Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1894 [PAGE 59]

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60

UNIVERSITY

OF

ILLINOIS.

The completion of the heating and plumbing of the building has been much delayed. The men are still at this work, and it is anticipated t h a t the transfer of the departments of botany, zoology, and geology to the building will take place during the holiday recess.

H E A T I N G APPARATUS.

I am sorry to state t h a t much trouble has been experienced with t h e general heating apparatus. The tubular boilers, which were repaired during the summer, leak altogether too much for the highest efficiency, and the escaping steam makes much annoyance in the boiler room. Where the fault lies I cannot say, but am told t h a t the gaskets cannot be held closely upon the mouths of the tubes, because of the uneven corrosion of the iron in some cases, and warping of the parts in others. The new boiler seems to give satisfactory results, though doubts are held as to the system of connection with the buildings. I t has not been possible to warm the Chemical Laboratory, even with the mild weather we have had, for a long time after the steam was turned on, and then only by opening the radiators and permitting t h e accumulated water to run out instead of returning to the boiler. The coils of steam pipe, upon which most dependence is placed in heating the laboratory rooms, are in very bad condition, a fact unknown to me until until after the trouble about heating the building was recently reported. I t is almost, or quite, impossible to get at these coils to repair them. This makes the trouble a serious one, to which attention ought to be given as early as possible. While t h e radiators in the new building may be, and probably will be, entirely suitable for the required use, it must be feared t h a t the boiler connections here will give the same trouble as at the Chemical Laboratory. This, however, is a matter between your committee on buildings and grounds and the contractors. The danger herein feared is t h a t successful arrangements will not be completed in time for the occupancy of t h e building at the beginning of next term. This danger must not befall us if it can in any way be avoided. The hose for the roof of University Hall, ordered at your last meeting, is on hand and ready for service.

INSTRUCTION.

Instruction is now given in the University by 22 professors, 4 assistant professors, 10 instructors and 2 fellows, all having charge of distinct classes, and by 6 regular assistants aiding the foregoing. Besides this, special aid is obtained in several cases from advanced students, who are employed for the purpose. This is a large corps of instruction, and, as the members of it are, in several and particular, notably competent and heartily in earnest, the work must be well done. Evidence to this end is apparent everywhere. Perhaps it cannot be claimed that, as a body, the instructors are superior to those of other similar institutions of learning in general, but it is confidently asserted t h a t no such institution has more devoted or harder working teachers or leaders in the special departments to which they are severally assigned. The work is done without complaint, though in numerous instances it is too hard for t h e best results in the long run. In nothing else does the university so emphatically exist and in nothing else must its excellence be so measured as in the quality and inspiration of the instruction. Hence all else should be sacrificed if need be before the energy and enthusiasm of t h e teachers are reduced by overwork or discouraging treatment. As t h e number of students increases and as t h e courses of instruction are developed more teaching must be provided. In importance, this seems to me to be the very first thing demanding the attention and energy of your board. Every advance made in the grade of instruction, every building added for occupancy, means increased expenditure of current funds. The amount now available for running expenses is inadequate t o existing demands, to say nothing of advancement. If the University" is