30 REPORT ON INTRODUCTION OF 



way to church are dressed in good " store clothes" of American manu- 

 facture. And to-day the only ones learning trades are not the sons of 

 Eussian Creoles, but of the Thling-gets, at the Presbyterian Industrial 

 Training School, at Sitka. This institution has 14 buildings, and is 

 distinctively coeducational. The boys and girls recite in the same 

 classes, dine together in the same dining room, and, under wholesome 

 restraint, have opportunities for social intercourse. 



A few years of sedulous training have developed in some of the older 

 pupils a spirit of emulation, a sense of personal responsibility, self- 

 respect, self-reliance, and self-helpfulness which command respect. 

 Most of the large boys, advanced far enough to read intelligently in 

 the second reader, are learning a trade (all being in school half of each 

 day and at work half a day), and the diligence with which they pursue 

 their studies and the zest with which they enter upon industrial work 

 day after day are most praiseworthy of them and encouraging to their 

 instructors. All of the shoes for the pupils of the school are hand- 

 made in the shop, under the direction of a competent foreman. Con- 

 siderable custom work is also done. 



The supply of barrels and half-barrels far exceeds the demand, yet 

 coopering is considered an excellent trade for the young men. Owing 

 to high freight, barrels are usually made at the fishing stations where 

 needed, and coopers are in demand at those places. 



The variety and scope of carpenter work have proved a most valu- 

 able source of instruction to the boys, most of whom are aptly adapted 

 to mechanical industry. The boys have made commendable progress 

 during the past year. Young men who can do carpenter work fairly 

 well can find opportunity to ply their trade in any of the villages of 

 Alaska. 



There are eight model cottages, six of which are occupied by young 

 married couples from the school. These young folks have been thrown 

 entirely upon their own responsibility and resources, and they are doing 

 right well in earning a livelihood, while their houses are kept clean, 

 neat, and homelike. The environments of family life among the young 

 folk, in contradistinction to that in vogue among the natives, tend to 

 create new conditions and inspire new impulses among their own 

 people. 



The general work of the school — patching, mending, refitting, making 

 new garments (aprons, towels, underwear, dresses) — is no light task. 

 Each girl 8 years old and upward knits her own stockings, and the 

 large girls find time to learn useful tidy work in order that they may 

 be able to beautify their own homes with the work of their own hands. 



The girls are trained in every department of household industry — 

 kitchen, dining room, teachers' room, etc. The girls numbering but 

 50, the matron and her assistants fiud time to give each girl individual 

 care in the details of housekeeping, thus gradually inculcating and 

 developing a sense of personal responsibility. 



