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PICTURE FOR LANGUAGE WORK

The above picture should be placed where the children who are to write can see it. The pupils should be requested to write an accurate description. Accuracy should be emphasized. There is sufficient in this picture for a composition of one hundred words for a child of ten. An art critic might write a book about it. The teacher who sends us by May 1, 1898, the best composition written by a pupil on the above subject will be sent free a picture of Lincoln for the school room. HARR WAGNER, EDITOR WESTERN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, 723 Market St., S. F.

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NEW SERIES-VOLUME III

OLD SERIES.-GOLDEN ERA-VOL. XLIII.

WESTWARD THE STAR OF EMPIRE TAKES ITS WAY

the rate of two dollars a month per inch.

SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL, 1898.

Publisher's notice.

THE WESTERN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION succeeds to the subscription lists, advertising patronage and good will of the Golden Era, established in San Francisco in 1852. Subscription, $1.50 a year.

Single copies, 15 cents.

See our special combination offer. It will meet your wants. Remit by check, postoffice order, Wells, Fargo & Co,, or by stamps.

ADVERTISEMENTS-Advertisements of an unobjectionable nature will be inserted at

MSS.-Articles on methods, trials of new theories, actual experiences and school news, reports of teachers' meetings, etc., urgently solicited. Address all communications to HARR WAGNER, Editor and Manager, 723 Market Street, S. F. THE WHITAKER & RAY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. Entered at the San Francisco Post Office as second-class mail matter.

The Official Organ of the Department of Public Instruction of the State of California.

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NUMBER 4

ESTABLISHED 1852

A Word With The Official JOURNAL OF EDUCATION should School Trustees be the means of communication of district with district; of school with school; of trustee with trustee; of teacher with teacher; of State Superintendent of Public Instruction with his co-workers. It should be welcome in the home of every trustee, and in every school library. The money that the State pays for it is not an extra tax on the district. It is the appropriation of one dollar and fifty cents of money that is already provided for. You get the JOURNAL fresh and timely each month instead of one dollar and half's worth of apparatus upon which the dust so frequently gathers. We ask you to, welcome the JOURNAL and we ask this because we know that there is prejudice against "a subsidized journal"--a prejudice that is almost impossible to overcome. The word subsidy is offensive. It is not the right word, for the official journal is no more a subsidized institution than is your teacher, school, or the State University. The designation carries with the journal a subscription, just as the organization of a school district carries with it an appropriation of State funds. We have an earnest desire to make the JOURNAL worthy your commendation.

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Dr. Andrew S. Draper has definitely decided to remain at the head of the University of Illinois. He refused all the alluring offers of the Board of Education of Greater New York to accept the Superintendency. Supt. Maxwell of Brooklyn, a native of Ireland, forty-seven years of age, a man of great energy, considerable experience as a journalist and eudcator has been chosen as the leader of the educational torces of Greater New York.

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Dr. Andrew S. Draper in one of his addresses at the Metropolitan Temple before the C. T. A. made the following kindly reference:

"Your educational leaders came into the national educational meetings with a clearness of thought which is encouraging. know John Swett almost as well as you do for he has contributed to the educational advancement of mankind."

The Value of The great ridicule of the boy who seriously recited School "The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck" Oratory the slurs cast upon the boy declaimer and on the teacher who incited the child to high ambition, have resulted in dispensing with Friday afternoon exercises in many schools. Oratory has had its place in history, it will have its place in the future. It is more natural than reading. "Why is it," says Sam Slick, "that if you read a book to a man, you set him to sleep? Just because its a book, and the language ain't common. Why is it, if you talk to him, he will sit up all night with you? Just because it is talk-the language of nature." Talking one day of a certain play, Johnson said: "It has not wit enough to keep it sweet" then, after a pause, "It has not vitality enough to preserve it from putrefaction." This last was his written style; the former, his spoken style, which is by far the better. One of the most valuable talks the writer has ever heard at an institute was the plea of T. H. Kirk, for the school oratory of Friday afternoons. In the stirring events of the future, the boy of today will need the individual expression of the orator. And he will make history and a place in the hearts of his countrymen as did such men as Chatham and Burke, Grattan and O'Connell, Mirabeau and Gambetta, Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, Clay and Webster, Lincoln and Garfield. The noble sentiments they expressed, and the heroic stand they took on momentous occasions, have won for them imperishable renown; and the record of the words they spoke on these occasions has fascinated, and will continue to fascinate, all noble minds for ages to come. Clay spoke to the very point of the necessity of the time; Webster expressed thoughts and principles that are good for all time. The one looked to the immediate necessities or exigencies of the occasion; the other regarded them from a larger and more comprehensive point of view. Consequently Webster is quoted ten times for Clay's one time and yet Clay was far more ardently loved and esteemed than Webster, for the former was a man of uncommonly amiable and magnetic character. Clay was a self-made man; Webster, a man of classic culture.

