The city in 1917 had 73 pub lic grammar schools, including four vocational and one teachers' training school, housed in about 126 buildings. In 1917 there were 2,187 day school teachers, 600 evening school teachers and 375 vacation school teachers. The registra tion of the day school was 67,093, for the even ing schools 15,700 and for the vacation schools 11,000. As part of the school system there are five modern high schools, four of them com pleted within the past two years. One of these is the most complete technical high school in the United States. There are 45 Catholic parochial schools, with an estimated attendance of 30,635 5 Luthern parochial schools, 1 Jewish and 75 private schools and academies. There also are some 20 free kindergartens in connection with the public school system, orphan asylum schools and a school at the East Ferry Street Municipal Hospital.
Of the higher institutions of learning, the chief are the University of Buffalo and Ca nisius College, both with complete arts and science courses. The university is 70 years old, with six departments; 4,100 alumni, 209 in structors and professors and 943 enrolled stu dents. It owns a large plot of land upon which it is planned to erect a complete and up-to-date building. Toward this a large sum has been pledged. Canisius College is a Catholic in stitution with a preparatory school, Canisius High School. Other schools are Saint Joseph's Collegiate Institute, the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Holy Angels' Academy, Miss Nardin's Academy, D'Youville College, the last two for women and all Catholic, the German Martin Luther Seminary and the Park and Nichols schools.
The Fine Arts Academy is located in the Albright Art Gallery, a splendid edifice of pure white marble, built in the style of a Grecian temple; the Buffalo Historical Society with in teresting relics and a large library is in the old New York State Building; the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, with a valuable museum of natural history, with nearly 60,000 specimens is in the Buffalo Public Library Building. There are many other art and liter ary organizations, drama clubs, musical clubs and theatres, including the Buffalo Guild of Allied Arts. The city has a branch of the Drama League and there is an Artists' Club.
The two chief ones are the Buffalo Public and the Grosvenor. The former was installed in a large and modern structure in 1897, and now has 330,057 volumes and 23,902 pamphlets, a large and complete reference de partment and also newspapers, magazines and periodicals. The library conducts numerous branches and loans traveling libraries to schools and other institutions. Grosvenor Library
(Reference) contains 100,000 books and 15,000 pamphlets; the State Law Library of the eighth judicial district contains 41,000 volumes; Buffalo Historical Society, 33,973 volumes, including the John C. Lord Library of 10,262 volumes and the Millard Fillmore Li brary of 612 volumes, and 5,000 pamphlets; Buffalo Catholic Institute Library, 18,000 volumes and 500 pamphlets; the medical library of the University of Buffalo, 6,000 volumes; the Central Y. M. C. A. Library, the Lutheran and German Y. M. A. Library, the Polish, Adam Mickiewicz, the North Buffalo Catholic Asso ciation and Saint Michael's Sodality libraries.
Publications.— In 1917 there were published in Buffalo 11 daily papers, including 2 German, 2 Polish and a live stock record; 5- Sunday papers, including 3 English, 1 German and 1 Polish; 21 weekly papers, 12 monthlies, and a score of smaller ones, having merely sectional distribution. There also are 3 quarterly and 2 fortnightly publications.
Government.— Since 1 Jan. 1916, the city of Buffalo has been under the commission form of government, being the largest city in the United States to be thus governed. The ad ministration consists of a council of five, which has both administrative and legislative author ity. The mayor is president of the council, and has under his immediate supervision the de partment of public safety, comprising the police, fire and health departments. One councilman or commissioner directs the school department, which includes the poor department, with the assistance of a board of education of five; another has charge of parks and public buildings; a third is superintendent of pub lic works and the fourth superintendent of the department of finance and account. The charter has a referendum clause but does not provide for initiative or recall. Primaries for the nomination of commis sioners are held entirely separate from the ordinary political primaries, the aim being to divorce politics from the municipal government completely. Until 31 Dec. 1915, the city was governed by a common council, consisting of an upper house of nine councilmen, elected at large, and a lower house of 27 aldermen, elected from as many wards. The mayor was the head of the city government, with various elected officials in charge of departments, such as the treasurer's office, the assessors' office, the comptroller's office, the public works depart ment and the school department.