Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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" 2 problems of high: L Address by Prof. W. H. Ha at Fit Certainly my subject can lay nc claim to being new, whatever the des lgnation given to my argument. Tin subject js as old as organized school! but it has grown immensely in impor tanee s'nce the adoption of the pollcv of universal education at public ex pense. Since the public schools are supported by a universal tax, it fol lows that those for whom that ta? is collected should get the benefit o: It. ' avgely fo- this reason more thai forty states of the Union have enact ed compulsory school attendance laws. Under these laws pupils an required to attend school for a pt rio'1 of years ending usually ot iron 14 10 16 years of age. The annua attendance term, the exemption!, the penalties and the like vary widely in the various states. We an concerned with a single plia^o o the results?how well the pupils are held in school. In states boti with and without compulsory attend ance laws we are confronted witl he fact that pupils for one reasoi or another drop out of school witl ama7ing rapidity after 14 years o age. Of all the public school childrei in the United States, 93 per cent an in the first eight grades, and the re maining 7 per cent are in the 9th 10th, 11th and 12th grades, or th< high school grades. Of all the pupil in the first eight grades, 76 per cen are in the first five grades. The re maining 24 per cent of the elemen tary pupils are scattered through th 6th. 7th and 8th grades. The conditions in the white school of South Carolina are similiar to bu not identical with the averages fo the United States. In our school the 8th grade is assigned to the higl school instead of the elementar school. Ninety-four per cent of ou white pupils are enrolled in the firs seven grades, or our elementar; school, while but 6 per cent are ii the high school. In this state and throughout th t nion, we are confronted with th further and disquieting fact tha lully 40 per cent of the high schoo pupils are in the first year. The sehoo of the Union at large manage to ge about 1:5 per cent of the high sehoo pupils into the fourth year. Soutl Carolina gets only 5 per cent of her so far advanced. In this count there is another vexa tions fact. The boys leave sehoo earlier and in larger numbers thai do the girls, and the ratio of boyi 10 girls in the high school is growini smaller year by year. In many placet in our own state the number of boyt leaving school at the end of the firs high school year is little less thai an exodus. For n local stud> of thi> situation, your attention is dlrertef to the annual report of the stat< Superintendent of education for 1M11 It is becoming evident fo all that tin schools are losing hosts of pupils a! tin very time they ought to lie most eueply concerned in equipping theiusel es for more profitable study, foi intelligent citizenship, and for becoming more effl'iont and productive workers in the economic world. After deducting t.'om the high school attendance those who are a vowed 1\ college bound, I think it safe to say 'hat we are holding only a nv re r?mnant made up of a few earnest boys and girls bent on si ruring all they can before their day of opportunity ends, and a few others groping their \v:i> in the dark with little purpose and less guidance. This whole matter calls for serious patient, and intelligent study. Why are these pupils dropping out in such numbers, and what should be done to hold them? We have already had much theorizing considerable guessing, and some studying about why these pupils are leaving schools. Every once in a while some educator has come forward with an explanation and a remedy. Immediately sornr other educator has arisen to point oui that the other's explanation did no1 explain and that the remedy was un availing. One of the most illuminat lng studies of this subject was recen ly made at the University of Iowa The results are given in a bulletii entitled "Work, Wages and School ing of Eight Hundred Iowa Boys. In this study an attempt was made t get from the boys themselves th reauon why each had left schoo Their answers make an lnterestin study, even after due allowance ha been made for the uncertainty in th boy's own mind as to why he le school. Some reference will again t made to this bulletin. I have taken notice of som of the theories. guesses an studies of others, and after an eigh year study of the