THE MORNING OREGOXIAN, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27. l?OT.
FURTHER DEFECTS
IN CITY SCHOOLS
Teaching Forces, and System
as a Whole, Deficient,
Says Critic.
TEACHERS LACK TRAINING
Do Not Have Sufficient Education
Xor Take Enough Interest in
Their Work to Study Ugly
Buildings and Grounds.
FINAL ARTICLE ON SCHOOLS.
Herewith is published" the fourth
and concluding article of a series
written by a prominent Portland edu
cator In which the author has eet
forth the deficiencies of the local
public school system as he sees them.
For obvious reasons the name of the
writer of the articles is withheld.
In this final article the author alms
to show that the schools are In the
hands of a clique, and that the peo
ple have nothing to say regarding
the election of members of the
8chool Board, choice being made, he
says, by the City Superintendent of
Schools.
FOURTH ARTICLE.
"What you would have In the Nation,
first put Into the schools," said a noted
educator.
"As the teacher, so the school," Is an
other great truism which no one hesitates
to accept.
. In spite of poor teaching, some forge
to the front by Innate self will. The
many, however, need helpful stimulus.
Our schools exist for no other purpose
than to help the child to come to his
best to beget growth not to dwarf
growth.
To summarize some of the points where
in our school system Is lacking, In our
opinion, the following la again urged for
public consideration:
First Our City Superintendent and his
assistant lack broad scholarship, both
having no scholarship record above a
secondary school, not even a college or
university course, to say nothing of post
graduate degrees. So far as we can learn
neither, one has ever taken any of the
lecture courses In higher pedagogy, of
fered by such universities as Clark or
Columbia, as many of the leading edu
cators of our country have been doing
' for years. -
Principals Are Not Ambitious.
Second Few of our principals have
6hown themselves students of their pro
fession, either by taking a year's leave
of absence for study at home or abroad
. or even for a Summer course at the ped
agogical universities, as the principal of
other school systems have been encour
aged to do and have done In large nura
bers. So far as we can learn, with one
exception, not a principal Is pursuing any
Individual research work on his own
initiative. Such a condition almost out
rivals Sleepy Hollow Itself.
Third The relation of superintendents to
principals Is dictatorial and autocratic
rather than helpful, stimulating and co
operative. The manager of a shoe fac
tory issues orders to . his departments
and shoes of certain patterns pour out
at the other end, all according to pattern,
and each head of a department acts only
as a cog in the great shoe factory wheel,
but principals must be relied upon to
know more than to supervise a pegging
department.
Fourth Teachers' meetings, both local
and general, are made occasions for lec-
ture deliverances Instead of mutual con
ferences, as they should be a part of the
time at least. In these meetings ideas
are furnished teachers and principals
ready formulated, making individual re
search' as needless as It Is unwelcome.
To have ideas and express them subjects
the thinker to shafts of sarcasm and
speedy dismissal. Hearty co-operative
. effort is practically unknown.
Self-Abnegation Wanted.
Fifth The supreme quality . wanted in
both teacher and principal is blind, un
swerving loyalty and self-abnegation.
This is true of the principal. In spite of
uie laci mat ne is called once a year
before the teachers' committee to be
placed on record as to the loyalty and
teaching power of his corps of teachers.
It Is an open secret that those principals
who dare to do so shift the undesirable
teachers upon their less fortified brethren
of the craft and they, not daring to urge
the dropping of such teachers, are dis
creetly silent. Jest their own heads fall.
It thus happens that good teachers may
come and good teachers may go, but these
barnacles of bygone times outride many
a stormy sea.
First Every person connected with
'the school system should be a man or
1 a woman of exemplary character and
not pronounced freethinkers and of
doubtful moral Influence as some have
been and, it is asserted, -still are.'
