Newspapers / The Weekly Raleigh Register … / Dec. 17, 1884, edition 1 / Page 1
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By P. M. HALE. offick : Fdvetteville St., Second Floor Fisher Building. BATES OP SUBSCRIPTION: ADVERTISING BATES. Advertisements will be Inserted for One Dollar per square (one inch) for the first and Fifty Cents for each subsequent publication. Contracts for advertising for any space or time (tne copy one year, mailed post-paid ..... .f3 00 j One copy sis months, mailed post-paid..;..! 00 may be made at the office of the RALEIGH REGISTER, - r o name entered without payment, and ' VOL. I. RALEIGH, N. C, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1884. 'm ,r sent after expiration of time paid for. NO. 43. Second Floor of Fisher Building, Fayetteville Street, next to Market House. BIDE A WEE, AND DINNA FRET. Is the road very dreary Patience yet ! p..t " ill I" sweeter if thon art aweary, A"1 Then-hide a wee, and dinna fret. t Tlie clouds have silver lining. Don't forget ; .1 ih ( .iiriiiT' ,!ii:h lie's hidden, still the sun is shining ; . ; Instead of tears and vain repining, Just bide a wee, and dinna fret. With toil and care unending Art beset? n. t'iir.k tbee how the storms from heaven de scending Snap the stiff oak, but spare the willow bending, And bide a wee and dinna fret. (irief sharper sting doth borrow From regret; But yesterday is gone, and shall its sorrow I'ntit us for the present and the'morrow? Nay : bide a wee, and dinna fret. Au over-anxious brooding Doth beget bst of fears and fantasies deluding; Then, brother, lest these torments be intruding, Just bide a wee, and dinna fret. THE ORPHANS. I Friend in Time of Need, Is a Friend Indeed. He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord," is acknowledged by all Chris tian people to be a literally true proposi tion. and beautiful are the lessons it teach es those who sincerely follow its com- maiul. In this connection I am led to consider which class of our poor appeal most deservedly to our Christian and hu manitarian feelings and hence should re eeivv the greater part of our loans. Two classes present claims of almost equal merit, for our aid ana consideration.. One, the ag-eil and homeless; the other, the or phaned and friendless. The first appeal to us. to smooth and soothe their descend in" pathvav , and declining years while the second plead for succor, guidance and protect ion from temptation and vice until they reach that age when they can support and proteet'themselvcs and, through the k-ssons taught them by us, make useful and correct members of society. For the i:!ilwc provide, in every county, some kind uf means whereby they generally receive clothes, food and shelter. Inadequate and itno often i niggardly as these provisions are they serve, at least, the purpose of ijuieting public conscience and permitting u to claim "we alwavs care for our poor." But it is not my purpose to discuss our poorhouse system; my object is to write regarding our orphans whose young lives are in our keeping and must be moulded into sonic shape. Thinking and Christian people will agree with me when I claim that the shaping and moulding of the livses 'l orphan is a great responsibility and ne society demands should receive the mo-t earnest and sincere consideration of our 1 iv makers. Circumscribed by' this responsibility are their moral, mental, and physical training and the correct cultiva turn of their loves, affectious and disposi tions, while their prosperity and happi ness and the peace of those" with whom !h' v must be connected and associated after we have reared them to an age when they sh,,uM rr0 forth to battle with the 'ao! M. w ould be sadly jeopardized by our : imiii;' u cio our auiy towards tnem Asylums for these poor and helpless un fortunates are, unquestionably, the most practical means for rendering them the aid ami training their pitiable conditions de m ami and should receive at the hands of l 'nristian people Asylums for the poor and orphaned are is much a necessity in every well regulated community as are any. other organized in stitutions tor the betterment and elevation of the human family, but how best to sus tain and conduct such institutions are epicstions of vital importance arid interest to tax payers and those who voluntarily contribute towards their support, Orphan asylums, like poorhouses, should be established and mainly supported by tlie State, for by sucji action, on the part "T the State, the best and mwest interests of socieiy would De subserved, No well wisher of society or patriotic citizen will " 1 tiie correctness of this proposition, lor if we permit our helpless orphaned children Jo grow up without correct cul ture and training we cannot expect the result to be otherwise than demoralizing and damaging to society and every princi- jm aim necessity requisite to create, and imperative to sustain, such precepts and 'xamples as it should be the aim of every luistian people to foster and maintain within the bounds of their communities, it should be the principal aim of the lounders of orphan asylums to have them b conducted and managed that the great- t-'-t good would be done to the greatest niiinbf r at the least possible expense. 1 he gathering of orphans into asylums Mmply to support or educate them is the narrowest contraction possible of the uses orphan asylum-should be put to, and it to be hoped a broader sohere of useful- lies Mil' will be practiced by our existing one dl that mav hereafter be established 111 the State. . 