University of South Carolina Libraries
The EIleet on lEducation of th., Lost Influence of the Fireside. (Continued from page six). unit. The fruit of this influence is the charge made in the "Columbia State" to the effect that "the distinction be tween meum and tuum is not recogniz ed to the extent that it once was." This; 'condition ;s confined to no particular saction, and ve must outgrow it through an unsullied love for the young nation born at Valley Forge. I do not under estimate the work: and the influence of the schools, and I do not deny that some of them are coming short of their possibilities; but the more I have studied the education of today, and tried in my limited way to honestly investigate the charges made against it, the more am I con vinced that the strenuous life we are living is robbing the home of the in iuence it once had, and that his is! telling upon the child's education. The child does not hear from his father's 1t own lips the stories of great men; does not hear his interpretation of them; is not constantly pointed to some high ideal by his father in whom, he should. have the most perfect con fidence; does not enjoy the close com munion with his father as he should; and is not given to understand how much his father is expecting of him; and what bitter disappointment it will be for the child not to measure up to the standard and to the ideal set for him by a loving and sympahetic fath er. If the passion for business and the straining demands of society are such as to keep the parents from giving1 their children the time and consider ation duly theirs, it is equally true ,that they give less attention to the schools themselves. At no time in our history have the home -and the school been farther apart and in less sym pathy with each other. Parients who have neglected the moral training oft their children still have an inherent inclination to believe all they say; and they will accept complaint from them, and, with ilittle or no investigation, freely criticise the work of the school room and the general management of the whole school. Pupils accustomed 'to hear the teachier freely criticised, and seeing that he is a low salaried .man to begin with soon lose that re spect and admiration for him that was formnerly accorded the dignity of his poiin It is disastrous to the child for it to lose confidence in the effi-I ciency of the teacher, and how can the teacher maintain the confidence of the1 -child under a heavy fine of untelligent criticism! - T.he very freedom of our Democratic g6vernmeant has to some extent stayed the progress of education in later years. The American born child; scarcely learns to walk before he be ~ gins to question the legality of negu Qations laid down for him by his su Speriors. It is no uncommon thing to see a school master hauled into the courts for administering a mild, but much needed, case of discipline. The case happening a few weeks' ago in Spartanburg is fresh in the minds of all of us. Of course the charges in athis particular ca'se were groundless, as they generally are, and the teacher was vindicat:ed; but the child and the parent felt abundantly revenged by' having the teacher brought into the courts to defend himself. I have as little patience as any one else with a teacher trampling on the pupils' rights, and they have rights, too, but this is a rather rare thing, and a teach e~r who does it is soon forced out of the profression. -Accepting as true the statements that the child is no longer under the , influence in the home that it once was, and that the home and the school are farth'.r apart today than ever before, what 'are we going to do to improve these conditions? In my judgment they are the first things that should receive the attention of those wishing to improve the present system of edu cation. Large enrollment, handsome school buildings, splendid equipment, " ncreased appropriations, good summer and normal schools all play their own valuable part in the improvement of our schools, but no one of them, nor all of them taken together are worth as much to the schools at the present time as 'the restoration of the influ ence under which the child lived in the-by-gone years; and the confidence; Sin the teacher that the old time school master had; and the throwing around the old school house again 'that sacred halo that it once had under a richer and a purer civilization. How feeble and short sighted seems to me that argument that the ability of the old time school master with 'his antiquat ed books were the constructive agents, that produced the stalworth charac ters of the littl'e school that at best could run only a few months in the' year! From the very nature of the case the teachers of the State can play only a! small part in this restoration. The newspapers of the State, the minis ters, lawyers, and representative men imd worthy of te:r Qfforts. All that the teachers can do, how ?ver, should be done with might and .ain. The profession should not be ?ntered by those who "ish to use it as t stepping stone to some other station n life. Vigilance at his point is nec ?ssary because the salary paid the iverage teacher is harty a living one, ind the temptation to leave it is great. rhe teacher should live conscious of he fact that he should guard his char icter at every point, and make his ev ry act conform strictly to the highest ;tandards of right conduct. Any eacher who does not love the work ;hould have the courage to leave it, ven at the risk of going without a ob. The mastery of the subjects aught, though .this is of course indis )ensable to all alike, is of small con dderation when compared to the nead )f sympathy and tact on the teacher's )art. Every teacher should know as much tbout the parents of his pupils as pos iible, and 'he should seize every oppor .unity to foster a friendship between iimself and them. In abandoning the )ld time school teach.er's ingenius ;cheme of dispensing with his monthly )oard bill by "visiting around among iis patrons" the teachers have gone o the other extreme of not visiting at L11. The teacher entering the home or the purpose of learning the par m.ts and having a heart-to-heart talk tbout the child can not too frequently