Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, March 4, 1908, Page 1

- \ THE [ O:'.\""” o"\"a\ -+ o e BEMIDJI D. VOLUME 5. NUMBER 270. 1LY PIONEE MIRNESGT HISTORISAL SOCIETY, BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 4, 1908. LADY READS INTERESTING PAPER AT THE MEETING Mrs. W. H. Vye Gives Interesting Facts About the Training of the Child and the Attitude of the Teacher in Encouraging Study, Most of us go through this world with our eyes closed, we do not notice the most obivious facts about us. It is the function of education to open these blind eyes and unstop these deaf ears. I remember of visiting a kinder- garten once, when the teacher asked her class if they could tell her the color of the sky. Not one knew. She took them right out doors to look. They had never stopped to look before and their mothers had | i been too busy to stop them and have them look. Mothers cannot be everywhere. Therefore, what an excellent substitute is the teacher. No doubt many of you have seen the picture of a very .old couple sitting on the front door step of their home, watching their first sunset. They had gone through life with their eyes closed. The world of literature is more or less divided into thinkers and seers. Newton, opening his eyes, sees the planets revolve, and finds his fame. Watt hears the movement of steam, and finds his fortune. Millet copied the colors of the sunset at the moment when the reapers had their heads bowed in silent prayer. They say J. Hill is a dreamer, and the world advocatds that we make more dreamers. One of our wisest teachers has said, “The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something and tell what he saw ina plain way.” The live teacher takes his class to the rock, the river and the trees. They study the flowers, the | grasses and the grains. He knows| something of geology, science and history. Time should not be counted wasted, spent listening to the trees and the river or looking at the stars and the sunset. Van Dyke says: “Be glad of life, for it gives you a chance to love, to work and to look up at the stars. Live as much as possible in God’s out-of-doors.” Much is being said just now in all our papers and magazines about introducing the study of different trades in the public schools. There seems to be a revival of the indus- trial, an ennobling of all vocations; that all industry is honorable and and all idleness is disgrace. That no industry is drudgery that is intelligently performed; that it is better and higher to make a table intelligently than to preach a ser- mon, write an editorial or teach school mechanically. The end of education is life; the object of life is service and that is the best edu- cation which fits the pupil for the best service he can render. His first duty to society is to support himself, and not become a burden to others. His second service is to aid in contributing to the lives of others. What surprised me most in the argument of some of these leading educational men was that it should be left with the teacher to select the trade the pupil should study. It occured to me that this should be the parents’ duty. But after all, doesn’t the teacher see him at work, at play, using his hands, his mind, equally as much as the parents? The teacher may rightly be called the scientific investigator of the child’s nature, the observer of the child’s mind, The teacher is, of course, dealing with childhood, the mother with Dick-hood or Mary-hood. It was from the parental point of view that the ancient sage wrote the proverb, “Train up‘the chlid in the way he should go”—in other words, prepare him for the kind of life for which he is best fitted; but it has been said a mother knows so much about her child that her testimony is scientifically worthless, for in everything her child does she sees something he, and not another makes her judgments accordingly. Rose Bonheur’s pareuts could not see in her the traits of an artist.They tried her as an housekeeper, then tried to make of her a dressmaker. Wagner’s parents tried to make of their son a farmer, when he was azborn musician. Perhaps the teacher should name the trade the child should study. In many cases, if she did not, the boy would follow the vocation of his father, whether best adapted for that or not. A wise old German has said, “In Germany we fit our boys for a vocation—in America you fit them for a job.” The foundation of all education is good reading, and in the majority of cases, the taste for highclass litera- ture is started in the school. In many homes the names of our best known authors are never mentioned until the child enters school. If all the children are like some I know— for instance, a little 9-year-old gi:l in the second grade has studied and heard a great deal during the winter about artists. She can talk intelli- gently on the life and work of