The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 10, 1898, Page 34

34 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, S Edward W. B the gentl conducts that com eman who | v, The La- | a man of many | Indeed, I} of no one con- nected with the American Press who'| tetter illustrates in| his own up as | well as in that of his | paper the truth of | Cowper’'s axiom,| that variety is the epice of life. A\Ir.‘ Bok's sonality | looms every | page of his maga- antic m ality mak departments | v those more who a , our | e meth- prope you wish er evening faut to em- Ovid Bok you in doubt ¥ should eat Consult Ches- guide you. Are Pantsmaker Bok whether or not ream with a fork will as -k wealth on pert Bok's rvations on the 1 the Klondike de- else does, on the this connect | traying | an intimate knowl- | edge of the subject, ! combined with an and difi- e Talleyand Bok s e e Now, I t one of those who, to employ t s of the first Psalm, “sit in the seat of the scornful,” at the gl ters, nor would m_discussed, an- of the false pro- went the rtheless la- ard ¥ to mix sec- ular n the man- fous matt at Mr. B« doe ~‘;:\ Journal Rarely Tor agal s not ¢! s most Take the Apr issue On page 40, in a column ded roblem: Men,’ | Young hes Edward W. Bok, vou A YOUNG MAN'S You tell me that many inte | interested, and read ¥ F %% foJoJolofoJoloXooXoXoToRoJOROROROROIOROROJORO) [oXCXClCRoXOXOROOFOROJORORORCROIOOROJOXO] ELY CHA Q y public, fortunately for M. Zola, con}-) around you beltove, that there is no God. 4 S ety & at is no reas vhy you should get that N terday, and the man potion. The man who D% who is mobbed to- says there is no God ? €> day may be the hero is either one of two | BE to-morroWs. . BY. lhl!‘)gszp a klmre dur(g | * Excuse me., Thi the way, Zola's four fool. Prove Go | £ g yourselt. How? Make Dot letters to' France of him a real being, a father,a personal God. Let him into your ve to your every part of your every ac- tion, of your every Bok thought. Feel that he| is YOUR God: just yours. That he kno as he does and as he will soon make e dent to you, your heart, every ou. father; thought that comes to | talk to him in quiet; tell him your , vour troubles, your alms, your ur desires. Come close to him. | Before long, after he has shown ‘you| light a few times, aftér he has told you | what to do when ¥ou did not know your- | self, then vou will find out for yourself | whether there is a God_or not. You will | have no doubt of him. He will be to you, as he is to_thousan a llving Being, an actuality—One that you know almost as vou do your own father, who lives his | life before you. Excellent advice, and, standing alone, worthy of all the serious atten- tion of the young man to whom it is addressed. I am hope: further. What this I see? Baggy trousers may bLe prevented by frequent pressing, which you can do at home. ~ Brush _the yusers carefully st; lay them out at full length on an ironing boar. dampen_with sprink- iing of water or moist sponge, and iron them over areg- ar ironing cloth. Always layyour trous- ers out at full length when you take them off; do not hang them unless you have stretchers. So if you want unconscious humor you must not miss the Ladies’ Home Journal, whose conductor, it would ap- | pear, would be far more in his element | in the editorial office of Puck. If these few remarks bring him to a sense of the incongruity of his actions, they | will not have been written in vain, and, | ince we are dealing with texts, let is £ Janus Bok. come right | expected, the letters are full of high life, in- | and sounding rhetoric, of that melodra- day. 'matic passion which we know best from Make him an actual | the works of Byron. ry wish, every desire of abuse of authority? Go to him as you would to a living | w: | old man, who, after a long life of labor | tise us again at long range. | Their slings and arrows have glided off | ceeded lectual men |me urge upon Mr. Bok the advisability | tience Sparhawk” was excluded from (OXO) fololoJoloJolotoXoXoXoXokolofolofofofoRoXoXoXOIOROTOJOROROROROIOJOJOTOJOXOXOXO) K @@@@@@@@@@@@@@C-)@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ggggggggggg of ceasing, In his own proper person, to yoke the ox and the ass together. . s e Zola's conviction does not appear to have affected the sale of his books in LA the capital of t‘ France. In Paris they forget every- thing in a week, no matter how stirring. The volatile French have been issued by Mr. John Lane of the Bodley Head. As might have been | Yet