APPENDIX C.

ADDRESS OF HON. FREDERICK L. SIDDONS, DELIVERED ON PRESENTATION DAY, MAY 5, 1915.

Mr. President and Candidates for the Degrees, Ladies and Gentlemen, When I received the invitation from your president to make a brief address this afternoon, I confess that I felt an unusual degree of pleasure at the invitation, a pleasure that is also a privilege, that I should this afternoon be afforded the opportunity of saying some few words of hope, and express some wishes for your success, you, the products of this great institution.

I do not believe that in the field of education, of educational development, has so much been accomplished as in that department which has undertaken the education of those who labor under some sort of physical disability. And in the last few days, as occasionally I have thought of this occasion, and what might appropriately be said, I have remembered with some amusement, but more shame, the attitude of judges, not so many generations ago, who refused to receive the testimony in court of a man or a woman who could neither hear nor speak. And these judges did so upon what seems to us to-day not only an absurd but barbarous notion that such persons were little short of imbeciles.

Think of it, ladies and gentlemen! Think of it as we are seated within this hall! Think of it as you reflect upon the three orations delivered before you this afternoon by three of the candidates, and you may then get some conception of the great strides that have been made in education. Who would suppose for a moment, as you read the list of degrees that it is to be hoped will shortly be conferred upon these young ladies and gentlemen, who would have supposed that they labor under any disability whatsoever? I venture to say that their addresses this afternoon, in thought, in form, in finish, quite equal those of the graduates from any of our universities or colleges.

It marks this work of education, marks a great step in the civilizing processes of our race. More and more we concern ourselves with the welfare, present and future, of those who at the outset of life perhaps would not, but for the assistance that society now gives, be equal to the contest of life before them. But happily that time has passed, and you, young ladies and gentlemen, may look forward with confidence to the future that is yours. You will take up your selected, your appointed work, and do it well, becoming as useful citizens as any of us may hope to be.

I notice that the motto of your class is a French phrase, "A outrance." Now, my French has become almost but a lingering memory. But this particular phrase, if I remember it, is susceptible of this interpretation, that "We are going the limit." [Laughter.]

You are going the limit in all that is worth while. You are going the limit in the work that you have selected to do. And as you enter upon that work, as you leave these halls, you will never cease to remember the obligation that you are under to the institution, to the faculty, to its founder, whose picture has been revealed to you this afternoon. And in that work will you not permit a modern justice to apologize to you for the mistakes of his remote predecessors, and to assure you that if it ever should be your obligation to appear before him you will not be rejected on the grounds formerly alleged.

I bid you Godspeed and success in the future of your work. [Applause.]

APPENDIX D.

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

To the Board of Directors of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf: GENTLEMEN: Since taking charge of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf there has been no formal report made to the board, covering a period of more than a year's time. I think it may be proper, therefore, after the passage of five years, to lay before the board in a brief résumé some of the work that has been accomplished in that period, together with recommendations as to what might be done in the future.

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

All the money of the institution is handled, as heretofore, under the direction of the president of the institution, who is president of the board, through a special disbursing agent of the United States Government. All expenses from United States funds are audited, as heretofore, by the secretary and treasurer of our board, and finally by the Auditor for the Interior Department. All other money received has been expended and accounted for in the same way, except that these accounts are, of course, audited only by the auditing committee of the board. All expenses, as heretofore, are reported quarterly to the board and annually to the Secretary of the Interior in the annual report of the institution.

Under the present system of buying all goods are purchased on written orders, duplicates of which are kept in the office, and no purchases are made except on the authority of the president or of the disbursing agent. All goods are checked off when they arrive, and bills are paid after the work of checking with duplicate orders is completed. Bids from at least three dealers are obtained, except on very small items or emergency orders, a storekeeper has been employed, a storeroom has been established, and all goods not perishable bought in large quantities at a decided saving.

A partial inventory of furniture and equipment has been made annually for two years, and a more complete one will be taken this year.

A new system of distributing expenses and comparing those of the present with those of previous years has been installed; also a careful account of food consumed at each kitchen; a separate account of the farm expenses, of expenses for repairs on the various buildings, and of expenses for District of Columbia pupils. The office work of the institution has been facilitated by the purchase of three additional typewriters and an adding machine.

A local switchboard with 22 branch telephones, property of the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., with practically all wiring below ground in lead-covered cable running through terra-cotta conduit (which had already been laid) has been installed. The central tower clock has been repaired and connected with the 12 old and 2 new subsidiary clocks and has been made to control them all successfully.