'I he primary object of orphan asylums ' to collect all dependent, fatherless chil 'ir' ti. and to care properly' for their souls, their persons and their minds in a Chris tian ;ind humane manner. Thissuper "sion and care should continue until they r' a h aii age when they should earn aliv or until they, can be placed in suitable '"iocs under proper people, and when such h ines are found they should be allowed to or compelled to accept them, r than this, the officer in choree 1 !lid he forced by positive regulations 1" ruiit and assist their departure, and disobedience of these regulations dd le just cause for his or her imme ll, removal. Every vacancy created by ; " 'h parture of a child to either an cm !' .' ing home or one of adoption leaves an "i' 1 !lr for some other unfortunate little ' : inse condition merits consideration ' :' who should not be denied the benefits u,l vantages of the asylum because the ''leer, by favoritism dcnirna llio rptinHnn 1 any child he has under him and who 111 have taken the fancy of some one in " oi an orphan to employ or adopt, permitting orphan's to co to homes to In 1 ii) or or to homes of adoption stringent r"les and conditions should be mad and ' 't . but when they have been corh llied with the applicant should be allowed. " select such an orphan as suits him or " r By this mode of action by the man agers of the asylum the greatest good H"ild, unquestionably, be done for the -'eatest number. 'thin the asylum the most rigid rules -liould be .enforced looking to the protec jon of the health, the proper conduct and 1'- f hristian training of the children, "paratc buildings should be maintained forboy8 and girls. In charge of the boys I should be a man of firmness, kindness, ca pacity, and of unimpeachable moral and religious character, and his control should De absolute.. For the youngest boys lady teachers might be allowed, but it would be wisdom lb have males qnly to control auu eaucatc tnem. A motherly woman should be employed to look after their sleeping, eating, dressing and bathing, for few men understand how boys should do these things properly. uver the girls should be a matron of ex perience, education, refinement and proper sympathies, for without such a person to guide and direct their educations could not be complete or correct, and false edu cation and training of girls is the grossest of crimes. The education, deportment, domestic training, conversation, in fact everything pertaining to and calculated to arouse and impress a correct appreciation of the car dinal virtues which ennoble and make beautiful and holy the life of woman, should be taught them daily and by pre cept and example instilled into minds of ail old enough to comprehenqand appre ciate their sublime worth andmeaning. " Only female teachers should be allowed to train, educate and associate with the girls. The matron should direct everything pertaining to the health, the cleanliness, the clothes and the manners of the girls. The matron should also supervise the cook ing of their food and teach them how to serve and, specially, how to eat it, for ta ble manners seldom fail to indicate how the eater has been raised. The duty of the manager of the bovs is clearly defined in that of the matron of the girls, and he would never be com plained at if he kept pace with such a ma iron as l nave said should be placed over the orphaned girls congregated in asylums. The training of the boys and girls should embrace every species of domestic labor they will have to perform when turned loose to make their own way in the world. They will necessarily have to strusrsle for a living, and lessons of labor will prove oi equal Denent to education to them when thrown on their own resources. In plain words I believe they should be trained to study less and work more than is usually done in asylums. The major part of the work should be done by the boys, who alone should be re quired to attend the wants of the male at taches of the asylum. At the head of the asylum should be a man of family with strong executive abil ities, pure life and impulses, tender sym pathies, firmness and decision, and a ca- pacity for detecting and checking wrong, With such a man managing, aided by a boys' superintendent and a girls' matron like those portrayed, any asylum would not only merit but receive the liberal sup port of both State and individuals. Can we net maintain sucn an institution in North Carolina? We already have an in stitution that is now fast approaching such an asylum as the writer would rejoice to see in the State. The Oxford Orphan Asylum needs aid only to enable its Superintendent to place it in line with the most advanced institu tions ofjts kind in this Country. Will not some more able writer assist in im pressing the necessity of making this in stitution what it should be on the minds of our people and our law makers? 