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PLANS FOR CITIES.

THE HARVARD GRAMMAR SCHOOL IN CHARLESTOWN.

The building for the Harvard Grammar School in Charlestown* was dedicated Feb. 22, 1872, and cost, with site and equipment, $130,825. From whatever point it may be viewed, the exterior presents a very solid and substantial appearance, it being the object of the architect to

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produce a building elegant and symmetrical in its proportions, without incurring useless expense in meretricious ornamentation; it is three stories in height, exclusive of a high basement. The walls are faced with pressed bricks and trimmed with granite from Maine.

By action of the legislature, and the concurrent vote of the legal voters of the cities of Charlestown and Boston, the city is now included in the chartered limits of Boston,

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The roof is "hipped," covered with slate, and surmounted by an iron cresting of pleasing pattern; the cornice of the front central projection is carried above the general level of the cornice of the main building, covered with a roof of steeper pitch and longer rafter, and crowned with an iron finial and vane of bold design, making this a striking and emphatic feature of the building when seen from any point on Bow Street.

The building is set in the middle of a lot, which allows of spacious yards in front and on each side for play-grounds.

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The basement is twelve feet high, has entrances from the yards on either side, and contains, in addition to the heating apparatus and fuelrooms, light, spacious and well-ventilated play-rooms for the boys and girls-for use during inclement weather-with which are connected the water-closets; from each play-room is a flight of stairs leading to the first floor.

Entering the building from the front we find on either side of the entrance-hall, comfortable and commodious rooms for the use of the

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principal and committee, with which are connected dressing-rooms and water-closets for the male and female teachers.

There are also on this floor five school-rooms, each twenty-eight by thirty-two feet, having in connection the requisite clothes-rooms. Transversely through the building runs a corridor fourteen feet wide, from each end of which start broad flights of stairs of easy ascent, leading to the second floor, and down to the vestibules connected with the entrances from the yards. This corridor is well lighted by means of a large mullioned window at each end.

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The peculiarity of the plan of this floor is that the space usually used for a sixth school-room is devoted to a front entrance, committee and principal's rooms as described above.

The second story is of the same height as the first, and contains six school-rooms of the same dimensions, with clothes-rooms. The corridor is in every respect similar to that on the first floor.

The third story contains three school-rooms of the same dimensions as those in the first and second stories, and thirteen feet high, with

clothes-rooms. The exhibition-hall is in the front portion of the building, and occupies its whole width and about half its depth, being ninety feet eight inches by forty-two feet ten inches, and nineteen feet six inches in height; it is well-lighted on three sides by large windows, among which is an arcade of lancet-shaped windows of liberal height, which is introduced with admirable effect; at the other side of the hall and directly opposite this arcade is a recess for the stage, which is of ample dimensions.

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The principal partitions throughout are of solid brick work, the inside finish is of soft brown ash, with hard-pine floors, platforms and stairs, and every arrangement is made for the comfort and convenience of the teachers and pupils which experience could suggest. The building is warmed by steam, and the ventilation received the most careful study and attention from the architect, Mr. Samuel J. F. Thayer, of Boston.

The classrooms are flooded with pure air, heated to the requisite temperature in winter, and the air which has lost its vitality and purity is drawn off into flues, whose exhaustive power is increased by their position in the building.

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The London Times of August 23, 1876, comments on the nature and extent of the changes introduced into the military schools and education of officers by the Council of Military Education since 1869, following the second Report of the Director-General issued in 1876:

Staff College.

To begin with the Staff College, it is satisfactory to find that the more practical direction given to the course of studies at that institution in 1870, when the compulsory study of mathematics was largely replaced by a more extended reading and practice of military history, military administration, fortification, and reconnoissance, has been attended with the best results. More officers have come forward for examination, and experience has shown that the present course of study is a far better preparation for the work required of a staff officer than the previously existing high reading of mathematics. During the three years embraced in the present Report (from 1873 to 1875 inclusive) 124 candidates presented themselves at the competitive entrance examinations for the Staff College. Of this number 86 were examined at home, and 38 at foreign stations; 45.3 per cent. of the former, and 52.6 per cent. of the latter, obtaining admission to the College. Of those who were examined at home only 17.4, and of those who were examined abroad only 13.1 per cent. failed to obtain the qualifying minimum of marks in the three subjects which are held to be obligatory. Comparing the result of these examinations with those held during the preceding four years, we find that the average number of competitors per annum has increased from 37.5 to 41.3; while the percentage of candidates disqualified in the obligatory subjects is only 16.1 as compared with 20.7 in the former period. Turning to the Final Examinations, we find that 54 officers who had undergone the whole course of study prescribed by the Regulations, were examined at the College during the years 1873-5, and that of these, while two passed with "honors," none failed. During the same period, also, seven other officers have availed themselves of the opportunity afforded by the revised Regulations of 1870, for presenting themselves at the final examination without having gone through the course of study at the College, and all passed; one, however, succeeding at his second trial only. With regard to the studies pursued at the College, we observe that the execution of reconnoissances on a large scale, an exercise which was strongly recommended by the Royal Commission, and which forms one of the most favorite means of education in all Continental armies, is continued under the immediate direction of the Commandant, and also that the study of military art and history has been largely developed. The more extended reading of these latter subjects cannot fail to bear good fruit, since there can be no doubt that lessons of vital importance may be thus learnt which will be applied practically in time of need. Another step in the right direction is the practice, which has been recently introduced, of employing in succession for a period of three or four months officers who have passed out of the College in the Intelligence Department of the War Office. During this service their individual fitness for various duties is fully tested, and an opportunity is also afforded them of acquiring a knowledge of details which will be useful to them in their after career as staff officers.

In the same way that the special mission of the Staff College is to prepare officers of the army generally for the performance of staff duties, so the peculiar work of the advanced class of Royal Artillery officers is to prepare officers of the latter branch of the service for appointments in the Royal Arsenal, the Small Arms Factories, Gunpowder Factories, Royal Laboratory, &c. Owing to various circumstances, the class was, a few years ago, temporarily suspended; but on the 1st of October, 1874, it was reopened at the Royal Artillery Institution, eight officers joining it, only three of whom were lieutenants. Here, as at the Staff College, very material alterations have been made in the course of study; in this case, in consequence of recommendations made by a special committee appointed to thoroughly investigate the subject, the regular course of study has been reduced from two years to 18 months' duration, and officers are now allowed to pursue their studies in their own quarters, although they are required to attend, as a class, the lectures on metallurgy, chemistry, physics, and mechanism, and the instruction in professional subjects. As at the Staff College, the final examination is also now open to all officers of the Royal Artillery, and an opportunity of undergoing a higher examination is offered to all those who pass, whether they have gone

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