question in conn< & - M TI HOLDING j: SCHOOL PUPILS "4 * 11 ,n<r at 'Recent Meeting Held 1 >rence, ? > tiou with my dally work, I havo a arrived at a few definite conclusions. : a } With your kind indulgence I submit i 1' s some of them very briefly and leave ! v - you to appraise their accuracy and t - validity. cl 1. The popular belief seems to be 8 i that after 14 years of age the largest > t - number of boys drop out of school be v c cause their labor is needed for a f either their own support or that of 8 i the family. This belief is open to - very serious doubt. The fact that 1 ; some of the poorest familier in al- 1 a most every community arc managing t o keep their children in the public j' i ichools as long as they are open to 3 1 those children discounts this conten- I tion heavily. Turning to the Iowa I a - Bulletin we find a good percentage of , c b the 800 boys giving the need of their j c [ labor as their reason for leaving I s school. However, it should be 1 it borne in mind that even a de- f - sorter sometimes grows very peroic * i when pleading his own cause, f l cases his conscience for leaving * l school by assuming the role of a 1 f young bread-winner. This claim de- 1 itands very serious investigation, for ? j ii it can be shown that in our country t # j child-labor is actually required to f _ aul in the support of our population, * our whole economic system should be c a Mivestigated from bottom to top. No I 3 less a man than the Secretary of f t .-tate at Washington uttered almost t . the same words months ago. r 2. I am persuaded that pupils en- s e ler school too young,?not that th^v are too young to learn or even to t g study, but that they grow tired of go- a t ing to school before they reach th ? 1 r age at which they are capable of ap- s 8 predating the -.alue of their school- t Ii ing. The vanity of fond parents are \ t y and zealous teachers may not be al-1 < r ways wise and I believe here is an ! t t instance. I I:now some exceller' 1 j v .school people who do not agree with j (1 nn* in my position, but I see too much r of the evils of the present plan ot s 0 putting young children into school ?o i 0 be tonvlncee in its f.t.or I have oh- | ^ s j veil too many lirst-gr-.ule and se 1 j ond grade prodigies fall by the way- 1 i 1 aide and mop out of school before s t the age of fourteen. I should like to c I re the hjiuintum sell, oi i?. in Sontl ( t ' a.'lu.a rrUed to n 1 ast that ?i I s Virginia Alabama and . eyas?sever < voars i.at"er Hurln.r.u in his lit"l< a . Ivok, ' The Human I'?art " conter i f 1 tha tihe virago child v rild be bett . , educated ii he were 1 ept out ? I s school until 10 yea's oil Doubtle.;;- t ^ liis p sii -oil is extro i but is has 1 s much to commend it. 1 t , '1 After all our i n,' orementa 1 s t school organization, th?re is tor t l much i. uii.it g time in ill < lementa?,y n , grades, is not every inoiightful am' v I c osrrvMit ?tacher compelled to a ii . Hint cur i units have or? aired < ?i la oppointinglv small of ei ? n > information rr power o\ the end v v the c!. nrr.tery school.' '.his i.i i in.' n r i. due largely 'o 'lie pr. r. . ini ?iilldivn ;..eseg.a i .. n airn.dy been -.aj'gestod. ?s i o t m <8hie to expect as much work r from a n of 9-year-old children In I the : > i rede as it would he if th I fl cliil Ten re eleven years old? Car- e y this scale of immaturity through seven school years, and yon can a< h coui:i for pt least a year of lost time, j li l.ut tin-re is still another explatm- o tlon ? f this marking time?the over- <> crowded conditions in most of our ' o schools. Can any parent or school | v hoard expect anything hut marking! v time In a school room with f.fty pu- i' pils to one teacher? The pupil who i s marks time for a few years is ready j f at ;he lirst opportunity to leave j s school. Who can blame hiin? s 4. There are yet among us too! j many sc hools whose courses of study i a are bounded by pages and paragraphs. I t That it, to say, there are too many t teachers and pupils restricted to a \ . specific number of pages in a given 1 ? textbook to be covered in a specnie-l t t time. I have very grave doubts about 1 t -be efficiency of any school whose j - superintendent can tell me \rj his pro gram of studies on what page arv t t pai'icular class will be studying alt month hence. It would be a hatza.'d < n to c,ueso when such a superintendent < 1- will cut his wisdom teeth. His scaoc! l " will never be famous for holding Its i o pupils, unless through some strong j e counteracting agency. 