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Show As the NEWS understands the High School situation at the present time, it is about like this. It is proposed to establish ninth and tenth grade schools at Minersville, Greenville, Beaver and, possibly, one or two other points in the county, to correspond to the first and second High School courses in the county institution at Milford. Tho argument used is that Milford is too far removed from man) points in the county to make attendance at the county High School convenient. The county High School is to receive a third-year course, if Mil ford can hunt up the requisite number of pupils by June 15tb, otherwise other-wise the school will run on half rations, as usual. The NEWS desires to be perfectly fair, unprejudiced and reasonable in discussing this, as well as other public matters, and were the count High School located at Beaver or Minersville or some other point outsidt of Milford, its conclusions would be tne same. In the first place, as a general declaration of principles whieb j residents of the Milford Valley will not surrender, the High School ai Milford is a COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE WHOLE COUNTY and should draw its support, both financially and numerically, from tht 'whole county, and the Milford Valley should not be asked to furnisl for the whole county, the quota of pupils necessary to secure the third or fourth or any other year of instruction. Agaio, the taxpayers of thi county voted 60,000 to build and equip a County High school a full-fledged, full-fledged, full-term county High School not a siunled, half-grown affair, and if the voters had known prior to the bond election that 609 oi even 75co of the investment was to staud idle through later action oi the school authorities, it is doubtful or at least a question if the bonds woulo have carried. But, while the people of Miltoid Valley hold these convictions, they are not at all unreasonable, and if the county school authorities can how good reasons why the establishment of these extension courses throughout through-out the county is to be desired, there is no doubt but that residents of thib section will acquiesce. There is this to be said against the proposition. Perhaps a ninth grade at these points might work out all right, though it ib a question, but a two-grade course would, in our opinion, defeat the objeci aimed at, for the pupils would get only a smaituriug of High School learning, would not be so apt to complete ihe lull course because of the lack of that school spirit which is so essential to the interest and progress of the pupil ana which can be fostered only through the association cf a larg number oi pupils in a common institution, and because the cost of maintaining these scattered units would be greater than the est of having a full four-year term in the county High School at Milford. If Miltord is so tar removed from the east end of the county as to make attendance at the cuunty High School in Milford, very inconvenient, the NEWS would call atteniiou to the fact that when residents of this valley have business to transact with the county authorities, they must ride or drive over thirty miles up into the mountain, to a county seat that is not, ou a railroad, and lose two or three days ol valuable time in doing it. The valley folks have not "kicked" at this' inconvenience yet. But, even supposing that the NEWS and the people of this valley are wrong in their contention against this proposed vivisection of th county High School, there are still two concessions which we believe should be made to this valley; 1st, that the County High School at Milford shall have at least a three-year course this year and a four-year course the year following; 2nd, that Minersville be included in the Milford High School zone aud no extension grades established there. In these days of auto travel, there should be no difficulty in providing convenient transportation for High School pupils from that nearby point. This valley is growing at a wonderful rate. Every week sees large parties of land seekers arriving aud most of them remain to buy or file ou homesteads. Milford is growing rapidly and just outside her gates is a small town already in existence. This portion of the county is entitled to be heard and will be heard in the settlement of county questions that come up Inasmuch as the valley people have borne so patiently -so far the Inconvenieuoa of having a county seat so far removed from I he main business portion of the county, it seems only reasonable that some inconvenient e could be borne by residents of the more distant portions of the county But whatever arrangements may be made as to the amputation of the county High School system, there appears to be no defensible reason for not main taining Miuersvillo district m the Milford High School zone, where it aaturally belongs, her interests aud Miltord's being identical. ' j |