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ing in school will ever help them into successful industrial careers. The average boy who remains in school after he is fourteen years of age, does so more or less on faith; he takes his parents' word for it that it is well for him to go to school as long as possible. In those cities where a reasonable amount of industrial work has been incorporated in the school program, the question of how to keep boys in school has been solved in a large measure. Conditions are wrong when children must be forced to attend school, and the fault is mainly with the schools themselves. To make them more attractive to children, and especially to boys, the doctrine of interest must be accepted in a larger sense than ordinarily understood by educators.

course.

Of course, it is not an easy matter to anticipate the extent to which industrial branches can be introduced to advantage into the common school It is a matter that must work itself out by an evolutionary process, From the strictly manual training point of view it should never be carried to the extent of teaching grades. However, this question of vocational teaching is one that would take an afternoon of itself for discussion, and I shall not undertake to go into it at all. Every subject is taught partly for the sake of usefulness in after life and partly for the mental discipline it affords. Formerly people went to school primarily for the purpose of acquiring useful knowledge. Nowadays, educators say, "teach for discipline and not for information." Among the masses, however, there is a general feeling that schools are not sufficiently practical. I am inclined to stand with the masses, notwithstanding that my opinion will not be regarded as orthodox among educators. If there is a choice between two subjects, one of which is highly disciplinary but of little use in after life, while the other is equally disciplinary and also useful, why not choose the one that serves the double purpose? In this connection I am reminded of a story-an incident that is supposed to have occurred on shipboard. The supply of meat for the sailors ran out and it became necesssry to take for them some of the meat that was intended for the officers. After a few days the sailors sent a delegation to complain about the quality of the meat. "Well," the captain said, "you're pretty hard to please; you are being served the same meat I have on my own table, and I don't see what more we can do for you." "Well, captain," they said, "it may be that the meat's all right; it may not be hurt any, but there ain't enough chaw to it." That's why the people complain about the common school curriculum; there isn't enough "chaw" to it. The mental pabulum, being too rich, and too much of one kind, the children can't assimilate it and are suffering from mental indigestion.

A question that is argued quite frequently is the value of domestic branches in the school-work. Some claim that there is no need of such instruction in schools; that there is ample opportunity for teaching these things at home. A moment's reflection will show their error of that argument. If the manual training theory is correct it justifies the teaching of domestic branches. Such sewing and cooking as a child would do at home is very likely to be a constant repetition day in and day out, and hence involving no particular mental effort. On the other hand it is possible to

arrange a progressive series of exercises in sewing and cooking so that a girl will receive from them much the same benefit that a boy derives from his exercises in wood or iron. The trouble is we are so familiar with these domestic lines that our very nearness blinds us, and we fail to see that they are capable of furnishing good material for educational purposes.

In conclusion, I would emphasize again the importance to you in the field of child study of this fundamental principle of manual training-the principle of mental development thru physical activity. And especially during infancy the order of development may be the opposite of what you have frequently assumed. It isn't that a child learns to do certain things at a certain time or age because his brain has developed to the proper degree to enable him to do those things. It is generally the other way. The child does a certain thing that he sees other people doing, and in his struggle to do these things he develops power and capacity to do other things. Hence we should not deprive the child of opportunities to do things that require an effort. It is better that he should learn to walk without the aid of a walking-chair or other support. If at the age of three months he tries to sit up by his own efforts we should not be too ready to prop him up with a pillow. He enjoys the struggle and the victory, and he is laying the foundation— the will power-to enable him to overcome greater difficulties in after life. Make everything easy for him and you make him mentally incompetent. The men of strongest character are those who have had to overcome the greatest obstacles. "We learn by doing" is another way to express this same principle, which I urge is worthy of the fullest acceptance, for it underlies the kindergarden and the manual training movement in general, and is upheld by the best results of modern educational progress.

It is not rash to affirm, that a consequence of the new international position of the United States must be to give foreign affairs a measure of popular interest and importance far beyond what they have hitherto enjoyed *** Such a change will import no decline of patriotism, no lessening of the loyalty justly expected of every man to the country of his nativity or adoption. But it will import, if not for us, for coming generations, a larger knowledge of the earth and its diverse peoples; a familiarity with problems world-wide in their bearings; the abatement of racial prejudices; in short, such enlarged mental and moral vision as is ascribed to the Roman citizen in the memorable saying that, being a man, nothing human was foreign to him.-Richard Olney.

In reality, there is no poorer way to celebrate a national anniversary than by closing the schools. In my opinion, an ordinance should be adopted forbidding the closing of schools on Lincoln's birthday or Washington's birthday, but requiring in its place that a reasonable amount of time shall be devoted to setting forth in an attractive way the public services of these great men. That would be a common-sense method of celebrating these events.-Supt. Henry Emerson, Buffalo.

56

The Western Journal of Education.

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C. M. DRAKE.

N my young days we had spelling schools once a week during the winter

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was the autocrat of the evening. But sometimes an over daring, restless innovator would propose to end the session by spelling down on geography names.

There were almost as many kinds of geographies in each school, in those days, as there were pupils in geography, and it was quickly seen that each geography had its own plan for spelling geographical names. There was naturally the greatest variation in foreign names. Travelers in foreign lands didn't hear the foreign names alike; they spelled them after fashions of their own, and often the same cities would be given entirely different names.

By and by geographical societies were formed in different countries. These societies interchanged papers and maps. The British Admiralty be

gan to publish for general use, a system of charts. These charts, perhaps more than any other one thing, settled the names and spellings of capes, bays, islands, and ports. Then the United States began to make charts, adding to and sometimes changing the British charts. Local names were given preference over the names of midshipmen, lords and others, whom the captains of exploring ships wished to honor. Still, there was much confusion. So President Harrison, September 4, 1890, created "The United States Board on Geographical Names."

To this Board the disputed names and spellings were referred, and it meets occasionally and decides upon the official spelling of the various names submitted to it. Naturally, the most of these names are of places within the United States; but for the guidance of consuls and others, the spelling of many foreign names have been authoratively fixed. Countries, states, counties and cities, are named by law-making bodies. Explorers, settlers, coast survey parties, and others name the mountains, rivers, etc., upon the maps. Railroads name the stations. The postoffice department names the postoffices, and queer work all of these make of the names at times.

The Board quickly recognized these general laws:

1. A local name in general use should be adopted; also local spelling and pronunciation.

2. Hyphens, possessives, diacritic marks and useless additions like city, town, courthouse, etc., should be omitted.

3. Where two or more names are sanctioned, choose the one most appropriate and euphonious.

4. Combine double names into one where possible, as Lafayette, Eldorado. 5. Try to reproduce native sounds by a systematic alphabet, using k for hard c; u for oo; f for ph; i for y as a vowel, and e for ee; boro for borough, and burg for burgh.

The above is a summary of the principal rules by which the Board

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