1. < . Very few schools are equipped g with uniformly competent teachers, is The weaker ones must be placet ie somewhere, and they usually are dlt, ft trmuted among the middle grade* >e w hoie the pupils are already marking time. An immature pupil In an ovrrie crowded room, under a weak teacher, d and in a class marking time is net t- llekly to remain through the liigu to school. 5 LANCASTER NEWSA1 ? Too frequently the high school i tu ners of least experience are lured in charge of the first yesx .n tie high school. The flrst-ye.ir lasses are the largest In the kgh chool, the organization is usually the lost imperfect, and the pupils are the lost difficult to manage. These tacliers too often know nothing of dolescenco and its significance in ealing with boys and girls of that ge. If the teacher fails to catch nd hold the adolescent at just the iroper time ,tbe chances are that he fill never catch him. The pupil at bis age must be understood and 1r* 1 1 1t.UK It n th.il I^uiv null ill (\ 11 u > nriuimilienv, traiglitforward way, if he is to be leld and to be taught. A teacher iho does not really understand boys tul girls at the beginning of the high chool period will soon run them out if school. The personality of the earlier counts for much in attracting tupils or repelling them. Schools hat change teachers every year can lot hope to hold pupils with any de;ree of success. 7. High school courses of study ire built on standards set by the olleges and fail to attract pupils not ollege bound. The now famous Re>ort of the Committee of ten anlounced with great complacency and inality that a preparation good nough for college was good enough or anything else. There are some vise men and women today who do iot agree with this pronouncement. Phe college preparation is too narrow md eailusive to be applied indiscriuately to the great army of boys and rirls for whose benefit the high chools are maintained. It makes no litfe-ence how thoroughly convinced may be that a certain course is best or a pupil, nor how doggedly I holo o my conviction, the pupil and his mrent must be reckoned with. They ire going to be considered. The tstos and ambitions and opportunity. of both pupil and parents demanu md deserve consideration. The ccleges not only dictate what the high ichools shall teach but they in pracice undertake to tell the high schools iow long they shall keep their pupils. what value is the mere advice of he colleges to pupils to remain four ears in me ntgn school, when every ttipi) Knows that he can enter college ifter three years In the high school iitd Graduate from college on schodi!e time? Here is one of the o.v ilanaMons of why three of the four argent cities in South Carolina have efu.sed to maintain a four-year nigh cliool. The pupils college bound droti >111 of school to answer the call of he college, and those not college inuvi know only too well that the < utsen of study lead only to college ihd they drop out in advance of their oilosvs. S. High school pupils, especially toys. do not have enough strong men c achers. Strong, clean men, please ?e*?r jii mind. This does not raise lie question of sex superiority. It duply means that we must recognize he decree of nature that a yours ioy needs the companionship, advice, tiiciai.ee and resraint of a strong nan. He needs them at this age as t other. I anticipate being rerun led of the distinguished sons of , iclowetl mothers by remarking that lie number lias been wonderfully exggcrated, and that there are perhaps tore infamous sons than famous ties. In this connection I am often i-minded of a remark of the late Sam '. Jones -that nature seems to have tted a woman for almost anything xcopt being the father ol a family. ! . I am not '"nosed to overvalue school atk ics, but 1 must belt ve that the almost utter neglect f the systematic physical training f tite adolescent has made him less nthosiastic about his school than he .mid he if his new needs were proiled for. The play instinct is strong 'i the human race, and clean, manly ports are the cravings of all healthul. normal hoys and girls. The high chool whose teachers sit around the toves during recess hours and whose lUplls walk around the grounds or it in the sunshine in winter and in he shade in summer will hold hrougb four years none but the little iValdos and the little bluestockings, rhe live human animals with red dood in their veins will all have left >afo*e the end of four dull, monotous rears. 