THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
7
ATHLETICS AND ORGANIZATION.
That the principle of organization en
ters more into the world of athletics
creates another study in contrasts from
which fruitful lessons ma' be drawn
Sports have passed from the local phase
to that of national dimensions and been
raised to the height of national competi
tion. Not so long ago our paters indulg
ed in their youthful pastimes calling for
untutored strength and endurance with
hardly a thought of the athletes of old
who took their feats more seriously.
National athletic associations furnished
the next significant step, and now the
past and the present are united periodi
cally in the revived Olympic games.
Initial impetus was given the move
ment by the construction of semi-public
gymnasiums, where boys indulge in
wholesome forms of recreation under
competent teachers. In this respect the
Y. M C. A., private societies and educa
tional institutions have been mutually
helpful. But the universal tendency in
all this work has been toward centrali
zation of its direction, fixed rules for all
branches of sport and the adoption of
methods capable of general application.
There can be no doubt that results
achieved have demonstrated conclusive
ly the wisdom of the steps taken.
The wonder of it is the spread of or
ganization to even this branch of hnman
activity. Formerly boys and men en
joyed their sport in a haphazard way,
but now students in the college, the high
school, the lower grades conform to ex
act specifications. The child who has
not entered school tries to perform ac
cording to fixed standards. Even the
neighborhood "gang" studies the book of
rules before starting its 'competitive
gimes. And on the whole organization
has promoted clean, manly sport and
discouraged its opposite. Fair play, as
well as development, has been an under
lying purpose. Ex. ,
PRIMITIVE SCHOOL BOOKS'.
The Hornbook, invented in 1450 and
used considerably up to the close of the
eighteenth century, was the usual text
book of the elementary school. A thin
slab of hard wood was covered with
parchment on which were printed the
capital and small letters, numerals and
so.r.e elementary syllables and words,
says Charles Winslow Hall in the Na
tional Magazine. Over this a thin sheet
of transparent cow's horn was placed and
firmly bound so that no moisture could
penetrate. This, the Bible and the
sampler on which little girls painfully'
' stitched the letters of the alphabet, some
''godly saying" and a border of "herring
stitch," or some conventional pattern of
impossible flowers and foliage and the
legend, "Mary Smith, her sampler," or
the like were about all that the children
used up to the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century. The A, B, C book, Book
of Manners and the Assembly's Shorter
Catechism came into use soon after, and
a spelling book was printed in America
in 1736. The New England Primer, one
of the most popular as well as the most
curious text-books of its time, was pub
lished somewhere about 1687-1G90, and
had an enormous circulation and use
in America.
Harry Jones, of this year's class, is
now taking a complete course in the Cap
ital Business College in Salem.
Nick Hatch, an admirer of the song,
"He's a College Boy," has lately compos
ed a mate for it entitled, "Peg Tops."