Journal of Education

DUST ELECTRIFIED?

Several correspondents have written to learn how I know that dust is electrified-one thinks I am "cock sure about it." He is quite right. Dust particles can be charged and de-charged in the same manner as molar sizes of matter that do not belong in the dust class. Dust particles that are de-charged fall much more quickly than those whose charge is neutral. Similarly electrified the particles normally repel one another; oppositely electrified they fall by attraction and fall quickly. If G. F. will try the experiment described as follows, I think it will satisfy his query: Put a sprayer on a hose nozzle and adjust it so that the spray is as fine as it can be possibly made. Rub a vulcanite comb with a silk handkerchief and hold it close to the discharge. The result is startling; the mist particles coalesce into drops several thousand times as large, and fall to the ground as though they were shot thereto. Water dust is charged and de-charged quickly; dust particles of the air are de-charged with difficulty. Dust particles one micron in dimension require about six hours to fall from the ceiling of this laboratory if the humidity is above 70 per cent.; if it is less than 30 per cent. they remain floating for about ten hours.

This shows that the low humidity of most schoolrooms during cold weather has the very positive effect of keeping the dust-and likewise more dust-suspended in the air for a much longer time than would be the case if the air were normally moist.

As a matter of fact, during the winter season the air of most schoolrooms is drier than that of a desert. The humidity of desert air does not often fall below 20 per cent.; that of most schoolrooms ranges from 24 per cent. to 35 per cent. The lower the humidity the higher the dust content of the air, all of which adds to the natural discomfort of crowded rooms.

ATTENTION TO INDIVIDUAL NEEDS IN

DRILL WORK

[A letter by Superintendent R. J. Tighe, El Paso, Texas, to all of his teachers, dated November 22, 1917.]

There is much time wasted by some teachers in such subjects as arithmetic, phonetics, spelling and correct forms of English where drill is needed in order to acquire the fundamentals by placing too much stress on class exercises, concert work, etc.,

and too little on the correction of individual weaknesses. If the teacher would ascertain what each child's needs are the work might be accomplished inuch more quickly and effectively.

Individual weaknesses in the four fundamental operations of arithmetic are shown up daily in a most glaring manner in grades where the Courtis cards are used. In grades two and three a written review of the number facts once a week will demonstrate each pupil's failures. Time can be saved by having each individual pupil write the correct answers to such number facts, and by then drilling himself in these correct forms preparatory to further individual tests by the teacher. Do not depend on correct drills or on a few oral answers in each recitation to bring about perfection in the fundamentals with the slow or inattentive pupils. Concentrate on individual needs.

In spelling follow the same general rule. See that the spelling lists meet individual needs. No two pupils have the same vocabulary, and even if they had, no two of them have equal spelling ability. In the study of language, the range in the use of words is wider than in the fundamentals of arithmetic, where the number facts to be learned are limited to certain combinations in addition, subtraction, etc. In spelling the daily, weekly and monthly tests show a certain number of weak spots, but the written language lessons also bring out the need of each pupil in these fundamentals of written language forms.

Let each child make lists of such misspelled words for individual drills and devise tests for these. For further information see the leaflet on the teaching of spelling.

In phonetic drill work the concert drill is all right up to a certain point, but in order to secure individual efficiency the teacher must work with each pupil, giving him the opportunity for drill separately on each list of words. This is particularly true in the case of young foreigners who are learning English.

In correcting poor English and in establishing correct forms in their stead, the teacher should first make note of the commonest incorrect forms used in her class. Drill on the correct expressions should follow-constant daily drill for a few minutes-until correct usage becomes automatic. After this has been accomplished take up the individual needs not yet touched on in the class work. Give these individuals the correct expressions, provide for their study, and watch for results. . If this plan is followed in the primary grades, nearly all of the incorrect forms of speech may be eliminated before they enter the intermediate classes. By repetition of the correct form, the incorrect form will eventually "sound wrong," and not until this is accomplished will correct usage become automatic.

