Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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L3Vt.ne P* ICKEN -3t d9, -NO M ER 1 X&W -Vn&r91~ Ac o ~ ;~ Oogrw f 'r*$ VOL. XXVIOTCE99 TUSA.NVMBE42 98 OUR. SCOOOLS B PPoV. WMaZAN R. HANO, U1Ivers, ot south Carolias. Paper Nunber Nine. The High School Situation,-Count -ag the incresed facilities added this .Year, it is easily demonstratdd by fig 'uea that the public high schools of Ahe State, aided and unaided, 1have in -eased in effieiency more than twen ty-Eve per cent since January 1, 1907. In more than one-fourth of th3em the effi6iency has been doubled within that time. Tle chief increase i in the quantity and q4ulity of the rteaching force, thus giving longer recitation periods, a wider range of .-studies, and lengthened courses of .study. The State appropriation of $50,000 has been the, chief instru 'ment by which these improvements 'have been brought about, but it must 'be admitted that even with this lever it has been a task of magnitude to Vecure this increased efficiency. It Abas required courage and watchful mes on the part of the State High :8chool Board to prevent the schools from taking the State aid for the -high school, then turning it into the 0qmmon school department without 'one particle of increase of effleiency in the high school. The introductory statement might 'lead the uninformed to think that our high schools are xpw satisfactory. Far from it. There are not far from 140 public schools coming within the ninimum definition of a high school under the present high school law -one teacher giving all his time to not 'er than fifteen pupils above. the enth grade or seventh school year. these 140 schools, 25 have one h school teacher each, 80 schools .-e two teachers edch, and the re -..ining ones morp thah-Wo teachers each. Only six schools have each the full teaching time of five teachers or Inore. In nearly all the one--teacher high -schools the recitation periods have been advanced to 30 minutes, each, mothing less than 20 minutes. being. accepted in the aided schoGls. In those with two or more high school teachers, fully three-fourths have 40 and 45-minute periods, while a fen have one hour periods. In an aided school of this class nothing less than 30 minutes is accepted. The great -est single gain has been this length '-ening of the recitation periods, and upon the whole the situation in this respect is satisfactory. Some notlevable improvement in the competency of- the teachers has been -made, but in this respect condi tions are far from satisfactory. Many places are willing to pay from $1,200 to'$1,500 for a supervising princinall 'but give him cheap assistants. It ii utterly useless to talk about getting a competent ind experienced woman, - fitted- to do high school teaching, at 140 a month, or a man who has -shown himself qualified, at $60. It is painful to mte to say this, for. among just such teachers are some' 'of my best personal friends. But I "know -only too well that the standard of 'the high schools depends upon the -standard of their teaching force. Let inc tell some things I have seen -and heard. I have seen more than one 'high school teacher wrestle a half 'hour with ant ordinary' problem in Wentworth 's Practical Arithmetie, a ~book usually completed in the eighth grade. In Tarr's Physical Geography 'a book really too -.difficult for . the 'eighth grade where it is usually lgund, I have seen teachers cover -enough gronmd in one 30-minute reci tation to have given profitable work 'for three such periodls. In one his -tory recitation I have seen the class resad the text like a fourth reader 'for' -one-half the time, then listened to the teacher asik twenty to thirty wvholly *q lgei egetions each suggestive ft ansdei- expected. Day after day I see teachers vainly attemniing iteach English Grammar and Pune inuation from the rules and the few examples givens in <the textbook, and seemingly .oblivious to the fact that every text the child uses is full of the 'very ill'ustt-atioqa. 'needed. Latin is usually referred' to as a dead lang uage; it might with "propriety be 'eulled deadly in some instances. Not 1a few high school pupils,after two years"of'Latin -study are i e to aeparatp..a ,o4 l#t its *e's. or In translation it is no uncommon thing to hear such as this: "Galiia Gaul, est-is, omnis-all, divisa-divided; in-in, partes-parts, tres-three," etc. As a .specimen product of the vigor of the Latin gr4fted upon the fiexibi lity of the English, note this: "The army having been drawn up more as the nature of the place and the slope of the hill and the nece#sity of the time than as the order and plan of military things demanded, since the different legions some in one part and vome another were resisting the en emy and the thick hedges having been cast down," etc. (See Caesar's Gal lie War, Book II, chapter 22.) The teacher who accepted this jagron holds a college diploma, and