Newspaper Page Text
EIY st WMNGE
§ Jcheols of To-Day §
They Aim to Create and Stimulate Usefuls é
e ness by Up:to:Date Methods. g
Q’ g Charles C. Johnson.
L 1 mrmrtteon s o Comprormninan)y T 3
P adppaet s 2OW queer it would have seemed to the sturdy children who
;:—_‘: ,;-.;:.i kicked with bare feet against the rude benches of the dis
z trict school a century ago to have heen told they were to
z learn to cook, to make dresseg, to trim hats, to be boy car
* penters, ete.! But that was long before the Old World com
z menced to send us hundreds of thousands of her people
s S every year. It is prineipally the children of those who come
WM; to America from other countries who make the public
schools of New York city the greatest in gize and most im
portant in the world,
In order to make these young people as useful as possible, there has been
established in the public &chools of many of our large citics a course of work
that seems to have little to do with gaining a school education as our parents
used to Phink of it
It has been found necessary, in order to help the young studenis’ minds to
grow in the right way, that the boys and girls of the gchools should have what
their teachers teimn “ethical training;” that is, the training which teaches
duty to self and to others. Thege, among other things, are taught:
Duties to parents, Liothers, sisters and playmates; to servants and other
employes; 1o employers and all in authority; to the old, the poor, and the un
fortunate. Conduct at Lome, at the table, at school, on the strebt, in public
meetings, and in public conveyances. Regularity, punctuality, self-control,
cheerfulness, neatness, purity, temperance, honesty truthfulness, obedience,
industry and patriotism. 4
I peeped into a manual training work-room in a big public school of New
York eity one day just to see how the boys behaved when by themselves, for
no teacher was present, Each hand was ocenpied with the task of the mo
ment, and each head was bent over it in a way that showed the keenest inter
eet, Instead of looking for a chance to be mischievous, every boy seemed hent
on doing the work assigned him as if his whole success in life depended upon
the result. It was plain no one even thought of play.
“You see,” said the teacher to me, when he came in, “each boy wants to
do his very best. That is the spiiit we try to instil. The bhoy who really
wants to learn the best way so perform whatever he may be asked to do is the
boy who is certain to gain snccess in some degree.” This is just as true of
girls as of boys, and-there are hundreds of girls—some home helpers and oth
ers among the ranks of the wage-earners—who owe the pleasure they draw
from life to the system in vogue in the public schools.—From St. Nicholas.
'The Vel
g Faults of onmenv@
é By Beatrice Fairfax. é
: @ HE editor of the magazine page says that, having dragged
man over the coals, it is only faii that 1 shonld take a turn
at my own sex,
It's rather hard to pick out the faunlts of your own sex,
B ol asked a few men what they considered woman’s worst
faults,
Jdne man said they hadn't any. That man should have
™ an article all to himself, and it should have been called “In
ability to Tell the Truth.”
The other men whom 1 congulted were ready enough with their criticisms.
“Woman is vain,” said one.
Granted, good sir. We'll talk about that vanity later.,
“She thinks too much of clothes and attention,” said another,
Very good! We'll talk about that also.
“Self-consciousness is one of womun's greatest drawbacks,” was the criti
cism of the third, . : 5
Fickleness, selfishness, flightiness, fiirtiness! Deary me, but the criticisms
came thick and fast,
Man does not seem to think much of us, my dears, if all these accusations
be true,
However, “tit for tat” is but fair, and perhaps His Majesty is a little bit
tore over some of his “deficiencies.”
Remember that, no matter what I say about my own sex, I am absolutely
true to it.
Woman hag ker faults, of course, and some of them are very serious ones.
But she is good, good, good all through, in spite of them all.
So don't be touchy if the shoe oceasionally fitg, but put it on and make up
your mind to cure yourself of your particular fault,
Forget the faults of others for a while, and put all your energies and at
tention on getting the better of your own, y
Who knows but that some day you may almost reach the state of perfec
tion that my friend gave us all eredit and be faultless ?-—New York American.