1 his cause is a grand one. and its claims on society present an opportunity the sub limity of which is only equaled by that secret and peaceful consciousness which cometh to every people who do good with a proper spirit. "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord." O. N. S. The Power of Imagination. San Franeisco CalL As illustrative of what imagination will do, the case of a woman who imagined that a frog had found lodgment in her stomach may be recited. The woman in question is the wife of an industrious me chanic living out near the Presidio, and in some unknown manner conceived the idea that the reptile was in her stomach. Ar gument by her husband and friends that it was a hallucination availed not, and mat ters grew worse and worse until one day, when the woman was down town, her im aginary complaint was so bad that in des peration she entered a drug store and, stating her case, asked for relief. The apothecary happened to Te a physician, and seeing at once that his customer's complaint was an imaginary one he re solved to humor her. Calling his clerk he despatched him to a rotisserie near by to procure a frog, and administered an emetic to the woman. The frog was slipped into the pail, and when the victim of the hal lucination saw it she expressed her thanks, and said she felt much relieved. It was only a few days, however, before another hallucination that there were more irogs, offsorins of the elected reptile, in her stomach, took possession oi ner. one at once repaired to the apothecary and told him of her-fears. The druggist scratched his head for a moment, and then remem bering that he had chucked the frog into a jar of alcohol took it from the shelf, and after lookinsr at it intently for a few mo ments, returned to the woman with a sat isfied smile on his face, and said: "Mad ame, vou are mistaken: this is not that kind of a frog." The woman was cured, and since then has been troubled with no further hallucination of this kind. Progressive Southern Women. Atlanta Constitution. In every proper field of enterprise South ern women are making nne neaaway Their achievements in literature, journal ism and educational specialties are too well known to reauire mention. A North Carolina ladv in New York has 100 type writer operatives under her. She supplies business houses with typewriting clerks and en joys a handsome income. A South uaro lina girl at the Cooper Institute took the first money prize for engraving; another took the first prize for drawing from life. An other Southern girl received the first cer tificate in drawing last session. A South Carolina lady has made over fifty inven tions, many of which she has patented They range from fire escapes to cooking stoves. These few instances show that Southern women are keeping pace with the nroirress of the acre. Thev do not -propose to remain idle when a million problems appeal to them for solution. Cleveland County's Progress. Shelby Aurora. Cleveland county has advanced more in agriculture and wealth than any other county in Western N. C. Our lands have doubled in value since the war and some lands are now worth $15 per acre that woujd not in 1868 bring $5. Tobacco will soon prove a bonanza in Cleveland. We raise this year 15,000 bales cotton. Shelby has to date shipped 9,880 bales, and wi ship 3,000 more. ABOUT THE SCHOOLS. School-Culture of the Observing Fa culties. Popular Science Monthly. Why should children be sent to school? Is it merely that they may learn to read, to write, and cipher? Reading, writing, and ciphering are no doubt very impor tant, but are they all-important, or even most important? The man who reads may be said to hear from the past and the dis tant; the man who writes speaks to the fu ture and the far away. Reading and writing are indeed important, for they en able us to converse untrammeled by the shackles of time and space. But the man who reads learns only what others already know, and he learns it, mayhap, not even as they know it, but only as they express their knowledge, and as he understands that expression. He looks at things through other men's spectacles, without knowing whether those spectacles magni fy, minify, color, or distort. Surely more important than learning and blindly ac cepting the opinions of other men, is it to be able to form opinions for one's self, and at the same time to know that these opin ions have been properly arrived at and are correct. If a boy is to be a carpenter, it is all very well for him to read about the differ ent kinds of wood he will have to work upon, and about the various tools employed in his future trade, but he will learn to use these tools only by using them : he will learn to distinguish the different kinds of wood, and to select the kind and the piece suitable for his purpose in each case, only by actual practice of his trade. And what is true of the carpenter is true, mutatis mutandis, of every- other handicraft, of every business, of every profession. How ever much one may learn by-reading, it is but little and unimportant compared to what must be learned by actual practice. But even if we desired it we cannot, dur ing the short time our pupils are at school, exercise them in all the trades and profes sions. What, then, can we do? We can so teach them that this practice, when it must begin, will not be set about in a blind, hap hazard way. We can and we ought to teach our pupils how to learn; we can train them and we ought to train them to observe and to use the results of their observation. But, the handicraft, the business, or the profession once learned, is the boy, now grown a man, done with observation? By no means. Every time he is called upon to make application of the knowledge he possesses, the skill he has acquired, "lie must observe, draw inferences, and reason therefrom; and his success in his calling win aepena on tne accuracy with which he does all this. Reading will supply him with other men's observations and reasonings, but these will- be useless fSr the case in hand, unless they were m under like circumstances, or unless the can be modified to suit the: present condi tions. Now, to judge what are the real circumstances and cenditic-ifc&f the case, the man must be able to observe these con ditions, and to distinguish those that are essential from those that are merely acci denial, to interpret his observations aright, and then to