Newspapers / The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, … / Aug. 19, 1926, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page Two uun, Secorij O. J. PETERSON Editor and Publisher Subscription Price One Year SiTSO Six Months 75 ECHOES As a by-product of the marriage in the editor’s home a few days ago comes a note from Rev. N. L. Ander son, D. D., pastor of a great Savan nah Presbyterian church. Dr. Ander son married a Clinton Faison, a beau tiful daughter of Capt. W. L. Faison; hence the routine that brought the note which awakens echoes of two score years ago. Dr. Anderson is a brother of Mrs. Lois Mclver, of Gulf, right here in Chatham county. Accordingly, we are not so far off the local track when we mention that scholarly gen tleman. Nor is Clinton any longer a remote community. It is only a comfortable di ive of three hours or less, according to the degree of res pect the driver has for the speed laws, and every week or two some one is telling us that he spent a few minutes or hours in Clinton on the way to or from Wrightsville Beach. In fact, there is more of intercom munication today between the people of Pittsboro and the capital of the Big Blue county than there was forty years ago between the people ten miles north of Clinton and ten miles south of the town. Really, when this writer returned to his native county nine years ago, he found the people of the upper end of the county as much strangers as he found those of Chatham two years ago. It is hard to realize that is can be true, but is has been forty-one years the coming November since the writer as a gangling youth first met Dr. Anderson and enrolled as a pupil of his in the old Clinton male academy, a school which had had such mas ters as Graves, Grady, Murphy,—and A. L. Phillips, who too rose to high distinction in the Presbyterian min istry. And it has been forty years the coming November since he entered for the second winter and found Miss Lois Anderson, now Mrs. Mclver, as sociated with her brother in the ac ademy work, and a younger group of lads under her tution. If Mrs. Mclver did not have distinguished sons and daughters of her own to re mind the world that she is not any longer the lithesome young woman of those days, we should be more care ful in letting out such facts. And up here to the marriage was one of Miss Lois’ pupils of that good day, Mr. Ferb B. Johnson, now pre maturely white-headed, for Ferdie Johnson cannot be, despite time and gray hairs, anything but a boy. It was only a few weeks ago that W. T. Bost, in his inimitable letters to the Greensboro News, was comparing a certain University pitcher with or to “Ferdie Johnson,” and the boy is still as much a baseball and football fan as Jim Griffin, and if the latter will watch out he may see him streak ing through Pittsboro for games at the University, only Jim will be al ready on the road. The writer first entered a Clinton School the day before Cleveland’s first election in 1884. That was at the old ‘‘female College” building, on the very site of the large graded school building where the bride has been principal for the past two or three years, and teacher for several more. We missed the bonfire and parade and general hurrah of the election night, when the early news looked less favorable, and we recall ! the vulgar remark of a slim and ele gant youth with regard to the possi bilities of the town’s having been premature in its celebration. That is, the last vulgar word we have ever heard Mossette Lee use, and if there is a good man in the world it is that youngster, who was up here the otner day, playing the violin with a skill that has made him well known in a broad area as a musician. lie is a poet, too, and if readers of the News and Observer will bear the name in mind they will see occasionally a really poetic effusion from his pen. He too was one of Mr. Anderson’s pupils at the old Academy, after wards attended the University and was one of the pall bearers right here at Pittsboro when the body of Mrs. Battle, a daughter of Dr. Manning, professor of law, was laid to rest in the grave hard by the door of the Episcopal church, whose tomb as we looked at it last week bore the sem blance of antiquity, though Mossete, who helped lay the body tenderly to rest, is still a gay young bachelor, flapper age. Mossette Lee is an in stitution down in Sampson. George Matthews was another of the pupils of those middle eighties. He turned out a preacher, and a good one. Those who heard him here last Tuesday can aver that his very voice is a qualification that alone would make it a pleasure to hear him. In cidentally, we heard Waiter D. Siler remark that Matthews is one of the best preachers he ever heard, thus adjudging him from one sermon heard cn an ordinary occasion at his church in Warsaw. Ke is pastor of the Graves Memorial Presbyterian' church, whose beautiful little edifice .s a gift of N. ,Z. Graves, the paint man of Phila delphia, but a sen of the Graves men tioned aoove as one of the notable teachers at the old male academv, and by the way, the husband of the groom’s aunt. The writer began the study of Latin under Mr. Anderson. The teacher was a scholarly young man, reared in a scholarly atmosphere, his