QM AR
Y Our Crying Need
2 ‘ of Foreign Labor
< Frank P, Sargent, Commissioner:-General é
c’,“.;‘:-uflp ; ofglmmigration. Ml}lé
@oooooo¢ 04 DO not believe it true that undesirable immigrants come
wholly from any one country. We do not want people from
other countries who are criminals. Neither do we want peo
ple who hecause of political beliefs want to let as much
blood as they can, and we do not want people who are shift
* less or diseased and who have no ambition to become good
08¢ 3
citizens. But these classes do not come from any particular
m.m:i society, and it is because we must have labor that we are
compelled to put up with a certain percent of had timber.
Industrial prosperity in this country is directly reflected in Europe. An im
mense amount of labor is needed in the United States. We've got to have la
bor, and we must take ltalian labor. We cannot very well exclude all the
Hunchakists and Black Hand people that come in with the labor,- Every Ital
fan is not a Black Haud, any more than every Armenian is a Hunchakist, but
we must have laws that will exclude such persons from the United States. Ital
jans, Siciliang and all others who are honest, who want to own homes of their
own and till the soil, give their children that which they had not—an educa
tion-—-and who wish to become good citizens, should be given every opportun
ity to come into the country, no matter what their race may be.
-
We Are Paying Too Much
F -~ - - -
or Civilization
e S —— b S
By Prof. Jelgersma, the Eminent Psych.atrist, of Berlin.
ORE than two-hirds of the women who begin to study do
not finish their course, and either break down physically or
mentally, or turn to their natural destiny of wife and mother.
M The more a woman devotes nierself to study, and the more
she becomes a creature of modern civilization, the more is
she unfitted for the duties of child-bearing and bringing up
ehildren who will furn out useful members of society.
We are in a transition stage, and the appalling thing
about this stage is that the number of nervous and mentally
sick persons is increasing at a rate which is not adequately shown by the sta
tistics of our hospitals and madhouses. Every psychiatrist knows this and
feels alarm, which he does not like to express. If the transition state shall
merge into one of greater sanity it will be well but the prospects ave all th
other way.
We are paying too much for our civilization and eulture: we are paying
for it with the deteriorating of the nervd®s of the human race.
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“Yes, it's quite true, Dick—she's
a lovely girl—and as charming in
manner as in feature, I ecan’t de
gcribe her to you——she's beyond de
scription! But she's a horrid little
flirt! It T were you I wouldn't go
near the place! You take m¥ tip,
old man.” !
Jack locked at his companign, a
tall, slim young man, with jet black
hair, and a handsome mustache of
the same color; then he cast a glance
in the mirror opposite, and beheld
himself; his companion was much
the handsomer man of the two, for
Jack barely reached the middle
height, he had light hair and a'very
poor apology for a mustache, and,
worst of all, it was straw colored!
Then his eyes were bluey gray, and
looked quite ordinary compared with
his friend’'s fine dark orbs.
‘*Miss Harley surely couldn’t have
resisted your charms?”’ he said, smil
ing.
I tell you she has broken the
heart of a dozen fellows already—
and mine among them,” said the oth
er, trying to look melancholy.
"*Well, I shall go and still hope to
return heart free in spite of this si
ren’s charms,” laughed Jack.
But his companion shook his head
at him sadly as he left the room,, |
Mabel Harley was indeed all that |
Jack's friend had said of her: her
beautifully molded figure, her frust
ful brown eyes, and her wavy ‘den
hair all combined tc give her that
peculiarly attractive uppearénce"that
had led to the fascination and subse
quent downfall of so many would-be
lovers.
““Who is that blond young man op- |
posite, who keeps looking this way?”
Mabel asked of the lady who sat next
her, fceling in her wicked little
heart that she had already made an
other conquest, v
“Oh, that's Jack Ordry, studying,
I believe, for the Bar. He is over
for a visit at his uncle’s,” replied the
lady addressed. £
“By Jove!” muttered Jack,’“;umler
his breath. ‘“The fellow didn't ex
aggerate in the least—she’s simply
charming!”’ : % i
After dinner Jack received a formal
introduction to Mary Harley. 2{(. in
vited her to dance, and Mabel com
plied with a smile which was the
more dangerous on account pl, its
seeniing innocence, &
After the dance the two strolled
away together, and took a szat al
most hidden from view by the spread
ing leaves of a palm.- : s
~ *Are you fond cgusociet';m ¥ it ]
Mabel queried, fixing her lovely eyes
on him. »
“Call me Jack, if you please, it is
easier to remember, and sounds so
much nicer from your lips,” Jack
responded with one of his most slav
ish looks. 5
Mable smiled winningly; so she
had made another conquest already.