several of the best artists and she is just bound to talk art and ask ques- tions that even the grown-ups in the house cannot answer. I find her on the chairs and couches peeping at the pictures, to see if they bear an artist’s name. She has repeated these lessons and names to the little 4-year old in the home until Iam sure he will always remember some of them. A few days ago some ladies were in the house reading from a paper. The little boy was lying on the couch. The name of Michael Angelo was mentioned. He bounded from the couch and went to the door calling his little sister, “Marion, Marion, come in, quick, they are talking about Michael Angelo.” T believe the teacher has awakened an interest in this little girl, both to see and to hear, many good things in the line of art, and the little girl has helped to interest others. - The most impressive lessons in self-reliance are begun in school. When a child is given a lesson he is supposed te learn'it. He feels that he has something he must master by himself. He has gotten away from his mother and cannot call on her. I must do this myself he thinks, and this lesson cannot be too strongly impressed to develop true self-reliance. The child is made to feel from the first that life is a battle you rhust fight for your- self. You must be your own sol- dier. You cannot buy a substitute. If a child depends on others to do his work his self-reliance weak- ens until he loses control over his power and when he becomes a man he is afraid to stand alone in any- thing. He will be weak and hesi- tating in all he does. The personal influence of the teacher should be a most encourag- ing feature to the parent. Into the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power for good or evil; the silent, unconscious, unseen influ- ence of lite. This is simply the constant radiation of “what a man or woman really is, not what he pretends to be. Every woman, by her mere living, is radiating sorrow, sympathy, morbidness, happiness or hope, or any of a hundred other qualities. Life is a state of constant radiation and absorption; to exist is to radiate. The one responsibility that a teacher cannot evade as she moves about het room five days out of every week is that of personal influence. g Our conscions influence (when we are posing to impress those around us) is woefully small. It is the silent . radiation of personality, the effect of words and acts, the trifles we never consider that count the child, has done before, and she most. And there are no greater imitators or absorbers in the world than the children. The schools are the character builders of our country, for here the child rubs up against many nation- alities and all denominations. Here they all grow up in the common schoel together. Here they learn that honesty, justice, truth and benovlence are the peculiar inherit- ance of no one denomination. The school and the church are parents in a common enterprise, education and religion, and seek the same end. The object of the school is the development of character, the mak- ing of men and women. Take the two elements, power and resistance. Without resistance, power remains undeveloped. There is no gain of strength, no conquest of temper, no assertion of principle, in other words, no character. Without this resist- ance no man or woman is ever thor- oughly tested; and without testing, there is no final development of character. I would not put away from my boy or girl all poor literature, but try to cultivate in them such a strong taste for the good that they may not care for the poor. I do not want a girl of mine to be placed in a school where there are only good, good girls, but I want her to be a strong enough character to be a good girl in a school where there may be both good and bad together. If the schools could but be the means of inbedding into the brains of every boy and girl the idea that work is pleasure; idleness a disgrace, happiness is giving, not in getting; that ths best religious culture comes from a life filled to overflowing with the commonest duties of life; and to right for right’s sake, they will have developed a . multitude of encourag- ing features. I happened one day to step into the private office of the secretary of the state agricultural school and right in the cover of his desk was pinned this littlé verse: “Now I get me to my work, “L pray the Lord I may not shirk. FORTY CENTS PER MONTH STATE APPORTIONMENT OF PUBLIG SCHOOL FUNDS Beitrami County Will Receive $4,662.60 ---The Rate Per Pupil Attending School 40 Days is $1.90 The public schools of the state will soon receive their share of the March apportionment. State Treasurer Dinehart will this spring distribute $712,667.20, the amount of the March apportionment to the different counties. This in turn will be re-apportioned to the several school districts at the rate of $1.90 per pupil. This is the largest spring apportionment ever given, and in making up this list for the several districts, only pupils who have attended school forty days during the last school year are considered. This makes a total of $4.40 each district’ will receive for pupils who have attended school forty days or more during the past year. The October appor- tionment amounting to $1.90. The money out of which this fund is derived comes from the Inter- est on the permanent school fund which is invested in'state, county, school district and other municipal bonds of the different municipalities of the state, and the one-mill state tax, Beltrami county schools will re- ceive as its share of this money $4662.60, which will be distributed by the county auditor to the several districts. The number of pupils entitled to participate in this appor- tionment is 2,454. Treasurers of the different school districts will probably receive this money by the first of April. Mohr-McMillian Entertainment. The entertainment promised by the Minneapolis Journal will be given in the city hall on Friday evening *If I should die before the night, “I pray the Lord my work’s all right.” this week. The Mohr-McMillian entertainers come to this city well recommended as first-class entertainers in all respects. Miss Florence Jerome Mohr has no superior as a story teller imper- sonator and reader. She has a facinating stage presence aud you could not help but appreciate her clever work. - Miss Marie Marquis, who is a brilliant young American singer— destined some day to be a Nordica or Melba, sings a number at each performance. The entertainment is one of the best ever produced in Bemidji and the company comes well recom- mended. WILL BID ON SHOTLEY- KELLIHER STATE DITGH Mayor Lennon of Kelliher to Bid on Ditch Work.---Is Determined to Have Good Roads. Mayor William Lennon came down from Kelliher this morning and left on the afternoon train for Crookston. From there he will go to St. Paulto be present tomorrow at the meeting of the state drainage commission. Mr. Lennon is interested in hav- ing the new Kelliher-Shotley ditch built and goes to St. Paul to bid up- on this work.Mr.Lennon is interested in seeing the north country drained as well as good roads built; in se- curing this contract Mr. Lennon ex- pects to be in a position to give a large number of laborers work dur- ing the coming summer and event- ually have completed one of the best roads leading into Kelliher from the Shotley country. Atthe same -time the ditch is built the dirt taken from the ditch will be used to build aroad along side of the ditch Local news on last page with Modern Machinery, Printing Suit you. The Pioneer Prirtery Is Equipped Up-to-date Type Faces, and the Largest Stock of Flat Papers, Ruled Goods and Stationery of All Kirds in Northern Minnesota. We have the highest-salaried Printers in Beltram: county, and we’ are]leaders in Commercial Printing. Try .us; we'll Pioneer Printery t {head now (Continued from Yesterday.) “About eight miles below Fergus Falls was a point called Dayton, a Pprospective town site and rival to Fergus Falls. The Wright family of St. Cloud, were the owners of the site. “Our difficulties multiplied from day to day. We were always in doubt over which channel to choose. Islands were constantly barring the way as we commenced to navigate the treacherous Breckenridge bends as they were known. Growing nar- rower and swifter, the stream was now filled with snags which stub- bornly disputed our passage. “Finally, we reached the ‘old crossing’ of the Otter Tail, where trains of famous Red river carts had crossed for many a year with their precious loads of fur. ‘An army of these carts was moving on St. Paul when we reached the crossing. We saw 600 carts in one long line.These carts, as all old-timers know, were owned by the Hudson’s Bay com- pany and other independent dealers. St. Paul wds the great distributing center. “There was not a piece of iron in the make-up of these rude vehicles. Primitive indeed, they were rough hewn and hand ‘made entirely of wood. The wooden axles were never greased, for that would have ruined the wheels. The result was 'a nerve-wracking creaking which from a great distance. “We encounted a fierce electrical storm at this point. One thing that kept us in constant alarm after leaving Otter Tail was the fear that the great drive of logs from the saw mill at McCauleyville might over- whelm us at any- time. Fortunately for us, though we were unaware of this almost providential interven- tion, the boom broke loose in the Otter Tail lake and ina big wind the logs were scattered. It took much time to round them up, and we were spared. “Wild fowl were very plentiful and the stream was full of young ducks. The men collected eggs in abundance and wild fruits were plentiful. We saw great schools of