father be ing a professor at Davidson, and him self a graduate of Bingham and of Davidson College. lie knew Latin. I but that was his first school and last', and he knew nothing at ail of the difficulties in the way of a backwoods boy’s orienting himself to the Latin viewpoint* n fact, pedagogy was the last thing thought of for a teacher in those days. It stood about on the same plane as “bookfarming” with the farmers. But Mr. Anderson’s failure to orient the youth wire was after warns to be a teacner or Latin himself for a score ot years, was m f itself a most valuable lesson in peda- | gogy for that youth when he after-! wards introduced others to the Latin world. If the writer today were to start a class in Latin, he would util ! ize the periods for two or three days 1 in giving the members the proper I viewpoint and account the time the i best spent of the whole session. Again, the country youth who was to take up the study under Neill An derson had an analytic 'mind and had | been exceedingly fortunate in having 1 that power cultivated under a capable »1 country teacher, the mother of Samp ' j son’s distinguished attorney “Dick” i ■: Herring. The boy at twelve could i ‘ I stand in his class in the backwoods ■ j school house and rattle off orally the ;! solution of any problem in Stoddard’s ! | Arithmetic, a book which we now '! know contains algebraic problems I that scarcely half of the ninth-grade ‘ students of algebra can solve off-hand. L This power harnessed to the masceiy : of Latin would have made the task an easy one for him. But the Bing ham method of teaching Latin failed to utilize the student's chief mental asset, along with the only other strik ing capacity of his, that of analogy or comparison. The consequence was that he had a mischief of a time ever getting started in Latin. But, as stated above, those facts have been a corrective in the writer’s own work as a teacher of Latin. But he has often assumed what was not true, that the average pupil has even a modicum of analytical and compara tive ability. Hence, his method fail ed nearly as often as that of the Bing ham method, until finally he reached the conclution that Latin, as some one said of Greek, is too good for some folk, and that it is a waste of time and effort on the part of both teach er and pupils for such ones to study the language, especially in this day cf rich and varied curricula. Accord ingly, we should advise only students possessing powers of analysis and comparison to study Latin today, but should like to have every Latin teach er in the state in a summer term to instruct them in a method of approach and progress that is the result oi neai i a quarter of a century’s class-room j work. Verily, a class ot properly selected pupils should bo reading Caesar in an 18-weeks term without any difficulty and with a zest for the work. But only one member un qualified for work by the analytical and comparative method would check rhe progress of the whole class, lienee as. the mastery of the language is a simple matter for the properly quali fied student, we should advise the de ferring of the study of Latin at least till the tenth grade and then the se lection by one who knows their in tellectual bent of those who will find i' pleasant and profitable to put sue the classic language, it was a good day when girls without talent lor music might no longer be forced i.o ractice at the piano for hours every uay, and it is a good thing that the average student today does not have to study Latin. But as it wou.d be j unfortunate lor her who really has musical talent and a delight in music to be denied the opportunity to study music, so it is a pity when capable voung minds are not directed to the stuay of Latin or are disgusted with it by teachers who either do not know the language or an effectual method oi teaching it. Neill Anderson cer tainhT knew Latin and doubtless would, if he had continued in the school work, have developed an ef fectual method, but his failure to on ent, as other mistakes on the part oj. teachers, served as possibly nothing ei«e would, in the absence of profes sional training, to put the now vet eran teacher ever on his guard to see that the pupil was properly oriented. But a column of reminiscence has grown into a dissertation on peda gogy. They are celebrating the birthday of Virginia Dare over in Dare county this week. But let’s get it straignt. Virginia Dare was not the fiist “white” child of English parentage. When Virginia Dare was born Spain had numersous prosperous colonies in the West Indies, Mexico, and South America. Even St. I la., and Santa Fee, New Mexico, had been settled. Consequently, Virginia Dare was not 6V6TI the first white child born in the continental territory oj. the United States. Yet just Tuesday evening, we saw her characterized by one oi the state papers as the first ‘white child born in America. The editor of the Record can never miss an occasion to speak a good word for the great work of the State Board of Health in its adenoid clinics. Four davs are given this week to the benefi cent work. Dr. John Wright, special ist of Raleigh, but one of the Samp son county Wrights, a brother of President R. H., of the E. C. i. C., Greenville, operated