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PART THREE
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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
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impressions, often unconsciously received,
are regained 'through life.
Nature will tutor her offspring
In the wirdom of wooa and wild,
She speaks In the trill of a songbird
To the heart of the listening: child.
The winds and .the waves are teachers.
And they chant In a mystical key
The glory of things created,
The beauty of things that be.
' Romance of, the Sea.
Speaking of bonflres on the beach, there
is nothing more suggestive of the-romance
and mystery of the sea than a Are 'built
of driftwood. 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
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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
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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
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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,
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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