there is true pathos in the opening sentences: “Whither are you going, men?” “Do you go to protest against some young “Do rou go to redress some social ng “No, no! We go to hoot a man, an and loyalty, imagined that he might give his support with impunity to a generous cause.” . . Gertrude Atherton is about to chas- She has — written a book en- titled “American Wives and English Husbands,” which was originally ad- vertised under the name of ‘“Millions of Bubbles,” and will be published simul- taneously in Eng- land and in. this country. The fair Gertrude possesses a trenchant pen, as San Franciscans know at their cost. She appears to be the only American woman writer capable of nlercing the rhinoceros-like Lides of our local four hundred. Time and time again have Pacific Coast writers attempted to put gall in their ink when handling Pa- cific Coast society, but without effect. Gertio Is at It Again. like buckshot from a modern whale- back. Then came Gertrude, and pro- to describe Monterey as the place where “the flower and the vege- tables of San Francisco congregate every year.” From far off London she thus characterizes the Press of San “My experience of the San sco press has extended over ten vears, and if there is anything pet- tier on this planet I have been fortu- nate enough to escape it.” Her ‘“Pa- foJOROROJOROXOXOROROJOROIO] 10JOJOROROJOROFOROJOROROXRO] [lcloRoJoofofolofofoRoYoRORololC] jofojelofofojoolofolofofoJoloolc) @ o] @® (00] Edl e L ON 60 I ALSO | . % A FEW REFERENCES o9 ! TO | (010} }’ EDITOR BOK 1 ©® BY THE CALL REVIEWER 28 190 our librarfes, which of course was a blessing in disguige to the good lad; herself. This book treated in a t:ut'!I lsx(\"y v\lray the subject of her forthcom- cflgcvu P‘{ne, and residents of San Fran- m‘xndu Il await with interest, not un- ed with fear and trembling, the words of this expatriated sage. - . - h One of the T tronting the present day problems con- book critic 1s the success of “Quo Vadis?” It i8 a book that has enjoyed a phenome- nal sale for very lit- tle good reason that I can discover. There are many standard historical novels by such em- inent authors as Lytton and Disraeli, and even that friend Allured by Alliterative e of our boyhood, s ‘Willlam ~ Harrison Ainsworth, whose works, as Carlyle once remarked, are lauded as classics and discreetly rele- gated to the topmost shelves of our I1- braries. The theory has been ad- vanced that the only reason for the popularity of “Quo Vadis?” lies in the fact that it presents pictures of the gilded vice of ancient Rome, that could be obtained only after patient research in out-of-the-way places. Whether this theory is or is not the correct one. I am unable to say, but it appears to be the one fixed upon by a writer in the Wash- ington Star who contributes ‘the fol- lowing anecdote: “I want to get a couple of books for two young men,” said the girl in the book store, “and I don’t know what to choose.” “Er—what sort of young men are they?" asked the really intelligent clerk. “One teaches in our Sunday-school and the other—well, he is not that kind of a young man at all, you know." 5 “Ah! I think 1 © Vicious Romel have just what you want,” and he g;ult'i’efl out two copies of “Quo Va- 87 In “A Desert Drama” (Lippincott Mr. A. Conan Doyle takes hism;'eader; through fresh flelds and pastures new. For the nonce he has forsaken the Emile Gaboriau style of novel, to which his readers have been accus- tomed. His recent book is subheaded “The Tragedy of the XKorosko,” the last being the name of the small steamer Sherlock Holmes Dis- covers Egypt. plying on the Nile which forms the APRIL 10, 1898 stage of his story. “A Desert Drama” narrates the startling adventures of a; arty of ten, who are captured by the ervishes while engaged in the explor- ation of Egyptian ruins. The dramatis personae comprise three’ impossible Americans, an equally _impossible Frenchman, a dry-as-dust Bnglish so- | Meitor with a penchant for the use of legalisms, and two or three students archaeologically inclined. These fill a short volume of a couple of hundred pages, which you may read in an hour with some little interest, but without much profit. s e My compliments to “Chames,” a gen- tleman employed on the staff of the Boston Traveller, and will he please accept my thanks for being the direct cause of my indulgence in a series of broad grins at his parody on Mr. Kip- ling’s “Vampire.” I reprint it = here that my readers may also enjoy it. ANOTHER "VAMPIRE.” (A long way after