John H. Finley, Commissioner of Education of New York State, has gone to France to observe the methods by which the forces of the schools and the pupils of that country have been utilized during the war. He is sent by the Regents of the State and has the endorsement in his mission of President Wilson. He also bears letters from Theodore Roosevelt, from the French Ambassador and others which will give him the highest official and personal standing for his investigations. He expects to be absent some two months.

This summer teachers from all the Western States will rendezvous in great numbers in Yosemite National Park. Hundreds of vacations are already planned and arranged for in California's scenic wonderland.

The Desmond Park Service Co., United States Government concessionaire in the park, expects to take care of 2500 teachers from Portland during the period from July 17th to 25th. The convention of the National Education Association at Portland will disperse on Saturday night, July 14th, after a week's session. The Desmond special will convey the excursionists from Portland to Yosemite via San Francisco. These excursionists will travel both by the coastwise steamers and the Southern Pacific. In the Park "N. E. A. Day" will be observed with befitting ceremonies in honor of the visiting teachers. There will be many side trips arranged and a derful night celebration at Yosemite Falls Camp. If the proposed plans mature, "N. E. A. Day" will be one of the most memorable and pleasurable gatherings of American teachers ever known in the history of the Association.

Won

That Yosemite National Park is finally coming into its own is quite evident from the increase tourist travel to El Portal over both the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe this spring. For the months of April and May the increase in volume of travel over any previous like periods is almost 12 per cent. Quite remarkable in face of the unsettled war conditions and a general depression in travel the world. over. The wonderful efficiency and systematic administration of Desmond Park Service Company in the valley must be credited with this remarkable improvement.

An interesting bit of news is just to hand in effect that the palatial new Glacier Point Hotel will be open in time for the visiting teachers from all parts of the United States to visit it this coming July. From the balconies the panorama of mountains, waterfalls and engulfing canyons is beyond all description and unsurpassed by any similar scene the world over. The new Glacier Point Hotel is located on the highest hotel point in the world.

After the close of the Portland convention many teachers will come to San Francisco and then motor into Yosemite National Park.

The Public School Teachers' Annuity The Ideal School Women's Club held its and Retirement Association of San Francisco held its annual meeting on Friday, May 18th in the auditorium of the High School of Commerce.

The reports of the treasurer, Miss Mabel Hall, and the financial secretary, Miss Nettie Stallman, were received, and the auditing committee having found the books and reports complete and accurate, were accepted and ordered filed.

Election of officers resulted in the following choice: Mrs. Marjorie Stuart, President; Miss Cotrel, Miss Burke and Mr. O'Connor, Directors.

Strong pleas were made for a membership embracing the whole department. The amendments suggested by the State Board of Education were discussed. Means of tightening up the law and safeguarding the interests of those contributing to the Retirement Salary Fund were considered.

The last affair given by the Kate Kennedy School Women's Club was a luncheon at Hale's Pompeian Court, May 19th. More than eighty members and guests enMore than eighty members and guests enjoyed a delicious lunch and a wonderfully fine program. Among those who contributed to the day's pleasure were: Dr. Aurelia Henry Reinhardt on "Early California Writers"; Mrs. Ella Sterling Mighells in poems by Ina Coolbrith; Fred Emerson Brooks in his own poems, and Miss Josephine Bryan in appropriate recitations. The season's wildflowers formed the table decorations. The president of the club, Miss E. E. Kelly, as toastmistress, and the different committees assisting her are to be congratulated on the afternoon's success.

last meeting for the term in the sunroom of Hotel Whitcomb, May 24th. The affair took the form of an afternoon tea, and matters of interest to all teachers as well as plans for the ensuing year were discussed. The president, Miss Livingston, and an able corps of officers have made the past year both profitable and delightful.

A SIGNIFICANT CAREER The career of Mr. Joseph M. Shaffer, who has recently been elected by the Secretary of the Treasury to report his speeches on his speech-making tour in behalf of the Liberty Loan, is an eloquent testimonial to the value of shorthand in winning success.

Mr. Shaffer learned Gregg Shorthand at the East Boston High School, under the instruction of Miss Elizabeth J. Fitzgerald, and his work was of so high a quality that immediately upon graduation he received a Civil Service appointment at Washington.

Mr. Shaffer, who is just past twenty-one, is the holder of the most accurate record ever made in a shorthand contest at a speed beyond 175 words a minute. Naturally, such conspicuous excellence attracted. the attention of men higher up, and Mr. Shaffer was called by President Wilson last fall to alternate with Mr. Swem in reporting his late campaign addresses. It was the record he made in this position that was responsible for his being chosen by Secretary McAdoo.

FOR SALE!

California Military Academy, Los Angeles, Cal. A boarding and day school for boys from 6 to 15. Established eleven years. Large attendance. New buildings, large campus, fine equipment. Ideal location.

