Dedication Of Perry School Yesterday Afternoon

DEDICATION OF PERRY SCHOOL YESTERDAY AFTERNOON

The New $36,000 Ward School Building Open to Visitors

Many Addresses Were Made and the Board of Education Received Many Hearty Congratulations on the Fine Building

The elegant new W.S. Perry school was dedicated Wednesday afternoon with appropriate exercises. At 2 o'clock, the hour named for the exercises to begin, the spacious corridors of on the first floor were well filled with invited guests, members of the local board of education and patrons, while the children were assembled in the halls on the upper floor and in the near by rooms. It was necessary to hold the exercises in the halls for the reason that there was no single room large enough to hold those present.

An orchestra was stationed on the second floor and furnished music while the people were assembling. 

The exercises were opened with prayer by the Rev. T. W. Grafton.  Mr. E.F. Mills, president of the local board of education, then stepped upon the stairs and addressed those present, giving in rapid review the steps leading up to the action by the district for the erecting of the new building.  He said it had been twenty years since the school district had built an entirely new public school building.  Several of the older buildings had been largely rebuilt, however, within that time and in this way the district had kept in line with progress in school architecture. He gave the credit for the selection of the site of the new building to Mrs. Bach, of the board.

In referring to the name of the new building he took occasion to pay a high tribute to Supt. Perry, who directed the school system of the city for more than a quarter of a century. He declared that his influence for good had been beyond measure and still continued potent in the hearts of the hundreds and thousands who had come under his influence.  While this fine new building was a monument to his good works in the lives of those who willingly acknowledged the power of his influence upon them.

In his closing he called Mr. J. E. Beal, chairman of the committee on buildings and grounds, to the floor. Mr. Beal gave an interesting account of the securing of plans and the erecting and equipping of the new building.  William Otis, of Chicago, a graduate of the University, was engaged as architect and was responsible for the plans.  Mr. Beal gave reasons which led the board to adopt the hot air system of heating instead of steam.  He said that Ann Arbor's fame as an educational center had enabled the board to get a reduction in the prices of many things because manufacturers considered it an advantage to them to be able to point to the fact that their apparatus was used at Ann Arbor.  The building, he said, would cost but little more than $36,000, while most people who had been asked to pass judgment on the building estimated the cost much higher.

Contractor John Koch then told of his experiences and difficulties in bringing the building to completion. He thought the city had a very good building and at a low cost.  He had taken great pride and great pains in doing his best on the building, for it was for his home city and his own children were to attend school therein.

Music was furnished by the school children who were stationed in corridors on the second floor.

Supt. Slauson was next called and spoke briefly on what use he and the teachers intended to make of the elegant new building which had been turned over to them for school use.  They expected to do the best school work they were capable of doing and try to develop the boys and girls in the way of pure living. In closing he reminded patrons that such a fine building needed works of art to adorn the rooms and that any gifts in this line would be most thankfully received.

The next speaker, Miss Clara Dicken, principal of the new school, gave a vivid picture of the contrast between a country school building she had recently visited and the one now being dedicated.  The bare, uninviting appearance of the one as compared with the pleasant surroundings of the new building with the natural results that must accrue in each case to pupils. She closed with feeling references to Mrs. Plympton, the former principal of the school, and to the late Supt. Perry, whose name the building bears.

Mrs. Perry was introduced as the "honored guest," and tears came to many eyes as she referred feelingly to the beloved superintendent who by a quarter of a century of earnest effort and pure, unselfish life, had endeared himself to the community.  Her remarks were exceedingly appropriate and touched a responsive chord in the audience.

Following another song by the school children, Dr. Angell gave a 15 minute talk which was in his best vein. He referred to the fact that it was his birthday, but did not satisfy the curiosity of the audience by giving the number of his years.  He called the attention of the audience and the school children particularly, to the often overlooked little things which every child learns at school - cleanliness, promptness and obedience being specially commented on.  He then spoke of graded schools as the prime factor in making our nation a democracy worthy of the name.  In his optimist way he said he should never despair of the republic so long as the son of the washerwoman and the son of the millionaire sat side by side in the graded school, each treated by the teacher as equals.

The east, said the Doctor, has lagged behind the west in the adoption or the idea of free schools.  A generation ago academies dotted the New England towns, but the high tuition limited their advantages largely to the sons of the rich. The west started right by giving the same advantages by its free schools to the poor boy as to the rich, and the result is shown in the rapid advance of the west in educational and industrial development.

In introducing Hon. H.R. Pattengill, the last speaker, Mr. Mills said that the State Teachers' association, of which Mr. Pattengill is president, would meet in Ann Arbor in less than a year, and it had been deemed wise to send to Lansing for a sample of what we were to be afflicted with, but that he thought as usual the sample would average better than the goods.

Mr. Pattengill spoke humorously of his four years' stay as a student in Ann Arbor, and then congratulated the citizens upon having erected such an ideal school building.  He especially emphasized the fact that the graded school, the high school, and the university gave every boy and girl the opportunity for "a way out and up." Then, picturing to the audience the opening of school in Maine at 9 o'clock in the morning, he followed the notes of the school bell across the continent, showing that when it rang for morning school in Alaska, another schoolday had already begin in Maine. He closed by quoting Hezekiah Butterworth's "The School and Flag," which appropriately closed the exercises of the day.

Following the exercises the audience spent an hour in thoroughly acquainting themselves with the new building, and the board of education received many congratulations upon the perfect adaptation of the building to the purpose for which it was built.

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THE FUNERAL OF JOHN BURG

HELD AT THE BEAUTIFUL RESIDENCE

Which He Had Enjoyed for so Few Years - Touching Tributes to a Good Man

The funeral of John Burg was held from his late residence, corner of Hill street and Oakland avenue at 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon and was attended by a large number of his old friends.

The casket was placed in the drawing room and was surrounded by a profusion of most beautiful floral tributes of the many friends of the deceased.  Around the cast was a rope of American Beauty roses intertwined with green and the casket was almost covered with the flowers of which Mr. Burg had been the fondest.

Rev. J. Mills Gelston spoke very consolingly to the bereaved ones and spoke in glowing praise of the one who had gone.  A quartet led by Prof R. H. Kempf and composed of Miss Liebig, Mrs. Kempf, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Muehlig sang several very beautiful numbers in German.

The remains were laid to rest in the family lot in Forest Hill cemetery.

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