M. E., Washington, D. C.: To the active, energetic teacher the Journal is indispensable.

A. H. B., New Jersey: The Journal is a most valuable paper and I could not well do without it.

Fatbers sball bless it,
Children caress it,

All sball maintain it,

No one sball stain it.

Cbeers for the sailors that fought on the wave for it, Cheers for the soldiers tbat always were brave for it, Tears for the men that went down to the grave for it, bere comes the flag!

-Artbur Dacy.

WHERE ROLLS THE OREGON

East of the Cascade Mountains, along the banks of the Columbia, lies Wasco County, Oregon, rich in grain fields, orchards and vineyards. The Dalles is the county seat and principal market centre, where the noble red man walks the white man's city streets and causes no com

ment.

The most interesting feature of the city and county is the county superintendent. During the months when school is in session, Clyde T. Bonney is in the field from Monday morning until Friday night. He has a territory comprising about 2,000 square miles, divided into sixtyfive school districts, each under his personal supervision. When roads are good he goes about in his Ford; when roads are bad he drives a horse hitched to a substantial buggy; when roads are worse he rides on horseback, but he goes just the same. He overlooks nothing. The smallest detail is given consideration. No one knows how he does it, but it is done. It is not necessary for a single one of his teachers to become involved in a quarrel with an obstreperous parent, for he will handle the case. He has even been known to make a forty-mile trip merely for the purpose of securing the co-operation of an erstwhile incorrigible boy. Angry parents come to him vowing vengeance on him and his teachers, but usually go away smiling, and send him a bouquet of flowers, a basket of fruit or a roll of butter the next day.

Mr. Bonney believes his county worthy of the best and so his teachers are nearly all men and women with normal training, pledged to the best interests of the schools of the county.

This year a four-day institute was held, one day especially for rural teachers alone. Here plans for the year's work were discussed, supplies sent out, and instructions given for the opening of schools. All the schools in the county opened the next Monday, an unprecedented event in this section of the country. The great wheels all began to turn at one and the same time.

Clyde T. Bonney has been superintendent in Wasco County for five years, and during that time no boy or girl in his territory has completed the eighth grade without receiving a personal letter of congratulation, an encouragement to enter higher institutions of learning, from the county superintendent. This year another step was taken; he sent a letter with a personal flavor to every child in the county. It was in eight short paragraphs of advice, caution, or appeal. It was a letter a child would be sure to read and preserve. It was a letter that would be helpful to the home and school as well as improving to the child. He signed each, in all more than 2,000.

Every week for a year Mr. Bonney has sent out a lesson on "Thrift" to each of his teachers in the sixtyfive districts. They are given instructions in this subject. Last year a System Bank was established, in which the home, school and county co-operates, encouraging the pupils to earn and save money in a systematic way. Wasco County has the distinction of being the only county in the state backing a project of this nature. Already about

four hundred children have made deposits, averaging nearly five dollars per pupil.

Quiet and unassuming, Mr. Bonney pursues the even tenor of his way, which would be anything but even did not he himself make it so. He is too busy attending to his own business to talk about himself.

Mr. Bonney's acquaintance with every teacher, every school and community and his sympathetic interest in all the problems of all the people are most remarkable. M. L. F.

HEROIC PATRIOTISM

The few non-war people serve as a cause for patriotic devotion. The following Resolutions passed unanimously by an immense audience at a patriotic conference at Minneapolis on November 15:

Resolved, by this convention, that we call on every individual to unite in organizing the people and wealth of Minnesota to the end that our potential strength may be utilized in support of our government in this time of national peril;

That we are in complete accord with our government in declaring that a state of war exists with the imperial government of Germany, believing that Germany's duplicity and arrogant disregard for the law of nations and humanity made any other alternative dishonorable and humiliating.