fish. Incrowd- ing around bends many of them were thrown upon the rafts. “Where the river occasionally straightened out for a considerable distance, we spread blankets and made time by sailing. At Fort Abercrombie we met the officers and their families and these glimpses of civilization made our trip less Iohély. The point of interest beyond the fort was called ‘Twenty-five Mile Paint,’ a mail station. “In the middle of July we tied up at the point where Fargo and Moor- stand. Two brothers named Holes had ‘taken claims on either side of the river. Up and down the river for 20 miles on either side eager settlers had taken claims in_the expectations that they had secured the magic ground where the Northern Pacific would locate ‘the crossing.” Three miles down the river from Moorhead and Fargo was a farm owned by a man named Probtsfield. Governor Smith wanted to secure this farm for the railroad crossing. He was particularly WAS FIRST WHITE WOMAN TO GO DOWN RED RIVER Mrs. P. L. Knappen of Tenstrike Tells Minneapolis Tribune a Very Interesting Story of Her Early Career in the Red River Valley. [The following article appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune of Feb. 23. As the lady mentioned prominently in the story (Mrs. Knappen) is well known here, the Pioneer reproduces it.] anxious to get title to the farm be- cause of its strategtic location. In possession of the farm, of which he was president, although he lived in Vermont, would have 70 miles of straight road, which at that time would have been the longest stretch of rails without a deviation in the world. Probtsfield wanted $8,000 for the farm. The Lake Superior and Puget Sound Townsite company, a ring within a ring for the Northern Pacific, chose to purchase the site owned by the Holes brothers for $3,000. “Governor Smith was exceedingly wroth at this decision. It was then that he made the famous remark: ‘Tll bust your townsite and put you out of business.” Tiue to his word he gave Moorhead a black eye by promptly ordering all the rail- road interests over to the Fargo side. The action of the townsite company made a big curve neces- sary at Fargo and the governor was corrsespendingly incensed. “It took all summer to settle this crossing question, Despairing of its ever being settled, we pushed on for market to Winnipeg, which necessitated another month of roughing it on the river. Inthe lower reaches. of the river we passed historic Georgetown, a Hud- son’s Bay post. At Frog Pcint we began to look for the steamers, Selkirk and International. Grand Forks was finally reached. The heralded the approachof the carts|now thriving city was chiefly dis- tingaished then by a log house and portable saw mill. A whole week we floated without seeing a sign of civilazation. The river was gradually broadening and navigation was less difficult. When within a few miles of Fort Pembina, just at sunrise, we heard the whistle of the Selkirk.” Recalling other incidents of the meeting with the editorial party, Mrs. Knappen here recalled that Bayhard Taylor sought the shady side of the boat to read and write. “He frequently encounted sun- shine as the steamer swung ’round the bends. ‘What a wonderful coun- try,’ he finally exclaimed. “The sun appears to rise in every direc- tion!” Then he went indoors “‘'The editors, continued Mrs. Knappen, “were highly, entertained at Fort Pembina. At Winnipeg Mr. Wilson, the American consul, showed the party the principal points of interest about the settlement. At the government house at lower Fort Geary, they viewed a herd of tame buffalo. To make the visit a-bit more memorable Mr. Wilson invited them to a pemican (dried buffalo) feed. “Mrs. Bannatyne-and some other ladies, assisted by the wives of the Hudson’s Bay post officers, prepared the most appetizing repast, I think I am safe in saying, that Mr. Dana ever sat down to, not overlooklng any banquet in which he may have previously participated at Delmon- ico’s or other show restaurants of New ~ York. In addition to the buffalo steak, there were all sorts of wild game, toothsome jellies and rare old wines set'out most elabo- rately insilver, icut class and fine damask.” —H. L. K. _— Dissolution of Partnership. Notice is hereby given that the co-partnership heretofore existing by and between Arthur Hagberg and Charles Knopke, doing business under the firm name and style of Hagberg & Knopke, has this day been djssolved by mutual consent. Dated at Bemidji, Minnesota, this 3rd day of March 1908. Arthur Hagberg Charles Knopke. Notice. 3 ~Owing to the dissolution of the firm of Hagberg & Knopke, all parties owing accounts at the Bemidji Meat Market are requested to callat the market and settle same at once. It is necessary that we securé ‘im- mediate settlement of our out-stand- ing accounts in order to adjust our own business matters, . Arthur Hagberg, Charles Knopke.