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 BROOKLYN 325 the oldest benevolent societies in the city, and is designed to aid the poor by procuring them employment and temporary relief. There are numerous other charitable institutions, among which is the children's aid society, which open- ed a newsboys' home in 1866 and a children's home in 1867, affording to neglected boys in the streets industrial training and places to sleep. The society embraces a special relief depart- ment for placing boys and girls in good homes ; a sewing machine or girls' industrial depart- ment ; and an industrial department and school for boys. The truant home, on the Jamaica turnpike, has an average number of 100. Ex- cellent accommodations are also afforded by the charitable institutions of Kings county, which embrace the almshouse, hospital, nur- sery, lunatic asylum, &c., in Flatbush. The common schools are classified as grammar and primary, there being no public high schools. They are under the control of a board of edu- cation of 45 members, and a city superinten- dent with an assistant. Under their supervision in 1872 there were 52 schools, of which 13 were primary and 5 were for colored chil- dren, besides the Protestant orphan asylum school, the church charity foundation school, the Catholic orphan asylum school for boys, the Catholic orphan asylum school for girls, and the Howard colored orphan asylum school. There are 52 school houses, of which 36 are built of brick and 16 of wood. For the school year ending Jan. 81, 1872, the number of teachers was 857, of whom 823 were females. The whole number of pupils enrolled during the year was 102,033, embracing 66,890 differ- ent pupils. Of this number 1,670 were colored. The average number registered was 40,935; average attendance, 36,044. These statistics are exclusive of the evening schools and orphan asylums. Seven evening schools for white and two for colored children were open during the 12 weeks beginning with October, employing 26 male and 82 female teachers. The whole num- ber of pupils, including 191 colored, was 6,001, of whom 4,429 were males and 1,572 females; average attendance, 2,198. The whole num- ber of the preceding year was 5,416, with an average attendance of 2, 071. The cost of main- taining these schools was $13,164. In the or- phan asylums 14 teachers were employed, the whole number of pupils being 1,049, with an average attendance of 818. The sum of $11,- 391 was apportioned from the public school fund to these schools. The amount expended in the day schools for teachers' wages during the year was $468,841, and $8,095 for music teachers. The total amount expended for school purposes was $719,800. There are about 35,000 volumes in the school libraries, valued at $43,750. In addition to the public schools there are many excellent private semi- naries. The Packer collegiate institute, which ranks among the first seminaries for females in the United States, was incorporated in 1853, and named after the late William S. Packer, by whose widow the institution was liberally en- dowed. Its large Gothic structure in Jorale- mon street, with its grounds and boarding establishment, valued at over $300,000, is in- sufficient for its wants. In 1872 it had 38 pro- fessors and teachers, besides special lecturers, between 700 and 800 students, and a library of more than 4,000 volumes. There are free and endowed scholarships for between 30 and 40 pupils. The collegiate and polytechnic institute for boys, in Livingston near Court street, founded in 1854, with a capital stock subsequently increased to $100,000, is under the control of a board of 17 trustees. In 1872 it had 27 instructors, 597 students, and a library of 3,000 volumes. The juvenile high school, opposite the preceding, designed for the thor- ough instruction of boys under 12 years of age in the rudiments of an English education, has an average attendance of about 300. The Adelphi academy, founded in 1863, and incor- porated as an endowed institution in 1869, has a fine building in Lafayette avenue, cor- ner of St. James place, and receives pupils of both sexes to all grades except the collegiate. In 1873 it had 31 instructors and 552 pupils. Among others of importance are the Brooklyn Heights seminary, in Montague street, for the education of young ladies, and the college of St. John the Baptist (Roman Catholic), cor- ner of Lewis street and Willoughby avenue. There are also three convents and a monastery. The chief library is the mercantile, founded in 1857, which contains about 41,000 volumes, and is provided with a spacious reading room. The annual subscription for each member is $5. The Brooklyn institute and youths' free libra- ry, liberally endowed by Augustus Graham, occupies a commodious building in Washington street, containing library, reading and lecture rooms, a public hall, and a picture gallery ; it has about 1 2, 000 volumes. The Long Island histor- ical society, organized in 1863, has a library of nearly 20,000 volumes and an equal number of pamphlets, besides valuable treasures of art and history. The Brooklyn library association of the Eastern District had in 1870 over 8,000 volumes, and the law library in the court house is rich in that department of literature. The chief art institutions are the Brooklyn art association and the academy of design. The chief places of amusement are the academy of music, in Montague street ; the Brooklyn thea- tre, corner of Washington and Johnson streets ; the Park theatre, in Fulton street, opposite the City Hall park ; and the Olympic, which is devoted to varieties, and Hooley's opera house, to minstrelsy. The philharmonic society gives a series of classical instrumental concerts an- nually. There are four clubs : the Brooklyn, social, which meets at the corner of Pierrepont and Clinton streets ; the Long Island, political and social, corner of Clinton and Remsen streets; the Faust, established in 1871 chiefly for journalists, artists, actors, &c. ; and the yacht club. The young men's Christian association