Kipling.) An ass there was, and he took delight (Even as you and 1) In sitting far into the hours of night, Cutting and dealing with all his might, And hating to quit at the morning light (Even as you and I). Oh, the sleep we lost and the heap we lost, And the useless cards we drew; All in that stmple and popular game, That always enticing and popular game. ‘Which there's no need to name for you. An ass there was, and he held a “palr” (Even as you and T) Of aces, and drew two more guite fair, Then bet all he had, with never a care, But a ‘'straight flush” broke him beyond re- palr, (Even as you and D). Oh, the moans we made and the groans we made O'er the pots that we ought to have won, All in that simple and popular game, That gentleman's game, the American game, Where you get a good run for your ‘‘mon.” | Still the ass will play when he has the dough (Even as you and I) And the chips will come and the chips will go; He'll say with a nod when they're coming slow, “It's time for my luck to change, you know'* (Even as you and I). And {t fsn’t the sin and it isn't the tin That makes us all sore and ll; It's thinking of hands that we ought to have held, The ““fulls’” and the “fours” that we ought to have held, And the *‘flushes” we couldn’t fill. _ EMANUEL ELZAS. UNDER THE DUTCHMAN’S RULE SHREWSBURY—By Stanley J. Weyman. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. For sale by Doxey. Price $150. Of the historical novelists of the modern &chool there is probably no writer who turns out his work in a more clear cut, consclentious fashion than Mr. Weyman. It he s less romantic than Anthony Hope, if his heroes lack the blind dare- devil chivalry of Conan Doyle’s, he is at any rate more graphic -and concise, his characters move naturally in their ap- pointed epoch, and nothing of local color that careful study of the period can pro- vide Is lacking. It is difficu.c. however, in spite of the admirable technique displayed, to follow the developments of this novel with sus- tained interest. It is a complicated story of court Intrigues during that stormy period of English political life which fol- lowed the downfall of the Stuarts and the restoration of the Protestant succession. Willlam III, promoted from the humble position of stadtholder in Holland to the dazzling position of King of England, was but insecurely seated on the throne. Many of the nobles and a large propor- téon of the commonalty were opposed to his rule, the air was full of intrigue, and plot after plot for his deposition and for the restoration of King James was form- ed, only to end In exposure and the de- capitation of the chief movers on Tower i+ HilL | It is marvelous how Willlam managed tain his hold on the affections of the Eng- lish people. of Stuart tyranny and misrule was too recent in the minds of men to allow of the revival of this dynasty. Or it may be, it Mr. Weyman's picture of the King is correct, that the- was much in the man to command admiration and respect; that e had the inborn dignity of royalty and a full share of that mysterious magnetic power which compels allegiance. We see William first just at the time of the great assassination plot, when a scheme to waylay and murder him while out hunting came perilously near suc- cess. Our first glimpse of the monarch is at Kensington Court, when the nar- rator of the story, a humble clerk, is brought unexpectedly into the presence of the King. ; “We stood upon the threshold of a wide and splendid gallery, set here and there with huge china vases and hung with pictures, which even then 1 discerned to be of great beauty and afterwards learned were of no less value. Letting my eyes travel down this vista they paused na- who stooped somewhat and was dressed sunlight which fell in cold bars ‘on the floor proved his progress to be more | showy than real; nevertheless the child shrieked in its joy, the ribbons and waved a tiny whip. In answer the gentleman, whose long curled periwig bobbed oddly on his shoulders— he had his back to us—pranced more and ! more stoutly, though on legs a little thin | and bent.”” Quite a pretty picture of ro al relax: tion, illustrating the human side of kingly | 1fe. It is the more remarkable when con- trasted with the following description of William’s personal appearance: “He had a long, sallow face, which seemed the sal- lower for the dark heavy wig that fell round it; a large hooked nose and full, | peevish lips, with eyes both bright and morose. I am told that he seldom smiled and never