upon twenty live school children Tuesday, and there are full schedules for the other three days. A competent force of nurses is cn hand to care for the children. lt. Cooper, acting superintendent of a wilted plant and thus became stoop who should have been chosen to head Jie v. oj k’ to which he has devoted twelve ci the best years of his life, \\us here. It was his first visit to Pittsboro, though he has been 411 near- : >f every county seat in the state. A feiicw who when a child could not ru:i fifty yards without panting like a lizard because cf the course of ade noids and who for lack of development .:f the abdominal muscles xor tne | same reason would, when sitting on the backless board benches in the backwoods school houses, crumple like health, and by good- rights the man ed, and who couldn’t talk plainly when t vcnl y-one, and all because of the I presence of adnoid growths of which :he physicians were as ignorant as they, were of the X-ray, is in a posi cicn tc appreciate the value of the work being done for similarly unfor tunate children today. The state can make no better investment, nor the parents. A similar operation, we are sure, would have been worth ten thousand dollars to this writer. It would tw T e meant starting life un -1 handicapped. IHE CHATHAM RECORD BOUT LATIN AND GEOMETRY The last parapraphs of our lead article, “Echoes”, has a new signi ficance because the statement of u • J. H. Highsmith, made since the para graphs mentioned were written, to the effect that Latin and geometry should be banished from the smaller high schools. Dr. Highsmith agrees with us that Latin is too strong a meat for the average student, and puts geometry in the same categoiy. Yet these are the two most impor tant studies in the high school curri culum for students of the proper cal ibre, and to deny them the privilege of the meat they need for their lull development would be a serious in justice. Dr. Highsmith says the high school students who do not go to college canot learn enough Latin to do them any good. He is wrong. We grant that most of them do not hiarn enough to do them much good, but refuse to believe that they cannot.: The ordinary teaching of Latin is a sham. The teachers have never them selves been competently taught in the rudiments and there is no provision for pedagogical instruction in teach ing of this most important subject. Besides, the incorjorat of numbskulls in the class makes it impossible for even a good teacher to make the prog ress with his class that he should. Instead of closing the schools to Latin, we again bring forth our suggestion that the study be deferred till the 10th grade and that the pupils quali fied to benefit by the study be as signed to the work. Let it be an hon or to be chosen as a member of the Latin class. Emulation has almost vanished from the schools. Few pu pils care how big blockheads they are considered. Such a scheme might do something to restore a wholesome res pect for one’s capacities. The most valuable years of the study of Latin are the first two or three, and if classes could find real pleasure in the study and achieve what is possible for them, the value of the two years in high school would be greatly enhanced. We feel that if any man in the state should have clear-cut views on the study of either Latin or geometry, it ,is the writer. He taught both sub i jects year after year. His mathe matical course included every bit of mathematics taught in any of the schools of North Carolina in his days, yet the one subject slighted was geo metry, his achievements in algebra causing his teacher to pass him on chat subject after merely scanning the text six weeks. Later when he be gan to teach it, he found that he had missed the very heart of his mathe matecal course, something that teach es a man to organize his thoughts, and which, like Latin, is cumulative. And there is one of the chief val ues of both subjects—one must mas ter and hold every step. A Latin or geometry teacher may safely give his examinations from the last ten pages of the texts. If the students knows those pages and their inplications, he knows the books. There is much more time lost to j the bright pupil in sitting through ! long periods, with teachers harping on matters that he has gotten in a! few moments alone, or could get, than there is lost in the study of Latin or geometry, howsoever little progress may be made in them. We dislike to be personal again, but therein lies the value of what a man of the writer’s experience may say, and in that light we here positively state that we never in four years study of mathematics in college learned two cent’s worth on class. Many a time we have gone to the class and lolled for a fifty minute period when every problem had been solved the night before. We grant that the teacher could have taught us more, but the time was taken up with trying to get the mini rium into the heads of those who did not have the mathematical talent. One year of instruction periods were lost to us out of the four in college. And ours is not an exceptional case. We saw, and as in the matter of orienting the Latin pupil, profited, so that when we found a capable fellow in school, we loaded him, and let him travel, even