The annual appropriation for expenses attending instruction of deaf and dumb persons in this institution from the District of Columbia, under section 4864, Revised Statutes of the United States, and the act of March 1, 1901, has been raised from $10,000 to $12,250; appropriation for repairs from $5,000 to $6,000; appropriation for current expenses from $67,000 to $70,000; receipts from pay pupils from $4,000 to approximately $6,500; or a total increase of some $9,000. In addition, a special appropriation of $12,500 for improvement of the barns and the greenhouses, and the construction of a new dairy barn, and an appropriation of $21,000 for repairs and improvements to the heating and lighting system have been obtained. With the former appropriation the greenhouses were practically rebuilt and somewhat enlarged, and were brought nearer the central steam plant, to which they are now connected. The old carriage barn has been thoroughly repaired and provided with steam heat from the central power plant. No horses are now stabled in this building, but it is used for employees' quarters and for storage, as formerly. The carriage room is now used as a garage for our motor vehicles. One of these vehicles takes the place of the market wagon and the horse and buggy for the disbursing agent, and the other takes the place of the carriages and horses formerly maintained for the use of the president of the institution. The number of horses maintained has thus been reduced from seven to four-three for the farm and one for the grounds.

Payments to teachers, whose services really end with the close of the school year, are being gradually changed from 12 to 9 payments, so their salaries will end with the end of the fiscal year.

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION.

The management of the farm and the grounds has been separated and the former farmer and gardener placed in charge of the greenhouses and grounds. In this way it has been possible for him to give better attention to lawns and shrubbery. The farm and dairy have been placed under the charge of one of our college graduates, who is also a practical farmer, and the farmhouse and large farm barn have been greatly improved. Instruction in agriculture has been introduced for the young men of the college with success so far.

The management of the Kendall School has been separated, as far as possible, from that of the college. None of the teachers (with one exception) or officers on duty in the Kendall School have duties also in the college department. The boys of the Kendall School now have their own matron, with kitchen and dining room in their dormitory. This had also been arranged for the girls of the Kendall School. So we have adopted for the Kendall School the cottage system, which is now considered the best plan of organization for residential schools.

A regular night watchman has been employed, and fire drill practiced.

REPAIRS.

Many repairs and improvements have been carried out beside a few already referred to. The grounds have been resurveyed and a large part is now being inclosed with a new wire fence.

A modern, sanitary dairy barn with milk house was built four years ago. An additional silo was also erected. Over $3,000 have been expended in repairing the farmhouse and barn and in erecting four chicken houses and large cold frames. The old horse stable referred to above has been changed to a garage and storeroom with living quarters.

Eight new bathrooms in various buildings have been provided for the convenience of employees and five others have been rebuilt. Besides this, much plumbing has been torn out and replaced by modern work.

Seven hot-water heating plants have been installed, one in the Kendall School girls' cottage and six in the quarters of teachers or officers to replace worn-out hot-air furnaces.

A thorough revision of the main heating and lighting system is completed. New engines have been purchased and installed, the power plant repaired and brought up to date, a central hot-water heating plant established, all underground piping taken up and almost all of it renewed and placed in concrete conduits, the vacuum system installed, and the electrical wiring extended to Denison House and all the recitation rooms of both college and Kendall School. The main kitchen of the college has been thoroughly remodeled at an expense of over $2,500; three extra fire escapes have been built; houses Nos. 1 and 2 have been connected with the city sewerage system, instead of an old cesspool, at an expense of about $1,000; electric wiring has been installed in the president's house; houses Nos. 5 and 6, the farmhouse, and part of the gymnasium building have been pebble-dashed to preserve the woodwork. All outside woodwork of buildings has received from two to four coats of paint, and much interior paperhanging and painting has been done.

The chapel has been provided with new flooring and has been thoroughly redecorated. All of the main basement of this building has been given a new concrete floor and part of it a new metal ceiling.

The college boys' dormitory has been practically refitted with new furniture and the Kendall School dormitories supplied with new allmetal bedsteads. A large quantity of dishes, linen, etc., has been purchased for the use of the institution.

COURSE OF STUDY.

The course of study in the college had just been revised when I took charge. It has been added to by the introduction of instruction in agriculture, regular lessons in library cataloguing, business methods, and sewing. Our librarian, besides giving the theory of library cataloguing, has, with the aid of her pupils, finished a complete catalogue of our library according to the Dewey system.