laughed. Later on in the volume the hero, an insignificant individual of the name of Price, is again brought into personal con- tact with his monarch and this time we get an outline of the sterner side of Wil- | liam’s character. The state council is in- quiring into the abortive assassination plot and one of its prime instigators, Sir | John Fenwick, is under examination. The King enters unannounced and very quiet- | 1y. “His entrance and words, abrupt, if not awkward,lackedalike the grace which all remembered in Charles and the gloomy majesty which the second James had at his command. And men felt the lack. | Yet as he took his stand, one hand lightly | resting on the back of the Lord Steward's chair, the stooping, somber figure and sallow, withered face staring out of its | great peruque had a dignity of their own. For it could not be forgotten that he was | that which no Stuart King of England | had ever been—a soldier and commander from boyhood—at home, in all the camps of Flanders and the Rhine, familiar with | every peril of battle and breach; at his | ease anywhere, where other men blanched and drew back.” | These quotatlons illustrate Mr. Wey- | man’s facile gift of character delineation. | The Duke of Shrewsbury, Sir John Fen- | wick and various other notables of the time are pictured with equal strength. | But it is upon that mysterious personage | known as Ferguson the Kingmaker that | our author lavishes most of his talent. This master of backstairs intrigue plays | a prominent part in the story, though it #s impossible within the limits of a brief notice to unravel all the complications of | plot and counterplot which crowd the | pages of the book. Here is Ferguson as lhe first appears to the narrator: ‘‘Such to escape all these dangers, and to main- | 7t may be that he was only | accepted as a pis aller, that the memory | in black, ambled and paced in front of a| | child of four or five years old. The wintry | and dancing, jerked | | { he serves turally on a spot under one of the win- | dows, where with his back to us and | ribbons in his hands a slight gentleman, | was the man I saw before me; on whe face, as if heaven purpesed to warn ! fellows against him, malignant passion and an insane vani were so plainly stamped that party spirit must have gone to lengths indeed before it rendered men blind to his quality. IHis shambling gait seemed a fitting convevance for a.gaunt, stooping figure, so awkward and uncouth that when hé gave way to gesticulation it seemed to be moved by wires; yet once he looked askance at you face and figure were forgotten in the gleam of the eyes that, treacherous and crue). leered at you from the penthouse of his huge, il-fitting I‘§Or the hero of the novel, Richard Price. we must confess an utter lack of sympathy. His pusillanimity and w»:\k~ ness excite repulsion and it looks as it Mr. Weyman had only introduced him as a convenient vehicle for the presentment of the more manly and picturesque per- sonages of the time. Beginning as an usher In a country school, Price is hope- lessly befooled in a love affair with a country wench and flees to London. Thera apprenticeship to the trade of news letter writing, a busin which the development of nrinting fac! ities had not yet destroyed. Then he becomes the tool of Ferguson and other plotters for the destruction of the monarchy, and is induced to personate the Duke of Shrews- bury, to whom he bears o most marked resemblance. In all these doings he is purely subjective, he moves through va- rious kinds of excitement and danger like a mere quaking automaton, and if he escapes hanging many times as a spY and a rebel it is more by reagon of good luck than merit. Why Mr. Weyman should take the trouble to bring such a nondescript creature through ail these hair-breadth escapes and marry him hap- pily in the end passes our comprehension. Possibly the hero's weakness is purposely exaggerated in order to accentuate the strength of the other actors in the drama. And leaving Price, as narrator, out of the question, Mr. Weyman has certainly given us a very vivid presentation of London life and character at the close of the seventeenth century. LITERARY NOTES. Leon Daudet is at work upon a biog- raphy of his father. “The Londoners” is the title of Robert Hichens' new satirical novel, to be out this spring with Herbert S. Stone & Co. of Chicago. Rumors that H. Rider Haggard was at work on a new novel are now confirmed. The book is to be a historical romance with the scene laid in