We urge on our government the necessity of fighting this war to a decisive conclusion, and, that this end may be speedily accomplished, we favor sending an overwhelming force abroad, and that we give to our Allies every assistance possible;

Resolved, that we express our confidence in the President and his statesmanship; that we heartily endorse his clear expression of the vital issues involved in this mighty conflict; and stand with him in the conviction that Germany has forfeited the confidence and respect of the civilized world;

Resolved, that we also express our confidence in Congress and hearty appreciation of the patriotism of the members of both bodies whose loyalty and ability have made it possible to do everything necessary to carry on this war effectively, and we just as vigorously condemn those senators and representatives who have failed to do their duty at this critical time, and who by public utterance and other obstructive tactics have attempted to impede the Government in the prosecution of the war;

Resolved, that we call on every public official and upon every individual of this state and nation to strike down disloyalty, sedition and treason wherever and whenever they raise their ugly heads, and that "Huns within our gates" be suppressed as quickly as possible;

Be it further resolved, that the efforts of any man, newspaper or organization to hinder, delay or cripple our Government or to question the honesty and sincerity of its motives in this war, or to in any way hinder the efforts of our citizenship in the promotion of loyalty and patriotism, should meet with the just condemnation and contempt of all honest and loyal men.

Be it further resolved by this convention that we extend to the loyal and devoted women of Minnesota our sincere thanks for the noble efforts they have exerted in furthering the cause of the Red Cross and assisting in the promotion of loyalty and patriotism throughout the state;

Be it further resolved by this convention that we extend to the boys now in the service of our country, whether on land or sea, our heartfelt appreciation and our loyal devotion for the noble sacrifice which they are making, and pledge our devoted and loyal support with sincere confidence that our flag, under which they fight, and the cause for which they have dedicated their lives, will never know the stain of dishonor or of defeat.

THE VOLUNTEER WORKER AND
SCHOOL SERVICE

BY FRANCES BROWN SKINNER

"What we love we serve, and no less truly what we serve we love the more."

No more unselfish service has been rendered by citizens than that which concerns itself with the proper education of the children through channels consecrated for such purpose.

Help from outside has been given the schools from the very inception of educational activity. It may have started through some friend of the teacher, and then through groups and clubs until now we find well organized associations whose definite purpose is to awaken, stimulate and utilize interest intelligently.

Many a teacher's work has been lightened and made more effectual through loving outside service. Many a child has been made happier through this same service. Movements towards reform are multiplying so rapidly

that old methods must yield to new ones to meet the larger demands. The agitation for better schools, better teachers, for supervised playgrounds, for the training of mothers in elementary hygiene, for the improvement of homes, for child labor laws are all for the children and started from the outside worker. Education is galloping ahead so rapidly that only he "who runs may read," and it behooves the man and woman of today to "make ready" and welcome the volunteer helper.

The outside worker has many a time been rebuffed, been tagged as a meddler and resisted at many points by those even who have answered the call to enlist for the advancement of the human race. It has not uncommonly happened that this "aggressor" so-called is one peculiarly fitted to take part in this or that work, but one who has not joined the ranks of public workers. Many there are who prefer to work quietly and modestly, sowing, the seeds for future fruition; and that these seeds have not been blown away proofs innumerable may be found. It is no vagrant, fickle interest which prompts a person to contribute for the projection of some social measure or a group of people to organize with a definite purpose, but a far-seeing, spiritual vision which lends itself to earnest consecration.

And so the intelligent thinker, the educated man and woman, can no longer regard the volunteer worker as a fanatic, as a busy body, as a perilous person, but one who comes with a message and oftentimes as an angel disguised bringing healing to disorganized work and amelioration to intolerable conditions.

No longer can a city, a state, nay, even a nation afford to turn away the proffers of assistance. But all these proffers should be classified and assigned to their correlative places until well-balanced, well-directed volunteer bureaus have been developed into watchful custodians of the nation's treasures.

BOOK TABLE

HART'S NEW AMERICAN HISTORY. By Albert Bushnell Hart, LL. D. New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company.

