fessedly, there is a great deal of misdirected labor in this world, hard work done at random in a hit-or-miss way, with a painful lack of good reasoning or given data. Where is this lack of training more apparent than in the province commonly designated as 'woman's sphere,' the home, whether in the management of the household, or in that gravest of all responsibilities, the family? The training of children, physical, moral and intellectual, is dreadfully defective, and in a great measure it is so because parents are devoid of the knowledge by which this training can alone be rightly guided. But let us turn from her work to the woman herself. Have we not seen the daughters of rich fathers whose lives are tragedies of aimlessness, and mothers, who, when their families grow up and away from them, are left without an object in life and unable to create for themselves some vital interest, becoming in the end the victims of nerve specialists? Her training should come to the rescue of the college woman and work out her salvation.

"It has been said that common sense has never been superseded by the college diploma. This the most enthusiastic advocate of college training for women is willing to admit. All we claim is that common sense plus the diploma means efficiency."

The Alpha Delta Phi fraternity celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary with the best attended dinAlpha Delta Phi's ner in its history, Seventy-fifth when six hundred

Anniversary. and fifty members

gathered in Hotel Astor, New York, last month. There were represented twentyone American colleges and universities and two of Canada, McGill and Toronto.

A message was transmitted from "Brother Theodore Roosevelt❞ by "Brother James R. Garfield," secretary of the interior, who was one of the speakers. Joseph H. Choate, former ambassador to the Court of St. James, was unable to attend, owing to the necessity of a conference with the President at Washington. The oldest member of the fraternity was, of course, Edward Ev

erett Hale, chaplain of the United States Senate, who was eighty-five years of age on April 3, and was the guest of honor of the evening, sitting at the right hand of Talcott Williams of Philadelphia, president of the fraternity and toastmaster. Hamilton Wright Mabie also delivered an address. Charles H. Hoyt of Cleveland spoke in the place of Mr. Choate.

President Williams then told a story of a man who was going to a YaleHarvard football game, and reversed the Harvard joke by saying that he was "going to yell with Hale." In this way the chaplain of the Senate was introduced. Dr. Hale stood while the cheers resounded for fully five minutes. He began by reciting an old Harvard song that dealt with the founding of Yale. Then he explained that he did not wish to confine himself to New England, but was to speak of all sections of the country. He classed provincialism and separatism as evils, and said that to overcome these was one of the objects of "our fraternity, best of all and almost first of all."

"And listen to these words of an old man," he went on, gravely sweeping his hand toward his hearers. "Listen to this: There are few things made so much for advancement of all that is worthy as the union of cultured men and cultured women. I am not afraid of a lack of the three R.'s in this country. It is to train the leaders that we should strive, to build up the high schools to a higher standard. There are millions of immigrants coming into this country every year, and they must be led, by men like you. If you hang together you won't hang separately, and if you don't work together to this end God Himself will bend from His heavens to lead them. But woe to us if we retire upon ourselves. I and me. My stocks and my investments and my securities. If that is to be the spirit of men it is better they never were born!"

He then exclaimed: "I would like to know who it is in this country that is most admired by young men under twenty-one."

Cries of "Hale! Hale!" came as a surprise, for he laughed as he explained that he hoped it was the chief executive

A novel and interesting plan for the solution of the problem of spelling rereform is presented New Solutions by Frank Crane in a for Spelling Reform. recent "Independent." His plan is, in short, to change the pronunciation of our words to suit the present spelling, instead of changing the spelling to agree with the pronunciation. He says that, as pronunciation is variable, it could be changed easily. There would be no expense to publishers and none to parents for new school books, which would be required, if the spelling were changed. We should not be the only nation to use this plan, if we adopt it, as Germany and Italy now pronounce words according to their spelling. Mr. Crane proposes to adopt the Italian pronounciation, as it is the easiest to speak and most like English.

One of the new proposals which has been suggested is to increase the number of letters to 42 and thus avoid many of the "bramblebushes" into which the youth or the elder ignorant continually falls. We have seven sounds of "A" in English, and some of them are to be represented by new characters, or at least marked with certain accents, which will be distinguishing enough to insure correct pronunciation. Also 3,000 words are to be reformed, most of them being derivatives.

This seems to inject a new element into the plan which had not before been advertised. To spell in one rigid manner is possible, but to make pronunciation on a common basis is impossible. One cannot imagine even the educated people of Louisiana, Philadelphia, Boston, London, Cork and Cornwall or Yorkshire getting to a common inflection, nor would it be desirable if possible. The variation in speech is due to many causes which cannot be eradicated, and it is one of the things which make for the interest of humanity that there is so much variety

of intonation. Every human being is a distinct identity and the voice is one of the most important characteristics.

