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148 JOHN C. ALMACK

The buildings and equipment were generally inadequate. The board of regents of the Monmouth school stated that when the school was re-established in 1910 the main building was old and in immediate need of repairs. There was also an old gymnasium, which has since been removed from the campus. W. B. Ayer in his minority report to the legislature in 1909 said:

"The buildings and equipment are positively unfit. There is not one first class building at any of the schools, and many are a positive disgrace to the state."

Weston valued its plant at $75,000, while Ashland put a valuation of $60,000 on buildings and grounds. Descriptions of the buildings and apparatus at Monmouth in 1903 give these conditions :

"The normal building is a fine brick structure especially de- signed for the work of a normal school. It is well heated throughout. There are twenty-four good working rooms, and they are well equipped and convenient for school use. . . . Many new books and periodicals have been added to the library. . . . The school has a good supply of apparatus for illus- trating the physical and natural sciences."

Weston's description indicated a more pretentions plant:

"The buildings," said the catalogue, "are four in number, and include the school building, the boarding hall, the presi- dent's cottage, and a building containing the gymnasium, the young men's dormitory, sloyd rooms, and rooms for the de- partment of domestic science."

"The school building is a fine modern brick structure with sandstone trimmings. It has three stories and a basement. It is heated by steam. ... In the spacious parlors of the young ladies' hall are held many social functions participated in by the faculty, students, and people of the town. Good facilities for manual training have been provided, and full sets of tools for wood and cardboard sloyd have been secured. . . . Domestic science combines the practical and