Seventh The qualifications for
teachers and principals should be raised
to keep pace with educational prog
ress and a larger wage. A large per
cent of both are teaching subjects be
yond which they have made no aca
demic preparation to say nothing of
pedagogical equipment. Thus it ap-
pears that our children must be led
by men and women whose Ideas and
Inspirational power are begotten of
research scarcely above their own.
Teachers JLack Training.
Eighth Nearly if not Quite half of
the present corps of teachers were edu
cated in the city schools and have no
further training, except in the superin
tendent's teacher hatchery. This con
dition of Inbreeding is the ruin of any
system and totally out of harmony with
prevailing methods of choosing corps
of teachers In other large cities of our
rank. This inbreeding system has
robbed our schools of Initiative,
growth, cosmopolitan standing and
that esprit de corps which characterizes
most school systems.
Ninth The election and dismissal of
teachers and principals by the dictum
of superintendent alone allows of and
has resulted in the depleting of the
ranks of strong, progressive teachers
or has so handicapped those who re
main that they are robbed of much of
their power as instructors.
Tenth The summary dismissal of
teachers and principals at the extreme
close of the year without a stated cause
Is out of harmony with the. almost uni
versal methods of other cltle3, which
elect their corps" in the Spring. By the
plan now in vogue here a teacher is
robbed of his or her good name than
which nothing is or can be more valuable-.
: The present methods is good
enough for the dismissal of incompe
tents but vicious when used to drop
Instructors whoBe sole faults are bis
or ber inability to play the game of
"Elmon says thumbs up." Teachers
have rights which even school authori
ties are bound to respect.
More Men Needed.
' Eleventh Education by women alone
is lacking In power inasmuch as the
mind of women necessarily lacks many
points of view reached by men mov
ing among men. A man's Instruction
should provoke thoughts and stimu
late a mental activity not gained by
our American systems.
With the passing of men as princi
pals and Instructors, a stop already
under way In Portland, It comes about
that the boy from the first grade to
his graduation from the h.gh school
gets but little instruction from the
man whose firm hand and challenging
mental attitude at once steadies the
boy's Judgment and begets a power of
wholesome reflection for his sister of
equal years.
Twelfth The isolated position occu
pied by our schools in their tardy adop
tion of handcraft instruction reflects
either a superintendency incapable of
appreciating what the educational
world long ago accepted as of they
highest value or a board of educa
tion equally unprogresslve. for our city
never was, nor is now unable finan
cially to give her children the very
best in education. This birthright
hastened to an effectual condition we
believe Portland will give to her chil
dren when she is stirred to think of
their needs.
Thirteenth The present plan of
certifying teachers by the superintend
ent alone is productive of several seri
ous results: First, It opens the door to
charges of favoritism; second, it allows
of too low a standard; third, it fosters
the pupil teacher plan of a recruiting
station whereby young girls become
fully certified teachers with inadequate
academical and professional training,
with but little experience, and even
this gained under principals' super
vision of very doubtful value.
People Do Not Elect Board.
Fourteenth The election of board
members is by the City Superintend
ent, this coming from the fact the.
superintendent and certain board mem
bers always nominate the new mem
bers and the dear people Just a few
of them only coached by the afore
said Interested parties assisted by their
ever faithful principals, go to the polls
and duly ratify their action. Thus by
default of public interest in school mat
ters these machine-chosen nominees are
elected. Great Is the power of the
ballot! So it Is that our school ship
sails true to the chart, there being but
one master.
by the superintendent and his faithful
friends on the board. By default of pub
lic interest in school matters these nomi
nees are duly elected. Thus the school
ship of state sails true to the chart, there
being one master. Everybody pedagogi
cal Jumps aboard. The bell rings, tickets
are made ready, properly countersigned!
Fifteenth Other cities have schools
with principals of not only state but
Interstate reputation as leaders of edu
cational thought and practice, but Port
land boasts not one.
Sixteenth Music and drawing, thor
oughly established almost a generation
ago in other cities of our size and age,
are with us' scarcely out of the experi
mental stage, both departments being in
inadequately and inefficiently equipped,
and yield Indifferent results.
