/'■ 
 
 pvj 
 
 [From the Roosevelt-State Fair 
 
 Edition of the Raleigh News 
 
 and Observer.] 
 
 ^^The Successful Training of Southern 
 
 Youths for More Than a 
 
 Century/^ 
 
 ^^The Great History of The Bingham Schoolj, 
 Which Has Made Many of the Great Men of the 
 Nation for More Than a Hundred Years/^ 
 
 Situated on the Asheville Plateau and Constructed on the World's 
 Most Approved Plan. Commended by: 
 
 The United States Government and its Officials; 
 By the Executive and the Judiciary and 
 
 Military Departments of the Government 
 of North Carolina; 
 
 By Presidents of Universities; 
 By Prominent Physicians; 
 
 And by Other Distinguished Men." 
 
 a/ 
 
 From Col. R. Bingham, i 
 Asheville, N. C. 
 
 f~ /% 
 

[From the Roosevelt- State Fair Edition of the Raleigh News and 
 
 Observer.] 
 
 Co 
 o 
 
 
 
 ^^The Successful Training of Southern 
 
 Youths for More Than a 
 
 Century/^ 
 
 The Great History of the Bingham School^ Which 
 Has Made Many of the Great Men of the Na- 
 tion for More than a Hundred Years/ ^ 
 
 " Situated on the Asheville Plateau and Constructed on the World's 
 Most Approved Plan. Commended by: 
 
 The United States Government and its Officials; 
 By the Executive and the Judiciary and 
 
 Military Departments of the Government 
 of North Carolina; 
 
 By Presidents of Universities; 
 By Prominent Physicians; 
 
 And by Other Distinguished Men." 
 
 The Bingham School began its career in the last decade of the 
 i8th century — only four years after the Constitution was adopted, 
 while Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Marshall and Hamilton, 
 who made the nation, were still busy with their great work and 
 when the steamboat, the railroad and the other Titanic agencies of 
 the wodd, as we know it, were in the womb of the future. It passed 
 through the 19th century, that period of the most wonderful devel- 
 opment since the world began, and it stands on the sunny summits 
 of the Appalachians, facing the 20th century, with its area of patron- 
 age never so wide, with its equipment never so good, with its loca- 
 tion and climatic attractions never so fine, and with an income never 
 so great. 
 
 One of its alumni has been Vice-President of the United States. 
 Its alumni have been Cabinet Ministers. They have been Senators 
 and Representatives from many States. They have been Gover- 
 nors of many States. They have occupied the highest judicial posi- 
 tions in many States; and one, as a State Chief Justice, was for 
 many years the only American Judge whose decisions were quoted 
 in Europe. They have been distinguished lawyers, distinguished 
 physicians, distinguished clergymen, distinguished agriculturalists 
 and the most distinguished private citizens in many States. 
 Three Governors of North Carolina in immediate succes- 
 sion were its alumni, an honor which has been conferred on 
 no other school in the country by its alumni in the State or out of 
 the State of its location, as far as has been ascertained. This con- 
 tinuity of achievement is due largely to the fact that alone among 
 training schools in the United States there has been no break in the 
 
continuity of the School's superintendence, methods, discipline and 
 instruction, and during all these years its purpose has been to make 
 men in the best sense, to which central purpose everything else has 
 been subordinated; for it has been administered by three genera- 
 tions of Binghams from grandfather to grandson for 112 years. 
 When some one asked Sir Isaac Newton why he saw farther into 
 the secrets of Nature than other men, he replied: "Because I stand 
 on the shoulders of giants." It is because the Bingham of the pres- 
 ent stands on the shoulders of the Binghams of the past that such 
 results have been achieved. 
 
 Before the war between the sections the School could not accom- 
 modate all who wished to attend; but in order to do fuller justice to 
 its patrons and to its pupils, it declined to increase its capacity. 
 After the war it more than doubled its capacity in order to accom- 
 modate its steadily increasing patronage. Of late, all its available 
 space has again been occupied, and again it cannot accommodate 
 all who wish to attend; but in order t(3 do fuller justice to its pat- 
 rons and to its pupils, it again declines to increase its capacity. An 
 impressive indication of the School's status is that during its iioth 
 year 48 of its total enrollment of 144 were only sons — that is, that 
 one-third of its patrons, after careful scrutiny into the merits, in 
 some instances at least, of as many as 50 schools for boys, chose 
 Bingham's for their only sons. Another indication is that in 1887 
 the U. S. Consul to Manchester sent his sons across the ocean from 
 England to Bingham's. In 1897 the U. S. Minister to Greece came 
 all the way from Athens to place his sons at Bingham's, and this 
 year the U. S. Minister to Persia sent his only son across the ocean 
 to the School. Another indication is that for several years the 
 School has attracted more pupils from other States to North Caro- 
 lina for education than are attracted by our University, by our de- 
 nominational Colleges and by all the other male schools in the State 
 combined. 
 
 Another impressive indication of the School's status is that its 
 pupils, during the iioth year came from 24 of the 45 States of the 
 Union, extending from Massachusetts, Nebraska and California on 
 the North to Florida and Texas on the South, and reaching out to 
 the Republic of Cuba; during the iiith year its patronage extended 
 to British Honduras, and frpm the 84th to the 112th year, inclusive, 
 49 localities were represented, 38 in the United States; i, Daiquiri, in 
 Cuba; 2, Mexico City and Tehuantepec, in Mexico; i, Belize, in 
 British Honduras; i, Brazil, in South America; 4, England, Scot- 
 land, Germany and Greece in Europe, and 3, Siam, Japan and Persia, 
 in Asia, an area of patronage equaled by but few institutions of 
 learning of any grade in the United States, and approached by no 
 other school in the South. 
 
 Some salient facts about the history of this School, of which 
 North Carolinians may be justly proud, may interest our readers. 
 
 Its First Headmaster. 
 