is exempt fron examination of fitness to teach. On my desk are some specimens of spell ing in the handwriting of high school teachers--all but one college gradu .ates: Ceasar (thus by three teachers), latin, litnrature, Enock Arden. Bau er's Grammar has- been in constant use in this State eight years, ind Myers' Histories more than fifteen years. Here are some of the varia tions: Mver's, Meyers', Meyer's; Beubler (five teachers), Beulah (three teachers), Beulah (two teachers' Beublar (one teacher). A tifteen hundred dollar principal can not make bricks without straw. Only a few high schools are (on tent to offer a: two-year course, al though one of the best schools in the State has but two years. Nine-tenths of the high schools offer a three-ycar course, no matter how many nor how few teachers. Last year there were but four public high schools in the State with a standard four-year course and epomgh teachers to teach it. The report- for 1908-9 will show perhaps eight standard four-years schools. Tv be sure more than fmur schools claim a four-year course. Sev. eral schools claiming a four-year course were credited with fewer units of work than are required for a standard three-year course and one school claiming four _ears fell.bielow the rgquirements for a standard two ear course The standard applied o the high schools was that generally accepted by the colleges of the State, and is below that .used by the Corne gie Foundation Board. The error in., to which most o fthese schools have fallen is to divide their pupils into four classes with six and -seven moth intervals of advancement between each two, then call each division a year in the courqe. That the reader may see the validity of 'some of these claims, some courses are here outlin ed: This is the fourth year's Work in one school: The first half of My ers' General- Hist'6ry, *Comercial Ari thmetic flve tiJne a week, three books of Plane *eometry, and forty-five hours during the year in Tappan's 'History'of Literature. Another four year iehool gets through the Seeond Book of Caesar's Gallic War, four books of Plane Geometry, and Top pan's Literature. Numbers of these courses show that the third year and the fourth year elassesw#re together in more than one study.' One must not be misled by the term literature in many of these schools. It is nothing more than reading about the a%thor of literature a little biography, if the truth must be told. The poverty of some of these four year courses is mo're than offset by some of the . plethorie three-year courses, some of which are formid able affairs. At random I take one year's work from one of those courses: Arithmetic, Algebra, Rheto ric, Literature, Latin (reading, gram mar, and prose composition). Physi cal Georgraphy,g~istory and Business Methods ('an innocent little text.) In this year's work every pupil takes everything prescribed, and each pupil is on recitation practically everyv pe riod during the day. Several schools have A rithmate, Algebra and Geomne try in the une -year's Vork, and a rew have P eicaf %igraphy- anid Physics in t same 'year', with pt-ac tically no other seienee in the entire he niajonty'o ' 2'bhN oe-eaclM' high schools -undertake the impossible -to teach a full fogr-year course. One such school has clatssba\in Arith metic, Algebra, Geometr.V, English Grammear, English Composition', Liter ature, Physical Geography, U. 8. SJis tory, S. C. History, General Hlistory, Beginner's Latin, Caesar, .and Ovid. One teacher may teach a few sub.ie0ts through a four-year course, and 4o it well, but on such course as the one 'just given a teachdr I. wasting his lpme and energy. ThAgrutest evilli t.pupil. His time and-egort aa, vrded ig among so many subje--ts that he pursues none of them lopg enough or-far enough to get any train ing or knowledge out of them. In even tke bEtter schools the average pupil gets but little out of such sub ject as Jhykical, Geography, Physics, and CJii; because they are not Stu died lon enotgh to benefit the pupil. TOe higz schools, like the conmmon sth6oi, suffei from the endless chang ing of teaIers. A comparison of this year's schedule with that of lost year show,that the whole course has been overhauled and reorganized, and in some cases the new course seems to be given ovir to reviewing past work. Perhaps such course is necessary, but it shows a fearful waste of energy somewhere. In at least two cases the now teachers.have taken the pu pils out - of last year's eighth and ninth grades, added a few recruits, and made a four-year school. Pre sumbly .this Is progress. Atlanta Court Fixes Weight Georgia Mule May Haul. Atlanta, Ga., Special.-TI)ere is a limit to the.weight a Georgia -nule should be made to haul and this lipilit was fixed by Judge 11,oyles in police court at 2,500 pounds. Judge Broyles fined C. B. Walket $5.75 because Wal ker's mule was eaught by in enter prising policeman in tbe act of lauul ing a load of 4,032 pounds. Prominent Georgia4 Woman Dead. Columbus, Ga., Special.