*

The outlines of a reformed system of education for Prussian women were de

Reform in Education of Prussian Girls.

scribed in the Diet recently by Minister of Education Studt. The reform chiefly aims at the better cultivation of girls' understanding rather than their imagination or sentiment. The reformed high school for girls will consist of nine classes, in which higher mathematics, natural science and political economy, hitherto neglected, will be taught. After leaving the high schools the girls will enter one of two new institutions. The first of these, called the lyceum, is intended principally for those who are unlikely to have to earn their own living. They will receive instruction in household duties and charitable work. The second is designed to prepare women intending to follow a profession or to enter a university. The announcement has excited much interest as clearly denoting a much-needed step toward the emancipation of women in Prussia. The proposed lyceum system is entirely unknown in the German educational system for women.

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dent wherever he may be and lay before him knowledge that he should possess. While it is true that much, if not most, of the information given him could be purchased at a price much less than he pays the correspondence school, still the student is not familiar with technical literature and would not know what to buy. The correspondence schools make the selection and the student pays the bill. When all is said, however, about the superiority of the living teacher over the printed page, it still remains true that there are "many of us" and that it is impossible to open too many avenues for those who desire instruction. There should be no aristocracy of learning. Let

each one get all he can in the way easiest for him and let no one fortunate enough to secure a high grade engineering education begrudge the lone engine-man far removed from books, schools, or persons of education, the little he may glean from his correspondence papers. William E. Curtis, the celebrated correspondent of the Chicago Record-Herald, never thought he was conducting the greatest correspondence school in the world, nor did his vast number of readers ever realize that they were taking a corresponding course, until the advent of the correspondence school. Yet the fundamental ideas in both lines of work are identical. The idea of the correspondence school is the one fact in educational annals of the past twenty years that stands out prominently because of its pure bigness. Probably not less than two million people in the United States have taken one or more courses in some correspondence school.

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To those teachers who have taught in graded schools year after year, until in some cases not only Advantages in their nerves are worn Teaching but their very souls Physical Training. are sick of the wearisome routine, it is suggested that at least some of the number may escape to take up physical training instead. This branch may not be entirely to their liking, either, but there are some points in its favor. For one thing, it is health-renewing to the teacher, as well as excellent and needed training to the pupil. One of the outs in ordinary teaching is that it enforces sedentary habits. The ordinary teacher sits a great part of her time in the schoolroom and on reaching home, the chances are that she spends what is left of the afternoon and part, if not all, the evening, in looking over school papers and making school reports, and most ambitious teachers are taking private courses of study, either to better fit themselves for their tasks, or for higher positions, leaving very little time for out-door exercise. To such teachers the change to giving physical training would be beneficial. In all the larger cities it is taught in all the public schools, and while there are relatively few teachers compared to those

in grade work, still, as in all specialties, such as drawing, singing, etc., there is always a chance for a position. In New York there are sixty teachers in physical training, earning a salary of from $800 to $1,500, in the primary, and from $1,500 to $3,000 in the high schools. In the large city there is also private teaching and instructors in physical culture are to be found in all Young Men's Christian associations and Young Women's Christian associations; in settlements, parish-houses, private schools, clubs and most select of all, in private houses where delicate and backward children have special training. And this branch of work is particularly fitted for the regular school teacher who wishes a change, because her experience in grade work stands her in good stead. green girl has no chance, for in the public school in a city, the applicant must have had at least three, preferably more, years of experience before she can take entrance examinations. Some private schools even demand a college education. This does not apply to those who gather their own classes together. If they have had a thorough training in their specialty, a pleasing and courteous demeanor, that is often all that is necessary, but the position is not a secure one, whereas that in the public school is as certain as anything in this transitory world.

College English.

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The

Annually we read of the despair of college professors over the ignorance of the young men who present themselves for entrance examinations in English composition and English literature. This year is no exception, so that all the past thought-taking over this subject has not resulted in a crop of boys who can write intelligible English or who possess a sound sense of literature. Professor G. H. Nettleton, of Yale, writes, to "The Independent" to ask whether "college examinations in English tend to destroy the love of literature," and the English department of Harvard has issued "A Report on the Examinations in English for Admission to Harvard College, which suggests that the studies for those examinations, if they fail to impart a

love of literature, fail equally to teach the humble but useful art of writing tolerably literate English.

Literature is naturally an alien subject to the youthful mind, says the New York Tribune. In general the prospective college student may have read many books, including some good books, but he has done so in a way free from self-consciousness, as a part of his intellectual play, and they are not literature to him, but just plain "books." His first real introduction into literature is when he approaches the classics. Then he learns the difference between "just books" and "literature." Literature consists of the prosy introduction of some dull sciolist, a text written by some one a long time dead and always spoken of with respect as a "great author," and "notes," and these are the real gist of literature. If you know the "notes" you cannot fail on the literature examinations. So it is with Cæsar and Xenophon, who wrote history; Cicero, the orator, and Homer and Virgil, two of the "three poets in three distinct ages born." When the student, being gradually inducted into literature, comes to the third of this trinity, Milton, another very respectable person who wrote "literature," and not plain books such as everybody might read, this great author, too, presents himself like the rest of literature in fragmentary form, prosy introduction, text and notes, especially the notes. You may read the fragment of text with an uneasy feeling that here is nothing on which any one might pass an examination. But the "notes" are filling; they are the substance of "literature."