Kindergarten Work Neglected.
The kindergarten, long since accepted
as a most valuable moulder of chlldllfe
at that age when it Is most plastic a
teacher of those arts and graces which
go so far to nuture the child in happi
ness to discover himself amid his fel
lows and his relation to the nature world
around him this part of other ' school
systems does not appeal to Portland.
Indeed our superintendents assert that
the kindergarten unfits the child for. the
serious work of the first year In school.
And there's the rub, for the first years
are all too serious, with their number
work crowded into unwarranted promi
nence and the language arts underval
ued and undertaught. Our primary
schools are far too serious and force too
early development and too early taxing
of mental and physical powers.
Eighteenth The size of our School
Board Is too small for a city of our size.
Inasmuch as It gives too great power to
two or three adroit manipulators within
the circle of five. The School Board ex
pends nearly as much of the city's rev
enue in a year as the larger, and more
representative City Council with Its
Mayor and his power of veto, and Is sub
ject to no such rigid accounting of funds
as the city must use in its work.
School Buildings Vgly.
Nineteenth The employment of one
architect by the Board has given
rise to a monotonous sameness in all our
school buildings with little or no archi
tectural beauty, and instead of being a
stimulus In city adornment they often
fall below the standard architecturally of
that portion of the city in which they
are located.
Twentieth The changing of plans of
ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC GROUNDS
ARE BEING GRADED IN PIONEER FASHION
'VIS km4' i
L-?r -v.o -v " 9 x - i
J 12J9 'JV -V vx - f X: L - 2J - ?
PRIMITIVE MOTIVE POWEVl BEING
SEATTLE, Wash., Aug. 23. (Special.)
For grading purposes an vld-fash-loneu
manner of securing power Is
being used. At the Alai-ia-Tukon-Paciflc
Exposition grounds oxen are being em
ployed to drag the plows. This primi
tive means of furnishing motive power
is attracting much attention. There is
a good reason for the employment of the
oxen, however.
The exposition site. b. covered with
its original growth of timber, has never
school buildings after being approved and !
bids accepted has been the source of
heavy expense to the city. It is alleged
that Jobbery has found a place in this
part of civic affairs as well as in the
construction of sewers.
Twenty-first Many of the schoolyards
of the city are a disgrace to any city
making any pretentions toward civic
neatness. Most of -them neither afford
utility nor display beauty. If they were
used as playgrounds where children could
get relief from, the confinement of poor
ly ventilated' rooms, they would serve a
far better purpose than as a meadow lot
where hay is made two or three times
a year. Instead of beautiful grass plots
kept in ideal condition the year around,
encouraging a like neatness in all the
neighborhood, our scnoolyaras are often
allowed to grow up to weeds, and thus
reflect our rural and oldtime provincial
ism. The writer would be glad to see
at least half of each schoolyard given
up to a playgr.ound, and the rest. If
there must be any grass plot, Kept as
a lawn should be the pride Of the chil
dren and citizens generally. Even the
Ladd School grounds, in the choicest
part of our city, surrounded by beautiful
lawns, were last year a disgrace to all
concerned, for grass, weeds and brush
ran riot during much of the year. Many
schoolyards this year are unkept and a
standing advertisement of our lack of
appreciation of city adornment. The
holding of a rose carnival last July, all
agree, was a good step in the right di
rection, but this display was sadiy out
of harmony with -the condition of some
of our city parks and other public prop
erty at the time. Let the movement ex
tend next year to an awaKenlng -of pride
In city lawn-keeping as well.
Teachers Do Not Use Libraries.
