TIIE OREGON DAIXT .TQTJKN AI PORTLAND. .. SATURDAY , EVES I27G. . EEBRUAB Y 20. 1904.
10
THE DANCING QUESTION AT THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL
A ItttimMt from .
Monmouth, Or.. Feb. 20.-To the Ed
: lior of The Journal: I have been asked
to answer an article on "Dancing Tales
Merely Slander," which appeared in The
Journal of February 11. The author of
the article does the same thing which he
-condemns in the writers of the former
articles. In that he withholds his name.
The people here seem to be unanimous
' In thinking that no one in the school
would have been so untruthful as to
' deny the things which are there denied,
and that there is only one- man ' who
could have written the pieoe. While . J
am not the author of either of the ar
ticles in the Telegram, I have spoken
on the subject and am partially respon
sible for the first publication. v
In answer to the denials above re
ferred to, I wish to say that the follow
ing facts can be substantiated here by
reliable testimony. The .school adver
tised In its catalogue Issued June 15,
. 10S, that "profanity, gambling, the use
of intoxicating liquors, visiting saloons,
attending public balls at any time or
private dancing parties, except at the
end of terms, carrying concealed weap
ons, smoking cigarettes and all other
practices in violation of goo morals or
injurious to the. best interests of the
student, are distinctly prohibited, and
will be dealt with by fne faculty as the
individual case, may demand." ' '
About the last of November, 190S, a
proposition to establish a regular twice-;
-month dance in the school buildings,
which proposition bad been "laid on the
: table" in a meeting- of the board of
school regent some three years before
was discussed in the faculty meeting.
It was favored by the president, but op
posed from principle by three of the
teachers. The question waa reported as
.'lost for ten weeks." - '
Many of the students were greatly
displeased. The matter was discussed
great deal by the resident patrons and '
other cltliens4 The girls continued to
attend frequently and in large numbers
the many public balls at Independence,
where they met men front Dallas, Airly,
Independence and Buena Vista.
About the middle of the second term
they had a dance at the home of the
secretary of the board of regents and
librarian of the school. After that they
rtanced behind locked doors, late at night
in the W. O, W, hall for the benefit of
the male students who -had not learned
the art of fashionable bugging. Shortly
before Christmas they gave a public
dance in the W. O. W. hall, which was
advertised on the school bulletin board.
After Christmas they danced frequently
and freely in the chapel and gymnasium
during school hours. All this waa done
with the knowledge and apparently with
the approval of the school management.
It is Intimated in the publication above
referred to and later charged by the
supposed writer and others, that all the
agitation on the subject has come from
the Baptist and Evangelical churches.
This Is considered a compliment by ths
pastors of those churches, but Is not in
accord with the facts. ' Before anything
was published on the subject I called on
one of the deacon of the Church of the
Disciples, at his place of business, at
his request, to discuss the advisability
of calling a mass meeting of the three
churches to Influence the president to
suppress the dance. He said the sug
gestion had been made to him by. his
pastor and others. At the same place
and date the pastor of the Disciples'
church told me that the dance should be
stopped and if a mass meeting would
not influence the president of the school,
then we three pastors should take up
the matter in our denominational papers,
then write personal letters to the board
of regents and if that failed to try to
pull off the public school from the
normal. Prior to that he had made the
same suggestions to the pastor of the
Evangelical church. That he has noth
ing to say now on that side of the sub
ject It not a surprise to those of us
who know that three of his members
.are teachers in the normal;' that another
furnishes the music for the dances, and
that others think a" policy favorable to
The Book of Garden Furniture" By
Charles Tronger, is a rare book and
unique in ita way. Many books have
been written on gardening, the planting,
feeding and cultivation, ' but few have
been written on the "furniture" of a
garden, a feature which plays so promi
nent a part in making the house sur
roundings beautiful and tasteful, or
grotesque and unsightly. In the open
ing chapter the author says; "In striv
ing after artistic effects, mere cultural
Bklll will avail us nothing, if we do not
possess that faculty . ror grouping and
arrangement, which Is inseparable from
the skilled gardener," And again most
truthfully says: "It is more than pos
sible to completely spoil an otherwise
good -effect by the Introduction of un
suitable or ugly summer houses, seats,
sundials and statuary." - To the cor
recting of this very common tendency
toward the disfigurement of yards and
gardens, Mr. Thonger has devoted the
Images of his book. The work Is partic
ularly timely for residents of Oregon,
. where every one at present is devoting
time and thought to the beautifying of
their yards, which must of necessity
enter largely into the impressions of us,
strangers will carry away with them
from the fair. It will not be enough to
be known as the "Rose City." but there
should be such, system in the arrange
ment and settinga that it will stamp us
as a people of cultivation and taste, as
welt as of quantity and largeness of
display. An artist may have a fine eye
for color, distance and effect all requi
sites for good work but it takes educa
tion to train this into conformity of
perfect work, and In gsrdening this is
just what the author of "Garden Furni
ture" endeavors to do. One indifferent
to the beauties of nature will never cre
ate a beautiful garden, even with train
ing, but the lover of nature without ed
ucation may produce equally as bad
work. We have but to look over the
yards of our own city and state to
realise the truth of this, for some of the
. summer-houses, seats and statuary are
as grotesque, in their way, aa the "cast
iron deer in Selma's front yard." of
which Judge Orant so humorously told
us.