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The Biennial The law that calls together the Superintendents of Convention all the counties is a good one. The practical results however, the past four years have not yet materialized for the reason that the recommendations proposed have not become laws. The work of the present session, therefore, will adopt the best of the two previous sessions and go to the legislature with the results of six years' deliberations. The school trustees and teachers are interested in this session. The convention should include not only the superintendent, but a school trustee and a teacher from each county. Trustees and teachers should at this time either write to Supt. Black or to the county superintendent for suggestions on changes in the school law, and to note where improvements may be made. State Supt, Black, in his address before the pedagogical department of the State University on Monday, March 20th, gave in a concise form the essential facts in regard to the school law of California. One of the defects which he noticed was the lack of system in the grading of schools, and he will bring the matter before the Biennial Convention so that the law may be amended, and primary and grammar schools be uniform thruout the State.

*

F. Marion Crawford, the novelist, in his lecture, emphasized the fact that this age has produced great characters; that the personality of men stand out in history as in the time of the Cæsars, and gave as examples Gladstone, Lincoln, Leo XIII and Bismarck. Charles Sumner's advice is good to give your boys and girls: "Have an ambition to be remembered, not as a great lawyer, doctor, merchant, scientist, manufacturer, or scholar, but as a great man, every inch a king."

Debate

in the

The Saturday open sessions of the Department. of Pedagogy of the University of California are School of great interest. Professor Elmer E. Brown has the faculty of having topics discussed that are both of human and of educational interest. On a recent Saturday Professor Heaton recommended debates in the higher grammer grades. "A child," he said, "should have something to say and be able to say it Debating gives practice in speaking and practice in compositionIt is best to begin by having the debaters write out their papers and then read them. Afterward the pupils may be allowed to speak from notes.

"The habit of arbitrarily choosing sides is, I believe, a pernicious one. Teach the children honesty; never choose sides for the pupils, but let them speak as they wish. Assign sides at first, but as the pupils study the question, if they change their minds, let them change sides, and even if there should be three on one side to one on the other it is better than to inculcate dishonesty in the children's minds. Not only should the language of the debater be criticised, but he should be held down strictly to facts, and not be allowed to make wild and unauthorized statements that are so common in many debating societies."

* *

The school teacher as well as the preacher should always be as near possible an example of scholarship, patriotism, manners, and all the other ethical qualities that are required to be taught. The following story from the Boston Transcript will illustrate the point:

In a school in Boston not far above the primary grade, the teacher was one day reading a story the subject of which was borrowing. She supplemented the reading with some remarks of her own, which she closed with this parting admonition :

"Above all things, children, when you have occasion to borrow, never forget to return the borrowed article. Do not put the person who was kind enough to accomodate you to the trouble of sending for it.”

"While she was still speaking, a knock was heard at the door. "Come in," said the teacher, as soon as she had finished her A pupil from another department entered, and stood

sentence.

waiting.

"Well, what is it, please?" said the teacher.

"Miss Blank says," the visitor called out, in a voice loud enough to be heard all over the room, "will you be kind enough to send back her blotting pad which you borrowed the other day?'

Teachers'

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Superintendent A. M. Phalin of Contra Costa

Meetings County has originated a new plan of teachers' meetings. He invites in March of each year all the teachers to meet together and discuss promotions, questions for examinations, the course of study, the good of the schools, the advancement of the pupils. The teachers respond to his invitation and the meetings have been of great benefit. It is claimed by many teachers that the day thus spent is more profitable than the week of the county institute. The discussions are less formal, the questions more practical, and the results immediate. Mr Phalin is an experi enced teacher, a man who has devoted forty years of his life in the class of schools that he now supervises. As Superintendent of Contra Costa schools he has made a record for sound views and practical school work.

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PRIMARY METHODS

What Was It?

Guess what he had in his pocket.
Marbles and tops and worn-out toys,
Such as always belong to boys,
An old jew's-harp and a rubber ball?
Not at all.

What did he have in his pocket?
A soap-bubble pipe and a rusty screw,
A piece of watch-key broken in two,
A fish-hook in a tangle of string?
No such thing.

What did he have in his pocket?
Gingerbread crumbs, a whistle he'd made.
Buttons, a knife with a broken blade,
A nail or two and a piece of gum?
Neither one.

What did he have in his pocket?
Before he knew, it slyly crept
Under the treasures carefully kept,

And away they all of them quickly stole. 'Twas a hole.

Reflection

- Sel.

BY ALICE WELLINGTON ROLLINS

"Come and see the flag, mamma, here in the lake!

Red, white and blue-the stars and stripes and all,” I bend to see the bright reflection fall Where the clear waves the mirrored picture take. "Of course it's not a real flag down there, thru," My little son explains with careful sense Of truth exact; then adds with tone intense, "But somewhere there must be a flag, you know, Or else this wouldn't be there." Then he lifts With intuition quick his eager eyes

To where the real flag floats in the summer skies, While on the lake its mirrored semblance drifts.

So when philosophers with subtle art,

Debate, deny, demand "Why is it so?"

I answer with my child's "Somewhere, you know, Must be the truth reflected in my heart."

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"Hunt for them, then. If I should buy as many more you would lose them," was his father's reply, not knowing what John meant by "lost."

"I don't mean that I lost them in that way," added John. "I lost them playing keep.