10. I am far from being disposed 0 hold the teachers and the schools "espenstble for all the Shortcomings >f pupils and for all the evila which ^ ertake them. Parents must share the responslblity. The modern father and mother seem to have lost their grip on their 15-year old boys and girls. The fathers are absorbed ic business and the mothers are absorbed in clubs sometimes organized to look after somebody else's children. 1 do not undortake to prophesy, but 1 risk saying thai unless the American home re sumes the natural perogativet which it has wantonly attempted tc thrust upon the school and the schpo teacher, American manhood and womanhood will soon be set back a PRIL 20, 1915. century. If the boys and girls are dropping out of school in large numbers, I insist that the fathers and mothers be called upon to explain the exodus. They pay for the schools, they pay the teachers, and the child-' ren are theirs by divine right for control. Why do they permit these fledglings to drop out of the school! they hav established for them? The I challenge Is dirpct and unequivocal. 11. The sentiment and the idealB of a community have much to do in determining this whole matter of at-' tendance. In any community where J ihe prevailing notion is that an elementary education is all that the peo- J pie need or all that the public ought i to provide, teachers nor courses of | Rtildv nor nth lot loo nor onwttiin? "1?? ' will stem the tide of pupils away from the school. The community absorbed in money-making or other material affairs will never be remarkable for keeping its pupils in school either long or regularly. If I may be pardoned for being in a degree personal, I know a community where the men, the kindred of the pupils, are so occupied playing poker that the school is p matter of little thought with them. What hope can there be for such a community so long as such ideas prevail? . \ n,. 12. Finally. Young America himself must be held responsible lor his share of the blame for leaving school prematurely. Too frequently he is I indifferent, recalcitrant, a truant. , lazy or a spoilt and worthless malini gerer. The Iowa investigation shows ' that 296 boys left school for various detailed reasons falling under the general heading, "Dissatisfied with school." The largest number simply "disliked school life," and the next largest number was "tired of school." Other reasons assigned were "disliked teacher." "disliked study," "school t work too hard." "not promoted," and I "expelled or had trouble." It is not difficult to see how many of these boys left school simply because of their own shortcomings, and it must be remembered that all this is the damaging testimony of the boys themselves. No matter how much sympathy we may have with youngsters. we can not blind ourselves fo the fact that there are among them lazy ones, indifferent ones and worthless ones?deaf to duty, blind to opportunity, and destitute of gratitude, Teachers and schools should no the held responsible for the fa'lures of such pupils. Some Forms of Ithcuinntism Curable Rheumatism is a disease characterized by pains in the joints and in the muscle-. The most common forms are: Acute and chronic rheumatism, rheumatic headaches, sciatic rheumatism and lumbago. All of hese types can be helped absolutely v applying some good liniment that nenetrates. An application of Sloan's Liniment two or three times a day I to the affected part will give instant relief. Sloan's Liniment is good for pain, and especially rheumatism pain, because it penetrates to the ' eat of the trouble, soothes the afflicted part and draws the pain. "Sloan's Liniment is all medicine." (let a 2fic bottle now. Keep it handy | In rase of emergency. Witness After Witness in Lancaster. Such Fviilcncc Our Readers Cannot Dispute. As v.e take up The News week by week, we are struck by the hearty, unmistakable way in which v\ lines? after witness speaks out as Mr. Clyburn does here. If these people were strangers living miles away, we might take little notice of thetn. Rut they are not. They are our neighbors, living among us. Their word is too easily proven to admit of any doubt. They speak out in the hope that their experience may be n guide to others. 1.. P. Clyburn, French St., Lan * ? *mi | .-?<?