In the older countries it has long been the policy to give a child not only a literary education, but a trade or profession. A boy may graduate from college, though poorly equipped to earn a livelihood. The education ordinarily acquired in the colleges or academies in this country does not always give one a means of making a living. Not infrequently men who are highly educated fail to achieve even the smallest measure of success, because of their inability to put into practical use what they have learned at school; hence the great necessity of educating the hand as well as the head. A famous English author has well said that between a wife who could play on the piano and one who could cook a good soup he would unhesitatingly choose the latter. That he was wise in his choice no sensible man will gainsay, for well-cooked victuals are more necessary to the happiness and well being of the average husband than the most classical music. The reasons which guided the Englishman in his choice of a better half would no doubt induce a sensible woman to first ascertain a mans earning capacity before giving serious consideration to his matrimonial proposition. WE dare say that the applicants ability to speak Latin or Greek would cut little figure in the transaction. The world is becoming more and more practical every day, and that man who can and knows how to work is in demand. Parents who have the welfare of their children at heart should not fail to appreciate the importance of that technical instruction which fits the young man or woman to enter the serious duties of life. Many young men leave college and are thrown out into the world practically helpless, unable to successfully cope with the stern realities of the active struggle for supremacy which follows the scholastic period. Not so with the young fellow who has attended an industrial institute. While acquiring an education he has been quietly devoting a portion of his time toward the training of his hands, and when he goes out into the world to battle for an existence, his services are in demand, and he is spared the humiliating predicament in which his educated, but tradeless brother generally finds for himself. Impressed with the necessity of technical instruction, the people of the parish of Lafayette have given over $80,000 for the establishment of the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute at this place. The main building, which is about completed, is one of the handsomest structures of its kind in the South. In giving this large amount the people of Lafayette have conferred an inestimable boon upon the youth of this section, and time will surely prove the wisdom and patriotism which impelled this generous act. With Tulane, the Louisiana State University, the Ruston Industrial School, and last, but not least, the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute at Lafayette, the young people of Louisiana will be afforded exceptional educational facilities. Lafayette Gazette 1/26/1901.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 12:36:27 +0000
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