Professor Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard is one of the rare men in the educational world. He is one of the foremost men in university work in modernizing the study and teaching of American history, and he is at the same time a vitally vigorous man of the hour. He is one of the few men in whom interest of the grandfathers and the grandchildren meet on common ground. He is one of the few men who can write for school students and adult readers at the same time. In everything he writes there is a virility that satisfies the adult, and a familiarity of style that captivates young people.

In this book-as in the "Essentials of American History," of which it is a revision-Dr. Hart has succeeded in writing "about the things that count" in such a way as to make others feel that they do count. The material has been extended up to the entrance of the United States into the Great War, and all the factors contributing to the development of the American nation up to this point are included. The social conditions at different periods in the country's history, the economic features, politics, military affairs, and above all the great men and women who have in any way contributed to national advancement all these are given their place in the book.

The chapters are divided under separate topic headings with a review at the end of each emphasizing the important things. Geography and map study, both oral and written, are stressed. Correlative reading and study are provided for in the form of topics of both a primary and secondary nature.

SELF-SURVEYS BY TEACHER TRAINING SCHOOLS. By Dr. William H. Allen of the Institute for Public Service, New York, and Dr. Carroll G. Pearse, president Milwaukee Normal College. Yonkerson-Hudson, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas: World Book Company. Cloth. Illustrated.

Price, $2.25.

223 pp.

State normal schools need to survey themselves in order

The fifteen state normal schools of southern New England, each within a short distance of one of the twentysix universities and colleges, many of them with international fame, cannot be compared with a state normal school in a state many times the size of southern New England with only one state normal school. In the one case no young person is more than a two-hour ride from a college or normal school and in the other many are nearly twenty-four hours ride from any higher institution of learning.

In southern New England every one is provided with a high school education and lives at home, in the other case comparatively few can have a high school education without great expense. To judge the second by the first is as professionally cruel as it is absurd. It is a great educational event to have men like Dr. Allen and President Pearse unite in providing a satisfactory scheme for a self-survey.

Every up-to-date business concern takes frequent stock of itself and its affairs. Here is a book which will help teacher-training schools of every kind to take frequent stock of their aims and results. Build-as-you-go self-surveys are a new feature, but they promise to become universal. This book will be of invaluable help to self-surveyors, because it describes methods by which teachertraining schools may conscientiously and satisfactorily study themselves.

Illustrations furnished by a number of teacher-training schools throughout the country show many variations of "learning by doing."

The main topics are: Reasons for Self-Surveys; Pathfinding by Wisconsin's Eight Normal Schools; Steps in Making a Self-Survey; Making Self-Surveys Build-as

They-Go; Administration Problems; Course of Study Problems; Supervision Problems; Classroom Instruction -Academic Department; Training Department's Training; Extra-Curricular Activities of Students; Technique of Reporting Surveys; General Needs of Teacher-Training Schools.

THE GREEK GENIUS AND ITS INFLUENCE. Select Essays and Extracts. Edited by Lane Cooper, Ph.D., Professor of English Language and Literature in Cornell University. Yale University Press. Price, $3.50.

This book contains twenty-one selections covering 280 pages. Besides there is a valuable bibliography. quoted Many of the authors are recognized authorities on the Greek language and literature. The selections and the discussions present Greek literature in a fascinating way.

Obviously the intention is to commend Greek literature to those who might not otherwise become acquainted with it, and to show its wide and lasting influence upon the thoughtful mind of the world.

All will gratefully recall the golden age of Greece, but either there must have been much common clay in the nation, or art and literature were incapable of holding the nation to its ideals. As a fact even classical Greek is becoming more and more an uncultivated tongue. Therefore this book is well worth-while.

LA RUE'S THE SCIENCE AND THE ART OF TEACHING. By Daniel Wolford La Rue, Ph.D. New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company.