The first chapter of Mr. ( Thonger's
book is devoted to the gardens of early
times, those following the subjects of
gaiden seats, summer-houses, archways
and trelllage. pergolas, fences, gates,
hedges, sundials and statuary are
treated.' Something of the grasp upon
the subject which the author possesses,
may be inferred from the terse re
. marks with which he opens hs chapter
on .."Oates Fences and Edgings." lie
says quite truthfully: "It is generally
quite possible to estimate the style of
the garden we are about to enter, by a
mere glance at the fence or wall which
surrounds It, and the gate or door
through which we gain admittance. Al
most invariably like, encloses lHte. a
staring fence with ugly gates forms the
boundary of a garden where(jrtlstln
taste is eonnplouous by Its absence."
And of the statuary he says: "The or
dinary garden f medium sise has little
Ofportunlty for the introduction of stat
uary, and when any doubt exists" aa to
GOSSIP ABOUT SOME CURRENT BOOKS j
the dance will make their church even
more popular with the school.
If dancing is a moral and useful ex
ercise why does the , catalogue class it
with "practices In violation of good
morals and injurious to the students?"
If the present faculty favor dancing why
did they advertise all summer , to- the
patrons- and prospective, students - that
dancing would be "distinctly prohibited?"
If they disapprove of it why do they
Ignore their printed obligations? If the
patrons of this school and the patrons
of the public schools of" the state want
the teachers of the state to be good
dancers, where is the injury, to the
school or the injustice to the president
from the advertisement that the stu
dents here are getting good training in
that art? If they do not .want it why
should it be done here without their
knowledge?- ' -
I have, reasons for believing that the
dance is evil, only evil,; and that continually.-
I know that much of its nat
ural tendency is counteracted by. oppos-..
ing influences, but with that it remains
the "greatest feeder for the saloon and
the .bawdy house." For. the benefit; of
the-, school, the town and the cause of
righteousness and true manhood, I, with,
others, hope tliat w shall be aoon as
sured by the authorities of our school
that: the rule of -the catalogue will' be
observed. ..ARTHUR B. ALLEN. "
President Bessltr's Statement.
State Normal School, President's Office,
Monmouth, Or., Feb. "I. To the Editor
of The Journal With your kind permls-
sfbn" I shall make use of some of your
valuable apace to comment on the let
ter published last night In the Telegram
over the name Arthur Allen, concerning
the "question of - dancing, at the State
Normal school. I feel that an apology
Is due the public for taking any official
notice of the matter whatever, and it
is with the greatest reluctance that I
gratify the vanity of the writer of this
and other items referred to .in his com
munication, by. making any reply. My
excuse for .making the following state
ment is that the general public is un
acquainted with , the. real facta in the
case or with the motive behind this
newspaper agitation,. All informed as
to these matters place no reliance at all
upon the wild statements of chronic
soreheads and kickers who at never
happy except when "minding other peo
plea' business." ;
The article published on February 5.
with the headlines "To Dance or Not to
Dance," is one series of misstatements
from beginning to end. At the time of
that writing, there' was ho agitation or
excitement in the school or in the town
on the question of dancing. No doubt
there waa some talk about the subject In
certain quarters, as there always is con
cerning other amusements influding
football, basketball and the like. But
ther was no "all-absorbing" or "warm"
discussion of the matter, no reference
being made to it in the local press, and
Very little Interest aroused among nine
tenths of the . citizens of Monmouth.
The "president of the school- is not a
"warm champion of dancing," does not
"permit students to. attend public
dances," has never advocated in the fac
ulty or elsewhere "giving dances twice
a month at the school," nor said to any
one at any time that he "had faith in the
ultimate adoption" of any such plan.