reason correctly from the re suits thus obtained. But man does not exist wholly and solely to carry on some handicraft, business, or profession. Around "him lies a world bounding with endless-sources of health and happiness, if only he knows where to look for them and how to use them, but equally abounding with pitfalls of misery and distress to all who grope through life nieiicctuany buna ana aear, who having eyes see not, and having ears hear not. Now, the securing of that health and hap piness of which I have spoken, so far as it depends on the material world around man, will depend on his ability to ob serve closely, to systematize his observa tions into related groups, and to connect these with the observations and experi ences of other men, so as to obtain there from a living knowledge of the laws of his being and of the world around him. Here, again, power of observation is the first and most important requisite, and, as a natural gut or talent, this power is ex tremely rare; "for the observer," as John Stuart Mill has remarked, "is not he who merely sees the thing which is before his eyes, but he who sees what parts that thing is composed of. One person, from inattention or from attending only in the wrong place, overlooks half of what he sees ; another sets down much more than he sees, confounding it with what he im agines, or with what he infers; another takes note of the kind of all the circum stances, but, being inexpert in estimating their degree, leaves the quantity of each vague and uncertain ; another sees indeed the whole, but makes such an awkward division of it into parts, throwing things into one mass which require to be separa ted, and separating otters which might more conveniently be considered as one, that the result is much the same as, sometimes even worse than, if no analysis bad been attempted at all." But if man does not exist solely for his profession, neither does he exist solely for and unto himself, ae is under certain ob ligations to his family and to his fellow men, he has domestic and social duties, and to fulfill these aright, amid the ever- shifting conditions of life, requires the keenest powers of observation, of interpre tation, and of judgment. And although destruction as surely awaits the man who dwells in moral darkness as it does him who takes his way heedless of all the phy sical laws of his being, too often the evil he does dies not with him, but lives and works woe to those he loved and would fain have protected. Yet it is here, it is in what regards their social life (and un der social 1 include domestic and political), that too many men seem to be unable to observe aright or to make any use of such observations as they may have correctly made. When their course is not taken at utter random, too often it is guided by blind empiricism, or else is only a pro longed gameof "follow your leader." The boy was not trained to observe and to think for himself when the subjects he had to examine and to think about were com paratively simple, and now the-grown inau will not or cannot do it, or, if he does actually try, he is as likely to go astray as to so ncrht, for he now must begin on what is extremely complex. If, then, our school instruction aims at preparing pupils for the duties of after life, however important we may deem those forms of hearing and speaking which we call reading and writing, even more important ought we to consider ob servation and inference and reasoning therefrom. That man is best equipped for the mental work which is more or less the business of every one from the cradle to the grave, who is able to use all his senses aright, who best knows all the precautions that must be taken to guard against mis interpreting the evidence of those senses, and against wrong reasoning from that evi dence; who best knows how to trace thought backward to the grounds of be lief, and forward to discovery and verifi cation. That is the best education that fosters the mother of freedom indepen dence of thought. I have spoken of the insufficiency ot reading and writing as a means of educa tion, because there are still among us some who declare that these arts, with a little knowledge of ciphering, are all that should be taught in our public schools, are all the education that should be given to the chil dren of the people; all the training for the battle of life, for the "struggle for existence," that should be provided for those who will have to bear the brunt of that battle, who will have to wage the fiercest contests in that strife. By all means, teach the children to read, teach them to write, teach them to cipher, but also train them in those mental processes which all men have to employ somehow or other every hour of their waking life, in every transaction of their daily business. Train them to do well and to know that they are doing well what they must do if they are to live at all. But how is a child to be trained in these mental processes? In exactly the same way that he is trained in any art, in any handicraft. A man learns to play on the violin by playing on the violin, and no amount of directions without actual prac tice will make him proficient. So a child must be taught to observe by observing, to draw inferences by inferring, and to reason correctly by reasoning correctly; but if he is to do these things well he must practice them at first under the guid ance of a master in these arts, and must have before him models of perfection in them. Now, Science presents us with the very best examples of accurate and dis criminative observation, and of inference therefrom; it begins