She wished that fellows wouldn't lose
their hearts quite so readily—it spoilt
the fun.
“With regard to society, I think it
depends to a great extent upon the
people one meets there. Sometimes
I feel awfully bored, but I am en
joying myself to-night immensely.”
He cast at her another loving
glance as he spoke.
“Oh, for shame, Jack!” she cried,
slapping him playfully on the back.
“And now—" she continued with
pretended gravity, “I am going to
concede a point and allow you to call
me Mabel.”
His answer was a-surprise to her.
“How delightful! Especially as there
will be no danger!”
“Danger of what?” she responded
quickly.
*Of us falling in love-—or any of
that sort of nonsense. We shall be
just like brother and sister togeth
er.” :
Then her conquest was not so com
plete after all, and Mabel answered
in momentary pique: ‘There cer
tainly will be no danger as far as I
am concerned!"”
Jack answered with wonderful
frankness: ‘“‘Nor as far as lam con
cerned, either. I think thirty is guite
young enough for that sort of thing,
and how pleasant it will be to be
able to talk naturally to each other
without being misunderstood.” ‘
“What a horrid fellow!” Mabel
cried, stamping her foot lmpatlently‘
on the carpeted floor of her room.
“The very idea of talking to me like
that! But I'll punish him—l'll make
him fall in love with me, and then
just tell him what 1 think of him."
“‘So the duel has begun,” Jack so
liloquized. |
So Jack waited two days before he
paid the Harleys a visit, Mrs. Har
ley compelled him to take afternoon
tea with them, and Jack confined his
attentions almost entirely to the old
couple; they were simply delighted
with him, while Mabel thought his
inattention to herself was positively
rude. 3
However, Mabel schemed to get a
few moments alone with Jack in the
garden after tea, and then she com
menced her pre-formed. plan of re
venge with her utmost ability. For
a time she thought she was succeed
ing pretty well in her wicked plot,
and at last felt emboldened to put
the question:
‘‘Have you never been in love?”
she asked.
Jack treated this as some huge
joke. ‘‘Good gracious, mno!” he
laughed,
If Mabel felt mortified at his an.
swers she covered her-confusion ably
| enough, and " her laughter never,
| eounded merrier nor more unaffected
!than as she led the way back to her
parents,
l “A very successful evening,” Jack
!(-ommented, as he threw himself
i dewn on the bed.
“Pogitively detestable!” cried Ma
bel, “I hate him!—and I know he
[do.ns care for me—he couldn’t .help
it
i Jack’s visits were frequent after
{this; he said there was nothing he
Iliked better than a conversation with
Mr. Harley, and one of Mrs. Harley’s
| cups of tea.
I Mabel's conduct toward Jack
! changed and she becamemore ‘‘stand
offish.” Under these new tatics she
felt sure she should draw him on.
“I have it!” she cried, after hav
ing lain awake for two whole hours
plotting; *“I'll make him jealous!”
Then she rolled over and went to
sleep in less-than five minutes.
Now there was in the neighbor
hood a certain Colonel who showed
undisguised admiration for Mabel.
She went walks with the Colonel
and generally conirived to drop
‘across Jack; that young gentleman,
however, contrary to expectations,
showed the utmost unconcern; he
raised his hat and positively smiled
when he first met them—to Mabel's
great disgust.
A week later the neighborhood was
surprised by the announcement that
Miss Harley and the Colonel were
engaged to be married. ‘‘Now we
| shall see!” Mabel said to herself tri
’ umphantly,
i The next day Jack dropped in for
|tea; Mabel met him with a smiling
countenance.
“I suppose you have heard the
news?”’
