# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1914_S49
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

14th Delegate Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, 1914. 49

-utility building has been reroofed, and the professors' residences
have received a fresh coat of paint. The approved additions to the main
and south buildings have not yet been carried out, for reasons of
economy.

Turning to the needs of our institution, we now come before the
Reverend Synod with a large, a very large request. Considering that a
Reverend Synod has had to spend large sums in recent years, we would
rather hold back our request, but a serious shortage compels us to
present it. This shortage, which has existed for a number of years now
— namely, since the time our institution was raised to a full
gymnasium — has made itself felt especially strongly this school year,
given the large number of pupils. Our urgent request is that the
institution be granted a school building, as well as the provision of
more living rooms and dormitories.

In our judgment, the following conditions call for a school building.
The present classrooms are scattered through every building. In one
corner of the director's residence is found the Prima [senior class];
in a short connecting wing joining this residence to the main building,
the Sekunda [second class] is housed; the Sexta [sixth/lowest class]
assembles in the auditorium; the Tertia [third class] is two flights up
in the south building, where all classes for science instruction must
also go; the Quinta and Quarta [fifth and fourth classes] find quarters
in the so-called school building; on its second floor a room is set
aside for the Septima [lowest preparatory class]. This scattering of
classrooms naturally causes much disturbance and noisy running back
and forth. It is a nuisance; yet it could still be borne if only the
classrooms themselves met requirements. But the classrooms are,
unfortunately, mere makeshifts — for the most part small, poorly lit,
overcrowded rooms. The auditorium, in turn, which is used for
instructing the Sexta, is far too large for a classroom. Teaching there
is an exhausting strain; the pupils must speak excessively loudly to
make themselves understood, and moreover, on dark days work must go on
all day under gaslight. The science classroom lacks the equipment such
a room ought to have, so that instruction in that subject can be given
successfully. Such is the state of the classrooms, in which, after all,
the main work must be done.

The institution does not have enough living rooms. Under present
conditions barely 140 to 150 pupils can be accommodated; beyond that,
the rooms are simply overcrowded. When seven or eight desks stand in a
study room meant for only four, some must be placed so that daylight is
blocked from them. This year seven pupils had to be housed in one room
that has only a single window. — The institution needs more dormitory
space, so that the pupils may enjoy healthy, undisturbed rest at night
and be able to apply themselves with a fresh mind the next day to their

[Signature at the foot of the page: "4" — a printer's sheet signature, not a folio.]