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AMONG THE MAGAZINES
McCLURE’S.
McClure’s lias a full page photogravure of Carl
Schurz as a frontispiece, and begins Schurz’s ‘‘ Rem
iniscences of a Long Life.” The opening chapter
begins with the author’s first years in America, be
ginning on September 17,1852, and tells of his strug
gles with the English language, of the New York
of that time, of “Washington, a Big, Sprawling Vil
lage”; discusses under one sub-head “Congress,
Dress Coats and Tobacco” (chewing), and gives a
splendid description of Senator Douglas, described
as “Parliamentary Pugilist.” Among other illus
trations are photogravures of Jefferson Davis and
William H. Seward, with references to them in rela
tion to the slavery question. This number is full,
complete and satisfying. The Story of Montana
in this issue is the history of the purchase of the
Montana Legislature and the election of W. A.
Clark to the United States Senate. Burton J. Hen
drick’s Story of Life Insurance makes its seventh
appearance, and is distinctly good and informing to
the lay reader. There is another installment of
Steffens’ history of Judge Ben Lindsey’s Juvenile
Court Work. Hugo Munsterberg, Professor of Psy
chology at Harvard, is the author of “The World
Language, ” being a protest from the standpoint of
a German scholar against simplified spelling. He
takes the position that the simplified spelling does
not simplify; that the movement is merely a fad;
defends the maintenance of the historical associa
tions of tire present forms of spelling, and says
that international sympathy is the only interna
tional language. Tiie fiction of this number is rath
er above the average for McClure’s, which, by the
way. is paying it a real compliment. “The Reform
ing of a Bridegroom” is, to our thinking, the best
of a good lot of stories.
HARPER’S.
The leader in Harper’s, a critical comment on
Macbeth by Theodore Watts-Dunton, and pictures
by Edwin A. Abbey, is a treat to at least three
classes of people—the lovers of Shakespeare, the
discerning in dramatic expression, and those who
value perfect illustration as equal in importance to
the text. Frederic Trevor Hill’s Decisive Battles
of the l aw gives in this number a history of the
impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, and is prob
ably in many respects the most unprejudiced and
trustworthy account of that chapter of history
that could be found. Gilbert Parker’s novel, “The
Weavers,” begins and is good. We beli've it will
be as good as, though entirely different from, “The
Right of Way,” and we are already anticipating
the suffering this story is going to cause us, waiting
from the ending of each month’s instalment until
the coming of the next magazine. Tn the short
stories “Unemployed,” by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps,
is pre-eminent, full of truth and feeling. “The
Log of a Forty-Niner,” being extracts from the
diary of William Ives Morgan, of Connecticut, who
sailed around the Horn to California, is a col
lection of graphic incidents in the life of the argo
nauts of that romantic and strenuous time. Wil
liam Dean Howells is present in “By Way of South
ampton to London.” This number of The Chemis
try of Commerce is on the subject of Harvesting
Floral Perfumes. The Editor’s Drawer is, as usual,
good. Our animals are there this time, in the form
of a hippopotamus purchasing a toothbrush. The
clerk has handed him an ordinary brush, but the
hippo objects, because it is too small. The obliging
clerk hands out a flour mop, saying: “How would
something like this do?”
A child’s experiment is thus described:
“I’m not going to say my prayers to-night.”
“Why, Peggy, what do you mean?”
“No, I’m not goin’ to say ’em to-night, or to
morrow night, or the next night, an’ then if nothin’
happens I’m never goin’ to say ’em again.”
NEW ATLANTA PUBLICATIONS.
It is reported that four new literary magazines
will soon be established in Atlanta, all of them to
be owned and printed in this city. Tom Watson,
The Golden Age for November 8, 1906.
who has withdrawn from all connection with “Wat
son’s Magazine,” will publish “The Jeffersonian,” a
monthly magazine, he being editor in chief. He will
be welcomed, and his periodical will have the sup
port of thousands of his personal friends. It may
be safely predicted that “The Jeffersonian” will be
alive and interesting in every Issue.
R. A. McAdam, broadly and favorably known
through his connection with The Constitution, will
publish “The Race Problem,” which gives in its
name its general purpose and scope.
Colonel Sidney Tapp is spoken of as the editor
•of “The American Republic.” As an already well
known author and publicist, Colonel Tapp will deal
with the final settlement and adjustment of prob
lems which have heretofore vexed and concerned
the American people. All who have read “'The
Struggle” will await the initial number of “The
American Republic” with mingled feelings. The
advent of the magazine will mark the beginning of
a discussion of economic and civic problems such,
it is promised, as will have great influence upon the
power of corporate interests in this republic.
The announcement that “Uncle Remus’ Maga
zine” will soon be established, with Mr. Joel Chan
dler Harris as editor in chief, assisted by his son,
Julian, and Ed Camp, carries with it joy to young
and old alike. No living author is so enshrined in
the hearts of young America as is “Uncle Remus,”
and his fame is just as firmly grounded with the
parents of those same children. For decided and
distinct literary value, this magazine promises more
than any publication which has been projected in
the South during recent years. In it it is hoped
that the desire for a magazine embodying all the
literary and romantic traditions of the South will
be realized.
