n Sunday. iblic schools on Sunroused opposition on New York Presbytery n. The ground taken › departure will be to axwell has expressed ain contentions of the ing of the schools on o the field belonging Others go so far as are evidence of indifty to religion. Here seriousness there can ss, wrong in his con ished declaration that o diminish attendance is in the conservation 1 carry great weight startled at the little atad yet it is the main n the public schools it ht to the children in ave another effort to dren who attend the bted that a child who ld be likely to come f music. n--the schools were › branches of knowlhem power in a comildings are employed I of educatioh will not uildings. The statehe schools are for the religion at all" is not eople;" they are for ." How would it do tropolitan Museum of s should scrupulously re stoutly fighting for If it is in the power nt to Sunday-schools Whatever the school g the religious instrucitself to sectarian purIt should aim at the of the community in and purpose. In purund necessary to enradition had sought to correspondent is not ht when he seeks to of endeavor for makcommon school availa ren. che Sunday afternoon ay from Sunday school. particularly weak for never been any objecerts during the summer ossible that the clergynd August in Europe less, in need of church nometer rises above a all depends upon the class of music that is offered, but Our correspondent asks, "How would it do to have The resignation of Associate Supt. Hubbard R. Yetman, of New York city, has opened the way to the appointment of Dr. Clarence E. Meleney on Superintendent Maxwell's staff. It has been understood for some time that Mr. Yetman would not long remain a member of the central supervisory board. He has been for a number of years a prominent figure in Staten Island politics. Before being rewarded with the school superintendency of Richmond he had served as a member of the New York State Assembly. During the past year he has -been given charge of the truancy system of New York city, but was relieved recently by District Superintendent C. E. Meleney. Mr. Yetman's natural term of office would have expired next year. 3 The New York aquarium, under the management of the New York Zoological society, will be closed to the public on two mornings of the week to give teachers and pupils in schools and colleges better facilities for the observation and study of the marine life there exhibited. The aquarium will give suggestions as to the setting up and maintaining of aquariums in schools, and it is expected later to be able to supply for such aquariums, from the surplus of its own stock, various forms of marine animal life, as sea anemones, starfish, crabs, and other invertebrates, and sea weeds and other plant life, as objects of interest and of study in the schools. These plans are in accordance with the purpose of the zoological society to increase the educational facilities of the aquarium. A committee of the University Settlement society, of which Superintendent Maxwell is a member, proposes to ask the legislature to amend the child labor laws, and, of course, those of compulsory education; the former require that children that work shall be fourteen years of age; the latter, that those of twelve years shall attend school eighty days in a year. It is thought these should be harmonized; also that a child going to work should re the older boys and girls because ens, tho that is a good reason, but that ested in matters outside of the little ts usually move in. A teacher rehilippines tells us that the absorbing ads of her pupils was which rooster s in the afternoon. Of course, we Wouldn't, eh? Over the boundary between Chile and t ended, and King Edward VII. has sult; it required three years and nine rveys and discuss the meaning of the se states and settle what was intendeaty said the boundary should follow the Andes; but some rivers started on and then passed thru gorges into the grew out of the confusion arising over arting" and "crest." settled what territory should belong to Chile 21,000 and Argentina 15,000 he disputed territory. This must be the real triumphs of civilization. arn that a disastrous fire in Boston, ght serious loss to Messrs. Dana Estes well-known publishers. The deep snow of the firemen and the water in the fire in the engines. But the firm will a short time, for it possesses unusual nti-cigaret crusade is to be started s headquarters. It is proposed that Iren from all over the land write letters rust, protesting against the manufacUncle Sam will be the beneficiary in ent. That is all the good this thing nufacture of cigarets is not likely to " new plan recently adopted in Minnesota normal schools of the state are credited dance at the State university. e Date of Christmas. - in Kentucky asks whether the birth ok place at this season of the year. It ecember was not the month of Christ's the event occurred in August-from herds were out in the fields with their arth century the Christians found the ng the festival of the Saturnalia, and pagan affair the birth of Christ was same date. This is what places it in t of the Christian festivals have been e with this custom. Ink with our correspondent that it is n this fact to children. The 25th of lay fixed upon by universal consent on Christmas, and that is sufficient. No e from changing the date; besides it If our correspondent should attempt. tmas in August next he would only be present date is convenient. We