It is interesting to note that while in so many respects the society is like one large family, still they seldom collect in large numbers-not even in their devotional exercises. There are several chapels in each village where the people assemble in small groups for evening prayer. The church is a large, narrow building, divided into several rooms, one in front of the other. For the usual Sunday service the girls and young women, not necessarily unmarried, assemble in one room, the boys and young men in another, while the older members assemble in a third. The wraps are all left in the hallway. Periodically there is a general meeting on Sunday afternoon in a fourth room—a very large assembly room. The church and its interior, like the colony dress, is marked by its severity. The whitewashed walls, the bare floors and the long, unpainted pews and woodwork all bespeak the character of the service. There is no pulpit; instead, a plain pine table with the simplest of cover. At this table the presiding elder sits. On either side of him facing the congregation is seated a row of elders. These are chosen by the people from the most spiritually inclined of the community. There is just one aisle in the church, a wide center aisle; on either side of this there is a row of long, well-scrubbed benches or settees. In the general meeting the men are grouped on one side of the church, the women on the other, both according to age-the younger members on the front seats, the older members behind. The silence in the church is almost absolute. There is no organ but the mingling of the clear, strong voices of the younger members with the deep, often tremulous notes of the older ones in the chanting of the psalms is more charming than any organ voluntary or Sunday morning solo. The absolute lack of outward show, the simple, earnest, devout spirit of the service, makes one feel that these people are very near "the great white throne."

The perfect equality maintained by the colonists is shown even in death. In the cemetery there are no family lots, no monuments The departed members are placed side by side in perfect rows, regardless of family ties. The graves are all marked by a low, white-painted board slab with the simplest kind of an inscription on the side facing the grave. The grass in the cemetery is carefully trimmed, but there are no flowers there.

While the colonists have to a certain degree tried to keep aloof from "the world," the latter, like Mahomet, has gone to the mountain, and has left its footprints in the form of modifications of the former austerity of the community. Rag carpets have taken the place of sanded floors in many sitting-rooms, ornamental trinkets are hung upon the wall, and here and there a piece of upholstered furniture is to be found. A few years ago instrumental music was strictly forbidden; now one occasionally hears the distant notes of the violin or the deeper tones of the accordion.

"What will the next half century do for the colonies?" the visitor asks; and he is likely to follow up his question with expression of the hope that the Amana society may prosper as it has prospered in the past, and that its purity and simplicity may be preserved.

MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOLS.

The law regulating this office requires that the commissioner shall include in his report what progress has been made with schools now in operation for the instruction of students in the mechanic arts, ard what systems have been fourd most practical, with details thereof.

Following will be found reports from superintendents of the only two cities where manual training is taught in the state, namely, West Des Moines and Mason City schools:

SUPERINTENDENT COOPER, OF WEST DES MOINES, ON MANUAL TRAINING.

The work in manual training has been carried on with excellent results. There is no department of work in the high school which contributes more to the power and independence of pupils than the manual training. It is to be regretted, however, that more use is not made of this department by the boys and girls of the high school. Although the work of the depart ment is put upon the same footing with other branches of instruction and is conducted with judgment and skill, the number of pupils electing the work is not as great as its importance as an educational means warrants one to expect. It is my belief that when the patrons of the school come to understand more fully that manual training as a school study fits for life more completely than any other study endorsed by long usage, no matter what particular work one may pursue, the number of pupils choosing manual training as a study will be greatly increased. The number now in the manual training classes is almost as large as our room and equipment will accommodate, but I would be glad to see it more popular, because I believe in its educational value.

The introduction of the Sloyd form of manual training work into sixth grade of the Franklin school last year was attended with some drawbacks which necessarily interfered with the quality of the results. The pupils were obliged to go to the high school, four blocks distant, and to give some time after regular school hours to the work. The accommodations being limited, only half of the class could be taken care of at a time, and as Instructor Newell could give time only every other day, the pupils received a lesson only once in four days. In spite of these difficulties, the work was so far a success that its extension is recommended for the com ing year, and arrangements will be made whereby both the sixth and seventh grades at Franklin can be accommodated upon school time, and lessons given each class twice a week. Mr. Newell's report follows:

REPORT OF MANUAL TRAINING DEPARTMENT.

DES MOINES, Iowa, June, 1896.

Mr. F. B. Cooper, Superintendent of Schools, West Des Moines, Iowa: DEAR SIR-In reply to your request I am pleased to submit the report of the manual training department, and I hope I may touch some points that will be of interest to you and to the patrons of our school.

When I entered upon my duties two years ago I found a well equipped department. Believing that manual training is a means of education, I began my work with enthusiasm, and have tried to bring my department into as close harmony with the rest of the school as possible. The end of education is always the same. Education is intended to develop the mind's powers and capacities. The means of education varies from age to age, and should depend upon the capacity of the child's mind and the character of its environments. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler says: "Manual training is mental training through the hand and eye, just as the study of history is mental training through the memory and other powers." Ideas can be expressed by means of language, gesture and construction. To train both the powers of reception and expression the child must deal with objects themselves and not alone with a description of them. As a means of expression drawing ought to be taught in every grade of the public school, but only incidentally as an art. In all constructive work the material used should be adapted to the child's age and powers. The means of giving an ideal education has varied from age to age. This is an age of industrial activity, and the child must be so educated that the busy life he is soon to enter will not be altogether strange to him The "all-around" mechanic is no longer educated in his father's shop or on the farm. Most of the objects for household use that were once made in the home are now made in large factories, and the persons working there learn to do only one or two kinds of work. The factories have " No admittance" written over their doors, and the young people of to-day need industrial education, and it ought to come through the public schools. Manual training creates a love for bodily labor, and does much to dispel that false idea that it is more dignified and honorable to clerk in a bank or store at $3 a week than to do cabinet work at $3 a day. Speaking of manual training, Dr. Butler says: "It is the educational question of the time."

Having an equipment suitable for giving a two years' course, and constantly keeping in mind the educational advantages of manual training, I have tried to arrange the details of the work in such a manner that the pupils would obtain the maximum benefit. Our course is arranged as follows:

First year's work -Mechanical drawing, 45 minutes per day; wood joinery, 45 minutes per day.

Second year's work.-Mechanical drawing, 45. minutes per day for nine months; wood carving, 45 minutes per day for three months; wood turning, 45 minutes per day for six months

Mechanical drawing is the foundation upon which we build Much attention is given to the theory of drawing and the principles of descriptive geometry. A number of problems in plane geometry are given first, and these are followed by exercises in orthographic projection. Our pupils learn to make working drawings, tracings and blue prints of the models