TwBntv.fannnii Thn use of the city
libraries by teachers and pupils does not
show a teaching oorps alert to the de
. i - nmfpfiRinTi or the encour-
agement of the proper use of books on
the part of children.
m ... . U;-,l EHva1ral training. SO
called, should be done in well-ventilated
halls Instead of in the aepieica air u
. v. nnimnm nrt be so modified that
i . nn r.f the pyerrlses shall be
Kl ivtl.il a yx. .
recreative to teacher and pupil alike.
rather than wearying as now, uu
the need of concentrated enori.
m ..f,irih All school buildings
should be ventilated by a fan system.
whereby the child is noi rooueu ui u
precious life-force by breathing air
charged with disease germs and
robbed of vitalizing power.
SCARE AMOUNTS TO NAUGHT
Boys Think They Find Ghostly Mys
tery, but Police Clear It Up.
For one hour last night the Port
land police thought they were con
fronted with the biggest sensation pf
the season in the shape of three bodies,
reported by two boys as having been
discovered on Ross Island; in the Wil
lamette River, to the south of the
city. Startled beyond measure at their
find, the youths hurried to headquar
ters' and unwound their yarn to Cap
tain Moore. Almost in the twinkling
of an eye he had Harbormaster Speler
and Detective John Price rushing to
the scene In the launch recently pur
chased by the municipality.
That one of the most startling,
blood-curdling sensations of the year
was about to be exposed in all its
ghastly details was the supposition In
police circles, and every one held-his
breath in anticipation of particulars
from the scene. The whole department
was to be put onto the case and the
fiendish perpetrators run to earth, had
the thing panned out.
However, the fact of the matter was
found to be very tame, when the
searching party returned to police
headquarters, bringing- J. Jones, a
clerk for the Woodard, Clarke & Com
pany drugstore, and a satchel filled
with skulls and portions of bones. He
and Dr. O. A. Thornton, of the Good
Samaritan Hospital staff, had been
at work on the island making- the
specimens ready for use In medical
rooms, and for a while the bones and
skull were exposed yesterday after
noon. It was then that they were dis
covered by William Earl, of 363
TTM-e ntrAAt a n H Vorn TlfnTntvro of
, 308 Sixth street.
Chief of Police Grltzmacher released
Jones, after the latter had explained
the situation at length.
Supreme Court Rules Published.
SALEM, Aug. 28. (Special.) The new
rules of the Supreme Court have been
published In pamphlet form and Clerk J.
C. Moreland has sent a large number of
them to lawyers in various parts of the
state. If any lawyers who desire copies
have been overlooked, they will be supplied
upon application to Mr. Moreland.
Metzger'B eye glasses, $1, 342 Wash, at.
Metzger & Co., opticians. 342 Wash, st
USED TO GRADE GROUNDS OF ALASKA-TCKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION.
OXEN BETTER ADAPTED THAN HOUSES.
felt the touch of a plow. In consequence
there are great stumps to drag from
their home of centuries and Innumerable
roots to be cut through and pulled trom
the ground. A yoke of oxen pulls more
strongly and more steadily than a team
of horses. Oxen will start their pull with
less of a jerk, will gradually apply all
the force that is in them and keep the
tension applied till the obstacle Is ex
tracted, or till the command of the
teamster stops them, a horse team, on
the other hand, will give several great
SOME GRAIN HURT
Varying Reports Gathered in
Inland Empire.
CROP BUT HALF GATHERED
If Stormy Weather Continues, Dam
age Will Be Heavy Hail Has
. Injured Many Fields in the
Northern Idaho District.
SPOKAXE, Wash.. Aug. 26. (Special.)
Reports from the grain fields over the
Inland Empire show that heavy damage
has been done to the wheat crop by the
rains of the past few days. At 10 o'clock
tonight the Palouse country reported
clear weather with prospects of resuming
harvest tomorrow morning. Rltzville also
reported a light shower, but indications
are that weather in Adams County will
allow of the early resumption of the
harvest work. The weather was threaten
ing in Lincoln County. At Davenport, the
harvest was stopped In the afternoon by
heavy rains and late at night the Indica
tions are that more rain might follow.
