The Sunday Oregonian., April 26, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 4, Image 50

TJIC SUXIAY OKEfiOMAX. TOllTLAXD. APRIL. 26. 1908.
FOUR THOUSAND GIRLS LEARN SEWING IN PORTLAND SCHOOLS
USEFUL LESSONS 'IN NEATNESS, ACCURACY- AND MANUAL DEXTERITY ARE TAUGHT
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BT UL1AN TINGLE.
IX IS nearly three years since the first
Introduction of sewing into the public
schools of Portland under the super
vision, of Mrs. A. A. Sanborn, About 4000
little girls from the elxth to the ninth
grades (though I am told that ninth grade
young persons object to the term "little')
are learning; willingly or unwillingly,, use
ful lessons of neatness, accuracy, aud
manual dexterity in connection with
needles, thread and thimbles and cloth
of varying textures.
In the bosinnin. tt must be confessed
that the sewing lessons were not specially
popular aud were often misunderstood by
parents and principals, gnade teachers
and pupils. Some parents thought the
work simply a fad, designed to distract
the pupil's mind from more solid studies;
or they argued that it could better be
taught in the home. The principals had
troubles of their own In connection with
programmes and so forth. The teachers
had usually no previous training in "do
mestic art," and. not unnaturally, ob
jected to after-school sewing1 classes
where they had to learn this in addition
to their other work overtime without
extra pay. And the pupils, even those
who really wanted to learn, had a general
notion that-r-in the words of a former
student of my own, "sewing is nice, be
cause you don't have to use your brains
all the time," and often acted accordingly.
Mrs. Sanborn smiles as she tells you of
the initial difficulties of her work: for
she has something pleasanter to add in
regard to its success and the changing at
titude toward it of all concerned. There
are highly approving fathers; and mothers
who have themselves learned something
from their daughters' neatly-kept "sam
ple books" and have received real help in
patching, darning and the making of dur
able buttonholes, from young fingers that
formerly had neither skill nor patience
for such work. There are principals and
teachers who say that the sewing lessons
are amonff the most helpful features of
the school course in their practical,
mental and mode! effects. And the ma
jority of the little needle women them
selves thoroughly enjoy their work and
the sense of power and usefulness which
comes with the mastery of neatly placed
stitches and the problems of seams and
hems, tucks and patches.
-
How Is the teaching accomplished? Mrs.
Sanborn and her two assistants. Miss
Anna Casey and Miss Viola Howlenlelne,
visit all the schools, inspect and keep in
close touch with the work, and instruct
the teachers in the development of the
course. What is known as the ''sample
system" is used special exercises being
given on small pieces of cloth. The pupil,
as Mrs. Sanborn expresses it. "has to
learn to walk before , she can run," and
the small pieces of cloth are. given in
order to avoid waste of material and to
serve as a record for future reference on
the part of the pupil, or as a proof of
skill, if, later, she should seek employ
ment where needlecraft is required. The
ideal way Is. of course, the combination
of sample work and garment making, for
a girl naturally takes greater interest in
a garment that can be worn and'exhibited
as her "very own work than in a mere
academic collection of samples, no matter
how admirable in design and execution,
which, as one givl said, "yon put away in
the bookcase and only look at when you
have to."
Practical garment-making, however, is
not an easy matter to arrange in a
course of only six hours a month, and
with teachers whose normal training has
not included a course in domestic arts.
But already a few miniature aprons,
skirts and pillow slips in "doll's size" are
used to add interest to the course; and
as tho work grows, and skill is acquired,
the garment -making feature will be
further developed in the course. The
wise muther sees to it that the child has
a chance to practice at home, on a larger
scale, what she has learned in school on
a small scale. Otherwise, it u Tather like
having a child take music lessons aud
denying her the use of the home piano.
Better a little material sroiled. than that
a girl should grow up without tho valu
able training and the sense of indepen
dence and enjoyment resulting from the
practice of this most useful form of art
and handicraft.
LIFE OF THE REAL MODERN COWBOY
No Longer an Animated Battery, but a Bronco Buster Still.
IT IS quite true that the cowboy of today
is not a college man. nor one at all fa
miliar with the manners, and customs of
polite society, says Out West. Neither
dot s he go about his daily task with f.
brace of six-shooters slung at his hips
and a repeating ritle held in the crook of
his arm.
Barbed wire fences, steam railroads, po
lice courts and penitentiares have ren
dered such appurtenances superfluous.
And immediately after pay day he does
not swoop down upon the nearest town,
shoot out the lights and take part In a
gun fight or two.