have to prove that Saturday was the day on rested from his work of creating the e have fixed on Sunday as a rest-day CL special topic National Educational Association, to be held in Boston next summer. The meeting was emphatic in its promises for cordial support of the convention. President Keyes promised the heartiest support of the American Institute of Instruction. The annual dues of that organization, he announced, are to be remitted for the current year, turning over the membership to the National Educational Association. President Eliot said in part: "I have noticed that the executive committee of the N. E. A. has felt a little anxiety with regard to this requirement which they make of every place where the convention is held the requirement of from 1,000 to 2,000 members from the immediate vicinity. The ground for this anxiety was that New England has not taken her appropriate part in the conduct of the affairs of the N. E. A. in times past. The existence of the American Institute of Instruction has prevented New England teachers from taking the interest they otherwise would have taken in this national association. But now there is to be the most cordial co-operation between the two, so that this obstacle will not be felt this year." The speaker next referred to the large number of teachers who will come to Boston, attracted by the historical interests of the neighborhood. To meet the problem of lodging the 12,000 or 15,000 people expected, he asked the co-operation of all the teachers, particularly of the women teachers in the immediate vicinity of Boston, to find suitable accommodations for all. But after adopting this rule other problems remain. What is the best method, for instance, after the leader has spoken? How are we to get the most intelligent discussion of the various questions? Is it by short speeches? Is it best to have the whole discussion laid out beforehand? At any rate there is one indispensable condition for the best results of a discussion, that the speakers be on two sides. That there be a difference of opinion. Another important thing is that the debaters should have seen each other's paper beforehand. I am sure from the examination of the programs of past meetings that this convention needs very much a new method of procedure whatever it may be. It is proposed, in the first place, to give the departments of the association a better chance than ever before. The general session of such an enormous body is never the most profitable. The main feature, therefore, should be the department meeting." In closing, the speaker asked for advice concerning the arrangement of the meetings and the subjects to be discussed in the department meetings and the general sessions George H. Martin and Prof. Paul H. Hanus presented the following list of subjects for discussion: What is the present ratio between the municipal expenditure for education and other public expenditures; the necessity of organizing educational experience; statutory regulation of the powers and duties of school committees; the appointment of a standing committee on educational literature; uses of schools and school-houses as social centers; the right education of women and girls; higher salaries and pensions for public school teachers; in the publis :mic. on that trachoma is n the public has been ew York Eye and Ear per cent. of the chilthe East Side are af f the unhygienic con3 been such an influx vhere such cases are le to handle them in ly the only cure for to children in the contact in the pubt it is contagious for hild has the disease of the family to inspection in the rds meeting the sitent is a necessity for o stamp out the dis homa back at least Egyptians, Israelites, ean infection may be who contracted the ago. There has been 50, and it is now conngary, Belgium, and Eastern Prussia and poor hygiene, overerty, and alcoholism. New York among the , but it is also found s, Irish, and especially sserted that trachoma ies, but the evidences cors for its spread are Children. that the eyesight of s is indicated by the sses. The neglect of glasses are two prob Within a few years es of school children we have statistics of ons shows that in the en enter with normal ty-five per cent. have life the percentage of y to seventy per cent., hear-sighted pupils inhest schools, and that to the length of time. Text. the New York city tirely as a suggestion, would be a radical des. An annex is to be half from the present he high price of the ling to accommodate way a scholastic counterpart of the great business blocks, would be fireproof, and would have elevators capable of transporting a class at a time. The basement of such a building could be used for playrooms and lectures without interfering with the rest of the school. The committee admits the difficulty of handling 5,000 children in one building, but it is not inclined to admit that there would be any danger. In case of fire the only danger would be in a panic, and this would be minimized by the superior way in which the children of to-day are managed. To Stop College Betting. The authorities of the University of Michigan have taken a decided stand against betting by students of that institution. Wages aggregating a considerable amount, it is said, were posted on a recent football game, and rumor of this and of other large betting in similar events in which the university athletics have been contestants, led to decided action on the part of the faculty. Resolutions