mappen. This custom covered a mul itude of faults in the older teachers Lnd, restored, will prove an aid to the ork of the trained teacher, and it will )e a long step toward bringing tha iome and the school into a closer rela ionship. I balieve the condition into which the lome and the school have fallen and ience the impossibility of the best re ults in education warrant the organ zation of a society with the avowed >urpose of restoring as far as possible he influence under which the child vas formerly reared, and the throwing tround the school house the sacred nfluence it once had. I can think of io badge I would sooner wear than the )adge which stood for the support of Christma Before buying your Christr ins, Apples, Oranges and Fr rou to see me, I can save yom 18 lbs. Granulate First Patent Flou Every Sack guaranteed. I have a large and comple ATIll sell at a reasonable price YOURS FO] G. W.KIl PROSPEF I have just received a car :hat will meet competition. Highest price paid for Cott Dull Seas Every Artcile Priced W; Trade. Take Advant Purchase Your Fai a You WILL The Short Cotton Crol ward. We force pr ALL OUR FALL A] were bought before ot] of going North. We market value and Not Quality. The first clt chaser. This is YOU] Come! We need n owe. A cordial greeti L0 Kb< our public schools, not m'ry in (01 Iars and cents, but in moral 6trength, and which at the same time reflected the teachers' desire to be taken again into the confidence of the home. SCARE UNFOUNDED, SAYS TAFT. President Declares Subject of Recent Report Has Furnished Material For Newspaper Sensations. Washington, Dec. 17.-President Taft, addressing the closing banquet tonight of the American Society for Judicial Settlement of International Disputes, allayed "the so-called war scare which has furnished material for the newspapers during the last few! days." He declared "there is not the slight est reason for such a sensation, b3 cause we are at peace with all the na tions of the world and are quite like ly to remain so." He said his purpose in outlining' th- preparedness of the United States for war "at a peace meeting" was to show by contrast the great worthiness of the movement for a permanent Court of Arbitral Justice and Univer sal Poace. Conditions of Defences. The President summarized the con I dition of the national defences and urg I ed that a policy of "wise military pre paration" be pursued. He emphasized' the fact that the American people- nev er would consent to the maintenance of a standing army sufficient to copB with that of the greater powers. He urged the retention of the present reg ular army, the improvement of the na tional militia, the passage of the pend ing volunteer bill to go into operation! should war be declaTred, and the pas sage of a law now before congress providing for an additional force of officers "who will be able in times of peace to render efficient service in drilling the militia of the States," and -finally, the accumulation of guns and amnunition "to equip and arm the force we could collect under our col ors in an emergency." SBuyers. as Supply of Candies, Rai iits of all .kinds, it will pay imoney. d Sugar for $1.00 - at $5.20 e stock of Fireworks that I t BUSINESS, .T Y, S. C. oad of HULLS and MEAL on Seed. y Down to Stimuldate the ge of Our Low Prices I d Winter Goods Now AVE Money Swill force prices Sky ices DOWNWARD. D WINTER GOODS ier .merchants dreamed bought below present hing but the BEST In oice to the early pur t. opportunity. oney to pay what we g to all. at tner U-il FOLLC BUIl INNP A T 10:3 A portion of t1 Lots. Wel Don't forget the place for Suitable 'l New Sout AGENT FOR O'N READY MONEY often puts opportunity withir your each. A chance for a good invest ment comes sooner or later anc if you have the money the pro fit is yours; if not, the other fel low gets it. Open an account with this bank and save systematically you will then have the READ1 IMONEY when opportunity comes your way. We offer you ABSOLUTI SAFETY for your savings, ani will allow interest credited quar. terly. BANK OF POMARIA Z. T. PINNER, V. L. SMITHl, President. Cashier. R. II. HIIPP, Vice-President Scale of Tote for The Herald and N< Contest. An increase of 500 votes on av year will be given on New Subsci tions. The following scale for old renewals: 6 months, 75 cents .. ......500 Tol 1 year. $1.50.. .... .....1,000 To. 2 years, $3.00.. .... ....2,500 voi 3 years, $4.50.... .....4,000 vo1 5 years, $7.50.... .....10,000 Toi 10 years, $15.00.. .... ..25,000 vol 25 years, $37.50 .. .....100,000 vod Now is the time to subscribe to 'l Herald and News. The Call of the Blood for purification, finds voice in pimpl boils, sallow complexion, a jaundic [ook, moth patches and blotches he skin--all signs of liver troub But Dr. King's New Life Pills ma rich red blood; give clear skin, rc heeks. fine complexion, health. TI Lhem 29c at W 1E. Pelham's. IW THE BAND TO THE OF ,DIN'G LOT tOSPERITY, S. C. AY, DEEMER 0 O'CLOCK A. M. e Simpson Lands will be sold in Suitable I Located, Well Drained and Close In. date and don't miss the Sale. Just the a comfortable home in a Live Town. erms Will Be Announced. Ii Real Estate and Trust Co. VNER GREENWOOD, S. C. on densed Statemient of the Condition of 'The Exchange Bank .Of Newberry, S. C., OnDecember 1st, 1910, as Reported to the State Bank Examiner. Loans and Discounts. .$212,182-95 Capital1Stock.-..--..--..$ 50,000-00 Fixtures... .... . . .-- 3,80.00 Surplus...... .... .. 2064 Over Drafts...... .... 2,258.25 Cashier's Checks.. . 112.13 Cash on Hand in Banks 22,548.49 Bills Payable.... .... Io,ooo.oo Dividends Unpaid... 40.OO~ Deposits............ 168,621.12 $240,789.69 $240,789.69' .We receive accounts both large and stnall. Our business is growing and will pay you four per cent. interest on your surplus funds, com pounded semi-annually. Begin now and open an account with this bank. L H. L. PARR, President. M. L. SPEARMAN, Cashier. W. G. HOUSEAL, Vice President. W B. WALLACE, Asst. Cashier. DR. GEO. B. CROMER, Attorney. NOMINATION COUPON. LIa I hereby nominate as a candidate in THE . HERALD AND NEWS contest Mr., Mrs., or Miss Uneeocicmtnesiltenoiao' naebedvugd e ISTETM OSBCIETOTEHRL ID~E SOes A 1~,SI OTS7c,FORMNH 0'