“Yes,” he replied, cheerfully, “‘and
have taken this early opportunity of
calling to congratulate you.” He
spoke so calmly, could it be possi
ble that he didn’'t care after all.
“The Colonel is a splendid fellow!
So handsome! Everybody is fond
;of him—and though you perhaps
~could have done better—well, it's
best to choose the one that we real
ly love.”
Then Jafk took his seat at the
table, and talked away to the older
couple, but the worst of it was he
seemed unable to speak to Mabel
without bringing the Colonel’'s name
in every time; he seemed a good deal
more pleased about the arrangements
than Mabel herself. Why couldn’t he
let the subject drop? |
“And when is the marriage to take
place, Mabel?”’
“I don't know!” She answered so
shortly that both Mr. and Mrs. Har
ley turned to look at her.
Ounly Jack didn’t notice, and went
on innocently:
‘‘Anyway, you'll invite me to the
wedding—ll shall be back in town by -
then, I expect, but you must write
and let me know.”
Jack returned home moody and
dissatisfied. He was not at all sure
of his ground, but he consoled him
self by. the thought that if he had
betrayed his love, she would only
have treated him the same as the
rest of them-—better that she should
never know,
The engagement with the Colonel
only lasted a fortnight, then the re
port was circulated over the town
that the match was broken off. That
afternoon Jack made another call.
“*And how's the Colonel?’’ he
queried.
They were standing alone in the
‘garden together.
“I don’t know,” she replied sul
lenly. ‘‘Haven't you heard that the
engagement has been broken off?”’
“I am extremely sorry,” cried
Jack. ‘*‘Could I do anything to ex
plain the misunderstanding—for I
am sure it is only a misunderstand
ing?”
**No; it is quite irrevocable—l find
that I do not care for him—l love
another,”
There was a look in her eyes that
iconquered Jack all in a moment. He
knew that he was a fool. He had
‘been forewarned what would happen
—he went into the snare with his
eyes open—simply because he could
n't help it. ‘
““Mabel,” he gaspefl, ‘““dare I hope
that I am the one?”
She looked at him unmoved, that
fickle smile still upon her lips. “But,
you know, you did not intend to be
married until you were at least thir
ty?" she cried, wickedly.
‘“Mabel,” he cried, passionately, “I
have loved you all along!” -And he
was pouring into her ear the tale of
burning love.
. So she had conquered, at last her
revenge was consummated!
Perhaps Jack saw something of tri
umph in her eyes, for he broke cff in
the midst of his appeal and cried
fiercely:
“I know that I am a fool to let you
know!—l was told that you had no
hea’i—you cannot love nor Kknow
what love is! Well, you have heard
my tale and added another conquest
to your list! And now farewell for
ever!” He turned abruptly and left
her standing there.
“Jack—Jack! Come back to me—
I do love you!”
And Jack turned to see her little
hands stretched out toward him,
while her wonderful beauty was en
hanced ten-fold by the soft light ot
love that shone from her eyes.
“‘Ah!"” she sighed, her lovely head
resting on his shoulder, and her arms
encircling his neck, “I did not know
what it was to be in love then—had
I known I would never have led oth
ers on!"
Then she put her arm through his
and they walked back very siowly
toward the house.—New York News
rEr - \Y re™
MANKIND NOT
rgy gt Y »D™Y Y
APT TO STARVE
'SUCH A “DIS.ASTER” HAS
| BEEN PREDICTED.
The Modern Prophet is Singu
larly Unreliable, and in His
~ Latest Theory He Has Not
l Taken Into Account
| Methods of Scientific .
‘ Farming.
‘ Universal and overwhelming disas
ters have been predicted so often and
- with such exultant confidence, and
have so invariably failed to come off,
at least in modern times, that man
kind should be rather immune from
panic on this account, writes the
Washington correspendent of the
New York Post. Perhaps the Del
uge is the single instance in which an
expected cataclysm or general wind
up has been realized ‘‘as advertised.”