Holland at the time of William of Orange. Copeland & Day will shortly bring out a voJume of poems by Ambrose Bierce. G. P. Putnam’s Sons have just published Mr. Blerce's “In the Midst of Life,” cluding “Tales of Soldiers and Civ fans.” Professor Robert Herrick, who occupies the chair of English literature in the Uni- versity of Chicago, has written a novel which is to bé published shortly by the Macmillan Company under the title of “The Gospel of Freedom.” Bernard Shaw, who is called the clever- est dramatic critic and playwright in England, is about to bring out an edition of his dramatic works. He calls them “Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant.” Two volumes will be issued late in February by Herbert S. Stone & Co. of Chicago. Mr. Shaw has written a preface, “mainlg about myself” he adds. During the last three years Willlam Black has been engaged upon a novel which is now near completion. The title will be “Wild Eelin; otherwise called Eelin of the Eyes Like the Sea-Wave: Her Escapades, Adventures and Bitter Sorrows.” The serial publication of this work is to begin this month. Harper & Brothers will publish in the spring a new volume of his short stories. et e 444 The convention of the Southern Cali-| Teachers' Association, which was | Los Angeles during March 31 to | as largely attended by dl‘lP-l chers from all the southern | April gations of te countfes. One ¢ the most Interesting the session was by Professor Starbt ford, who took for his subj child study which he ire Hews First in the Rough.” Pro- | fessor Starbuck began by describing how | nature builds in miner: d fn plants, and then said that the teacher is learn- Ing the secret that the same process of development is followed in the human | If all this w thoroughly un- | o0d, it would aid very materially in | the work of the school room. | Professor Starbuck emphasized the im- | of kindergartens and manual all the activities of | Touch, he rted, | nd at 12 ye ould be developed. morals are the funda- We must see are deeply in- | he child, and then nature will | of its own. | i. Guinn made a strong | g of local his- | plea for lory as a m ating a love for | the subject a preliminary | step in the study of national and general | histor, State, more instructive " sald the speaker, a more inter more varied histo: than California, and no State has had so many different forms of government. First, a semi-military, | semi-eccle: cal dependence of Spain: | next a ry of Mexico; then the Estado Libre de California—a republic all by itself, with a self-constituted gov- ernor; back again as Mexican territory; | then the Pacific republic with the bear flag as its emblem; then a conquered por- | tion of the United States with the bear | flag as its emblem; then a civil territory, | and lastly a sovereign State of the Unlon. | “In the old pueblo of Los Angeles it took | thirty-five years to establish a $¢hool, and after a year of lickin' an’ larnin’ the school took a vacation of ten year- to allow the knowledge acquired to settle— and possibly the pupil’s back to heal. “In the forty years that Los Angeles was under Spanish rule there was but little material or intellectual advance- ment.” The professor concluded his address th “California, with a past unrivaled in the variety of its historic phases, legend, tradition, romance, adventure, intrigue, | war, conquest, v ace, prosperity; Cali-| fornia, with the light and shade of its| shifting civilizations and a larcess of | material for an epic grander than the | ‘Iliad’ and more fascinating tuan the| ‘Odyssey, has allowed relic collectors and | literary pot hunters to capture the great| | established, | charge of the sch | study mass of her historical material and turn it _into merchandise. “The State of Wisconsin, with half a billion less wea..h and half a century less history than california, has spent nearly a million dollars on her historical collec- tions—California nothing!" EDUCATION IN SANTA CRUZ. Santa Cruz County has a school system of which it is justiy proud, not only on account of the high standard that has been attained, but because it dates as far back as 1849—the vear of gold. Few of our California counties can make a like boast. The first school in Santa Cruz of which there is record was private, con- ducted b Case. One or two other private schools were also opened a little later, but a public school with an enroll- ment of twenty-five pupils was started in 53 by Mr. Frick. In 1869 we find 300 pupils recorded. Other