with, the study of the very simplest phenomena, and ad vances its investigations step by step to a complete and exhaustive analysis of the most complicated actions and relations. It is pre-eminently the study in which one is trained in the whole art of thinking, and in which one is taught to be conscious of each step he takes in the onward march of his investigations, and to know that the course he is following, and that course alone, will lead him to the truth, the ar riving at which is the ultimate object of all his labors. But here I must utter a word of warn ing. It is of the utmost importance to distinguish clearly between $cientific inf&r mation and training in science, between a mere literary acquaintance with scientific facts such as may be attained by a reader possessed of a somewhat acute mind and a fair share of constructive imagination, and that power, those habits of mind, which are only to be gained by the study of facts at first hand. To the majority of pupils, it would not be the information they would gain by a study of science, valuable though, this would be, that would be of chief importance, but the scientific habit of mind they would ac quire. This habit would be of incalcula ble benefit to them whatever might be their avocations in after-life, and it would be better attained by a thorough investi gation of the facts and principles of one science than by a general acquaintance with what has been spoken or written about many of them. That this warning against confusing in formation and training is not wholly un necessary will be seen by the following ex tract from the late Professor Todhunter's essay, entitled "The Conflict of Studies:" " We assert," says the professor, "that if the resistance of the air be withdrawn, a sovereign and a feather will falhrough equal spaces in equal times. Very great credit is due to the person who first imag ined the well-known experiment to illus trate this, but it is not obvious what is the special benefit now gained by seeing a lecturer repeat the process. It may be said that a boy takes more interest in the matter by seeing for himself, or by per forming for himself, that is, by working the handle of the air-pump; this we ad mit, while we continue-to doubt the edu cational value of the transaction. ' Tha boy would also take much more interest in foot-ball than in Latin grammar, but the measure of his interest is not identical with that of the importance of the subjects. It may be said that the fact makes a stronger impression on the boy through the medium of his sight, that he believes it more con fidently. I say that this ought not to be the case. If he does not believe the state ment of his tutor probably a clergyman of mature knowledge, recognized ability, and blameless character his suspicion is irrational, and manifests a want of the power of appreciating evidence, a want fatal to his success in that branch of sci ence which he is supposed to be cultivat ing." Professor Todhunter was an eminent teacher of mathematics; he wrote many text-books on this science, some of which have been translated into nearly every civ ilized tongue, he even wrote an elementary text-book on physical science, the very science the boy is here assumed to be study ing, yet in the above paragraph he pre sents us with an argument which would be amusing had it come 'from the pen of a mere literary man, but which it is almost im possible to believe a cultivator of science could advance in sober earnest. What would have been the thoughts and feel ings of the professor had one of his pupils, when asked to demonstrate the pont dsi- norum, returned answer "Sir, my tutor was the Key. Mr. Jones, of Westbury ; he is a clergyman of mature knowledge, recognized ability, and blame less character. Now, he assured me that he had examined Euclid's proof of this proposition, and had found it to be cor rect, and as to doubt his word would be to manifest irrational suspicion, and a want of power to properly appreciate evi dence, I accepted his testimony, and I now offer it to you as my proof, I suspect that that pupil's ideas of proof would have received a clearing up. tie would have learned that there are other kinds of evidence besides oral testimony, and that it is as necessary to be able to judge of the validity in each case, of these other kinds of evidence, as it is to be able to judge of the value of testimony. He would learn that, unless he were to be a professed mathematician, a knowledge of the bare truth of the pans asinorum was a matter of no moment, the important thing was to see how that truth was arrived at, and how it was demonstrated ; the educa tive factor present in the study was the ex ercise of the reasoning faculties, and of the powers of orderly arranging and of clearly presenting all the parts of a some what long argument, So in the experiment with the sovereign and the feather, the mere testing of the truth or the falsehood of the statement that, if the resistance of the air be got rid of. a feather will fall earthward as fast as a sovereign, is not tne cmei ining no t x..gu, o w - - & aimed at. In fact, this statement should not be advanced prior to the performance of the experiment, but the fact stated in it should be discovered by the pupils for themselves from the experiment; and beg to add that, had Professor Todhunter ever actually tried the experiment with the common apparatus, he would possi bly have found the discovery of the fact not quite so simple a matter for a boy as he evidently imagined it to be. But Professor Todhunter, while admit ting that a boy takes more interest