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Show SXXIV REPORT OF THE COUMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. inllose 16,000 Indians no boarding-schools have yet been furnished, and where there are now but six day-schools, mith accommodations for 175 pupils. Another building must be erected for the Pueblo school, which is only tenlpora~ilyp rovided for in a rented building not adapted for the purpose. The interest, aptness, docilit.y, and progress of the pupils is remarked on by their teachers as being fully equal to that of white children.' Their aoquirenlents, of course, are much behind those of white chil-dren. The first two school years, atleast., innst be spent. mainly in ac-quiring the English language and the white man's way of living, les-sons which the child of civilized parents learns in the nursery, a ~ l din these two branches progress is impeded bg the reluctance of Indians to use any but their native tongue, and is seriously interrupted by the an\aual vacation, which returns the children to the old ways of speech, thought, aud life. The interest of parents in education continues to increase, and some schools have been overcrowded. The agency ho,trding-school is the object lesson for the reservation. The new methods of thought and life there exemplified, while being wrought into the pupils, are watched by those outside. The parents visit the school, aud the pupils take back into their homes new habits and ideas gained in the school-room, sewingroom, kitchen, and farm. Tl~oughm ore or less ilissipated in the alien atmosphere of a heatheu honsehold, these habits and ideas still have an influence for good, real and valuable, thong11 it csunot always be distinctly traced. The agency school takes the pupils as it finds them ; the dull and frail have a chance with the quick-witted and robust ; and since Indians are much less willing to send away t.heir daughter8 than their sons, it furnishes the girls of the tribe almost their only opportunity for acquiring a knowledge of books and of home-making. But 80 long as the American people now demand that Indians shall become white men mithin one generation, the Indian child must have other opportunities and come under other influences than reservations can offer. He must be compelled to adopt the English language, must be so placed that atte~idancea t school shall he regular, and that vaca-tions shall not be periods of retrogression, and must breathe the atmos-phere of a civilized instead of a barbarous or semi-barha,rouu commu-nity. Therefore, youth chosen for their intelligence, force of character, and soundness of constitution are sent to Carlisle, Hampton, and Forest Grove to acquire the discipline training which, on their return, shall serve as a levera,ge for the uplifting of their people. The reports from these schools are in every respect encouraging. At Carlisle 295 pupils have heen in attendauce,'of whom 29 per cent. were girls. Th'eyrepresent twent,y.four tribes and fourteenagencies. Seventy are learning trade and have been so faithful and' snocessful in their labor that the artip le s hanufactured and job work done by apprentices ju the harness, shoe, tin, and blacksmith shops have netted the school |