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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1900)
5WMnK&mW90Ktt559C ' -.A PART THREE .gsssssassttttsttsscswssss (PPS55S VOL. XIX. k iii Hteta HE 17th of September BJg Is a date that, for Kf Jm weeks past, has Bl i30 -loomed with large - raS m1 over-Increasing importance before the mental , con sciousness of the. children of .Portland. It Is the fateful day that marks the close of vacation, the beginning of school a day dreaded by many, -welcomed by ' few, and "regarded by all "with a -certain degree of respect . No more play, for a -while at least; no more j delightful idling away of sunny morn ings, free from care as the birds and the flowers, but in their stead an eager hur rying to and fro by anxious, pupils, sud denly burdened with schoolroom respon sibilities and ever In fear of being found guilty of that awfullest of transgres sions commonly named in the school stat utes, "tardiness." In the eyes "alike of the School Board and the faculty there 'is, apparently, no more heinous offense than to be "tardy." Tet there are moth ers who fail to understand the exigencies of the case, or to comprehend how it can mako any very - groat difference whether a child reaches the Bchoolroom door a minute before or a minute after . 9 o'clock. . "Do you think the children are glad when school opens?" The question was asked of a. little girl In the sixth grade of one of the city schools. "No," came the prompt reply; "they are sorry." Then she added, thoughtful ly: "There are some who do not care much about it either way, and I supopse there are a few who really like to go to school, but I don't know any of them." Another View of It. "1 wish there wasn't any such thing as school," complained another, 'an ex eeptionally bright 10-year-oid, who al ways -escapes examinations, on account of the unfailing excellence of her feclta--tlons and standing. When questioned further she admitted that she would not be willing to remain . away froni , fh. Jiaiefl. Institution, "for,"" as she naively expressed it, "I don't want the cither children to get ahead of me." Clearly it is ambition rather than love of study that Impels her in her pursuit of knowledge. And this, to be frank,1 is the incentive which the majority of .pu pils in the grammar grades confess to that Is to .say, those who have a 'repu- 44 Jdu qotorsckooi tomorroi tatlon among their fellows for cleverness7 and studlousness. Occasionally, it is true, you And children who love school for school's sake, .who study for love of study, and who are; in all respects, models of youthful loveliness and circumspection, almost- too angelic for contact with the common world, but they are the exception rather than the rule. There are a few who, as the first mentioned little girpsaid, do not care much about It either way. Others,, and they make yip, the healthy majority, go to school because they at sent, and study because they must.' Though they average well, they are neither enthusiastic workers, nor yet -sluggards, but "just hap py, wholesome, normal youngsters, "who take life as it comes, and will grow -up to swell the bulk of the solid", substantial and necessary "human commonplace. They are quite as frequently girls as boys, and although their teachers never wax extravagant in praise of them, they are. - l ? . I U-j- ; : 1 nevertheless, regarded with a certain sense of satisfaction, forming, as they do, a. reliable middle ground, and-Ailing, conveniently and comfortably, the exten sive territory belween the' brilliant schol ars and the dullards. Then, too, there are those who consider it a.vprlvilege to be permitted to attend school, who have been looking forward with pleasure and hopefulness to that important tomorrow the. portentous Mon day morning that tyM set the school bells ringing on the stroke of 9: A Unit on One Point. But if there is a difference of opinion regarding ' the opening! of Bchool, ' the youthful mind is a unit when it comes to. vacation. Whether spent at the sear shore, in the mountains, on the farm, or at home, the months of the Summer just ending have been full of the Joy of life and living for the children. The days do not drag when one is dancing In the sunlit, flowery meadows, in one's early youth; the hours In, their flight are then bright and light and beautiful as butter-, fly wings. The nights are sown with stars, and the dreams of children when, wearied with play, they sink o sleep at the deepening of the "purple dusk, are like tangled rainbows, smothered In a mist of moonbeams and set to fairy mu sic. Happy, indeed, is the lot of the boy or girl who has a month or even a fort-, night at the seaside, to remember. The wading, the bathing, the sand forts and villages; built in the lee of some shelter ing rock; tbie exciting pursuit of clams that have the faculty of too often,, elud ing: the inexperienced digger above all, the bonflres' on the beach, reflecting the lingering after-glow of Tnatchless sub setsthese are delights that enrich the experiences of fortunate childhood. Children are far more susceptible to the Influence of the beautiful and the myiterious thaii their elder, and early ' it -' ''"' '-'' ' Pvr : fllfCTIH 1 I jvme a&mn. .......,. vwJ':'hiiMWiMmiWM ill -''.