The Golden age. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1906-1915, November 08, 1906, Page 3, Image 3

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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.” 3