school houses were erected as the need came, and in 1576 a high school was which was regarded with great pride by the townspeople. Profes- sor W. W. Anderson was the first prin- cipal, and the school prospered under his administration. Mr. D . Clark was chosen principal in 1884, and has ever since remained in From the beginning of his administration, and later as City Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Clark has spared no time nor energy to advance the cause of education in his chosen fleld. He at once began to remodel the course of in the schools, and with the aid of the county superintendent, J. W. Lin- | scott, and a corps of forty-four willing and efficlent teachers, he placed the schools upon the firm basis they occupy to-day, and so spread the fame of them that pupils from other counties flocked in, until the old school houses were over- crowded. This necessitated the erection of the new Lincoln School and the recon- struction of the Laurel and Branciforte buildings. In 1889 the Unlversity of California rec- ognized the excellence of the preparatory work accomplished in the high school and placed the school on its accredits list. Miss Minnie Sullivan and Louis Bernhelm were the first graduates to enter the State University. Connected .with the public schools of Santa Cruz is a free kindergarten em- ploying two teachers. This is also under the management of Mr. Clark. NATURE STUDY IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. When the child’s initial life in the schoolroom begins we should foster a love of the study and guide him aright in the perception of the good and beauti- ful as it is found In nature and nature’s works. Make the study sible and treat it as practical as_pos- as a whole. Bring plants and flowers into your schoolroom | to better {llustrate your work. Be lavish | in your decorations and collections of these treasures from nature's storehouse. B R R e R R R R AR as s R R E TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS. 4444444444444+ PP I+ P4 F PP PP L4444+ P44 4444444t + + + + + Also encourage your pupils to make col- lections. This will naturally lead to lit- tle talks on the plants and animals they have observed. irst take up the most familiar forms, noticing their different characteristics and comparing them, then gradually enlarge your researches until all known forms peculiar to the vicinity have been described. Relate short stories regarding the same. Study seeds and their germination in their scason. Require at times {llustrated composi- tions. By training children to use thelr' own eyes we improve the work in draw- | ing and at the same time furnish food for thought. Children express in language much better that which they find out themselyes by observation. 'his gives them self-confldence, and In addition cul- tivates their powers of observation, love of literature, truth telling, truth-seeking and increases their voeabulary. Systematic nature study in the mar schools would give an impetus to the study of botany, zoology, etc., in the high schools. These studles exert a moral influence, broaden the sympathies, elevate their tastes and lead them to higher thoughts. ANNIE BASS. Redding, Cal. FROM SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. Last week, after one of the most suc- cessful meetings ever held there, the San Bernardino County :Teachers’ Insti- tute adjourned to meet for the remain- ing three days with the Southern Cali- | lo;nln Teachers’ Association in Los An- geles. The sessions were held in the High School building in San Bernardino, and | great interest and enthusiasm was mani- fested in the entire programme. Interest was manifested in the speci- mens of drawing, penmanship, composi- tion and science work from the varjous | county schools which decorated the walls and tables. One of the most artistic fea- tures of the display, classed as drawing, was the modeling, paper cutting, fold- ing, designing, border making, etc., which showed a commendable baannln in the line of manual training. The Lugonia and the Redlands schools exhibited cred- itable work in sewing and drafting on paper. CONCERNING BOOK PURCHASES, Superintendent Mack of AmadorCounty thus addresses his teachers on the pur- chase of new books: ‘At our institute last year the assem- bled teachers made a list of books which in their judgment should be on the shelves of every school library in the county. 