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"Playing keep! What is that?' asked Mr. Dove.

"Well, you know how boys play marbles, papa. That is the way we play, only the boy who wins takes all the marbles, and the boy who gets beat loses his. I lost every one of mine in that way."

"You surprise me, John, I never thought my boy would gamble with marbles." Mr. Dove said this with much feeling, for he meant what he said.

"Why, papa, it is not gambling to play marbles. I would not gamble for anything."

John meant what he said just as much as his father did. He was a good boy, and did not stop to think that "playing keep" was gambling.

"Lock here, my son," continued Mr. Dove. "Suppose that you had a pocket full of cents instead of marbles, and you put up ten of them in play, and the boy who beat got them; is not that just what gamblers do?"

John looked up with surprise, it was a new idea to him: but he said nothing because he was thinking. His father added:

"See here, my dear boy, to gamble is not what you gain or lose; it is the act of putting up what you gain or lose. You can gamble with apples, nuts or sticks of candy. You do just what gamblers do when you stake marbles or nuts only they use money instead of these. Do you see it now, John?"

"Yes, father, I see it now. I never thought of it before. I will not play "keep" any more if you will buy more marbles for

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me.

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and showed it once in a while.

She always wanted me to be thoughtful.

Her actions helped me to do better.

If you did not get your lessons, she was so sorry that it made

you ashamed.

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Does not scold us one time, and then be awful good for a while.

Always meant what she said.

Always thought before she spoke.

Always got our attention.

She don't feel satisfied when her pupils don't have a good

lesson

She was interested in her pupils' habits and reading. By making things pleasant, so I felt like working.

nfluenced the art of all succeeding generations!

INTERESTING STUDY

OF THE IRIS

BY KATHERINE M. BALL.

heralds of the infinite and proclaim your messages of promise."

How emphatically the beauty of the world in which we live is born in upon us, during this spring season when Dame Nature has newly colored all her various creations; when the air is fresh and clear, the sky is true and blue, and the grass is tender and new.

One has but to come in contact with the country, to feel this freshness, to see this beauty; and to partake of and be at-one-ment with the prevailing joyousness of the season.

What a source of satisfaction it is then to live--especially when in full realization of all there is, appreciating and enjoying every part of it. The tolerance of existence with its questioning motive takes wings at the sight of baby blossoms that so appealingly lift their gentle heads above the unfolding blades of grass, and tell us again the ever told story of eternal life.

All the various manifestations of nature, are to the thoughtful, but the charac ters by which she expresses herself. As we are wont to say of an art product--there are two things to be considered, the conception and the artistic treatment; so in nature's creations, the thought to be conveyed, the story to be told, the lesson to be taught, is the primary motive, while the rendering--the things employed for this expression-the beautiful forms and the charming combinations of color, are but the means by which she allures and entices us to a serious study of her works.

And what are the various stories that different flowers tell us? Nature's language is not always clear. She is expert in concealing and reveals only to those who seek diligently and earnestly.

What are the different sensations that each one inspires in us? For example, the golden rod or daisy, the poppy or baby-blue-eye, the wild-rose or forget-me-not, the columbine or gentian, or the lilly-of-the-valley or the pansy? And tho we think so lovingly of all of them, the sentiments which the mere mention of their names awakens in us, are as different as the flowers themselves.

Flowers are interesting from several points of view,--from the beauty of their shapes and colors, from the sweetness of their odors, from the spiritual thought they unfold, and from their historical association.

What important part did the lotus-that goddess of plenty whose coming prophesied that none should hunger--play in old Egypt!

How its deification and general use as a symbolical decorative motive have

Then in comparison with this ancient lily of the rivers, we may revert to the more modern, our own lily of the fields, the iris, whose masses of dark foliage, at this season, stand in strong relief against young grass, and whose graceful, shapely heads tend toward the sunlight proclaiming their messages of promise

to mankind.

Iris is a word of Greek origin, meaning rainbow, and according to the prevailing custom of the ancients to personify the various expressions of nature, the rainbow represented a goddess whose mission was to bring messages from the gods to mortals. We are told that she vied with Mercury in the rapidity of her flight, and that no one would have known she had passed but for the brilliant trail she left behind her in the sky.

"Like fiery clouds, that flush with ruddy glare,
Or Iris, gliding thru the purple air;
When loosely girt her dazzling mantle flows,
And 'gainst the sun in arching colors glows."

It is interesting to see how different people in different times have given almost the same interpretation to this heavenly sign. As in Greek mythology it represented a celestial messenger, so in Norse mythology it is described as a bridge by which all heroes ascended into heaven, and in German folk-lore as the road by which the righteous are led to paradise. In the book of Genesis we find it spoken of as a bow of promise. the clouds and it shall be a token of covenant between me and the earth."

"I do set my bow in The name iris was doubtless given to the flower not only because of its radiant color, but because of it aspiring tendency, in which it must have conveyed the corresponding thought of the rainbow.

One of the most interesting historical associations connected with this flower is that of the fleur-de-lis, which by some writers is thought to be a conventionalization of the iris, tho this is a disputed point. Some claim that it is derived from the lance-head, while

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