-::. -. . 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Who knows from, what clime the naming fagots have come', or by what strange .ocean currents the wave-; whitened logs have been- borne upon what far-off, alien shores they have touched, in their long Journeyings to, and fro, ere they, stranded here, to roam no more forever? This squared timber! Perhaps it is a beam from some golden galleon, foundered.cen turles since, in mldo.cean. That battered, tide-worn plank may have floored the deck of a pirate ship, and those dark stains that sun and wind have alike been unable to efface may be blo6d marks. Who knows? The sea has countless secrets and holds them fast against human question ing, and leaping flame and booming surf but deepen the mystery of it all. Though vacation at the seashore is -perhaps the richest in experience, still the city-bred child who has an' opportunity to become acquainted with farm life, in 'its Summer aspect, adds largely to. his fund of useful and practical knowledge. And 'even to the child who remains at home vacation is a time of rest and play and progress, blessed in its results and quite as important in its way as the long sea son of work in the schoolroom which will begin tomorrow morning. A little 6-year-old lad whose experience In the schoolroom has thus farbeen lim ited to observation merely, but who is to be duly enrolled as a working pupil Mon day, was asked if he thought he would like it. With the spirit of, a trne philoso pher he' said he supposed he would have to go whether he liked it or.not It was all in a lifetime anyway, and to be accepted and borne stoically like whippings and the toothache and other disagreeable and unavoidable things. ,. The Teachers. But not alone to "the .children is the 17th of September a dateof import, to be re garded with dread or' with pleasant antic ipation, as the case may be: To the teach eramong" the hardest worked' of all who earn their daily bread by mental exertion , the close "of the Summer vacation and the opening of school Is an event that marks an epoch. ' "I like my work and' enjoy teaching when once I am fairly launched upon the .tide of schoolroom duties; but, oh! I do dread the beginning," said" one 'lovely young woman who has taught for several years, and who. has won mi en viable rep utation for competence and ability. "This vacation," she continued, "has been a season, of absolute rest, both men tally .and physically; 'l am always w.drn put when school closes In June, and. it takes one a good .three months to recuper ate. This year I have staid quietly at home; read nothing but novels, made over my old gowns and forgotten, without 'try ing, the fact that I would have to .go- to work again this Fall. I would gladly post-v pone the opening of school another fort night if h could." "And I," replied her .companion, a woman of long experience In h.er chosen ?6ction, "-ff-dwld willingly, afrorten the 1 . .?a w i a m & MfflwmM m mm wmwmmsmi && z SUNDAY MQBfrlff G, SEPf EMBER; ; 16, -fflHft vacation season.' I anvnever so well or sd happy as when' I am teaching.-'' "But you enjoyed ydiir vacation?" "Oh, -yes; I took up a "course in history and rubbed up on English" literature and one or two other things that' I may be called upon to teach some day. ' Yes,. I en joyed It." ' , -' But this, you see; w.as notexactly rest ing.' It was simply a change of work. Still she seemed to regard it in the nature of recreation, and she is only -one-of many whose legitimate playtime is' turned to stern account.. The ctmbltlous' teacher is not content unless she is acquiring knowl edge, extending her range of mental. ac tivity, and, In short, keeping' up with the times. t ' At Cb.aritnua.nn. """" Chautauqua, jvhich meets", at Oregon City, and whose prosperous existence is largely due to the efforts of Eva Emery Dye and her husbandt claims the atten tion of a goodly number of Portland teach ers every year, and the' attendance is not . altogether for pleasure. The children LfWnfyvg!vWMriiryj?AMwiWJ:wgii.wjj would perhaps bo 'surprised to learn that lessons are not confined to the schoolroom, and that, as a rule, their teachers study quite as industriously as they. Several of-the teachers in the Portland schools spent the Summer in travel. Some of them visited Tosemite, and others were attracted by the wonders of the Yellow stone. One or two of the more favored ones found time to make a hurried tour of Europe, returning in time to take up their year's work tomorrow morning. One young woman of yet untried ability, laugh ingly confessed to having pui 4n the greater part of the Summer trying to con vince the members of the school board, Individually and collectively, that they owed it as a public duty to the children of Portland to give her' a place as teacher.; "You don't know what a, girl has to. go through with when she starts out .with a determination to secure a position in the city schools," she said, "particularly If she is without influence, or that' .myste rious something which the other sex' alludes to as 'pull,' and which I -didn't have." " "Too many applicants?" . - '"Yes, and girls who have to earn their own bread and butter." i - Society's, Vacation. Society's vacation! Does the fashionable world ever cease from its labors its dressing and dancing and driving? There may be brief intermissions, but they'.can scarcely be said to be "periods of rest? fashion. And in this part of the world, rather, Indeed, are they a change of ac- everybody, even to the butcher's appren tlvlty seasons of preparation for' still tice and the messenger boys, who are more vigorous campaigns. "The Summer ,supposed to need it least of .all, takes a means to society not vacation, not a. cedr vacation. sation, or a temporary suspension of so- .