There have been ingenious calcu
lations as to the end of the world,
based on Biblical chronology and
prophecies which were affirmed to be
the result of direct inspiration; and
in both cases the prophets and their
trusting followers have given away or
sold their substance, pui on their as
censien rohbes, and, like Darius Green
with his fiying machine, climbed to
the roof for a good start toward the
skies; bhut only to be disappointed.
The calcalations were demonstrably
correct, and the prophets were in no
way to blame for the failure.
Long-tailed comets have been a
frequent source of widespread alarm
and even despair. Not all the sa
vants of the French Academy could
convince the people of France, in
cluding many of the clergy, that an
especially brilliant comet in the early
part of the present ceptury would not
strike the earth and smash it into
bits.
Not even the solemn persons who
are addicted to science are all above
doing a little in the fortune telling
line. No less a personage in that
realm than Professor Piazzi Smith,
astronomer royal of Scotland, fore
cast to a day the world’'s end, basing'!
his prediction on incontestihle meas- |
urements of the pyramids. His read
ings were far more ingenious and
convincing than were those of Igna
tius Donnelly on the Shakespeare-
Bacon puzzle.
Why the Astronomer \Was Wrong.
Like those of Mr. Pancks in “Lit
tle Dorrit,” the figures cf the astron
omer were right. It was clear that
the world had to end at the time he
noted. Only some change whica con
cerned the earth’s endurancs can ac
count for thé existence of the pres- '
ent,generation of men, so long after
depopulation and general destruction
should have taken place. Another
person of science in Europe was as
sured that a great tidal wave would
engulf New York and Hoboken soon
after. the explosion of Mont Pelee. It
did not.
More scientific and far more seri
ous was the prophecy of Sir William
Crooks, president of the British As
sociation for the Advancement of
Science, who was backed by the great
body of men versed in theologies. He
declared that at a not distant period
and in the course of a single genera
tion the:entire human race would
perish by starvation. He held this
to be the inevitable result of the rap
id exhaustion of nitrogen, the vital
element of the soil. This served the
novelist, H. G. Wells, as matter for a
characteristic tale. He fancied that
such a calamity, as stupendous as the
great flood, should have its Noah—
its wise man of foresight, who would
construct a huge steel building with
a reserve of nitrogen which would al
low him to raise food enough to pre
serve himselt and family from the
general fate.
Nobody challenged the melancholy
conclusion of the eminent Sir Will
iam. Nitrogen is produced in nature
by processes infinitely slow, while
multiplying and every hungry man
consumes it in raising foodstuffs with
steadily increasing rapidity. Until
lately he has not thought of restoring
it by any adequate means. It could
be figured with some approach to
accuracy how long the productiveness
~of the soil would be such as to main
tain the life of the growing race. In
the laboratory the chemist was at
work on the problem of the artificial
production of nitrogen, and happily
he solved it. It can be done by the
} use of electricity, and with a few falls
' like those of Niagara it would be
practicable to obtain an incaleulable
supply of that agent at a low price.
So the fear of universal starvation
became less distressing.
Then it was discovered that nature
has laboratories by which nitrogen is
drawn from the air to enrich the soil.
The agency in this case is beneficent
bacteria. Alfalfa, red clover, the pea,
bean and other legumes are such la
r boratories and to their roots the jac=
‘ teria attach themselves. One of the
i most interesting and important de
velopments of scientific agriculture is
that it is practicable to inoculate the
legumes with bacteria and transfer
~them to poor and exhausted soils.
Progress in Scientific Farming.
The latest prophecy of Sir William
Crooks does not seem to take account
of the progress of scientific farming
| in America. He affirmed that within
| the near future the world would Le
i faced by a grevious shortage in the
wheat supply. He quoted Hyde, the
American statistician, to the effect
that by the year 1931 this country,
with a population of 130,900,000,
would not be able to spare a bushel
of wheat, corn, oats nor a ton of hay,
for export. Domestic consumption
would demand all cotton and wool,
fruit and vegetables, dairy and poul
try products. The growth of acreage
to population was already decreasing
and the statistician could determine
when no further acreage could be
gained. -
To meet these contentions there
are diversified crops, irrigation, the
introduction of new products, and,
especially, scientific farming. . A
paper recently issued by Karl F. Kel
lermdn, physiologist in cHarge of
soil bacteriology, contains some of
the results of legume inoculation.