Address Proprietor, 4001 W. 16th St.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

EL CAPITAN CAMP (American Plan), $2.75 per day; $17.50 per week.
YOSEMITE FALLS CAMP (American Plan), $4.00 per day; $25 week.
SENTINEL HOTEL (American Plan), $4.00 per day; $25 per week.
NEW GLACIER POINT HOTEL (American Plan), $4.00 per day; $25 per
week.

HIGH SIERRA LODGES (American Plan), $4.00 per day; $25 per week.
Full Camping Equipment for Rent and Supplies for Sale at Rates Reducing Cost of Vaca-
tion to $1 a Day.

Desmond Park Service Co., Underwood Bldg., S. F. Los Angeles Office-323 W. Seventh St.

(Represented by B. H. Dyas Co., Phones: Sunset Main 588, Home 60888)

Book Notes

By Eliza Keith

THE PRACTICAL COOKBOOK This book presents in a simple form a large number of tested, and, what is infinitely more to the point in these days of the high cost of living, economical recipes, arranged in such a manner as to show their relation to one another and to the whole question of well-balanced meals. What appeals particularly to me is the tabulation of recipes each under the general subject of its kind, as "Cookies," for instance, under which general head are arranged all the varied kinds of flat cakes, the quantity of ingredients for each, so that at a glance the cook can determine which requires the least quantity of sugar or butter, or compute the cost. In other words, a quick comparison is possible, and what that means to a busy housewife accustomed to turn page after page to find the different recipes for cookies or snaps, and to carry in her head the relative measures of each, this arrangement cannot but be acceptable. In addition to the recipes provided, the book sets forth a practical way of classifying, selecting and combining foods and appends a number of well-planned menus, which combine in proper proportions the necessary food elements.

The Practical Cookbook is published by Ginn & Co., costs but 72 cents, and, as stated by Margaret W. Howard, the author, it has gown out of many years of classroom work, the bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture being one of the sources most freely consulted.

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HOW TO LEARN EASILY This is a book for students, teachers and parents, by George Van Ness Dearborn, and is published by Little, Brown & Co., at $1.00. It is an exposition of effort-saving and time-saving methods of acquiring knowledge. "Those students will heed it most," says the author, "who realize to the effective degree that the saving principles of economics should underlie every rational endeavor, allowing neither time nor energy nor other of the riches of our precious. passing youth to be wasted." As a preliminary statement, the author advances the idea that" in order to study effectively the student must have a real interest in that which he wishes to study." How many of us will agree with the writer when we recall how easy it is to keep a class interested and attentive under the spell of a teacher who has learned to be a good talker, and how soon the interest evaporates when the pupils are asked to study for themselves. Dr. Dearborn's book is full of inspiration for all.

CHICAGO

Charles F. Scott

"Home Labor-Saving Devices," by Rhea Clark Scott. To clear away the drudgery of the kitchen, the laundry, and the diningroom; to make less fatiguing the scrubbing, chicken raising, and butter making, are the purposes of this volume. It is an appeal and a help to put the household on the same basis of efficiency as is found on the modern farm or in the business office. The articles for construction are intensely practical and may be readily made in any home at a nominal cost. Many of them, indeed, are made out of dry-goods boxes,

Own

and later as a teacher in these same schools. Well has he been called "a teacher with a vision." What he writes touches the heart. As teachers, we all will admit the justice of his criticisms, and would be glad to use his arguments in our plea for smaller classes and for closer, more intimate relations with our pupils, and more time for individual work with each member of our class. But as long as the schools have to struggle, first to get any money, and then to work with what money they are able to secure, the vision of Angelo Patri, the author, will be but aircastles or day dreams for the most of us. Patri sees the public school as a great institution, where a thousand and one diverse natures may be so trained that each will reach its fullest development. The book is declared to be significant as indicating a forward step in the progress of educational methods in this country. Published by the Macmillan Company, New York.

$1.25.

timber. It is a book not only for the woman who does all her own work, but also The defor the one who has servants. vices for construction are described and illustrated. Price $1 net; 8vo. J. B. Lippincott Company.

“A History of Elementary Mathematics with Hints on Methods of Teaching," by Florian Cajori. This book should be of interest to teachers and students of mathematics, if it is not known to them already. It traces the growth of mathematics from the early Egyptians, Greeks, Hindus, Romans and Babylonians, down to the present day. It also deals with modern questions concerning the study of mathematics and new methods of teaching. This is the book's second edition. Price $1.75. Macmillan Company.

Vol. XXIII

MEETINGS

Bay Section the California Teachers' Association; Lewis B. Avery, President, Oakland, Cal.; W. L. Glascock, Secretary, San Mateo, Cal.

Northern California Teachers' Association, S. P. Robbins, President, Chico, Cal.; Mrs. Minnie O'Neil, Secretary.

Central California Teachers' Association, F. H. Boren, Lindsay, President; E. W. Lindsay, Fresno, Secretary. Southern California Teachers' Association, Mrs. Grace Stanley, President, San Bernardino; J. O. Cross, Secretary, Los Angeles.

California Council of Education, E. M. Cox, Oakland, Cal., President; A. H. Chamberlain, San Francisco, Cal., Secretary.