Reports from Sprague were to the effect
that there had been a very heavy rain
and no harvesting could be done for sev
eral days. In the vicinity of Davenport
there has been little damage done as yet
owing to the fact that the grain there Is
all Spring wheat and is not ripe yet.
Around Sprague the croo Is more forward,
and it Is thought the damage will be
greater. Growers in the vicinity of Col
fax say that they do not believe there
has been damage that will cut In heavily
on the output. There will be some shat
tering and this is the most serious
proposition up to date.
Reports in the North Idaho country say
that there, will be heavy damage from
the hail storms which have visited that
country quite frequently this season.
Some fields are beaten down and almost
ruined. Belated reports show that on
Saturday the damage from hall was quite
severe.
In Adams County, this state, especially
in the Southern part, the rains of Satur-
'day and Sunday were extremely heavy.
In places there were cloudbursts, which
swept away many fields, and there was
hail which did heavy damage. On the
whole, there is apparently little to base a
forecast for good weather for the re
mainder of the season. Probably the
harvest Is half completed, taking the
Inland Empire as a whole. -
STEAMER OFFICER DROWNS
Second Mate on Qulnault Lost From
Small Boat in Fog.
ABERDEEN. Wash., Aug. 26. (Special.)
Carl Rudolphson second mate of the
steamer Qulnault, was drowned while
the steamer was entering the harbor. The
Qulnault ran on a sandbar during a fog
and the captain sent the mate and three
sailors to ascertain the location of the
channel. A wave upset the boat. Ru
dolphson was an expert swimmer, while
the others could not swim, but while the
sailors were being rescued Rudolphson
drifted away in the fog and could not
be located.
The Qulnault sustained serious damage
to her keel, lost part of her rudder and
sprung one or two planks, forward.
She will be delayed here several days re
ceiving repairs
WIFE DESERTER IS RETAKEN
Man Who Iieft Deaf and Dumb
Woman for Girl Now In Jail.
ABERDEEN, Wash., Aug. 26. (Special.)
W. O. Metcalf, of Belllngham, who de
serted a deaf and dumb wife and eight
children and eloped with a 19-year-old
girl, has been arrested here. Metcalf says
the girl accompanied him to California
and back to Portland and that he does
not know where she is. He has a watch
and a ring which belong to her.
Machinists Will Not Strike.
SPOKANE. Wash., Aug. 26. There will
be no strike of the machinists employed
by the Northern Pacific and Great North
ern Railways. Definite news was re
ceived here this morning that an agree-
jerks, wearing out themselves without
accomplishing much. And, too, oen cost
less than half as much to Keep as horses,
and are more hardy and less liable to
accident. This is the reason oxen are
being used and that these animals, whose
kind 10,000 years ago were employed for
the same purpose, are today preparing
land for the erection of buiJuings that
will contain tne world's latest woru on
machinery of all kinds even that used
for land-clearing purposes.
The Best Equipped Trust Company
ESTABLISHED APRIL 18,
The Title Guarantee
Trust Go.
Capital (Fully Paid)
Surplus and Undivided Profits
Total Resources
INTEREST PAID ON
240 Washington
ment for one year has been signed. The
terms are not yet known here.
At the Vaudeville Theaters
Grand.
IF TOU have never been within the pad
dock, or even in the stand, and yelled
with the crowd, "they're oft," then go to
the Grand tlils week, see the bill, "The
Race Tours Dream," and get a little
Inside Information on the sport of kings.
It is a good one, and that man Miles Mc
carty, the tout, has a varied assortment
of racetrack English, that would put the
average bookie or track dopester to
shame. The act is a good one, the
feature of the performance, and some
thing unique on a vaudeville stage.
Another top-notcher Is John Walsh,
"The Man With the Hod," a clever mono
loguist. His Jokes are enough to make
the sourest cynic sit up and take notice
and he can keep the average person In a
paroxysm of laughter during his whole
time on the stage. Morrissy and Rick,
two excentric funmakers, do good work,
and Bradley and Davis. "The Comedy
Kids With the Gum Feet," help out the
performance. Joe Thompson, in an Il
lustrated song follows, and the bioscope
finishes the bill.