- Expeditions by wheel, camping trips, cial energy, but a shifting, merely of. the -fishing and prospecting outings of every scone of action from the clty'to'the pear' ?sort, have been In vogue during the shore, the springs, the mountains.- or'- Summer. The beaoh, the woods and the wherever wealth and fashion- ichoose- to make for themselves ' luxurious warm weather homes. Boating, bathing al fresco, flirtations and outdoor -amuse i"v ments, take. the place of teas, receptions and the thousand "and" one Winter occu- pations that -All up the tlmo and hold, the .in a maddened rush, to the" sea. There .attention of ; society .a home. ' -"-".'..are secluded glens and cool retreats, in ' But the rivalry, the. unrest, th.e gossip numberless variety and indescribable love ancl gormandizing go on just, the samot liness, within a radius of 25 miles of lnfthe shadow ot.eternal peaks, beside the, "the city. And there Is the lordly Co rushing rivers, or in the -face pf the vati'lumbla whose shores, from the Wlllam "protestlng seas. Anxious mammas, with ette to the Cascades, are crowded with lovely daughters, matrimonially unprb- -grandeur and beauty that invite and woo vided for,- young matrons, eager for social the toil-worn traveler to rest and con advancement, and tired husbands and templation. fathers whoso income, bo It $toc jso-l&rg But tho Summer to ended, ana from .ygraa BBm a am mi nni 1 j m b jixfyt. We had such fun. fairs somewhere short' of enough, will all confess, if they are inclined to frankness, that it is ;a relief to get' back to the city. And though many- a fetter may- have beert forged during the golden months, by the magic Influence of wind and wave and. woodland shadow, yet it Is the Winter that really tests the strength and endur ance ot the bond. And' so, as gladly and as eagerly as it departed, ln the dawn of the glorious Summer, .society rushes back to town and proceeds to provide itself with new clothes, and to prepare itself generally for an' active campaign. IiOvera of Nature. Society, of course, is expected to amuse Itself at fashionable Summer resorts, and it generally does so. But society, by no manner of means, monopolizes the de- "Hshts of the seashore, or the pleasures of the mountains and the country. Indeed, it is a question whether the devotees of fashion really know how to extract the, genuine joy of life by the ' sea or the mountain top. It is the man with little leisure who makes 'the most of what he has. He who loyes Nature for" her self alone flnd3 -her most generous and kind, although Nature's lover Is not al ways the favorite of fortune. The tired clerk, the . tradesman, the weary shop girl, or even the laundress may have a far keener' appreciation of the beautlfu.1 than the millionaire or the leader of mountains are so easily, accessible, that no pne' ' in Portland is compelled to live the year through without an opportunity to commune with Nature. A thousand limpid trout streams thread the noar-by forests and flash through sunlit glades, BWMWWi' mmamAaammmmafmmmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmJmm '' mmmmmmmmBmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmaMmmmmtP ' -- .RVVj J 5 J fi the four quarters of the globe . rest jeekers and the pleasure-seekers alike have gathered to take up the temporarily suspended duties of every-day 'life. Al ready' there Is' a new vigor and enthusi asm noticeable In the different avenues of life. The city is pervaded' with a spirit of activity, an awakening power that Is" beginning to -make Itself felt." The pulse of trade beats stronger and inore health fully, and the local world Is better, to all appearances, for its brief season" of rest and change. The Magic Secret. Change of scene! That la the maglo secret of vacation time. The monotony of the round of daily duties, whether arduous or light; listening to the same voices, however sweet; looking upon the same faces, however dear, day after day, week after week and month after month all this w.ears upon on'o'a nerves and deadens one's mental consciousness un til life becomes a burden. Even the 30-. clety of angels -would" cease to charm. If one were compelled to endure it con stantly and uninterruptedly, year after year. I am quite sure that in the next world, where we will be unhampered by mor tality, it will be permitted U3, occasion ally, to seek the seclusion of some dis tant sphere and meditate upon te