During the past year a plumbing class has been carried on of evenings in Washington, D. C., under the auspices of the Plumbers Association, and through the courtesy of M. Auchmuty. of New York, we are informed that a trade school similar to his will be opened by the Builders Exchange, in Philadelphia, January 2, 1889.

THE NEW YORK TRADE SCHOOLS.

"The New York trade schools," says the founder, "were established 7 years ago for the purpose of giving young men instruction in certain trades and to enable young men already in their trades to improve themselves."

"Since the New York trade schools were established a great interest has arisen in industrial training. Seven years ago but little had been written on technical education; it has now a literature.

The master mechanics in various trades have, at their various association meetings during the past few years, advocated the establishment of trade schools as necessary for the proper acquiring of the trades. Since the plumbing class was opened at the New York school, plumbing schools on the same plan have been established by the master plumbers associations of Chicago, Montreal, and Philadelphia. At the last convention of the National Association of Master Builders the report of the committee on appren ticeship, recommending that a lad should learn the science and practice of his trade at a trade school before being employed in the workshops, was unanimously adopted. "The trades unions, thus far, have shown no interest in, or have been openly hostile to, technical education for boys or young men."

The requirements for admission are simple. The pupil must be between 17 and 21 years of age. During the year 469 pupils attended, distributed thus:

These pupils were instructed by 17 teachers for six months. Since the organization of the schools 1,643 have followed the courses.

The buildings are of brick and cover a plat of land 200 feet on First avenue and 112 feet on Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth streets. The tuition charge varies from $12 to $35 for the course. The apparatus is valued at $1,000, and the property at $120,000. The receipts during the year from tuition fees were $6,866; the expenditures for building, $8,740; for salaries, $2,657; for implements, $1,310; for material, $2,247, the deficit being met by the founder and proprietor, Mr. Auchmuty. Comparing the per capita cost of material used at this school, $4.80, and that of the Baltimore school, $2.50, of the Miller Manual Labor school, $6.22, it would seem to be a mean between them.

NAUTICAL SCHOOL OF NEW YORK CITY.

The school system of New York City has had for some years a rather unique branch, the nautical school on board the ship St. Mary's. By an act of 1874 Congress anthor ized the use of certain naval vessels for school purposes and the detail of officers as instructors, providing that "no person shall be sentenced to or received at such schools as a punishment or commutation of punishment for crime." The St. Mary's is under the charge of the board of education and the council of the Chamber of Commerce. During the winter months instruction in common school studies and seamanship are carried on, and during the summer a cruise across the ocean is made for practice.

The graduating exercises of the school were held on October 13, at New York City, under the care of the council of the Chamber of Commerce. The boys were examined in practical seamanship and navigation by several sea captains, twenty-six receiving certificates. The report on the examination shows that the graduates were proficient in seamanship and sailmaking, and, with one or two exceptions, good navigators. Threefourths have since embarked on merchant vessels. The ship can accommodate 120 pupils. During the year 112 were enrolled. The per capita cost is higher than in the other branches of the school system.

COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS COLLEGES-NURSES' TRAIN

ING SCHOOLS.

I.-COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS COLLEGES.

GENERAL REMARKS.

Two hundred and twenty-two institutions appear on our lists for the year under review, an increase of five over last year. Twenty-one report for the first time, and sixteen formerly reporting have either ceased to exist, or failing for several successive years to reply to inquiries addressed to them from this Office are presumed to be no longer in operation.

The following are the changes for the year in the names of institutions:

A new school has recently been organized at Freeport, Ill., and, with the Rockford Business College at Rockford, forms Rockford Business University. The Nelson Ladies' Business College at Cincinnati has been consolidated with the Nelson Business College. There is a marked tendency among the better class of these institutions to improve the courses of instruction, making them more thorough and practical. By genuine business transactions the student becomes practically familiar with commercial operations of all kinds. "He buys and sells merchandise, real estate, etc.; receives and forwards goods to be sold on commission; gets insured; deposits in bank; gives and receives checks, receipts, orders, notes, drafts," etc. Curry University, formerly known as Curry Institute and Union Business College, has in addition a collegiate course of four years, Latin, Greek, and mathematics being taught throughout. The St. Stanislaus Commercial College, at Bay St. Louis, Miss., requires candidates for graduation to pass a satisfactory examination in mathematics through trigonometry, in book-keeping, and in commercial law. There is a post-graduate course in the "higher mathematics," comprising conic sections, calculus, navigation, etc. French, German, and Spanish are also taught in this institution.

To supply the increasing demand for stenographers, schools of short-hand and type-writing have been established in various parts of the country, and, with few exceptions, all business colleges now have a "department of short-hand." A number of systems are taught, but that of Ben Pitman is more generally used than any other in this country, and may be called the "American system." According to reports of principals the length of time required to fit the average student for the satisfactory discharge of the duties of stenographer is from six to eight months, but many institutions profess to accomplish that result in a much shorter period.

The number of students reported in business courses of city, normal, and secondary. schools, and of colleges, is 19,683, an increase of 4,099 over last year.

North Atlantic Division:

States.

TABLE 85.-Summary of Statistics of Commercial and Business Colleges for 1887-88.

TABLE 85.-Summary of Statistics of Commercial and Business Colleges for 1887-88Continued.

Porter's Select School of Short-hand and Type-writing.

18 New Haven, Conn. (49 Gaffey's Short-hand School