have been adopted fixing suspension as the penalty for betting on any event in which university students participate in the future. The President's Message. President Roosevelt made the following recommendation in his annual message in regard to our national mu seum: I again recommend to the favorable consideration of the Congress the plans of the Smithsonian institution for making the museum under its charge worthy of the Nation, and for preserving at the National capital not only records of the vanishing races of men but of the animals of this continent which, like the buffalo, will soon become extinct. Of the Indians and their education he spoke as follows: In dealing with the Indians our aim should be their ultimate absorption into the body of our people. But in many cases this absorption must and should be very slow. To try to force tribes too fast is to prevent their going forward at all. The large Indian schools situated remote from any Indian reservation do a special and peculiar work of great importance. But, excellent tho these are, an immense amount of additional work must be done on the reservations themselves among the old, and above all among the young, Indians. The first and most important step toward the absorption of the Indian is to teach him to earn his living; yet it is not necessarily to be assumed that in each community all Indians must become either tillers of the soil or stock raisers. Their industries may properly be diversified, and those who show special desire or adaptability for industrial or even commercial pursuits should be encouraged so far as practicable to follow out each his own bent. Every effort should be made to develop the Indian along the lines of natural aptitude, and to encourage the existing native industries peculiar to certain tribes, such as the various kinds of basket weaving, canoe building, smith work, and blanket work. Above all, the Indian boys and girls should be given confident command of colloquial English, and should ordinarily be prepared for a vigorous struggle with the conditions under which their people live, rather than for immediate absorption into some more highly developed community. Venice," from t In 1550 the into the captai under Spanish c place which br recognized by S trol the country the fact that it enty years. Not lack of m from gaining str for an empire, a is more than F It is ten times th The country northern edge pr wall. Close beh out of the sea, a degrees to the sh A branch of th and proceeds no parallel ranges. highest, and it is ing 15,000 feet. From this rang plains swept by t this territory ha uplands. Back from the toward the Orino ing plains of won ing cattle. In numerous va mense forests of explored or distur any and cedar tre canoes in the cou violent earthquak The population millions. There left and only abou As for the so-ca The principal pr Venezuela contai rom him, Venezuela, meaning "Little nuts on the lake of Maracaibo. ritory we call Venezuela was erected eneralcy of Caracas. It remained rol until 1810, when a revolution took ht independence, altho this was not n until 1845. But under its own cons never been peaceful, as is attested by had 104 revolutions in the past sev is but lack of men has kept Venezuela th. The country has extent sufficient it covers 600,000 square miles. This nce, Holland and Germany combined! size of New York state. extremely mountainous. The whole ents to the ocean a ridge of mountain 1 LaGuayra stands a precipice looming ountainside rising at an angle of fifty er height of 8,600 feet. Andes enters the country in the west heast. This covers the country with The Sierra de Merida range is the ery high too, some of the peaks, reachSeveral of the mountains have glaciers." stretches the parimos, black, treeless e storms of the mountains. Much of never been explored. These are the oast the mountain range crosses away o, into the broad llanos which are rollerful richness; they are used for herd leys and river bottoms there are imvaluable trees. These have never been ped. Vast tracts of the finest mahoges stand untouched. There are no voltry, but it is subject to frequent and s. is estimated at about two and a half are about 326,000 of the aborigines t two-thirds of these are civilized. It hat probably 100,000 of these people white man. Many of the aborigines een absorbed. Those remaining belong - They are rather short and of a redThere is one tribe described as the ns. lled white population it is a mixture of rs. There are very few whites in the aniards, Basques, Germans, Dutch, and e intermingled with the 50,000 negro iberated in 1845, so that, at present, average Venezuelan is a complete mixhey are a gay and thoughtless people, g. -oducts of the country come from agri-raising. Coffee is the principal export, econd only to Brazil in coffee produco, and some kinds of grain are also forests of the interior send rubber, ba, and vanilla to the coast for export. f the llamos are a great source of ins large mineral deposits of gold, silasphalt, and lead. The coal fields are have never been worked. pearl fisheries at the island of Margaabout four hundred boats. In spite wealth the country is no better off the Spaniards ruled. Of late even the s languished. the way of manufacturing. There In spite of the educational regulations not more than 400,000 of the people can even read. In 1901-2, $912,035 was spent on education, an average of about thirty-five cents per inhabitant. Caracas, the