California Federation of School Women's Clubs. Miss Anna Keefe, President, Oakland, Cal.; Miss Cora Hampel, Secretary, Oakland, Cal.

California Education Officers, Sacramento, Cal., Hon. Edward Hyatt, Superintendent of Public Instruction; Dr. Margaret Schallenberger-McNaught, Commissioner Elementary Schools; Edwin R. Snyder, Commissioner Vocational Education; Will C. Wood, Commissioner Secondary Schools.

State Board of Education, E. P. Clarke, President; Mrs. O. Shepard Barnum, Charles A. Whitmore, T. S. Montgomery, Marshall De Motte, Mrs. Agnes Ray, George W. Stone.

THE MEANING OF OUR FLAG

If one asks me the meaning of our flag, I say to him: It means just what Concord and Lexington meant, what Bunker Hill meant. It means the whole glorious Revolutionary War. It means all that the Declaration of Independence meant. It means all that the Constitution of our people, organizing for justice, for liberty, and for happiness, meant.

Under this banner rode Washington and his armies. Before it Burgoyne laid down his arms. It waved on the highlands at West Point. When Arnold would have surrendered these valuable fortresses and precious legacies, his night was turned into day and his treachery was driven away by the beams of light from this starry banner.

It cheered our army, driven out from around New York, and in their painful pilgrimages through New Jersey. This banner streamed in light over the soldiers' heads at Valley Forge and at Morristown. It crossed the waters rolling with ice at Trenton, and when its stars gleamed in the cold morning with victory, a new day of hope dawned on the despondency of this nation.

Our flag carries American ideas, American history, and American feelings, Beginning with the colonies, and coming down to our time, in its sacred heraldry, in its glorious insignia, it has gathered and stored chiefly this supreme idea: divine right of liberty is man. Every color means liberty; every thread means liberty every form of star and beam or stripe of light means liberty-not lawlessness not license, but organized institutional Berty-liberty through w, and laws or Berty! Henry Beecher. Ward OCT 2 ning's LELAND STANFORD

"She's up there,

She dazzles theJUNIOR UNIVERSITY:

red;

Sped

light Hations with ripples of

And she'll wave o'er us living, or droop o'er us dead,

The flag of our country forever!"

has laid out the grounds and planted ornamental trees and shrubs. He has demonstrated what a school man can do at little

expense, if his heart is in his work. He has succeeded in establishing one of the most unique school plants in California.

But Mr. Stirling has done more. He has looked after the welfare of the boys and girls of Gonzales in a thousand different ways. He has instilled into the minds of thought that they are preparing to do their those young people from the farms the life work on the fertile acres of Monterey county. He has sent students to the university, it is true, but these students have carried with them the ideals of rural life. Never have I observed a more wholesome

spirit in any high school I have visited. The boys co-operate with the principal in building and planting most willingly. They sing and whistle while they work. They

he found a struggling school, without a building and with only moderate community enthusiasm. He set to work building a school that would fit the needs of the combuilding in stone and mortar. Recognizing munity. He was not ambitious to erect a the limited resources of the district, he decided to build according to those resources. Being a practical man of business, he laid out a plan for his six years incumbency. He induced the board to purchase a tract of twelve acres of fertile land. A tax for building purposes was levied, and with the money thus raised he constructed two modest frame building of the cottage

type. Much of the labor was furnished by him and the high school boys. The year following, another tax was levied, and two additional cottage school rooms were constructed. The buildings were arranged about a court, and connected by pergolas and arbors. This group of school buildings, painted white, presents an appearance as and arbors. This group of school buildings, fine as many buildings costing four or five times as much.

Last April when I visited the school, Mr. Stirling and the boys were building a shed

to house the farm tools and the auto-bus, which is used to bring about twenty pupils from Soledad. Since that time, he has constructed a building to house the manual training and household arts departments. He has also bored a well, erected a tank and constructed a combination reservoir and swimming pool. He has planted a grove of eucalyptus trees to serve as a wind

Complete

are happy in the thought that they are co-operating in a community enterprise.

One of the most interesting features of the Gonzales school is the agriculture club. several acres of the school grounds to All the boys belong. They have planted beans, peas and potatoes this year, and there is every prospect for a good harvest. They have also engaged in planting gardens and raising pigs and calves at home. One proud father told me that his boy had accumulated a thousand dollars, enough to pay a good part of his way to college-all through his home project work. On the day I visited the school to deliver the commencement address, the boys had picked about fifty pounds of green peas. One of the school rooms was converted temporarily into a market, and the peas were sold to teachers, pupils and townspeople. The money went into the agriculture fund, which now amounts to several hundred dollars. Some of this money will be used to defray the expenses of the prize-winning student next year while on a transcontinental tour visiting the principal agricultural colleges of the country.

It is good to visit the school at Gonzales-good to see the boys and girls at work, good to observe the fine spirit of the school and community. And the school is a tribute to the work of Duncan Stirling. We are sorry to lose him from the school work. May he prosper in the work which he takes up, even as he has prospered in the fine work that he leaves.