1 sent to each teacher a copy of such list, and would respectfully rec- ommend the purchase of more books of a desirable nature and less apparatus. A certain percentage of the books thus purchased should be especially adapted | for teachers’ reading—pedagogical and | otherwise. In his recommendations State Superintendent Samuel T. Black writes as follows: ‘The most important books in a school library are those that may be -am- uidance of the skillful teacher; I there- ‘ore recommend the purchase of at least three sets of supplementary reading books (and enough ofseach set to place one copy in the hands of each .pupil) for the first six years of school life—eighteen sets in all; that subsequent to the sixth year carefully selected literature work be substituted for general reading, and purchased in sets as in the lower grades.' “To teachers I would add that some- where in your school library you should find a pamphlet entitled ‘How to Use School Libraries,” which was sent out from this office to each district approxi- mately eight years ago. It contains much valuable information and many useful hints, and may give you a starting point used daily in the school room under lha‘ from which you will be able to work out | a satisfactory solution to this important | question. Study this line of your work and try to create a desire in the minds-ot your pupils to read approved standard iiterature, and if you succeed, in after years they will ‘rise up and call you blessed.’ ™ THE SHAPING OF MODELS. Once 4n the presence of Disraeli an over-confident youth ventured to ridicule the proverb makers. “Any one,” he sald, “could make proverbs in quantity.” And the- statesman answered: “‘Make a few!” It is needless to say that, had the young man accepted the challenge, he woul have acquired a sudden and lasting re- spect for a genuine proverb. Now a series of Sloyd models is agood deal like a collection of proverbs. They are plain, unpretentious affairs, but there is a great deal in the reason of their be- ing. The original Sloyd school at Naas, Sweden, has been in operation for twen- ty-five years, yet Dr. Saloman's teachers are still altering the courses, each year introducing new models and modifica- tions of old ones. Recent years have seen numerous am- bitious attempts made, both in this coun- try and England, to originate systems of manual training, but thus far there fis not a successful elementary manual training course In operation in either country that has not Naas to thank for its foundation principles. These princi- ples are: 1. Gradation of difficulty. The exercises must’' proceed from known to unknown, from simple to com- plex, from the easy to the difficult. In this respect articles made of wood are very misleading {n appearance. But the basis of or; nnllatinn?es not in the mod- els themselves, but In' the tool exercises which they embody. Here, then, is a question of tool-sequence: Are some of the wood-working tools easler of manipulation than others? Of two or more exercises with the same tool, may one be easler than another? The answer in both cases is affirmative. It s a simple enough matter to roughly | cut a stick in two with a cross-cut saw, but quite another to put a good bevel on that same stick with a chisel. The Naas people think the Sloyd knife is the best adapted for the beginning, and S0 the first two or three models of the Naas series are small modeled articles re- quiring the use of the knife. In England it does not seem to have occurred to them that there is such a thing as tool se- quence, except among the teachers, who are following the Bwedish system. In the manual training courses of the future, phystological psychology Wi likely have a say. itanley Hall and ot ers are showing that the musculc- or- ganization of a child does not develop simultaneously throughout. Thus, a coid has learned o push his arms about and run while it is still a difficult matter lor him to pick up a pin. J. Liberty Todd of Philadelphia has de- veloped a remarkable system of drawin on this basis. Fus younger pupils stan at the board, and with both hands araw large free designs in place of the crariped affairs usually found In drawing-books. There {s food for thought here for those who are trying to drag woodwork down into the primary grades, the proper place for clay modeling anu carupoard work. We cannot develop the pupils’ self-re- llance by doing nis work for him or caus- ing It to be done by machinery. So the Sloyd idea requires that the exercises shall be reasonauly within the pupil's ability of performance. The suggested use of models is import- ant, A birdcage does not make for tne highest motive. A birdhouse does. In general, all modéls making for destruc- tion and detention are to be quietly dis- placed for those which are constructive aad altruistic .n their suggestions. In shaping model series, the American tendency of late years gives preferment to school apparatus over articles of home use. It can hardly be otherwise in this day of correlation of study. 