 The founder and first headmaster of the School was Rev. Wil- 
 liam Bingham, son of James Bingham, of Kilmore Parish, County 
 Down, Ireland, which is still the home of the Binghams across the 
 seas, among whom the names of William, Robert and James still 
 prevail, the head of the family, the present Earl of Lucan, being 
 Robert Bingham. 
 
 Young William Bingham went to Scotland for education two 
 years before the Declaration of Independence, entering the 
 University of Glasgow, according to the records in the office 
 
of the Registrar of the University, in i774- He graduated in 1788 
 with the highest distinction, was licensed as a Presbyterian 
 preacher, and soon thereafter he began the work of the ministry in 
 his native county. Soon afterwards his uncles, of whom there were 
 several, became involved in one of the many efiforts for Irish inde- 
 pendence which preceded Emmett's Rebellion, and they had to 
 seek safety in the United States after one of them had been captured 
 and put to death by the English soldiers. One of the uncles, settled 
 in New York, is the progenitor of the New York Binghams, and 
 Binghamton in that State is named for him. Another uncle settled 
 in Ohio and was the progenitor of the Ohio Binghams, of whom 
 John A. Bingham is perhaps the most distinguished, having been 
 elected to Congress from the Twenty-first District of Ohio for sev- 
 eral terms, having been chairman of the impeachment trial of An- 
 drew Johnson and afterwards U. S. Minister to Japan. Before 
 leaving Ireland Rev. William Bingham had made an engagement, 
 through a gentleman from the Cape Fear region, who was traveling 
 in Ireland at the time, to take charge of the Wilmington Academy, 
 for which purpose he set sail for Wilmington, North Carolina, in 
 1789, but landed in Wilmington, Delaware, and by the time he 
 reached Wilmington, N. C, his place had been filled. Being a 
 stranger in a strange land and without employment, he was in dis- 
 tress; but a Masonic sign, given in taking a drink of water, found 
 friends for him; and on the resignation of the principal some time 
 afterwards he became principal of the Wilmington Academy. The 
 climate of Wilmington being injurious to him, and there being at 
 that early day, as there is still, a close connection between Wilming- 
 ton and Pittsboro', he moved to Pittsboro' and became First Head- 
 master of the Bingham School in 1793. Some years later he was 
 called to the professorship of Ancient Languages in the new Uni- 
 versity of North Carolina and acted as Chairman of the Faculty for 
 some time before Dr. Caldwell became President, and his oldest 
 son, William James Bingham, Second Headmaster of the School, 
 named for the child's father and grandfather, was born in the old 
 Mitchell House at the west side of the college campus. 
 
 Findin,g the boys who came to the University were too poorly 
 prepared for college to get the benefit of the instruction, he re- 
 signed his professorship, moved to Hillsboro, and opened his pri- 
 vate school again for the special purpose of preparing boys for the 
 University, and for about 60 years more than two-thirds of all the 
 first honor men in the University were prepared by him and his 
 successors. About 1810 he moved his school to "Mt.' Repose," ten 
 miles north of Hillsboro', where he taught with great success until 
 his death in 1826. 
 
 Its Second Headmaster. 
 
 At the First Headmaster's death in February, 1826, his eldest son, 
 William James Bingham, who had graduated with first distinction 
 at the University in the class of 1825, was studying law with Judge 
 Murphy and came, at the earnest request of his mother, to fill out 
 the unexpired session. At the end of the session the senior class in- 
 sisted on his remaining another year and preparing them for college 
 and the same thing occurred another year and another; and so the 
 prospective brilliant lawyer and politician became the teacher of 
 a private school, which he conducted with such success as to have 
 to refuse 300 pupils in a single year, as to raise his tuition fees from 
 $30 a year to $150, and, despite all his numerous charities, to be- 
 come a man of comparative wealth for those days, and to be called 
 
by the newspapers of his day "That' Napoleon of School Masters." 
 In 1845 he moved his school from Hillsboro', as his father before 
 him had. done, in order to educate his own sons in the country, and 
 limited his pupils to 30, whom he selected from the sons of more 
 than 300 of his former pupils and admirers. In 1857 his sons, Wil- 
 liam and Robert, who had graduated with first distinction from the 
 University in the classes of 1856 and 1857, respectively, became part- 
 ners in the School. When the war between the sections broke out, 
 Robert Bingham, the junior partner, organized a company and 
 joined Lee's army and surrendered with the remnant of them among 
 the 7,892 armed men at Appomattox Court House; but his partner- 
 ship in the School remained unbroken during the whole time of his 
 absence. 
 
 For those who question the value of University training it 
 might be worth while to consider that every one of the four Bing- 
 hams graduated with first honor at a great University. 
 
 Its Third Headmaster. 
 
 As has already been said, William and Robert Bingham joined 
 their father in 1857 and they became in turn the Third and Fourth 
 Headmasters of the School. Each of the four headmasters had 
 great difficulties to overcome, but the Third Headmaster's work 
 was more trying than that of any of the others. His father was 
 in failing health after 1856 and the war came on and took his 
 brother away. He was a man of very great intellectual force, but 
 of a feeble body, and he died in 1873. He had to contend, not only 
 with the usual difficulties which beset those who deal with boys in 
 times of peace, but with these difficulties much aggravated in a 
 time of war. The scarcity of supplies, the scarcity of books, the 
 scarcity of teachers, the difficulty of communication, the excite- 
 ment, the demoralization, had to be met. A constantly depreciat- 
 ing currency and a constantly increasing price for everything made 
 the financial conditions well-night intolerable. But William Bing- 
 ham met every emergency with a power and wisdom rarely ex- 
 hibited. 
 
 Finding it impossible to get supplies ten miles from the rail- 
 road, the Third Headmaster moved the School to Mebane, and by a 
 stroke of genius he incorporated it as a Military Academy and se- 
 cured exemption from the Junior Reserves for the Bingham Cadets 
 up to 18. His father's health failed entirely in 1864 and he died in 
 February, 1866. In December, 1864, William Bingham became the 
 Third Headmaster and he carried the School through the war and 
 through the depressing conditions after the war. In February, 1873, 
 the month in which his grandfather, William Bingham, and his 
 father, William Bingham, had died, the third William Bingham 
 joined the silent majority. 
 