capital, besides having a university, boasts of a national library of 32,000 volumes and a national museum. The country can boast of no large cities, nor are there any industrial or commercial centers. Caracas is the largest, its population now being about 72,000. La Guayra, which has been the scene of so much excitement recently, has normally only 10,000 inhabitants. Americans are regarded by the Venezuelans as models for emulation. After their own deliverer, Simon Bolivar, George Washington and Grover Cleveland are considered great heroes. In all sorts of ways we have been copied, tho the example set by the United States has been hardly followed.. Science Men in Central Africa. The British Association has accepted the invitation of the British South Africa Company to hold its meeting in 1905 at Victoria Falls on the Zambesi river. Forty-eight years ago Livingstone discovered these falls. With his faith in the future of Africa he believed that the region thereabouts was marked for special development. He saw there the elements of material progress, such as water power, coal, abundant vegetable products, cattle and intelligent tho barbarous natives. Not far from Victoria Falls, Livingstone found the only indication of coal yet revealed in tropical Africa. The British are now preparing to mine the coal. The railroad from Cape Town and Buluwayo is, day by day, drawing nearer to Victoria Falls where the South Africa Company is preparing to turn the vast water power into electricity. England's men of science will see at Victoria Falls one of the wonders of the world. The broad Zambesi suddenly seems to vanish into the bowels of the earth. A wide crack in the hard basaltic rock was opened, ages ago, from bank to bank. Nowhere else is a great river suddenly seen wholly to disappear in a narrow, rocky chasm. At the bottom of this deep rift in the rock the engulfed waters emerge thru a narrow gullet on the left, which is thirty-six times narrower than the river above the falls. delphia. Capt. Alfred T. Mahan, president. Dec. 29-31.-New York State Associated Academic Principals, at Syracuse. Dec. 29-31.-New York State Council of Grammar School Principals, Orson Warren, Elmira, president, at Syracuse. Dec. 29-31.-New York State Training Teachers' Conference. Richard A. Searing, Rochester Normal Training school, president, at Syracuse. Dec. 30-31.-New York State Science Teachers' Association. Dr. William Hallock, Columbia university, president, at Syracuse. Dec. 29-31.- South Dakota State Educational Association, at Mitchell. Dec. 29-31.-Idaho State Teachers' Association, at Weiser. Dec. 29-31.-Kansas State Teachers' Association, at Topeka. Joseph H. Hill, president. Dec. 29-31.-Montana State Teachers' Association, at Bozeman. Dec. 30-31.-Maine State Teachers' Assoc'n, at Waterville. Dec. 30-31.-Michigan State Teachers' Association, at Saginaw. Dec. 29-Jan. 3.-California Teachers' Association, at Los Angeles. A. E. Shumate, president. Dec. 31-Jan. 2.-Nebraska State Teachers' Association, at Lincoln. Dec. 31-Jan. 2.-Minnesota State Educational Association, at St. Paul. Dec. 29-31.-Association of American Universities, at Columbia university, New York. Dec. 29-31.-New Jersey State Teachers' Association, at Trenton. Dec. 29-Jan. 1.-Florida State Teachers' Association, at Orlando. Dec. 29-31.-Louisiana State Teachers' Association, at Baton Rouge. Dec. 29-31.-Missouri State Teachers' Association, at St. Louis. J. A. Whiteford, Moberly, president. Dec. 29-31.-Texas State Teachers' Association, at Austin. Dec. 29-31.-Indiana State Teachers' Association, at Indianapolis. Dec. 29-31.-Illinois State Teachers' Association, at Springfield. Dec. 29-31.-Wisconsin State Teachers' and County Superintendents Associations, at Milwaukee. Dec. 29-31.-National Commercial Teachers' Federation, at Milwaukee, Wis. Dec. 29-31.-North Dakota State Teachers' Association, at Fargo. Dec. 31-Jan. 2.-Minnesota State Educational Association, at St. Paul. S. J. Race, president; J. C. Bryant, secretary; E. T. Carroll, treasurer. Jan. 22-24-North Carolina Association of City Superintendents, at Raleigh, N. C. consolidate severa in a central posi for the support capita of all the so district. The peo have raised $5,000 tion, and the Gen has contributed a such a support t prospects. In eve be made attractiv the educational li agricultural comm and his wife, who year, will be assi teachers for the The courses of stu public school course ing, poultry raisi farming. The suc iment will undoubt to other districts to more efficient kind Tutorial Plan President Woodro ton university, expl tutorial system, in New York Princeto ber 9. He said in p There must come in change in the system dent should not be ex and text-books, but student of America tory, for example, s get up himself a with relation to its opment, not from wh told him, nor from w text-book, but from ered from all sources ries. There is something jects" that is entire dents, just as necess in order to make him There are other subj of the common curri osophy, literature, la it is futile to try to i class-room lectures. Companions, coach for the students in should correspond to advisers, and their a students, he said, sh at your service. like the English tutor Th English make a mist their tutors for life, until they go to seed. to keep an ordinary t five years. This cha transform Princeton there are young me there are thinking you Professor Atwate Pres. B. P. Raym Dr. Raymond told h |