in see ing an experiment performed or in per forming it for himself than in merely hear ing a statement of its truth, doubts the educational value of the appeal to the senses. Any teacher of natural science worthy of the name of teacher would from his experience be able instantly to ex plain why this increase of interest, and in stantly to set all doubts regarding the mat ter to rest. There seems in many minds to he an almost total separation between words and the things they represent, except as re gards constantly recurring incidents of their daily life. Hence words seem to have no power in such cases to call up and keep before the mental vision a distinct image of the thing reasoned about. In fact, what is called the scientific imagination seems almost wanting in many minds un til a severe course of training in science arouses the dormant faculty, and develops into the actual and the active what other wise would have remained an unnoticed and neglected potentiality. The conse quence is that the teacher who depends on verbal statements alone can never be sure that the ideas so clear to himself are cor rectly, if at all apprehended by his pupils, and that these are not increasing their ig norance rather than their knowledge. Many minds which seem to become slug gish, or to wither away when fed with what to them are the dry husks of words, arc roused to activity and intelligence when they are directed to the study of things and the relations of things, when they are brought face to face, so to speak, with the actual phenomena of the world around and within them. But before I pass from this let me point out that the guinea and feather expert mcnt, if successfully performed, is about ns bad an example of an educative experi ment as could well be selected. The bare fact to be observed would stand out too distinctly, too completely disentangled from other phenomena to give it any value in training the observing faculties of any but mere infants, whilethe inferences and deductions from the results of the expen ment are too abstruse for any but those who bave advanced some way in quantita tive analysis of phenomena. Moreover, the mere experimental result can be ob tained without any elaborate apparatus. while the deduced propositions can be, and in actual practice generally are, ar rived at by simpler means. In truth, the experiment is not one which should be presented to the pupil in order to deduce from it that the earth s attraction depends, not on the nature of a body, but merely on its mass, but he should be skillfully led to suggest this experiment as a test of the truth oi this proposition, in fact, it is an experiment of terijication, not an expe riment ol discovery. It was my intention, when I consented to address you on this subject, to present you with an outline of how actually to proceed in order to give children a sys tematic training in observation, selecting plants as the objects for examination. Botany has been called a science of mere names, and it must be confessed it has too often been presented as such; but, rightly treated, it oners a wide held and ample scope for observation of the forms, the positions, and the functions of the various parts of plants, of the relations of these parts to each other, and of their modifica tions and adaptations to varying condi tions, as well as for many other observa tions just such as children in our primary classes are capable ot making. But all, and more than all, I purposed doing, has been done and so well done by 3Iiss Eliza A. Youmans, in her "First Book of Bot any," that I believe it will be better to re fer you direct to that work, rather than to enter on details here. If one of you will take, say, a second class through the first twenty exercises in Miss Youmans' little book, working them out conscientiously and thoroughly, I do not hesitate to pre dict that that class will by this means ac quire more real knowledge and more in tellectual power than it would acquire from all the reading, writing, and ciphering done in the first four classes, if done with out such a course. Furthermore, the power gained and the habits acquired in the study of plants, or even in the exami nation of leaves, will not be confined solely to these, but will be directed to and exer cised upon all other objects coming within the range of the children's observation; thus their general knowledge will be ex tended, and, as a result, your pupils will read with more intelligence and with fuller comprehension of what they are reading about. As for arithmetic and here I can speak with some authority you will find that you have somehow bridged over the to many seemingly impassable gulf be tween the mere art of ciphering and the application of that art to the resolution of numerical problems. Words will no longer be mere vacant forms or empty sounds, their content will be restored to them, the data of the problem will be mentally realized, and their interrelations discovered and comprehended. In nine cases out of ten, it is the inability to realize the data, to project before the mind's eye a picture of the reality, that is the actual stumbling- block in the way of children who fail in the solution of arithmetical problems. But the work had better not te done at all if it be not done thoroughly and con scientiously. All that can be done in a text-book is merely to set up numerous finger-posts to guide the student or the teacher; the scenery on the route cannot be presented in all its fullness of detail. with all its play of light and shade ; to behold it one must actually travel the road. In the course