 Its Fourth Headmaster. 
 
 At his brother's death Robert Bingham became headmaster. 
 He had the training of the Bingham School, of the University and 
 of perhaps that greater University still — four years' service in com- 
 mand of men in Lee's army, and he had the benefit of very close 
 association with his father and brother, than whom the country has 
 produced no greater instructors and guides of youth. The panic of 
 1873 was upon the country. The reconstruction, with its period of 
 terrible depression, was upon the country. The School had been 
 reduced to 36 tuition fees. Its buildings were still the log cabins 
 
erected in i864-'5 by William Bingham. Its patronage had never 
 extended beyond seven States. But it is only justice to say that 
 the Fourth Headmaster has not fallen behind his predecessors. In 
 his hands the School increased steadily in numbers and effective- 
 ness. In the hands of his predecessors, it had, as before stated, 
 never reached beyond seven States. In the hands of the Fourth 
 Headmaster it has, reached out to 38 States of the Union and to 11 
 localities beyond the seas, as has already been stated. 
 
 The Migrations of the School. 
 
 Its first Headmaster moved the School from Wilmington to 
 Pittsboro', from Pittsboro' to Hillsboro' and from Hillsboro' to "Mt. 
 Repose." Its Second Headmaster moved from "Mt. Repose" back 
 to Hillsboro' and from Hillsboro' to Oaks. Its Third Headmaster 
 moved it from Oaks to Mebane. These changes of location were 
 easy, because the School had no equipment to speak of. Some 
 people think that a school-house is a school, that bricks and mortar 
 are better than brains; but nothing better illustrates the fact that 
 the teacher is the school, that brains and not bricks and mortar are 
 the essentials of a school than the fact that the first three headmas- 
 ters combined did not put more than $3,500 into buildings and equip- 
 ment. But the time had come for a combination of brains and bricks. 
 President Garfield said that the best school he had any knowledge 
 of was Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and himself on the other 
 end. The Hon. Mr. Mebane, late Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
 tion, said officially that up to 1870 all the public school buildings in 
 North Carolina had not cost more than $10,000 and that $5,000 was a 
 more conservative estimate; whereas now the public school build- 
 ings in Asheville alone cos'^t more than $100,000. In the hands of 
 Robert Bingham the log quarters of the war period were displaced 
 by frame buildings; an academic building was erected and a com- 
 modious gymnasium was added, the first one in a Southern school 
 and the only one in the South, except the one at the University of 
 Virginia. The fire May ist, 1882, swept all these buildings away; 
 but the School re-opened September ist in greatly improved build- 
 ings on the same ground and with a better gymnasium. In Decem- 
 ber, 1890, the School's buildings were again swept away by fire and 
 the Fourth Headmaster sought better climatic conditions and 
 erected the best school plant in the Southern States on the Asheville 
 Plateau. 
 
 It is said that there are people living within hearing of the 
 sound of Niagara who have never seen the Falls. We have the 
 highest authority for saying that even "a prophet is not without 
 honor save in his own land." But as an unprecedented interest in 
 all educational matters has developed in the State and in the whole 
 country, it may be worth while to describe this unique school plant, 
 so that Southern people may have a better idea of their oldest 
 school for boys; and after a description of the buildings and envi- 
 ronment, to give the impression made by the School and its equip- 
 ment on the United States Government and some of its officials; 
 on officers of the United States army and navy; on the Executive, 
 Judiciary and Military Departments of the Government of North 
 Carolina; on presidents of universities; on prominent physicians, 
 and on other distinguished men in the State and out of the State, 
 in order that those who have not seen what the school is and what 
 it has may know what sofne of the most competent judges in the 
 country who have seen it, say about it over their own signatures; 
 and some description of this plant is more competent because the 
 
first, second and third headmasters, during the School's migrations, 
 did not put more than $3,500 in buildings and equipment, whereas 
 the Fourth Headmaster's school plant has cost some eighty thous- 
 and dollars ($80,000) which is more than twenty times as much as 
 all the other headmasters expended in buildings and equipment. 
 
 The Location. 
 
 Since 1891 the School has been located on the Asheville Plateau, 
 three miles northwest of the city of Asheville. This location was 
 selected from about fifty (50) sites offered to the superintendent in 
 an area including almost every Southern State and one State in the 
 Central West, and in one case at least with buildings and a $50,000 
 cash inducement. From the salubrity of -its climate this plateau, 
 which averages 2,500 feet above the sea level, is the most frequented 
 all-the-year-round pleasure and health resort in America, having 
 attracted by its winter climate 60,000 visitors from the North in a 
 single winter (whereas other mountain regions, the Adirondacks, 
 the Catskills, the Virginia mountains, for instance, repel visitors en- 
 tirely in the winter) and 40,000 visitors from the South in a single 
 summer by its summer climate; and it has been chosen as a place 
 of permanent residence by a number of multi-millionaires with the 
 world to choose from. 
 
 The Buildings. 
 
 The buildings, which are the result of the study of school build- 
 ings for thirty years, in some twenty-five States of the Union and 
 abroad, with a view to ventilation, sanitation, discipline, instruc- 
 tion, and safety against fire, are an entirely new departure from 
 the typical three or four-story school building., erected in many 
 cases by some town or corporation for show rather than for utility, 
 arranged as if to supply the pupils with vitiated, rather than with 
 pure air, and to propagate rather than to destroy germs of disease, 
 and often occupied by teachers who had no share in planning them. 
 In planning the Bingham School Buildings to accommodate 136 pu- 
 pils, two in a room and one in a bed, cost and mere show were en- 
 tirely subordinated to health and safety and utility. As a matter of 
 fact, much more showy buildings on the usual plan could have been 
 erected at two-thirds of the cost. 
 