Of about 8000 farmers who were
supplied with cultures, more than
wne-half have made reports. Success
ful inoculation is indicated by the
growth of nodules on the roots, from
which the nitrogen drawn from the
air is fed to the plant and to the
surrounding soil. The effect is not
‘only to increase the crop of legumes
‘and in every way improve it, but
‘also to enrich the land for subse
quent crops of different natures.
Perhaps few facts could show more
‘impressively the revolution that is
ltaking place in practical farming
‘than this process of inoculation.
A better ided of the value of inocu
lation can he obtained from the re
ports of the farmers. Thus one who
used alfalfa writes: “The inoculated
crop did fine, while the uninoculated
was a failure and always has been so
far.” Another, using red -clover,
says: ‘“lnoculated crop strong and
healthy. All the seed of the unin
oculated died in forty to sixty days,
as did every uninoculated clover field
in the vicinity.” One who planted
the cowpea says: “In the inoculated
field the increase of peas over the un
inoculated was fully thiree to one.
As to hay, about two and a half tons
to the acre in favor of the inocu
lated.” Still another writes: ““Three
tons of hay from an acre of inocu
lated seed, one-half ton on land not
inoculated.”
' Scientific farming may prevent the
realization of Sir William’'s doleful
propheecy. It obviously means an
enormous increase in the products of
the land and probably insures a
greater proportionate increase of
breadstuffs than of population.
Crusade Against the Billboard
By H. G. H. TARR.
Some years ago I made a mental
resolve not to buy any commodity
whatever or patromize any enterprise
that was advertised upon a billboard,
fence, barn or rock in the open coun
try. T have just read an article in
The Craftsman for January headed
“To Boycott the Billboard.” The
author gives a number of suggestions
such as organizing societies with
members pledged to this object, and
tellsud of movements-in Great Brit
ain and here having this in view. All
of which has not so far and will never
amount to a hil of beans. The rea
son of this is that not enough people
are sufficiently interested to take the
trouble to attend meetings of an or
ganized society, to say nothing of or
ganizing and going about soliciting
members.
You can’t reach this crime against
nature through legislation ar a man’s
land is his own, as his house is his
castle, and a law preventing his ex
hibiting or permitting the exhibition
of an unobjectionable sign thereby
‘would surely be unconstitutional.
i So far as I know I have flocked
alone in this heroic resolve, all the
time trying to devise some plan
whereby I can get on organized sup
port without an organization. It has
now occurred to me that the follow
ing would be practicable, and if prop
‘erly launched could be™made effective
and would put out of busiiiess every
fence, billboard and rock artist in the
country.
At the first ncwspaper editors’ con
vention (I understand they have an
association in every State) let them
be resolved that all shall insert in
their columns a form of pledge which
their readers are to be invited to sign,
cut out and return to the paper.
This will inspire editorial articles
which will tend to shame the farmer
and make it more difficult for the bill
board man to hire the privilege.
The action of one State associat®a,
I venture to say, will be followed by
a similar movement all over the
country. Of course it will be met
with the objection that newspapers
could not afford valuable space in
continued issues, for to be effective it
must be kept up. The answer to this
is that while doing a great good they
are diverting a large amount of mon
ey spent in advertising into a legiti
mate channel, the columus of a news
paper.
Possibly in seime cases the infiu
ence of the large advertiser would be
too great, but I have observed that
the billboard :lan seldom does much
newspaper advertiging, so while
sweeping from God's green country
the soap, castor oil and baking pow
der ads isn't it possible the newspaper
man may be doing a very good stroke
of business?
Nuisance to Editovs. :
One of the modern nuisances of
editorial work rowadays is the volun
teer information bureau, which out of
pure love sends news of one sort or
another to be published without:
charge, declares the Hartford Cour
ant. Nine times out of ten this is
easily perceived to bhe the work of
some-hired press agent, whose pur
pose is to steer ‘““public opinion;” the
tenth time you can guess the same
thing. Why all this trouble, ufiess
it is to effect some end which the
guileless editor cannot suspect? :