-Emma Moffett Typg, aged 62 years, died here -Monday. Mrs. Tyng was an ex tensive traveler in both the new and old worlds and her lecture on the Holy Grail was received with much appreciation in various Southe, cities. She spent nearly -all of the, past few years of- her life in New York. She was the aufthor of one novel and was .4. frequent magazine voptributor.. Prank of EKlowlsa evleratar CauM Costly rire in Tu"a Tow& Belton, Texasr Special.-Fire start e& by Hallowe'en roisterers Satur day night destroyed the Belton com press and 10,600 bales of cotton. The damage. is $250,000, covered by in suranpe. Twenty residences were danaed by fire and - water, and -170. loafd. freight cars burned. Receivers For Southern Life and Ac cident Company. Norfolk, Va., Special.-Ug8en .,%Pit filed in the - United States'- Circuit Court here by Charles L. Hilgartner, R. E. Hilgartner and Addition E. Mtillikin, citizens of Maryland, for the appointment of receivers, in Vir ginia, for the Southern Life and Acci dent Insurance Company, Judge Wad dill cited the defendant company to .ppear here November 16th and show cause why a receiver should not be named. Mill Employes Get Full Work. Pawtucket, R. 1, Special.-The thread mills of the J. & P. Coats Company, in this city, employing 2, 500 hands, resumed a full time work ing schedule on Sattadlay, according to an annonetent .posted in the mills. The mills have been. running on short time since the financial die pression of last fall. World's Visible Cotton Supply. New Orleans, Special.-Secretary Hester's statement of the world's vis ible supply of cotton issued Saturday shows the total visible is 3,617.900 against 3,230,124 last week and 3, 371,958 last year. Of this the total of American cotten is 3,Q92,0000 against 2,741.124 last week -and 2. 565.082 last year all other Inds in eluding Egypt, Br-azil. Itidia, etc.. 525.000 against 530,000 last week and 800,876 last yenrI. A MEAN SLUR. "The -laundrymen are thinking ,about formIng an exchange.'' "Good idea. I suppose you can go there and trade the collars you get for your own -wash, eht"-LouisYllle VCourier-Jotitnui. -,* -- MR TAFT'S RELIGION President Roosevelt Says it is His Own Private Concern PEOPLE SHOULD NOT INTERFERE The President-Elect's Religious Be lief, Declares the Presidlent, Is Purely His Own Private Concern; a matter Por Which He Is Re sponsible Solely to His Maker, and Not a Subject for General Dis cussion or Political Discrimination. Washington, Special.'"Secretary Taft's religious faith is purely his own private concern and not a matter for general discussion and political discrimination,'' says President Roosevelt in a letter he made public in which lie answers numerous cor respondents. The President says lie deferred the publication of the lettei until now to avoid any agitation likely to influence the election. The letter follows: November 6, 1908. My Dear Sir: I have received youy letter running in part as follows: "While it is claimed almost 9ni versally that religion should not enter into politics, yet there is 'no denying that it does, and the .mass of the voters that are not Cbholics will not suppot a man for any office, es pecially for Presidbnt of the United States, who is a-Roman Catholic. "'Since Taft has been nominated tor President by the Republican par ty, it is being circulated and is con estantly urged as a reason for not vot ing for Taft that he is an infidel (Un itarian) and wife and brother Roman Catholics. * * * If his feelings are in sympathy with the Roman Catholic Church on account- of his 'wit&d bro.tbqr, b6ing Catholics, that would be objectionable to a sffli cient number of voters to defeat him. On the other hand, if he is an infidel, that would be sure to mean defeat. * * * I am writing this letter for the sole purpose of giving Mr. Taft all opportunity to let the world know what his religious belief is." I received many such letters as yours during the campaign, express. ing dissatisfaction with Mr. Taft on religious grounds;; some of them on the ground that he was a Unitarian, ,nd others on the ground that he was suspected to be in sympathy with Catholics. I did not answer any of these letters during the campaign because I regarded it as an outrage even to agitate such a question as a man's religious convictions, with the purpose f influencing a political election. lAut now that the campaign is over, when there is opportunity for men calmly to consider whither such propositions 'as those you make in your -letter would*,lead, I wish to - in. vite them to consider them, and ] have selected your letter to ansvwer because you advance both the ob. jections commonly urged against Mr. Taft, namely: that he is a Unitarian and also that he is suspected -of sym pathy with the Catholics. You ask that M*t. Taft shall ''let the world know what his religious belief i.s.'' This is purely his own