 As a provision for health, the buildings are on the scf-called 
 "cottage plan," which has been adopted of late years on sanitary 
 grounds by all civilized Governments for Barracks and Hospitals, 
 although it is much more expensive than a high and showy build- 
 ing would have been. The dormitories and class-rooms are all of 
 brick, in eight sections, and placed on both sides of a street 75 feet 
 wide. They are but one story high and but one story deep, so that 
 each pupil gets air and light in his quarters from two opposite direc- 
 tions. The sun shines into each room at some time every day, and 
 each room is automatically ventilated. As the quarters are all in 
 single stories, there can be no one above or below anybody, or at 
 the right or left of anybody, and between each four pupils there are 
 two open fire places, with flues, 12 inches square, which make a 
 steady, automatic circulation of air. 
 
 The class-rooms in the center of each section are kept free from 
 vitiated air by having no communication with dormitories or with 
 each other. They get fresh air from two opposite sides and from 
 one end, and are ventilated automatically by a system so simple and 
 so efficient as to be most highly approved of by every one who has 
 inspectexl it, as hundreds have done. Many pronounce it supericrr 
 
to anything they have ever seen anywhere else, and several archi- 
 tects have told the superintendent that they should adopt his method 
 of ventilation as a distinct advance on anything used heretofore. 
 
 If food, to be taken into the stomach three times a day, should 
 be carefully guarded against impurities, how much more should the 
 air, taken into the lungs 25,000 times a day, be kept pure? 
 
 Dampness is prevented by a course of slate and cement on 
 every wall, about one foot above ground. Instead of a less expen- 
 sive but less healthful system of steam-heating, each room has an 
 open fire place and the comfort and ventilation which nothing af- 
 fords so well as an open fire place. Each dormitory has two single 
 beds, with spring mattresses; and one rarely finds a room anywhere 
 better heated, lighted and ventilated and more wholesome and com- 
 fortable in all respects. 
 
 Safety Against Fire. 
 
 Having had three experiences with fire in the School's tem- 
 porary buildings in middle North Carolina, abandoned in 1891, its 
 permanent buildings are of brick, in eight sections, with nothing 
 that can burn but the floor, ceiling and sheeting, and are only one 
 story high, so that each pupil can step from his door to the ground. 
 The sections are separated by parapet fire-walls, so that fire could 
 hardly pass from section to section. Each pair of rooms is separ- 
 ated by a brick parapet wall, so that only two rooms can burn if a 
 fire should brepk out. Water can be thrown over the top of every 
 building from fire-plugs in front of each section. This plan of 
 building makes an accident by fire almost impossible. And the wis- 
 dom of a parent's securing this fire protection for his son while at 
 school is remarkably vindicated by the fact that since the School's 
 permanent buildings were put under contract in 1891, the superin- 
 tendent has noted the death of more than 300 pupils by school fires 
 in the United States; the Insurance and Clipping Bureau Companies 
 report more than 1,000 by being burnt or by jumping from upstairs 
 windows; and many more cases of death or injury have not been 
 reported at all or have not been recorded. It makes one shudder to 
 think of the consequences of a fire breaking out at midnight in an 
 ordinary three or four-story school building, when 22 lost their lives 
 in one such building recently, 42 in another and 45 in a third; and 
 when we hear constantly of the burning of people in hotels, with 
 night clerks, night watchmen and fire escapes, it seems strange that 
 parents will risk their children in fire traps when so many fatalities 
 have occurred and will continue to occur in such buildings. 
 
 The Bath House. 
 
 As the Fourth Headmaster, while in Middle North Carolina, 
 built the first gymnasium in a Southern school, he also 
 built the first Bath House. It was heated by steam, lighted by gas 
 and had 21 bath tubs and a swimming pool. But the bath tub in 
 any public place is unsanitary, as it may carry germs of contagion 
 from some previous bathers, and it took six hours or more to bathe 
 the school. In the present Bath House — which cost more than 
 $2,500 — the tub is rejected and the whole school is bathed in an hour 
 and a half by the use of the shower bath method alone, some 7^ 
 gallons of perfectly pure water at the temperature of 85 degrees to 
 90 degrees being poured on each of the bathers from fifty sprinklers 
 at a time, twice each week; and the athletic teams may take a cold 
 water shower bath every day. 
 
 Capt, J. B. Bennett, 6th Infantry, U. S. A., Special Inspector, 
 
 .7 
 
whose report is hereinafter quoted, added to this official report the 
 personal remark that he "wished the Government had something 
 like the Bingham Bath House at Fort McPherson"; and Col. 
 Philip Reade, 24th Infantry, Inspector of Camps of Volunteers, 
 during the Spanish-American War, said that he should report the 
 School's water closet to the Government as a solution of sinks for 
 the Army; and that if this model had been used in the Spanish War, 
 thousands of lives would have been saved. 
 
 The Club House. 
 
 The latest addition to the School's equipment is the Club 
 House; and as the Fourth Headmaster built the first gymnasium 
 and the first bath house in a Southern school, he has the first Club 
 House, built by his son, Robert W. Bingham, of Louisville, Ky., 
 Vice-President of the Louisville Y. M. C. A., with a $100,000 build- 
 ing and 1,750 members. 
 
 The churches say to a young man "Thou shalt not," but here- 
 tofore, as a rule, they have offered no substitute for what he must 
 give up. The Young Men's Christian Association says "Thou shalt 
 not," but offers a substitute which appeals strongly to a young 
 man in baths, reading rooms, in gymnasiums, in innocent and 
 healthful games and amusements, and the churches are beginning 
 to do likewise. The School offers bathing facilities, a reading room, 
 a gymnasium; and has tennis courts and an excellent athletic field 
 for outdoor sports. The first story of the new Club House furnishes 
 quarters for the Manager and his wife and contains the furnace 
 room, storage rooms, etc.~ The second story is for such innocent 
 and healthful indoor sports, when the weather prevents outdoor 
 sports, as the Louisville Y. M. C. A. offers to its members. The 
 third story is an audience hall for debates, declamations, lectures 
 and other desirable entertainments, so that the cadets may have the 
 conveniences, comforts and legitimate amusements on the school 
 grounds which they would otherwise go off the school grounds for. 
 This building is heated both by fireplaces and by a furnace, is 
 lighted by electricity, and is the only one of the school buildings 
 which can make any pretence to architectural effect. 
 
