Kemper Military School - Yearbook (Boonville, MO)

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Kemper Military School Historical The School completed in May its sixty-eighth year of continuous operation in the city of Boonville, and its sixty-seventh on its present site. Its opening day was Monday, June 3, 1844. Its founder was Professor Frederick T. Kemper, of Virginia, who continued in active control until his death in March, 1881. The present Superintendent became a teacher in the School in 1868 and Superintendent in 1881. It is far the oldest boys' academy in Missouri, and the only unendowed school of any considerable age in the State that has achieved success and enjoyed the steady coniidence and patronage of the public. Location Boonville is a city of 5,000 inhabitants and occupies a commanding position on the hills of the Missouri River. It is one of the oldest interior towns of Missouri, dating back almost to the time of the memorable pioneer for whom it was named. It is near the center of the State, and is easily accessible from the north, east and south by the M., K. gl T. Railway, and from the east and west by the river route of the Missouri Pacific. The city is more than usually wealthy, has refined and homogeneous society, and is well supplied with churches and schools. The streets and lawns are well shaded, and the homes are beautiful and substantial, most of them being built of brick. The town is wide-awake and progressive, having gas and electric lights, a modern and complete sewerage system, and city Waterworks that have been recently enlarged and improved by the addition of a first-class filtration plant. Equipment The School grounds comprise thirty acres of rolling land, well set in trees and grass. They contain a good clear lake of two acres, -well stocked with fish, and furnishing excellent skating in winter and swimming in summer, one of the best fields in the State for ..1f-

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to rise from the dead, he would scarcely recognize this as the world he lived in, so great has been the transforming power of thought applied to facts of nature as old as the hills. Much as has been done, there is much more to do and greater rewards to win, and it should be your ambition for your boy to do his part and get his share. To this end his mind must be trained, by placing him under trained and thinking teachers and in contact with others of his own age with like aims, ambitions, and rivalries, that he may catch the inspiration of great aims and have the way to their attainment marked out for him. To accomplish this is no easy taskg it costs money and timeg it involves the deprivation of many innocent pleasuresg it is best done away from home and its comforts, in an environment organized and planned for this single end, but, at the same time, it carries with it its own compensations and joys, the highest and holiest that the human being is able to experience. The teachers you choose for your boy should be such as most embody the ideals of education and character you wish him to form himself upon. Hence, they should be men, rather than women, and of the highest possible education and character. Masculine manhood is the boy's proper ideal, and he will respect and obey the male teacher more readily than the female. A principal reason why girls do better than boys in the public schools is the fact that the teachers are for the most part women. A Strong Character The boy's third need is a strong and active conscience, and this is the greatest of the three. More young men fail in life through weak- ness of character than through weakness of intellect. The great steam- ship in the midst of the ocean is doomed to destruction unless the rudder and compass hold it true to its course. In order that your boy may have this rightness of character it must be trained like his other powers, and no school is worthy of the name that does not make character-building one of its chief aims, and produce an environ- ment in which healthy character is nourished and grows, while every- thing base is weeded out with unsparing diligence. To the realization of these aims for your boy, if you will entrust him to us, this School, with all its experience and equipment, is dedicated. .-lbility in 111710-tvrztlzs of thc cases is flcrelopcd, not born. Some men are flvrclopefl bcyoizd the stage of others because they have had the lI1l1IlI'6'flfl'0H to make tlzonzsclvcs do it. Men who possess ability are tlmsw who lzarc sz'1uIz'c1I to get zrlzcfrc they arc.--ANONYMOUS. Ca.pnrz'ty zviflzouz' 0tIIll'fIfl.0lI' is deplorablc.-SAADI. 1101

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football and baseballg a target-range for all distances up to 500 yards with best modern equipment, tennis courts, parade-grounds, a quarter- mile track, etc. The buildings have been erected with a special View to their use, and are commodious and well adapted to the needs of students. They are heated by steam and lighted by electricity from the power-house, which is a separate building. A part of the Main Building is occu- pied by the Superintendent and his family as a residenceg the rest contains, on the first floor a beautiful, well furnished and commodi- ous mess-hall, offices of the Superintendent and the Quartermaster, recitation rooms, and a large, well lighted study hall capable of seat- ing 150 Cadets, and on the second and third floors Cadet and Facrlty quarters. The Cadet quarters are of even size and are furnished with a radiator, wardrobe, toilet conveniences, two single beds, table, chairs, and mirror. A Faculty officer lives on each hall. Each floor is pro- vided with first-class toilet and bath rooms, supplied with hot and cold water and meeting every sanitary requirement. In the basement are the laundry and tailoring departments. To provide for the increasing numbers, it was found necessary three years ago to erect a commodious three-story building with base- ment and attic. Half the large and well lighted basement is devoted to the Chemical and Physical Laboratories, and half to the well equipped Manual Training Department. The first floor contains offices, recita- tion rooms, and a large, well equipped, and attractive reading room. The second and thi1'd fioors are devoted to Cadet and Faculty quar- ters, with an arrangement very similar to that of the Main Building. The Gymnasium contains, in the basement, a drill hall, armory, and bowling alleys: on the main floor, a gymnasium with a floor space of 3,600 sqrare feet, a stage for theatricals, lectures, etc., a gallery, and dressing rooms. The building is lighted by electricity and fully meets the requirements of the military and athletic departments, enabling them to carry on their work regardless of weather condi- tions. +167