private concern, and it is a matter be tweeii'him and his Maker, a matter for his own conscience; and( to re quite it to be iade publie under pen alty of political discrimination is to negative the first principles of our government, which guarantee com plete religous liberty, and the right to each man to act in religious affairs as his own conscience dictates. Mr. Taft never asked rmy advice in the matter, but if 'he had asked it, I should have emphatically advised inm against thus stating publicly his religious belief. The dlemandi for a statement of a candidate's religious hief can have no meaning except (fidf there rayr.be -discriinton :for or against him because of that be lief. D)iscrimination against the hhlde.r of one faith means retaliatory 'discrimination against men of othem faiths. The inevitable result of en tering upon such a practice would be an abanonment of our real' freedom of conscience and a reversion to the dreadful o nditions of religions dis sensionis wvhich in so many lands have proved fatal, to true liberty. to true 'religion and to* all advanced in civili. To disrimingo adain ly upright citizon 0ee : h to some parti6ola I cause, like Abraham' ' not avowed his- all'iai Churfh, is Imn outfage a liberty of conscienoe- --i of the found tina 'oCAru You are entifled to know. wh(t '4 man ;sepking your sufre Iu'i. of clean and up'rght life, .b in all his dealings with his flla and fit by. qualificati.on nd puI'.d to do. well in the great of 411) which he. is a candidatW; but you not entitled to 'knoi matters wM Ike purely between himself and -4 Maker. If it .is proper or legitimau to oppose a moo for being a tt. tarian, as was John Quinny Ada*_ for instance, 10 is the Reverend Ed. ward Everek Hale, at tho* preseit moment chaplain of the Senate, aixE an Amerisan. of whose life all, ood Americans are proud-then it Woul be equally proper to support or op. pose a ran because of his views or jfiatifif0ion by faith, or the metbod of administering the sacrament o thes gospel of salvation by works. If you' onoe enter on such a career there it absolutely no limil at which you carl legitimately stop. . So much for your objeetions to Mr' Taft because he is a Unitarian. No V for your ob.ections to him becaus. you think his wife and brother to bi Roman Catholits. As it happeneo4' thiey are not; but if they were, or it he were a Roma, Catholic, himself, If ought not to afYict in the slightesi degree any man's supporting him fot the position of President. I believe that this republic will et4 dure for many centuries. If Ao therf will doubtless be among its' Presf dents Protestants and Catholies 4t$' very probably at some time, Jewr I have constantly tried while Px dent to act in relation to my fellO* Americans of Catholic faith as I hope that any future President who hap pens to be a Catholic will act to wArds his fellow Americans 9f Protestant faith. Had I followed othiercourse I should have felt that I was unfit to represent the Amqr'. ean people. In my cabinet at the present =o6 ment there sit side by. Ride Catholie, and Protestant, Christian and Jew. each man chosen because in my bei lief he is peculiarly ft to e.ercise o6 behalf of all our people the-duties of the office to which I :hAVe appointed him. In no ease does the ian%a re ligious belief in any'way iriihejnde his discharge of his duties, save is it makes him more eager to. act justly and uprightly in his relations to all men. The same principles that have obtained in appointing the niembevV of my Cabinet, the highest officiali under me, the officials to whrn i entrusted the work of carrying oit all the important policies of my adl ministration, are the principles upor which all good Americans should got in choosing, whether by election,,or appointmept, the tpen to. fill any - -flee, from the highest to the lowest ir the land. Yours truly. THEODORE ROOSEVELT" Mr.. J. C. Martin, Dayton, Ohio. Seagulls of Auchmithle, In the fishing village of Auchmithte you may friequently witaess seegulls flying into the houses of the fisher men and partaking of food from their 'iands. One of these sea birds was in the habi't of' staying in * fisher mnan's house all the year round .ex cept 'at the 'breeding sesWon, when' l9 left. About a fortnight ago, while the gull was away, thre fisherman re. moved his home some -three and a half miles from the former place. The fisherman never expected to me his old friend the gull again. it was therefore, mutch to hi. aston lwh.ment that he .beheld on a receit Sunday the sea bird come walking into his 'new residence with stately' steps to 'resume his old familiar'tlgg andl household sways.-! !nden Speet tor. Remarks the Baltimore News,. It;t' felt That little head way can be mad in stayIng the prpgross cf tubprculo~4 until 'nen and women who come contact with those who sufferfo ' are brought to know the eo extent of the -plague and realIse they miUet assist in preWep2ting progrees. '