 The One-Story Plan as Effecting Order and Discipline. 
 
 Besides the many other advantages of the one-story plan^ per- 
 haps the greatest is the facility it affords for securing the greatest 
 quiet and order, with the least pressure and friction. 
 
 The quarters consist of eight ranges or galleries with four dor- 
 mitories on each side of a center, which center is the class-room, 
 with the teacher's quarters just behind and connected with his class- 
 room. This places the teachers at regular intervals everywhere, so 
 that the boy can find the teacher or the teacher the boy in case of 
 need in either direction. This distribution of teacher and pupils 
 rnakes opportunities for disorders in study hours so easy of detec- 
 tion, not by espionage, but by constant presence and contact, that 
 a degree of order and an opportunity for pupil and teacher to at- 
 tend to their business day and night, are secured to a degree im- 
 possible with any other form of building and these results impress 
 every visitor as phenomenal. 
 
 Having described the school plant in some of its salient fea- 
 tures, some of the opinions of it are added and the question natur- 
 ally presents itself, whether such things can be said by such people 
 of any other school North or South? 
 
 8 
 
From the Vice-President of the United States. 
 
 (Published in the Editorial Cor. of the "North Carolinian," March 
 
 29, 1894-) 
 
 Vice-President's Chamber, 
 
 Washington, March 27, 1894. 
 Hon. Josephus Daniels, ^ ,. 
 
 My Dear Sir: It was my good fortune a few days ago to visit 
 "The Bingham School," now located at Asheville, North Carolina. 
 
 It is impossible to speak too highly of the celebrated institu- 
 tion. Its location, buildings, sanitation and water supply are all 
 that could be desired. It would indeed be difficult to find a school 
 whose location possesses equal natural advantages. The corps of 
 teachers, moreover, is excellent. Under Col. Bingham, its present 
 efficient superintendent, this historic school has more than sustained 
 its well-earned reputation. 
 
 I take pleasure in commending it most earnestly. 
 
 (Signed) ' A. E. STEVENSON. , 
 
 (The original of this letter is framed and hangs in Col. Bing- 
 ham's office). 
 
 From the U. S. Government's Bureau of Education. 
 
 Circular of Information No. 3, 1888, Page 131. 
 
 Washington; Government Printing Office, 1888. 
 "The Bingham School stands preeminent among Southern 
 schools for boys, and ranks with the best in the Union. 
 
 "The Bingham School has reached its greatest efficiency under 
 the present Superintendent, Col. Robert Bingham." 
 
 From Gen. Lawton, of Santiago, and Manila, in the Annual Report 
 
 of the Inspector General of the U. S. Army to the Secretary of 
 
 War, for 1892. 
 
 (Washington: Government Printing Office, Page 273.) 
 
 Tts (the Bingham School's) reputation is that of one of the 
 best military schools in the South. * * * The discipline of the 
 School is to be commended. The service in the Mess Hall is excel- 
 lent, and the gymnasium is a model in all particulars. * * * 
 The inspection was most satisfactory in all particulars." 
 
 (Signed) H. W. LAWTON. 
 
 (Then) Lieutenant Colonel, Inspector General U. S. Army. (Later 
 Major General U. S. Army.) 
 
 From the Officers o'f the U. S. Army Who Have Been Detailed as 
 
 Professors of Military Science and Tactics Since August, 1883, 
 
 when the Details From the U. S. Army Began. 
 
 "The Bingham School combines more desirable qualities than 
 any other with which I am acquainted." — Maj. J. B. Batchelor, 
 United States Army (Professor of Military Science and Tactics 
 from 1883 to 1886.) 
 
 "There exists not the equal of the Bingham School in my opin- 
 ion."— Col. Henry Wygant, United States Army (Professor of Mil- 
 itary Science and Tactics from 1886 to 1889.) 
 
 "I cordially recommend Bingham's as the best school for boys 
 in my knowledge."— Captain J. B. Hughes, United States Army 
 (Professor of Military Science and Tactics from 1889 to 1891.) 
 
 "The Bingham School possesses more attractive features and 
 
offers better opportunities for the mental and physical development 
 of boys than any similar institution known to me." — Captain John 
 Little', United States Army (Professor of Military Science and Tac- 
 tics from 1891 to 1894.) 
 
 "It affords me p^reat pleasure to say that I regard the Bingham 
 School as the best institution of the kind in the United States, pos- 
 sessing as it does a superbly healthful location, easy of access, in the 
 geographical center of the region east of the Mississippi, and the 
 best facilities for developing the physical, mental, moral and manly 
 qualities of its students, among whom I deem myself fortunate to 
 include my son." — Briq-adier General Charles L. Davis, United States 
 Army (Professor of Military Science and Tactics from 1894 to De- 
 cember, 1897.) 
 
 "It was my good fortune to be with the Bingham School as 
 Professor of Military Science and Tactics from December, 1897, till 
 the war with Spain terminated what promised to be a delightful 
 and instructive detail, which, however, lasted long enough for me to 
 be more than favorably impressed with the School. 
 
 "I found the cadets gentlemanly and well-behaved at all times. 
 The course of studv is most excellent, as is shown by the success of 
 so many of its pupils in the different callings in life. The strong, up- 
 right feeling of manliness and of regard for the truth which is seen 
 in the daily life of the pupils, is worth more, in my opinion, than all 
 a boy can learn from books. Even if he learns nothing else he has 
 learned to be an honest man. This feature of the School impressed 
 me particularly. No boy can tell the faculty a lie and remain in 
 School, and the best of this system is that the boys regulate this 
 matter among themselves. * * * 
 
 "I appreciate the privilege it has been to me, to be associated 
 with such an institution, and I have learned many things from ob- 
 serving Col. Bingham's firm but fair way of treating those com- 
 mitted to his care." — Captain John A. Perry, United States Army 
 (Professor of Military Science and Tactics from December, 1897, to 
 the beginning of the Spanish war.) 
 