Pa mages.
PROM start to finish, the bill at the
Pantages this week Is one of the
best that has graced, the boards at the
popular vaudeville-house for a long time.
There are eight good acts, every one a
top-notcher, each one the nonpareil of
its line in vaudeville performance. But
the funniest, the most amusing and moil
original of this splendid line of attrac
tions Is the clever playette, "The Dummy
Husband," with a typical husband-hunting
old maid, a globe trotter of the hobo
variety and a department store wax
model making up the cast. It is funny
enough, entirely new and original, one
of the best produced vaudeville skits seen
on a local stage for a long time.
"Fitzgerald," the qulck-ohange artist,
makes a decided hit with the audience,
and wins applause by his realistic im
personations of famous people. Tyson,
Tinnell and Tyson, a clever trio of dancers
and singers also make good, and come
forward with some of the latest songs.
Joseph Yarrlck, a slelght-of-hand per
former and magician, mystifies the audi
ence by his tricks. Tean Wilson sings
one of the latest pathetic ballads this
week; the moving pictures are up-to-date,
and In all, the bill Is good, the best for
a long time.
Laborers Wanted at $3 a Day.
NORTH YAKIMA. Wash.. Aug. 26.
(Special.) The highest wages ever
paid for common labor in this terri-
The mouthpiece is put on
to insure a sweet, cool, mild, clean smoke and
does it.
The pure, clean, carefully blended tobacco in
Imperiales smokes smoothly and deliciously right to
the mouthpiece.
And the thin mais paper crimped, not pasted
allows the tobacco's full flavor to be enjoyed to the
utmost, without leaving the slightest trace of "after
m
effect," no matter how
10 for 10 cents
The men of the West smoked 1 00,000 pOO Imperiales In 1900.
Sold Eoerytvhara
THE JOHN BOLLMAN COMPANY
Manufacturers San Frmnctaoo
ajmi i
Street, Corner Second,
tory are being offered by the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, which
Is endeavoring to get 300 men to do
grading work at Ellensburg at $3 per
day. Fruit pickers are badly needed
here, and can earn first-class money
with at least one month's work ahead
of them.
HAIL REBELS AS PATRIOTS
Spectators Cheer Mexican Conspira
tors in Court at Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES. Cal.. Aug. 26. Follow
ing proceedings In the Police Court to
day, the four Mexicans held as alleged
conspirators against the Mexican govern
ment today appeared in the Superior
Court upon habeas corpus proceedings.
Modesto Diaz, editor of La Revoluclon,
IBSSSlSiSIilBiBiiliiSsSiliiiSu
many you smoke.
iBi awi
i If
r-S &f
in the Northwest
1887
$250,000.00
89,381.61
$3,350,000
DEPOSITS
Portland, Ore.
the paper of the junta, was discharged
from custody because there was no evi
dence connecting him with any offense.
Because of a technicality, the application
for a hearing In the cases of Rlcard
Flores, Msgon, Librado. Rivers and An
tonio Vlllareal was postponed until to
morrow. The prisoners, during their appearance
in court, were greeted by the Mexican
spectators as would-be liberators of the
Mexican Republic.
What's doing at Washington? Read
this month's article in the September
Pacific Monthly by Ira E. Bennett
"Western Affairs at Washington." It
will give you a line on National affairs..
Colombia is grid-ironing Its territory with
railroads that will open up the entire
country.
Metzger ft Co.. Jewelers. 342 Wash, st.
TEAMSTERS
17 M TfW Ghirardelli's
&ri3JX Cocoa. They
find It strengthens and for
tifies them to withstand the
trying duties of their occu
pation, and exposure to all
kinds of weather. The
ideal preparation for the
day's work is to drink
for breakfast
a cup of . .
Ghirardeilfs
Cocoa
! lili
! '