The Farmer and Bicycle Agent.
Some years ago, soon after bicycles began to be
freely used throughout the United States, an agent
for a New York house turned up at a village in
Central New York. He expiated to an old farmer
upon the virtues of the new machine, dwelling upon
what a time-saver it was, and withal how fashiona
ble it -would be for the old farmer to be able to i ide
down to the village on one of the new-fangled ma
chines whenever he wanted to.
“Why,” said the agent, “whenever you go down
to the p :st office, bank, or store everybody will stop
and stare al Farmer Wilson, and pretty soon you’ll
be the raost-talked-of man in the whole county.”
“That may be so,” replied the farmer, “but I
tell you I’m a-needin’ a good cow mo’n I am one
o’ them things you’re a-talkin’ about.”
Nevertheless, the agent extracted a promise that
the old man would save up his money and purchase
a bicycle when he again came around in the fall.
According to promise, the agent was on hand in
the fall with the wheel. The farmer took him in
charge and carried him out to the lot and showed
him a fine Jersey cow.
“That’s what I bought with the money I saved
up for you,” said the farmer. And without wait
ing for the agent to recover from his surprise he
went on, “I ’lowed that I needed the cow more’n
I did the bicycle, an’ there she is. Ain’t she a
beaut?”
When the agent recovered his breath he said,
“You’ll look funny riding that cow to town, won’t
you?”
“Ya-as,” drawled the old farmer, “but I’d look
a darned sight funnier tryin’ to milk a bicycle!”—
Exchange.
Skip Miss Brown.
Little Clara, aged 4, was in the habit of asking
God in her prayers to bless her father, mother, and
Miss Brown, her governess. One evening not feel
ing kindly disposed toward the latter, she conclud
ed her prayer as follows: “Dod bwess my papa
and my mamma, but ’ou needn’t bozer ’bout Miss
Brown dis time.”
“The Lesson.”
By CELESTE PARRISH.
(The McGregor Press, Athens, Ga.)
The tendency of the times is so strongly toward
specialism in every department of learning, as well
as in every field of enedavor, that there has natur
ally arisen a literature to cover special or technical
fields. This literature is necessarily of deepest
interest to students in the specially treated lines,
and the lay reader is seldom specially treatd lins,
tion by the writer. Yet it may be deemed a su
preme test of the value of a technical work when
it has the power to arrest and hold the attention
of the lay reader as well as of the special stu
dent. Such a work is “The Lesson,” by Miss Ce
leste Parrish of the State Normal School at Ath
ens, Ga. As Miss Parrish frankly states in her
prefatory word, “The aim of this little book is
to help teachers, especially those in training, to
better understand the nature and meaning of a les
son and the principles underlying it.” And that
the work accomplishes its purpose must be very
evident, for it conveys so much of interest and in
struction even to the casual reader that it cannot
fail to deeply impress the teacher.
Methods of Presentation.
M e are often too liable to consider the mere
instructing of children as a sort of routine work
which can be readily disposed of, and it is only to
the thinking and conscientious teacher that a lesson
presents every form of mental development. This
point is one that Miss Parrish strongly impresses
on her readers and she makes it fully evident in her
chapter on “Methods of Presentation.” She says:
‘‘The methods of presentation should depend
upon the pupil, the subject, the conditions under
which work is done and to a certain extent upon
the teacher. . . . The methods in common use
are The Text Book Method, The Topical Method,
1 he Development, Lecture and Seminary Method.”
Each one of these individual heads is then given
careful consideration, with a special view toward
avoiding the evils of each one. We should judge
that about the principal method from which a pupil
should be guarded is that of a rigid adherence to
any text book, however good, as the mental devel
opment which is a pupil’s due is thus denied him
and “the child is narrowed by being confined to
one book and by having no activity except mem
ory,” or the “pupil is learning a book rather than
a subject and is apt to think that the book is infalli
ble and exhausts the subject.”
The Topical Method is defined as being “one in
which the teacher divides the subject into topics
and assigns these to the children to be learned about
in every way possible.” The Development Method
is especially commended as the “chief of its advan
tages is the cultivating of the habit of attending.
. . . The child learns to think for himself, to infer,
to base conclusions on premises and to make fine
discriminations.” The Lecture Method is also ex
plained fully as being not only a formal address,
but anything told a pupil, while the Seminary
or University Method in which a pupil is assigned
a subject and works it up for himself, is given but
small space in this work as it rather exceeds the
limits of a “Lesson.”
'■ Text of the Work.
This entire work, though small in size, is replete
in fine conclusions and accurate deductions which
could only have been acquired by the. practical work
in a special field such as Miss Parrish has done for
many years. Perhaps the text of her whole lime
of thought as exemplified in “The Lesson” may be
found in the following sentence, which might serve
as a sort of motto for every teacher who has the
education of the young before him. Miss Par
rish says:
“Everything which could interfere with the
child’s spontaneity should be kept in the back
ground and he should be allowed to grow. Even
in the use of the development method the teacher
should be chary of questions, letting the child do
as much work without the renewal of stimulation as
possible. He should be led to obbserve, experiment,
compare, reason, choose, decide and by these means
to arrive at results for himself.”
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