 From Lieutenant Chas. S. Fowler, U. S. Army (Professor of Mili- 
 tary Science and Tactics from 1900 to 1904.) 
 
 "A visit to the Bingham School, near Asheville, N. C, must 
 make lasting impressions on any one interested in the education of 
 young men away from home. The location is simply grand; the 
 equipment is nearly perfect, while the administration is the best 
 that a long and continuous experience can make it * * * ^nd it 
 may truthfully be said that at the Bingham School everything is 
 done, that can be done, to start a boy toward perfect manhood. 
 
 "One word about the 'Honor' system. This is an "Honor' 
 school.^ Here boys do not lie to escape blame or punishment; every 
 one being on his honor as a man, and this, in my opinion, is one of 
 the grandest foundation stones a school can possibly have. * * * 
 It is a grand school and combines more and better facilities for the 
 development of all that is good in a boy, than any school for boys 
 known to me."— Charles S. Fowler, First Lieutenant U. S. A. (Pro- 
 fessor of Military Science and Tactics, 1900 to 1904.) 
 
 Extracts from the Annual Report of the Inspector General's De- 
 partment, United States Army, 1902. 
 
 Fort Caswell, N. C, May 22, 1902. 
 The Inspector General, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report of tJac 
 
annual inspection of the Bingham School, made May i6, 1902. 
 
 The appearance and bearing of the cadet corps was smart and 
 soldierly to a high degree. * * * Their steadiness and behavior 
 during inspection was remarkable. * * * 
 
 At inspection of Cadet Barracks, the rooms were very neat and 
 orderly and especially well ventilated. The cadet mess and kitchens 
 were clean and inviting. 
 
 Altogether the military department of the School is of a very 
 high order. The cadets are well drilled and the discipline and con- 
 trol exercised over them is most judicious, and it seems to _me that 
 the military department of the School closely seconds the idea the 
 War Department had in mind when detailing an officer of the Army 
 on duty as commandant of cadets. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) R. F. GARDNER, 
 
 Capt. Artillery Corps, U. S. Army (Special Inspector.) 
 
 Extract from the Annual Report of the Inspector Generars Depart- 
 ment, United States Army, 1903: 
 
 Fort McPherson, Ga., May 18, 1903. 
 To the Inspector General U. S. Army, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Sir: In compliance with S. O. 103, Headquarters Department 
 of the East, current series, and A. R., 970, I have the honor to sub- 
 mit the following report of the annual inspection of the Bingham 
 School, made by me May 19, 1903: 
 
 It is a private institution, situated on a high bluff overlooking, 
 the French Broad river, and about three miles from Asheville, N. C. 
 The School is owned by Robert Bingham and as regards the mili- 
 tary instruction to be given it has been placed in the first class. 
 
 The appearance and bearing of the cadets at review, inspec- 
 tion, parade and drills was very good;. their behavior was excellent; 
 their steadiness good. * * * j ^^g favorably impressed with the 
 manner in which the military department of this School is being 
 conducted, and believe that its continuation is fully warranted by 
 the benefits produced. 
 
 At the request of the Superintendent, I inspected the barracks, 
 gymnasium, mess hall, infirmary and bath house, and found in them 
 all that could be desired for the physical training of the cadets. The 
 sanitary arrangements and bathing facilities are to be especially 
 commended. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) JNO. B. BENNETT, 
 
 Capt. Sixteenth Infantry, Special Inspector. 
 
 From Eben Alexander, Ph.D., LL. D., United States Minister 
 to Greece. 
 
 American Legation, Athens, April 23, 1897. 
 
 My two sons are at the Bingham School because I know that 
 there is no school in which students are better cared for in every- 
 thing relating to health, character and instruction. By personal in- 
 spection I have been familiar with the working of the School in its 
 old and new home for more than ten years. 
 
 Many young men from Bingham's have been in my classes at 
 the University of North Carolina, and I have never seen one of them 
 who was not a manly fellow. 
 
 (Signed) EBEN ALEXANDER. 
 
 •II 
 
FROM EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL AND MILITARY DE- 
 PARTMENTS OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 From the Governor of North Carolina. 
 
 State of North Carolina — Executive Department. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C. 
 To Whom it May Concern: 
 
 I am pleased to add my testimonial to the superior advantages 
 of the renowned Bingham School, now located near Asheville, N. C. 
 I was a student in the Bingham School when it was situated in Or- 
 ange county, in 1854. It was then the leading school in the State, 
 and it has ever since been successfully managed and has enjoyed 
 this reputation. After a careful personal inspection of the present 
 location and the sanitary arrangements, made recently, I am im- 
 pressed with the great improvements over the old plan of build- 
 ings used in my school days; and I have no hesitancy in pronounc- 
 ing the location most desirable, the buildings excellent, the sanitary 
 arrangements unequalled. In fact it is a model school plant, with 
 all the modern improvements. For three generations, extending 
 over one hundred years, the Binghams have been distinguished ed- 
 ucators, and the school founded by them is an institution of which 
 any State should be proud. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 ELIAS CARR, 
 Governor of North Carolina. 
 
 From Associate Justice A. C. Avery. 
 
 Supreme Court. 
 • Raleigh, N. C, April 16, 1896. 
 
 As an old student of the Bingham School, when under the man- 
 agement of the late W. J. Bingham, it was a great pleasure to me 
 to see, from a recent inspection of the work, that my class-mate, 
 Col. Robert Bingham, the present head of the school, is not simply 
 keeping abreast of the times, but that, like his father, he is ahead of 
 all competitors in thoroughness of instruction and discipline, as 
 well as in parental oversight of the morals and care for the health 
 of his pupils. 
 