For the 530 or a month which he re
ceives a strict attention to the duties of
his job is expected, and in these days of
strenuous competlton a job is a precious
thing. The life of the modern cowboy is
as full of hard and monotonous work as
that of an Eastern farmhand, and there
is very little difference in the intellectual
and social standing of the two.
Though thousands of cattle are grazed
on the plains of the Southwest, very few
are shipped direct from the range to the
market. The places of individual cattle
kings have been taken by great stock
companies which own numerous tracts of
rane land In various parts of the West.
A few years ago a dry season In South
ern Arizona meant the death of many, cat
tle and very frequently the financial ruin
of their owners. The old-timers still tell
stories of having walked for incredible
distances on the carcasses of dead steers.
But all that Is past they do things dif
ferently now. Let a dry year come upon
the Southwestern ranges and the cattle
are hustled on board a train and trans
ported to the cattle companies' ranges in
Colorado or Montana or rakoto, where
the season is good and the feed abundant.
No long drives of hundreds of miles in
search of new range as in the old days.
Simply a day or two of rounding up, then
a few hours' drive to the nearest shipping
point on the railroad. Then perhaps a
day in town' for the cowboys and back
again to the home ranch and the regular
grind.
Though the cowboy is not a college
graduate, he is by no means an ignoram
us. Vsually he is American born and fair
ly well read, taking the same active in
terest in current topics and politics that
other American citizens do. As a general
rule he has been raised in the section in
which he is employed and is of youthful
appearance. He differs very little from
the Average American working youth.
Western dialect stories to the contrary
notwithstanding.
In all cowboy bunkhouses there is a
pile of current magazines, the contents
of which are devoured with avidity. And
one is not infrequently treated to the
amusing spectacle of a youthful cowboy
becoming so enamored of the kind of
punchers pictured in modern fiction that
he purchases a pair of utterly useless six
shooters, commences to walk with a
swagger and to imitate the dialect of
Red Saunders.
But if marksmanship is no longer a
qualification of the cowpuncher horse
manship is. The modern cattleman is as
proud of his ability to ride anything on
four legs as was ever the bronco buster
of bygone days, and this Is the first fact
Impressed upon a tenderfoot.
Speaking In Sydney recently the Premier
of New South Wales said there were fewer
criminals In proportion to opulatton in
that state today than eVer before, and one
of the problems was what to do with tne
jails, which are rapidly becoming empty.
THE OLDEST NEWSPAPER TO SUSPEND
Tekln Gazette, JThat Was Founded Xearly a Tlrousand Years Ago.
IT IS reported from China that the old
est newspaper in the world, the Pekra
Gazette, is about to suspend publication.
The first number appeared in 911 A. D.
and since 1351, more than a century be
fore the discovery of America, it has ap
peared regularly.
The Pekln Gazette has published a daily
budget of the imperial court news and
has been a repository of edicts from the
throne, memorials from Provincial Gov
ernors and reports from Chinese officials.
Tt would be wrong to infer that Its con
tents were always dry. Frequently the
Gazette has contained news of great in
terest to the world and information illum
inating one phase or another of Chirtese
character or the Governmental regime.
Perhaps we read one day that not only
the soldier who had stolen 30 boxes of j
bullcta had been severely punished, but
the officerwhose duty it was to Inspect
the stores and see that they were intact
was condemned to SO blows and dis
missed from the service. This showed
the grave responsibility imposed upon
Chinese officials.
It was Li Hung Chang who reporter!
that the officials along the Yung-ting
' River had risked their lives in their ef
forts to prevent it from Inundating the
surrounding country, and in the same re
port he recommended that though they
tried to do what was beyond the power
of man, they should be stripped of their
buttons or deprived of their rank because
they failed to avert the flood.
We learned from the Gazette that the
explanation of moral maxims to the peo
ple was a favorite prescription tor amend
ing their shortcomings. One day a memo
rial in the paper said that as the inhabit
ants of one of the provinces wort' tur
bulent competent persons had beeu ap
pointed to explain to them the maxims
of the sacred edicts with the hope of inf
proving their character.
The Gazette often told of cases where
bits of the flesh of a son or daughter
were cooked and eaten by a parent, af
flicted with obstinate illness. It was be
lieved that their lives might thus be
saved.
The Chinese Government will now sup
plant the publication by the Government
Gazette, which will be much larger and
conducted along more modern lines. It
will be ,tlie official Government orgsn.
The disappearance of the Pekln Gazette
is one of the signs of the times illustrat
ing the mighty changes that are coming
to pass in China.