3 WALTER J. KENYON. Stanford University. ON THE BLACKBOARD. Berkeley will not Have a new High School this year, = | “The Mayfleld School District in Santa Clara County has decided to issue bonds to the amount of $14,000 for a new school building. ey The senior class of the Alemeda High Bch?(ol will give a fancy dress party next week. County Superintendent Margaret M. Mogean and a large delegation of teach- ers from San Bernardino attended the re- cent convention in Los Angeles. « s e The bond election at Big Pine, Inyo County, resulted {n favor of the propo- sitlon for a_new school house by a large majority. Exact details of the building have not been determined, but many favor a two-story addition to the pres- ent building. On april 4 the Berkeley Board of Edu- cation held its regular meeting, at which the question of calling an election for a direct tax for school purposes was dis- cussed. e s s On the 23d of this month the Trustees of the Redlands Grammar School, San Bernardino County, will call an election to determimne the issuance of $7000 in bonds at 6 per cent interest. It is intended to build a two-story four-room front to the State-street school house. The archi tect's estimate for the proposed addition is $6000, but any surplus from the bond issue can be advantageously used in re- palrs on the K.lngsbu.ry -.chool building. The Schoolmasters’ Club of San Diego recently adopted resolutions favoring the either side. NOVEL SCHOOL BUILDING. New York is to have what it is hoped will be a model school building, which is to be erected on One Hundred and Fourth street, running through to One Hundred and Fiith street, west of Firs the form of a letter H, thus making room for large open playgrounds It will be five stories high and built with a steel skeleton. The first story includes boys’ and girls’ play glazed brick and floored with asphalt, and furnished with abundant facilities It will be built in on avenue. rooms, wainscoted with for obtaining drinking water. In one of the wings two kindergarten rooms have been laid out, with direct communication with the courtyard. The main entrance has a tiled floor. Offices for the medical inspector and janitor ad- join the vestibule. These also have tiled floors and are furnished with all ne- cessary conveniences. The second, third and fourth stories are divided into sixteen class rooms each, a total of forty-eight. The wardrobes are outside the class rooms and are so arranged as to be easily accessible. They are alsp thoroughly venti- lat{'l and each has a coil of steam pipe to dry clothing when damp and to maintain a circulation of air. The fifth story is designed to provide for man- ual and phy§|c?l training and to supply room for a library and reading room. 5 This l?ulldmg will be heated by a system which provides for each child thirty cubic feet of warm, fresh air per minute, and which also provides for the removal of foul air. The furniture will be of the most mode ., adjustable type, while the sanitary appliances will also be of the most approved and modern style. — A, reduction of the proportion of census and R e J ecelver of the United States Land elhlidran ‘lio elmch teacher from seventy to| Office at Independence. For this reason sixty, and also demanded the abolition of | Mr. Austin will probably resign his pres- e State text bgoks‘. slz;u pgs]!}og at t! 1c coming meeting of the After two weeks of vacation the Red-| o Lo aers wood Grammar School will begin its new ! A fine new_schoolhouse has just_ be term on April 1§. ¢ 'gnlsh‘cd at Tamalpais Sluliog. Marei: The annual examination for graduation i sy from the public schools of Inyo C ity will begin on Monday, April .Ds;gu\l\"u’l last four days. Theé superintendent, S. W. Ausunhand F. E. Dunsmore of Inde | pendence have been appointed Resgister The students of the Visalla High School gave a very creditable presentation of the four-act comedy, “Dot, the Miner's Daughter,” last Saturday evening in tha assembly hall of the Locust-street School, THE GOOD COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO'S EASTER DREAM. — =