 The location of the School is among the most beautiful in the 
 country, commanding a combined mountain and water view rarely, 
 if ever, equalled. The drainage is excellent and the sanitary ar- 
 rangements are as nearly perfect as it is possible by the utmost skill 
 and by lavish expenditure to make them. 
 
 (Signed) A. C. AVERY, 
 
 Associate Justice. 
 
 From Adjutant General Cameron. 
 
 State of North Carolina — Adjutant General's Office. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C, April 24, 1896. 
 
 Having recently visited and inspected the Bingham School, it 
 affords me much pleasure to testify to its admirable location, man- 
 agement and condition. Located in the heart of the health-giving 
 mountain region of North Carolina, its natural advantages in that 
 respect are doubly enhanced by the most thorough and complete 
 sanitary system I have ever seen. It is but simple justice to say that 
 nothing has been left undone that could contribute to cleanliness, 
 health and comfort. 
 
 As to the curriculum and discipline of the School, nothing need 
 
 12 
 
be said, for Its history for more than a hundred years speaks for it- 
 self; and under the management of Col. Robert Bingham, its pres- 
 ent able superintendent, and his corps of experienced assistants, its 
 progress is plainly upward and onward. In my opinion the School 
 is second to no institution of its kind in the country. 
 
 (Signed) F. H. CAMERON, 
 
 Adjutant General. 
 
 FROM THE PRESIDENTS OF UNIVERSITIES AND 
 COLLEGES. 
 
 From Dr. Geo. T. Winston, President of the University of Texas. 
 
 University of Texas — President's Office. 
 
 Austin, Texas, Aug. 12, 1897. 
 The Bingham School would do credit to any State in the Union. 
 I have known it well for twenty years by personal inspection and 
 by the work of its pupils in Universities under my management. It 
 may challenge comparison with the best boys' schools anywhere. 
 (Signed) GEO. T. WINSTON, 
 
 President. 
 (Late President of University of North Carolina, now (1905) 
 President of N. C. College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, West 
 Raleigh, N. C.) 
 
 From Dr. James H. Kirkland, Chancellor of Vanderbilt University. 
 
 Chancellor's Office, Vanderbilt University. 
 
 Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 30, 1904. 
 
 The Bingham School has for many years been justly celebrated 
 as one of the very best schools in the whole country. The good 
 work it has done is attested by the records of the students it has 
 sent out into life or to pursue higher courses at the leading Univer- 
 sities. 
 
 It was recently my privilege to inspect the grounds and build- 
 ings of this famous school, and I can cheerfully say that every de- 
 tail is in perfect accord with the leading idea on which the School is 
 run. In all its appointments it would be hard to find a school in the 
 South better equipped for work. 
 
 (Signed) J. H. KIRKLAND. 
 
 From Dr. E. A. Alderman, President of the University of North 
 
 Carolina. 
 
 President's Office, University of North Carolina. 
 
 Chapel Hill, Aug. 11, 1897. 
 
 It has been my good fortune to note the standing and bearing of 
 the Bingham boys at the University, and also when at Asheville 
 recently, to inspect thoroughly the site, equipment and inner life of 
 the Bingham School. With this knowledge, I take pleasure in say- 
 ing that I know of no preparatory school in the South better 
 equipped in the strength of its faculty and in its provisions for 
 health, comfort and good government of its students. It has at- 
 tracted students from all over the land, and for over a century its 
 career has been a matter of just pride to every North Carolinian. 
 
 (Signed) EDWIN A. ALDERMAN, 
 
 President University of N. C. 
 
 (Late President of Tulane University, New Orleans, La., now 
 (1905) President of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.) 
 
 13 
 
From Rev. Edward Rondthaler, Bishop of the Moravian Church 
 and President of the Board of Trustees of Salem Academy. 
 
 Salem, N. C, Oct. 27, 1897. 
 
 When in Asheville recently I was very much impressed with the 
 visit I paid to the Bingham School. I was delighted with its splen- 
 did situation on the French Broad bluffs, overlooking the same gen- 
 eral scene which has made Mr. Vanderbilt's Biltmore mansion fa- 
 mous throughout the land. With the exception of Robert College, 
 Constantinople, I can recall no institution in the world which has 
 so royal a position. The street of school buildings, which compose 
 the Bingham School is, I think, nowhere surpassed in sanitary 
 equipment, safeguards against fire, arrangement for ventilation and 
 provision for the exercise of the proper discipline. Every consider- 
 ation bearing upon the physical, mental and moral development of 
 young manhood has been thought out and applied with an admirable 
 foresight and enthusiasm in educational work. I was particularly 
 impressed with the privacy which each cadet may enjoy in 
 connection with a thorough supervision of his conduct and work. 
 When to these advantages come to be added what I know of the 
 scholastic and Christian opportunities offered, I believe the Bing- 
 ham School to be one of the finest instances of the application of 
 educational science to be found in our country or any other. 
 
 (Signed) EDWARD RONDTHALER. 
 
 FROM PROMINENT PHYSICIANS. 
 
 From Four Leading Physicians Representing the Medical Faculty 
 
 of Asheville. 
 
 We have carefully examined the new school buildings on Bing- 
 ham Heights, just without the city limits of Asheville, and take 
 pleasure in bearing testimony as follows: 
 
 1. The location in natural advantages leaves nothing to be de- 
 sired. 
 
 2. The buildings exceptionally fill the requirements. 
 
 3. The sanitation is as perfect as scientific, modern plumbing 
 can make it. 
 
 4. The water supply is abundant, the water of the purest, care- 
 fully collected from mountain springs, and without a chance of 
 contamination. 
 
 5. The all-the-year-round climate of Asheville is world-re- 
 nowned, and with the School's exceptionally excellent equipment 
 and sanitation, gives Bingham's special advantages not enjoyed by 
 another school in America. 
 