of teaching these twenty ex ercises, thousands of questions will arise of whys and wherefores, some of which you will have to put aside for the time be mg at least ; but to others you must lead your children to find the answers for them selves. All these questions cannot possi bly be anticipated in any book ; and it is well they cannot be so, for, ever new, ever changing, they afford mental exercise to the teacher as well as to the pupils, and thus prevent any danger of stagnation on either side. Let me take in illustration a very simple question; one interesting to myself personally, because it was the first botanical problem I ever solved, but which, if the solution be properly generalized, is interesting in itself as giving the key to many peculiarities in the forms and mark ings of leaves. When I was but a lad at school, a fel- low-pupil, the son of a farmer, told me that on the back of every green blade of oats there was legibly stamped a capital B, I laughed at him for his simplicity in thinking he could make me believe such 1 an "old wife's fable"; but he indignantly replied that not only had his father told him of the strange marking, but he had looked and seen it for himself, ihe only 1 1 way, it seemed to me, to treat such &n ar gument as this was to change the subject of conversation, and this I did, a slight smile .of incredulity letting my playmate know that he had not wholly imposed upon me. That very afternoon I happened to pass a field of oats, and,- remembering the asser tion of the mysterious markings, I deter mined to put the question of their reality to the proof of observation at once, and fer altogether. I must confess, however. it was only after a mental' struggle that I brought myself to cross the fence into the held ; for the assertion seemed to me ut terly absurd, and I had not then learned that, rightly taken, there is no such thing ! as "being made a fool of." But what were my amazement and confusion to nnd, on the very first leaf I examined, a capital B as clearly marked as if it had been im pressed with a die! Quickly gathering and examining other leaves, I found on all of them a marking, in some a mere blur, on others clear and distinct as I had found it on the first leaf. Straightway occurred the questions: What really is this mark? What causes it? I stood among the grow ing oats, so the answer was neither far to seek nor difficult to find ; but I have never forgotten it, for no teacher told it to me 1 found it out for myself. I rediscovr ered the solution of the mystery of this leaf-signature, and, although it must have been discovered and rediscovered thou sands of times before, yet I enjoyed all the deep delight of discovery a delight which never cloys, a pleasure which never palls. What is more, I soon found that my eyes had, as it were, been opened ; I found that I could see many other strange things about leaves which, till then, had escaped my notice", and I found that I possessed the key to their solution. But, if I urge on you the teaching of natural science, I also recognize the diffi culties you will encounter if you accept my advice. You will have to teach from the actual objects, a method utterly and radically different from the text-book in struction to which you are accustomed. You will for a time have to submit to the adverse criticisms of those parents who judge of a child's progress, not by its mental growth, but merely by its increase of skill in the art of recognizing the marks that represent certain sounds, and of repeating those sounds, an art too often confused with reading, lou will, some of you, have to struggle with classes not toe large to inform by telling but far too large to educate by training. But over come the hrst difficulty, overcome your selves, and you will nnd the others will lessen day by day, and will soon disap pear altogether, the little remaining of them being lost sight of in the increase of brightness which the new study will bring to the life of the school-room. High Art Decoration. Clara Belle in Cincinnati Enquirer. We have come to the point of absurdity in the high-art decoration of our h'Aises Unhandsome things can't be made hand some by the mere infusion of some send ment, particularly if that sentiment be mawkish or ridiculous. I am willing to concede that all the verses and romance based on the glove of a fair woman are well enough in their way. An article which has received its shape from the hand of a fellow's sweetheart is precious to him, no doubt, though in the eyes of another member of her sex it would have no value comparable with a gauntlet that had never been stretched. But I draw the line at gloves. Stockings are a step too far. I found a friend at work making a floor-mat on the old rag-carpet plan. She was cutting the materials into strips, braiding it and then sewing it into form. The stuff thus being utilized was discard ed hosiery. The fabric was silk, the col ors bright and varied, and the effect as good as such patchwork permits. "What are you going to do with it f" 1 asked. "I'll give it to Henry," she replied. Henry is her best beau. She blushed a trifle, as girls are usually able to do when speaking of something particularly deli cate and sentimental in connection with their lovers, and at the same time she brought to an end the strip which began at the top of a stocking and ran a yard or so to a utilitarian-darned spot at the toe "I suppose he won't know what the thing is actually made of," I remarked She dropped her scissors and lower jaw, and gazed on me in mute astonishment, "Not tell him that the rug is composed of