> n . ill/ rAjM'i inn r ? uil Dean's Kidney Pills has been so satis factory that T don't hesitate to recommend them. My kidneys were inactive and T had backache. I used Doan's Kidney Pills .which I got at the Standard Drug Co.. and they rid me of the trouble. I hare had no ictu-n attack." Price 50c, at al! dealers. Don't I simple ask for a kidney remedy? get Doan'b Kidney PW|s?the same that Mr. Clvburn had. Foster-Mil burn Co., Props? Buffalo, N. Y. IT'S NOT WHAT WE Our Friends Mm. W. F. JAMfiH, No. 82 H that she has been using LUZ1A i Years In her home. Likes it A 1 its FINE FLAVOR, and the SA LUZ1ANNK goes as far as TWO gives Perfect Cup Quality. Save Your LUZ IF YOU want the nice PRESE1 the RKILY-TAYIjOK CO., at N j CATALOGUE. ? ? Luzianne Is In a J School Field Day*. ' | t Now that we have a compulsory at- i 1 tendance law, what are we going to i do with It? From appearances? | nothing. It is not the law that the ( people wished, but why should not some system be put behind it? Get the best out of it anyway, even if it is defective. This is the only way to disclose the weak points and the people can come back next year , with a demand for a law that will work. But there is at work a mightier force for compelling attendance upon schools. It is not law. The sweet taste of the virtue of being good or doing good is taken away when that act in itself is not voluntary, but is icvju;i?a. me cnna wnicn goes 10 school unwillingly must be won over or it will be laggard. The parents who are forced to give the child a chance will do so begrudglngiy and will at least do nothing to aid the child's progress. But, as wo have said, there is h mightier force at work. Take the reports coming from all the county papers. "Field day" exercises are being held. This is the great compelling force which is compelling, for it is winning?not forcing. In Anderson 7,000 school children from ail parts of the county took part in the annual parade; in Laurens 4,000; in Greenwood an immense throng, and in Marion 6,000. Such is the report from each county where these field day exercises are held. This is a wonderful thing to stimu_ late the interest in the work of the schools, to make the children on the outside long for the opportunities and advantages of school life. We can't understand why Richland county has no such day set apart for sports and declamations to be engaged in by the children of the whole) county. It brings people together as nothing else can do. It puts enthusiasm and interest into the work of the schools. The great fight against illiteracy is really not to compel the attendance of children, but to reach the older generation of illiterate persons. The children are getting the hankering for the opportunities afTorded in the school room, and now they are getting better facilities and the percent J ago of illiteracy is reduced in a nat uiui aim UMiimcilUttUlf Hill U111* 1*. Hut we must go back of the chilRUB-MY-TISM Will cure Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Headaches, Cramps, Colic Sprains, Bruises, Cuts, Burns, Old Sores, Tetter, Ring-Worm, Eczema, etc. Antiseptic Anodyne, used internally or externally. 25c White Man With Black liver. The liver is a blood purifier. It was thought at one time it was the; seat of the passions. The trouble with most people is that their liver becomes black because of impurities in the blood due to bad physical states, causing biliousness, headache, 'dizziness and constipation. Dr. King's New Life Pills will cleau up ll. liver, and give you new life. 25c j at your druggist.?Advt. No I sc to Try and Wear out Your fold. It Will Wear You Out Instead. Thousands keep on suffering coughs and colds through neglect and delay. Why make yourself an easy oroy to serious ailments and opid as the result of a neglect " old? Coughs and colds sap you. strength and vitality unless checked in the early stages. Dr. King's New Discovery is what you need?the first dose helps. Your head clears up. you breathe freety and you feel so much better. Buy bottle today and start taking at once. Whole Family Dependent. Mr. E. Williams, Hamilton, Ohio, writes: "Our whole family depend on Pine-Tar Honey." Maybe some-; one in your family has a severe cold ncrhnns It is the hahv Thn nHi,. r w? ? ? ? ? * * - ?v *0 | inal Dr. Bell's Pine-Tar Honey 1b an 1 ever ready household remedy. PineTar Honey penetrates the linings of tho throat and lungs, destroys the-) germs, and allows nature to act. At your druggist, 25c.?Advt. i, ! SAY THAT COUNTS Speak For Us larrls St., Anderson, S. C., states LNNK COFFEE for nearly Five BOVE ALL OTHERS because of VINO IN MONEY. A Pound of ' Pounds of ordinary coffees, and LANNE Coupons ^T9 they entitle you to. Write ew Orleans, for a PREMIUM Class By Itself I Iren and try to reach those grown people to whom education means nothing. One way is by these annual field day occasions. Get them enthused over the schools and they will become curious to know what Is the cause, anxious to improve their own minds so that they can take the ' printed pages and get the Ideas of the people of the wide, wide world.? Columbia Record. WHAT TICK ERADICATION MEANS IN DOLLAR^ The people's estimate of the value of tick eradication as indicated by more than 1,000 practical cattlemen shows that the losses from Texas fever are reduced from 18.5 to 1.1 per cent of the total number of cattle. The value of steers is increased 55 per cent. The weight of cattle is increased 19.7 per cent. The grade of rattle is much improved and crop production is increased 83 per cent by the use of cow manure. In South Carolina, Oeorgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas there are 15,038.805 cattle valued at $286639,623. Let us apply the rule of increased valuation as the result of eradicating the tick from those states * and we shall have increased their value to $429,959,434, an actual increase of $143,319,811.65 With the tick obstacle removed there will follow quickly a rapidly increased interest in cattle. The South is justified in expecting that, with the new livestock era in the South, the total number will be quickly doubled, and we shall then have 30,077,610. Without drawing a particle upon the imagination, it is confidently expected that within 20 years after the departure of the tick we shall have so far progressed in the upbuilding of our herds that they will be worth double what they are today. The cattle interests will then be valued at $573379.046. The tickless South is the nation's hope for cattle.?Dr. J. A. Kiernan. To Drive Out Malaria And Build Up The System Take the Old Standard GROVE'S TASTELESS chill TONIC. You know what you are taking, as the formula is printed on every label, showing it is ?uinine and Iron in a tasteless form. he Quinine drives out malaria, jjfte Iron builds up the system. 50 euro More Corn and Ix'ss Cotton. The farmers' operations in Abbeville are very backward this year. On account of the rains very little deep plowing has been done. We hope our farmers will plant "more corn and less cotton" when the I weather does clear up.?Abbeville Medium. Health Promotes Happiness Without health, genuine joy Is impossible; without good digestion and | regular bowel movement you cannot 2 have health. Why neglect keeping bowels open and risk being sick and ailing? Von don't have to. Take one small l)r. King's Now Life Pill at night, in the morning you will have a full, free bowel movement and feel much better. Helps your appetite and digestion. Try one tonight. All! the In\ Igorat iug Whiff of the Pino Forest! How it clears the throat and head of its mucous ailments. It is this spirit of Newness and Vigor from the health-giving lMney Forest brought back by Dr. Hells Plpe-TarHoney. Antiseptic and healing, lluy a bottle today. All Druggists, 25c. White Man With lilurk Liver. The Liver is a blood purifier. It was thought at one time it was the seat of the passions. The trouble with most people Is that their Liver becomes black because of impurities in the blood due tc bad physical states, causing biliousness, headache, dizziness and constipation. Dr. King's New Life Pills will clean up the Liver, and give you new life. 25c at your druggist. Are You Khematlc?-? Try Sloan's If you want quick and real relief from Khemumatlsm, do what so many thousand other people are doing?whenever an attack comes on i athe the sore muscle or Joint with Sloan's Liniment. No need to rub It In?Just apply the Liniment to the surface. It Is wonderfully penetrating. It goes right to the seat of trouble and draws the pain almost framed lately. Oet a bottle of Sloan's Liniment for 25c. of any druggist < and have It In the house?against Colds, Sore and Swollen Joints, Lumbago, Sciatica and like ailments. Your money back It not satisfied, hot It does give almost Instant relief. Malaria or Chills & Fiver em . -1 ? ? ? MA ASA t ? ^A^kasa^ ^aManelalhm t rctcripuon no. ww it pr?pwoo wpwiiuj or MALARIA er CHILLS A PCVER. PHre or six doses will break any esse, and If taken then as a tonic the Fever will not return. It sets on the liver better then Csiomsl and does net frtpeotrftktn Mt