Some candidates for Yale were asked how they studied Milton. One wrote:

We studied them (Milton's minor poems) very carefully, over and over again, learning all the meanings of the important words. I was taken over the notes in 's English series. These notes I was supposed to have learned perfectly.

Another responded thus:

Milton's minor poems are very deep, or at least we were taught to find them so, as it requires long study and good use of the Index, Glossary, Notes and Dictionary to understand them.

A dozen or so wrote that almost all the classwork was on "allusions," one explaining the process thus: "We took Milton line by line, and the teacher explained away every illusion." Precisely so! Milton is only one of many authors who figure as in the preparatory list of English literature, all to be had-and apparently all taught and studied-like the classical literature, in fragments exactly fitted to college examinations, “introduction," "text" and "notes." A youth having studied "literature" in this form may even grow to look at "just books" with some suspicion as taking the same outward form as "literature."

To one having learned about literature in this way let us see what is the result in capacity for English writing. For convenience the knowledge of the candidates in both literature and composition is tested in one and the same examination. He may write his "ideas of literature" as an illustration of his English. His ideas of literature are next to nil, and his capacity for the expression of any such ideas as may really find a lodgement in his brain is slight, for his training has been chiefly in writing about literature, in describing things that are not clear in his mind rather than things that are. The kind of compositions he writes. about literature are too familiar for illustration. We should not like to say that these compositions are any more ludicrous than the system. The "pro

scribed" list of books, as the candidates describe them in all seriousness, with their learned "introduction" and "notes," are not more entertaining as a conception. of literature than are the examinations in literary topics as a test of the candidate's ability to express correctly such ideas as he is capable of.

A "proscribed" list of books perhaps we shall always need to have, but we suggest by way of change that the candidates be made to hold up their right hands and solemnly affirm that they have read the books on the list; then that they be asked to write upon some topic more concrete than literary criticism, something within the scope of their personal experiences, like camping out-the solemn affirmation to take the place of an examination in literature, and the com

position the place of the usual test of English. Literature is a thing to be read, not written, by college boys. This principle, carefully observed, might result in better writers in college and fewer writers after college, a great gain both

ways.

The Day of Specialization.

The most significant tendency which an observer of educational progress recently remarked is that of specialization. The time is fast approaching when it it will be recognized that merely a general education, whether on classical or scientific lines, is not alone a suitable preparation for life. Not that culture is less desirable than formerly, rather it is more desirable, but above this general substructure must be placed a technical education which will give that special application to some calling which the coming age will demand. Colleges which devote their attention solely to general cultural training will become of less importance. The institution now known by the various titles of technical colleges, institutes of technology, and polytechnic institutes, are the colleges of the twentieth century which will do most for their students, which will be in closest touch with the needs of civilization, which will provide at once the most cultural, the most rational, and the most scientific instruction. These institutions, by whatsoever name designated, will be the important colleges of the future, because they will give that perfect unity of thought and action, that harmony of theory and practice, which the needs of the future demand.

Roscoe Pound, dean of the law school of the University of Nebraska, at the

first annual banquet Era of of the Chicago AlumCommercialism ni Association of that Discredited. institution, placed in disrepute the theory that a "business education and training" is sufficient for a successful man of today.

"The commercial spirit which has made great strides throughout the country, so much so that in past years it has

been customary for academic-bred men to apologize for their learning when they rose to address an audience, has risen and fallen," he said. "And in every walk of life the man of academic training has been sought as the means of rescue.

"Men of academic training are being elected as railroad chiefs. The 'selfmade' lawyers who thought they could satisfy the needs of justice have tried, and gloomy was their failure. The academic-trained lawyer is taking his place. We called in the academic-trained men, the chemists, and showed Mr. Business Man that he was a failure. Today the era of commercialism stands discredited everywhere."

The thirty-seven members of the faculty of the University of Wisconsin who have expressed their desire to see an end of intercollegiate athletics so far as that

Intercollegiate Athletics.

institution is concerned seem to represent a rapidly growing sentiment. Recent experiences of the "big nine" in the west show that the bitterness engendered by athletic rivalry have not disappeared with improved football rules. Charges and countercharges are still heard and university senates, composed of specialists in chosen fields of research, are still spending their time in squabbling over petty details of intercollegiate relationships, in every case athletics being the subject of controversy.

In the east Williams and Dartmouth, colleges of the same sort, ought to be friends. A little dispute over a basketball game has made them enemies. The latter's inquiry whether the usual intercollegiate debate is to be held remains unanswered presumably because of the athletic situation. These two illustrations, one from the east and the other from the west, are types. There are a good many people who are ready to accept the proposition that intercollegiate athletic contests should be abolished if they are to remain constant causes of irritation among schools which should be friendly one toward another.

Incidentally the experience of the great English universities is recalled. There