The rules of the school permit the at
tendance of students at private dancing
parties once a term, and it la probable
that the reasonable request of the stu
dents who dance, that they might hold
their term dances in the gymnasium
with chaperons selected from the fac
ulty, is the basis for the bugaboo con
structed by the writer of the sensational
article of February 6. This respectable
petition Was discussed In faculty meet
ing and the decision unanimously re
ferred to the president. . After an inves
tigation of my Jurisdiction in the affair,
I discovered that the board of regents
had legislated on the matter some years
ago and that it was entirely out of my
hands. I therefore Informed the stu
dents concerned that their request must
be denied, and the matter was dropped.
Its being appropriate, it will be better
not to risk the possibility of failure.
In any case the cheap, nasty casts which
seem to be an irresistible bait, to seaside
gardeners especially, are worse than
useless they are positive eyesores."
For the construction and placement of
garden furniture the author gives rules
and laya down principles, the common
sense of which appeals to the reader at
once. The book contains 35 good lllus-
traftons, some of which are bits of some
famous gardens, while others art de
slrable pieces of furniture, with lnstruc
tlons for construction and their proper
placement The -book should enjoy an
unusually large sale at this time.
John Lane, publisher. J. K. Gill, $1.
"The American Prisoner." By Eden
Philpotts, is a book which should be a
record breaker and .bring to the author
a reputation he deserves, but which has
been scantily bestowed upon him with
his other works. Like "Children of the
Mist" and "Sons of the Morning." the
scenes in this are laid in the same wild
west country of England, but the plot
and concepclon of 'The American, Pris
oner" is vastly different It is the story
of a century ago, when thousands of
French and American prisoner were
confined in an enormoua stone-walled
prison on the. west coast of England.
A Britisher with an Intense hatred for
everything American came with his wife
and daughter and built a home on 'the
Moor, and of course a romance between
the daughter and an American prisoner
furnish the motif of the story.
The story is full of thrilling and de
lightful situations, but not the least
charm of the book Is found In its pow
erful and vlvld descriptions. In word
painting the author has more than ordi
nary endowments, and sets his story
about with such enchanting nature ef
fects that the whole Is irresistible to the
lover of good, pure fiction.
Mr. Phlllpdlts has made an agreeable
departure in keeping this book quite
free from the heavy dialect with which
his other works often become cumber
some and which may account for their
not being at largely niad as ihelr merit
deservea.
The present volume ts dedicated to
the popular editor of "The Critic," and
that princess of book viewers. Miss
Jcannette I,. Gilder.
The MacMillan company. Price, $1.50.
"The Golden Windows," In noting
the author of this book and after a fur
ther glance through it one Is fnin to be
lieve there in something In Inheritance
after all, if there Isn't much In a name,
for the author. Laura K rUchards. is
the daughter of Julia Ward Howe, who
will live through time in America ns the
author of "The Battle Hymn of ihe Re
public," If for nothing else, though she
Is an author of no mfan reputation In
many fields of literature. The1 sub
title ef Mrs, Richards' work, "A Book
of f ables for Old and Young." Is self
explanatory. There are !M fables, each
carrying" a well defined moral It adds
both interest and beauty to ihe book to
know that the Charming initials to each
That students will occasionally dis
obey rules laid down for their govern
ment is nothing new.- The proper
method of propedure for good friends of
the school, who know of these infrac
tions of discipline, is to come to the au
thorities With definite facts upon which
action can be based, and not "rush into
prints The faculty feels perfectly
competent , to deal with all matters of
discipline connected with the'school.
The attitude of the 8tate Normal
school 'remains exactly as It has been
for years past. No -change has been
made nor will be made until the proper
authority, the board of regents, sees lit
to act A long as 1 remain ai me neau
m ... . . . . ... r I 11 t,nJaa1rk-
or jms insiuuuon, x oimu unum
to administer Us affairs to the best of
my ability under the direction of lt re
gents and of no others.
The reputation of the State Normal
school ' is secure In the keeping of Its
hundreds -of graduates doing brilliant
service a teachers in the . leading
schools of Oregon, and its policy may be
safely intrusted to the management of
its legally -constituted board of regents.
' With apologies once more for trans
gressing 'on your valuable space, and
the patience of the public, and with the
assurance that I shall not offend In this
respect a second time, I am, sir, very
respectfully yours, ; -
- ' , , E. D. RESSL.BR, '
. President State Normal School.
A Cltisen'a Statement.
Monmouth, Or.. Feb. J 8. To the Edi
tor "of The Journal The citizens . of
Monmouth were compelled to smile as
they read In the Evening Journal of
February 12, the absurd article con
cerning dancing at the Oregon State
Normal, The people here Can readily
accept it as a joke, it being known to
have come from Monmouth's "funny
man" and town fiddler, but lest others
should accept the statements, therein
made as true, they desire to have the
facts in the case stated.