 (Signed) S. WESTRAY BATTLE, M. D., U. S. N., 
 
 (Signed) JOHN HEY WILLIAMS, A. M., M. D., 
 
 (Signed) JAMES A. BURROUGHS, M. D., ' 
 
 (Signed) WILLIAM D. HILLIARD, M. D. 
 
 From Karl Von Ruck, B. S., M. D., Medical Director of Winyah 
 Sanitarium, Asheville, N. C. 
 
 I take pleasure in reporting the results of my recent inspection 
 of the buildings and environment of the Bingham School. I find 
 that its sanitary appointments are exceptionally perfect and much 
 better than I have ever found before in the numerous public insti- 
 
 14 
 
tutions I have heretofore examined. I have not one single sugges- 
 tion to make for improvement. On the contrary, I commend its 
 appointments as a standard and well worth the study and imitation 
 of every similar institution in the land. The advantages of the 
 School's location, its perfect system of sewerage, and its water sup- 
 ply (which by the chemical and bacteriological examinations is 
 shown to be absolutely pure) as well as the liberal and wholesome 
 diet furnished, are matters of such importance as to justify the un- 
 qualified recommendation of this School for the education of youths 
 whose parents or guardians consider the physical development and 
 good health of the student of equal importance with mental culture. 
 
 (Signed) KARL VON RUCK, M. D., 
 
 Member Am. Pub. Health Association, Am. Climatological Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 From Dr. F. V. Van Aartsdalen, Philadelphia, in "Odd Fellows' 
 Siftings," of March lo, 1894. 
 
 The most distinguished among all the educational institutions 
 of North Carolina is the Bingham School. It stands pre-eminent 
 among Southern schools for boys, and ranks with the best in the 
 Union. I visited this School yesterday. For sanitation and the 
 principles of hygiene, I look upon it as not being surpassed by any 
 similar or other institution in the world. Much attention has been 
 paid to the plumbing, and to the water supply, which is from a fine 
 mountain spring, and is of the purest quality. The drainage is com- 
 plete and perfect. I can recommend this School to any father who 
 desires a thorough education for his son. 
 
 (Signed) F. V. VAN AARTSDALEN, M. D. 
 
 Asheville, N. C, Feb. 20, 1890. 
 
 From Dr. J. C. Erwin, of McKinney, Texas. 
 
 Office of Gibson & Erwin, Physicians and Surgeons. 
 
 McKinney, Texas, April 16, 1894. 
 
 It gave me great pleasure to make a careful inspection of the 
 Bingham School, its location and surroundings, a few days ago. I 
 was especially interested in the sanitary conditions, and I have no 
 hesitation in saying, after a careful examination, that they are per- 
 fect in every detail, and superb in their completeness. The arrange- 
 ments for ventilation, heating, water supply, drainage and sewerage 
 are certainly superior to anything I have ever seen before, and can 
 but secure in return health, convenience, comfort and safety. 
 
 (Signed) J. C. ERWIN, M. D. 
 
 From W. A. Goode, M. D., Waco, N. C. 
 
 I was in Asheville, N. C, in November, 1897, attending the 
 Western North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, and had the pleasure of meeting Col. Bingham, Su- 
 perintendent of the Bingham School, which is beautifully located 
 outside the city on a commanding eminence overlooking the French 
 Broad river. I gave the buildings and grounds of the School a criti- 
 cal examination, and I must say in all candor that I had never 
 dreamed of such completeness and excellence as to sanitation and 
 the laws of hygiene as I found to have been attained and put into 
 operation here. Col. Bingham has adapted his buildings and the 
 mode of living to Nature's laws, and hence it seems to me that the 
 
 IS 
 
sanitation, drainage, heating, ventilation and water supply are per- 
 fect. It is truly a great school and is worthy of the patronage of the 
 best people of the Nation. 
 
 (Signed) W. A. GOODE, M. D. 
 
 About one hundred other physicians from various parts of the 
 United States have inspected the School, every one of whom con- 
 curs heartily with the opinions expressed above. 
 
 From. Col. J. S. Carr, President of the Blackwell Durham Tobacco 
 
 Company. 
 
 I am pleased to have enjoyed a recent opportunity of making a 
 trip to the celebrated Bingham School, and of going carefully over 
 the premises. I need say nothing with respect to the curriculum, 
 for the well-known repute of the institution is older than I. But 
 of the location and sanitation, I desire to speak more particularly. 
 >!« * »c From the way the land lies, the drainage is natural, and 
 Nature has done her work perfectly. The sewerage is most com- 
 plete and perfect, and the ventilation and sanitation of the buildings 
 are perfect. Neither pains nor expense has been spared to make the 
 barracks what I pronounce the most perfect living rooms I ever 
 saw. Health and disciplinary care are written in every feature of the 
 institution and those in search of the best need go no farther. I am 
 proud that North Carolina can boast of Bingham and the Bingham 
 School. 
 
 (Signed) J. S. CARR, 
 
 Durham, N. C. 
 
 These testimonials could be multiplied indefinitely; for the 
 School refers confidently to any patron whose son was not expelled 
 or excluded. The last testimonial offered is from Chas. B. Aycock, 
 the State's great educational Governor, who ranks with Gov. Vance 
 as one of the two greatest Governors that North Carolina has pro- 
 duced in the time of men now living or of their fathers. Governor 
 Aycock's opinion is as follows: 
 
 AYCOCK & DANIELS, 
 
 Attorneys-at-Law. 
 
 Goldsboro, N. C, Sept. 29, 1905. 
 
 Some time since I made a careful inspection of The Bingham 
 School and its surroundings near Asheville, N. C. I have never seen 
 as perfect arrangements for drainage, ventilation and cleanliness. 
 The conditions for maintaining health are ideal. The work that is 
 done in the School needs no commendation. It has been so long 
 established and has done such excellent work in education that 
 praise of it is superfluous. 
 
 (Signed) C. B. AYCOCK. 
 
 Can such things be said by such people of any other 
 school, North or South? 
 
 16