won ders of eternity, undisturbed by even the presence of our dearest companion spirits. Change of scene is at times, an imperative need of much-tried human na ture and fagged-out human patience.. But to go back to the schools which open tomorrow morning throughout the city," there are one or two interesting facts in connection with the subject that may be of Interest to the general reader. One of them is of no less im portance than this: The public school system of Portland Is one1 of the most efficient on the Pacific Slope. There are, according to the latest official report, 20,462 children making up tho school population of the city. Of these, 18,004 are entitled to school privileges-. Two hundred and forty-nine teachers are employ'edr only 33 of whom are men. Among these teachers are sev eral who have gained more than a local reputation through the excellence of their work in the schoolroom. Pleaxcd Klndersartnera. There is one class. of children who hall the opening ot school with unalloyed de light. They (at tho freo kindergarten NO. 37. pupils in the North End, to whom school, as they know it, is a, beautiful dream a brightness that enlivens for them the otherwise dull gray of dally existence. But for lack ot fund3 all the kindergar tens would have been kept open through the Summer; the need foe them never knows a vacation. Ono school, however, in the North End ha3 held right along, not missing a week since its organiza tion in the early Sdrlng, and It ha proven a delight to the 20 little ones who find. In the . hours' spent in the cool and quiet of their small picture-lined school room, an ever-increasing profit. The young teacher who gives her tlmG and services freely and for love of tho children, la looked upon by her tiny pu pils as" a bright particular spirit. But to add to It all, there have been wveral red-letter days in the Summer history of the school. Street-car rides, and picnics in the woods, to which the tired, moth ers were Invited, have not been want ing. One woman's loving kindness has made the three months now ended a Joy to be remembered by both mothers and children. The long, warm Summer days ara gone. With all their dear delights; The golden floods of sun tha moon That dorined tho nights; The Summer stars great blazing gem . Long lingering in the dawns Their radiance reflected back From, dewdrop sprinkled lawns These have grown paler now. And ia. The soft September air. Across- the "hills fair Autumn cornea. With red leaves In her hair. Idschen at. Miller. "JIM," THF CAT, Clever Animal That Can Do Almoat Any thin g but Talk. Not the least important dweller In tha house of the pastor of a popular and fashionable up-town church is a Maltese cat. beautifully marked and of rare breed, which shall be called Jim, say3 the New York Herald. That is not the real namo of this household pet, ..who would prob ably scorn so common a one as Jim, but there are reasons why he should not be too closely Identified. Jim Is no common cat. He knows his friends among the callers at the homo of the minister, and those to whom ho does not take a fancy are petty apt to And it out. He knows the "at home" day as well as any member of the family, and on that day takes a prominent place on a divan, ready to receive the attentions of those of the callers whom he numbers among his friends, and purr his satisfac tion when they fondle him. The minister had occasion to move his residence a short time ago, and, of course, Jim moved with the family. Ho did; not seem to like the new place. Ho went from room, to room, looked carefully at ;the wall papers, seemed to. sniff at them .as. though they did not meet his approval, and then he disappeared. An hour later he" appeared again, somewhat battered and bruised, took another look at the wall decorations, and seemed to decide that, unsatisfactory a3 they were. It was bet ter to endure them than the perils to be encountered abroad. Next door to the- old homo of the min ister lived a woman who was very fond of "Jim." and who regretted the cir cumstances that brought about the change of residence. She wrote a letter the other day and addressed It to "Jim." This letter was placed by tl maid on the hatrack in the hall, along with other letters delivered at the same time. "Jim" seemed to know thl3 letter was Intended for him, because when a member of the family came down stairs that morning he was found trying to tear open the en velope. Strangely enough, he had never taken such a liberty with a letter before that time, and has not disturbed any other letter since. Although "Jim" has lived all his life in the home of a minister,, he does not al ways show that humility which would naturally be expected. Ho likes to mako visits, but no other cat Is allowed on his premises. Next door to "Jim's" homo is a house he loves to visit. He will roam all through it and play with the cat which lives there, but the other day when tho neighbor- cat came, as if to return a call, "Jim" met him at the door, hit him on the side of the head with a paw and marched proudly up the stairs, as though he felt he had done something worthy the pet of a mtoiater'g household, f