The catalogue of the school for the
present year says: f roranity, gamo
llng, the use of Intoxicating liquors.
visiting saloons, attending public balls
at any time, or private dancing parties,
except at the end of terms, carrying
concealed weapons, smoking cigarettea,
and all other practices in violation of
good morals or injurious to the best In
terests of the student, .are distinctly
prohibited, and will be dealt with by the
faculty as the individual case de
mands." However, the president of the school
does not hesitate to admit that students
go to dancing parties whenever they
care to do so; that they occasionally
give a "students' hop" at the city hall,
and that with his knowledge it is adver
tised on the school bulletin board; that
the school Is represented in the public
balls at Independence as frequently as
they . occur; that these balls are held
during the school term; that the boys
and girls of the institution are allowed
to dance behind locked doors in the hall
over the postofflce. and do so without
a chaperon. The students do not hesi
tate to admit, and visitors verify the
statement, that they dance in the chapel,
never being Interfered with unless by
the janitor, and that, dancing in the
gymnasium is a daily occurrence. '
Monmouth is proud of her normal
school. It Is the nucleus about which
her citizens have built. Because of it
the majority of her people are able to
carry on their Industrial pursuits. Can
any one fall then to sea why she re
fuses to keep silent when she discovers
that young men and women are being
brought into her midst under false pre-.
tenses, ana that those woo are so soon
to go out as instructors of the boys and
girls of the fair state or which she is a
part are disqualifying themselves for
efficient service by Indulging in that
which the honorable board of trustees.
Itself, has classed with "gambling, the
use of intoxicating liquors, virfitlng sa
loons and all other practices
In violation of good morals and injuri
ous to the best interests of the stu
dent?" .A CITIZEN.
chapter are done by Julia Ward Rich
ards, the daughter of the author and
namesake of the illustrious grand
mother.
Mrs. Richards 1. nnt1 fnr ti.r t.
literary style, and this, her latest book,
win unaouBteuiy take its place among
permanent literature.
Little, Brown & Co. Price, 1.50.
"My Doven Tear." While Mr. Phill
DOtts is nre-eminentlv n nnvniiet
the intense love of the beautiful in na
ture displayed in his stories gives evi
dence of that living "close to nature's
Heart through which alone a writer
can learn Its secrets and make them
go throbbing through his books with
lire ana reeling, it is therefore not sur
prising that his descrlDtlve
not be kept within the bounds of ro
mance whose characters are continually
forcing change of view and prospective,
and that he haa prepared a nature book
which la Just a chain of "rare, fair
days" spent in his beloved Dovenshlre.
Pastels of witching scenery, framed with
the author's own fancies and enough
wild DhllOMODhv 'to atamn If alth i.
tlnct individuality. It Is one of the re
cent gems irom me press of the Mao
Millan company.
J. K G11L Price, $1.00.
"Cheerful Cats and Other Animals."
Can one sufficiently stretch their im
agination into believing the "Cheerful
nciures me woric or a busy Boston
business man? This, however, is a fact
but that they would take their place as
"lasting literature." was the farthest
thing in the world from Mr. J. G. Fran
cis' thoughts when he flrat hrr. .!,.,..
Ing quaint cats doing funny stunts, iri
nu uiiicH in ini miaipar at, mi ,
city. Somehow St Nichols got -hold of
them and the rrv fnr mm-. .
Mr. Francis haa added to the original
iiumuer ana iney nave now been gath
ered into book form by the Century com
pany. Chrlatmaa aalea nf tv.i.
book were said to be very large and It
continues to noia im own as a gift book
and proves quite as attractive to grown
peopie as io cnuaren.
"New Fortunes, or ' How Molly snd
Her Brother Came to Boulder Gulch."
Is a new story for young readers by Miss
Mabel Earle. and Just from the press of
A. 8. Barnes & Co. Miss Earle's popu
larity aa a writer of magazine stories
arguea well for the sale, as well as the
fine quality of tlilsiher first long storv
It is largely an outdoor story and the
experience of an eastern girl in a west
ern mining camp. ,'It comes In a new Ju
venile series now belnnr presented by
Messrs.. a; b. warnes & lo to ba known
as 'The East and w.eit Series,"
"Woman's Ways pf Earning Money."
Mrs. Cynthia Westover Alden; president
general of the. International Sunshine
society, has Just finished her comprehen
sive book upon ways in which women
can earn . money, (
Her book is based upon actual per
sonal experience in a variety of occupa
tions, and also, upon the experiences
noted from thousands of letters. and per
sonal interviews. :- Mrs. ..Alden'a book.
"woman's Ways . of Earning Money.
will be the first volume In the Woman's
Home library which Mrs, Margaret K.
Sangster Is editing for rA.. S. Barnes 4
Co, ..-:.;m.: -I:, .
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