if only five minutes could be given to any special subject of his. The teacher is a light-bearer, and if a student finds only an occa sional dark spot, it takes only a mo ment to turn the light on it; the boy sees, passes on, and travel indepen dently till he again needs a moment of the teacher’s time. The five-talented boy or girl has been sinned against. No wonder that it became a tradition that the vale dictorian did not amount to much. He had never been loaded. Every task was easy and he became a loafer. The habit of persistence was not cul tivated. He enterede life where dili gence and persistence were essential, and he had been robbed of his birth right. On the other hand, the plodder may not have achieved much in the way of scholarship, but he had plod ed, and the habit was his salvation g HAVE YOUR EYES 8 BY AN EXPERT—COSTS NO H / 1 1 i ♦♦ *♦ I:♦ Dr. J. C. Mann, the well knowng g eyesight Specialist and Optician it j || will be at Dr. Farrell’s office inil! HPittsboro, N. C., every fourth Tues-ff j lay and at Dr. Thomas’ office, Siler|| j H'n each month. Headache relieved!* i ♦| City, N. C., every fourth Thursday I || whan caused by eye strain. When** j H’le fits you with glasses you havefl j Ijrhe satisfaction of knowing thatH, : gvhey are correct. Make a note off! i ‘ | S’he date and see him if your eyesH next visit to Pittsboro will beS |*| are weak. *♦ | on Tuesday, All£. 2J, ♦ His next visit to Siler City will i || on Thursday. Alig. 28. in the struggles of real life. Then, to take away from the bright boy or girl the two subjects that may really give him a chance to show the stuff of which he is made and to develop staying qualities, is an injustice that should not even be suggested. Loose the ten-talented youth. Merely sweeten the waters of these more difficult subjects and lead him to them, and there need be no great waste of time, for even the teacher, in his mastery of Latin and geometry. But if the blessed “unit” must depend up on a youth’s sitting on class fifty min utes when he has already mastered the text, then there can be little more opportunity for him to develop his God-given talents. But this is enough this time. But let us assure you that we know what we are talking about. The total of our schooling is only, measured in months, that of a modern high school graduate, and some of the terms were : from six weeks to three months long, under teachers who had neveer been to school more than thirty months; yet it is easy to discover that the back woods youth kept pace in his sub jects with the brightest of Morson and Denson’s well-trained students. What was possible under those earlier con ditions, is much more than possible now, whether the term is six months or eight. Keep Latin and geometry, but give them to only those who can appreciate them. The present teaching of geo metry is, in some high schools at least, farcical. In a school not a thousand miles from here, the geome try work consisted of one of the dem onstrated theorems written on the board at the same time by four or : five pupils, while months went by without a single original being as signed for study. If such is the gen eral practice in teaching geometry, then it is well enough to throw it out, but because of the incompetency of teachers and not of the lack of es sential value of the subject. The crops are again suffering for lack of rain. A large percentage of j thecorn crop is late. If rain does i not come by the time this is read, 1 the yield will be seriously affected. i j The editor was much pleased-to see Bob and Gearge Paschal Tues day. It was the first time he had seen Bob since they were in college together thirty-five years ago. These notable Chatham twins have achieved | much for themselves and the people I of the South. Bob has been head ofj Robt. Johnson and Bruce Sutton 1 Accused Robert Johnson, white, and Bruce! Sutton, colored, were before justice Lysander Johnson Saturday on the charge of furnishing material for the still at which Robert Marsh and Ar thur Williams, two young negroes, were captured sometime ago. After the negroes had' been in jail three weeks they stated that these men had been back of them. Attorney Hor ton, representing Johnson auc. button, argues that this was a device on the part of the two young negroes to get even with Johnson and Sutton for not standing their bonds. Johnson admitted having served a i term for blockading but proved a good character for several years by a number of good citizens of the west ern part of the county. Sutton also proved a good character, although he had been tried formerly for block ading but acquitted. The ’squire seemed to think that the two boys were not able to fit out a copper still and buy 500 pounds of sugar at a time. He has the case unde** adviseement and will render his decision Saturday. real discovery .\m motor lubrication proved OR y cars listed below EFORE offering the new “Standard” O Motor Oil to the public, road tests ' aggregating hundreds of thousands of / miles were made with every type of car / and truck. 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The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 19, 1926, edition 1
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