The only teacher's professional book that has a popular professional reading is one that is decidedly modern in spirit and sensible in suggestion. La Rue's book is both, and besides, it comes out of the life of a real teacher who never forgets what he learned nor what other successful teachers have told him that they have learned from special experiences. It is a pretty good experience meeting with every experience tested by deep scientific convictions along pedagogical lines with the purpose to magnify the "go" in pedagogy.

Part One deals with Nature of Teaching: Method and What Determines It; Part Two, Method as Determined by the Nature of the Child: Part Three, Method as Related to the Teacher; Part Four, Teaching as Conditioned by Subject Matter; Part Five, Educational Practice as Influenced by the Educational Ideal. The Book closes with a bibliography of useful books of reference.

READINGS IN ENGLISH PROSE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Edited by Raymond Macdonald Alden, professor of English in Leland Stanford, Jr., University. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Price, $1.65.

This volume. Part I, is intended to be a part of a plan to furnish samples of English prose from noted authors. Selections are made (sometimes several selections) from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Walter Savage Landor, Thomas DeQuincey, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and selections from the Edinburgh Review, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the Quarterly Review.

Lovers of good literature will enjoy reading or rereading these selections from well known authors. Mr. Alden has shown good judgment and a fine and cultivated taste in his task, and Houghton MifAlin Company have again made a book which it is a pleasure to handle.

BARNARD'S LINCOLN: THE CREATION AND DEDICATION OF GEORGE GREY BARNARD'S STATUE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, including the Address of William Howard Taft. Cincinnati: Stewart and Kidd Company. Illustrated. Price, 30

cents.

There has rarely been as great interest in any statue of Abraham Lincoln as in that of George Grey Barnard, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft. Its cost. $100.000, indicates its intrinsic value. It is one of the most valuable works of modern art in the world. probably the only bronze statue in the New World in which the lost wax process-the Cire Perdue Process-has been employed. But public interest centres in the conception of Lincoln which

inore.

the artist has revealed in his art. Historians as well as artists are having a lively discussion as to right of an artist to represent a great man as he was when alive, instead of presenting the ideal of the man as he has been hallowed in half a century and Without assuming any ability to enter that discussion we can but rejoice in the possession of such a remarkable book as this with so many views of the statue as it presents. No Lincoln collection can be complete without this memorial volume. It is cause for gratification that Mr. and Mrs. Taft and Mr. Barnard are democratic enough to allow others to share it in a fifty cent edition.

APPRENTICESHIP AND APPRENTICESHIP EDUCATION IN COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK. By Robert Francis Seybolt, Ph. D., University of Wisconsin. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University. Cloth. 121 pp. (6 by 9 inches.)

Dr. Seybolt and Teachers College have furnished the public a mass of well organized material such as has never been available hitherto and not likely ever to have been available but for the study which this monograph presents. It is an exhaustive study of English customs and laws from 1291 and of Colonial laws and practices from 1642 regarding education so far as it concerned vocational training, which then always meant apprenticeship to a trade. Incidentally and most significantly is the injection in the colonies of elementary scholarship as well as trade efficiency. Students of education will do well to familiarize themselves with this most interesting and inspiring body of historic facts and data which represents rare patience in research and much skill in winnowing the essential from the non-essential.

ENGLISH USAGE. By J. Leslie Hall, Litt. D. Chicago: Scott, Foresman & Co. Cloth. 337 pp. Price, $1.50.

This is a wholesome though unusual book. are pleased that someone has dared who cared to search good literature for real usage as against pedantic standards. Originally and theoretically grammar was a statement of good usage by masters of English with voice and pen, but of late men who cannot write good English often try to make writers of good English stifle thought by stiff expression and enervate ideas by caponed English. When one appreciates the age and conventionalities of William and Mary College he can but wonder that from the second oldest college in the New World, an institution that has ennobled the classics and magnified loyalty to standardization in expression, has come a professor of English who tells plain truth about "English Usage."