my stockings ! ' she at length exclaimed "Bless your heart, that s the entire charm of the thing. When he puts on his smok innr-ran nnrl iacket. lies hack in his easv- chair and rests his slippered foot on this mat, won't it be a solace, a gentle joy, for him to feel that his soles press material so intimately associated with the girl he adores ! Doesn't it strike you as kind of two-soles-and-single-thought idea? Why, Henry was delighted with the notion." North Carolina mining Notes. Salisbury Watchman. The Russell mine in Montgomery county has been sold to English parties. They are already at work putting the mine in shape and repairing the house for the re ception of Mr. Mallory, the Superintend ent, who is on his way from England. This mine has a record of $75,000 to f 100, 000. S. A. Muffly is preparing to erect a 10 stamp mill and desulphurizer at the Cid mine. His ore consists of a sulphuret of Copper and Iron with sometimes Galena. He proposes to stamp the ore and save the gold that can be amalgamated and precip itate t,he copper. At the Little Lead in Montgomery county they are driving a tunnel which is now in 150 feet. At this point they have struck rich ore for which the Little Lead is noted. Prof. Tiernan, formerly connected with tjje wheeler geological survey, is erecting a smelter oi nis own invention at Asne villc, N. C. The capacity is to be 50 tons daily of any of our copper, silver, gold, lead or other complex ores. Industrial Colored Schools. New York Herald. J A committee of thirty-eight colored men, made up from twenty-four States and from the District of Columbia and fairly representing the colored citizens throughout the whole country, has issued a call for a conference at New Orleans on January 15, 1885, to devise means to ena ble colored youths to obtain better facili ties for education in the trades. The purpose of the conference is to or ganize a system of industrial schools and- devise ways and means for their support. They do not, however, propose to restrict their conference to colored men. iney aa& L 11C III w UV1U Ulirciiiugo ouu ov-n v vtw- gates, but they also invite the counsel and co.0pcration of "presiding officers of col- Wes, principals of schools, bishops and leading ministers, editors and publishers," - 1 -without distinction of color. ABOUT THE HAIR. How to Dress It and Care for It. English Hairdresser. To have beautiful hair and keeD it in health requires as much care as the teeth, nans or lace, bo many twist the hairup in some becoming fashion the year round. and wonder that it gets streaked, thin in spots, and seems harsh and dry. The hair should be loosened every night before re tiring, combed free from all tangles with a bone comb (rubber combs have done much to split and break the hair nearly all have too much electricity to use rubber); then use r stiff brush for a long time, brushing from the top to the very ends. it is well for the lady who has a maid, for it is impossible to properly brush one's hair if very long. Then braid and fasten the ends with soft silk braid for the night. The scalp should be- kept clean and healthy; wash occasionally, and have it thoroughly shampooed two or three times a year as well. To wash, braid the hair loosely in sev eral braids, take a raw egg and rub thor oughly into the scalp (if beaten first it rubs in better), then rinse in cold water with a little ammonia incorporated in it, wring the braids in a coarse towel, sit by a fire or in the sun until dry, then comb out the braids. The braiding prevents much snarling. Where one's hair is thin a quinine lotion will prevent its falliug out and give life to the roots. The Parisian fashions for dressings children's hair are as follows: Ringlets are most favored for babies. Little boys have curls in the back and bangs in front. .Little girls have their hair waved and falling down the back, with a colored rib bon to keep it in place. Some young girls have revived the fashion of light hair nets, with large meshes, in which the hair falls loose and as low down as the middle of the back. This style shows the hair to great advantage, and will probably meet with general approval. From' six teen to seventeen years of age the hair is worn high and twisted on the top of the heed. With this method of arransine the hair round hats have no elastics, so as not to conceal any part of the pretty waves which the hair forms when thus raised from the nape of the neck. The hat is fastened to the hair by a steel pin with a sneii or jet head. Employers' Liability. New York Herald. The United States Supreme Court ren dered on Monday a decision which abol ishes, in a large percentage of cases, a rule that has long governed the courts of this country and England. An accident caused by the gross negli gence of one of the company's servants oc curs on a railroad. The killed and injured include a number of passengers and several employgs. Every passenger injured and the legal representatives of every one killed may recover damages. But to a suit brought by any of its employes or his rep resentatives the corporation pleads that it is not liable for injury to one employe1 caused by the negligence of another. This defence has hitherto been generally recog nized by the courts of this country as a good one. ' The principle is not limited to railroads. It extends to all employers. in the case before the Supreme Court an engineer on one train had been injured by the negligence of the conductor on an other. The company set up the usual de fence that it was not liable because both engineer and conductor were its own em ployes. The Supreme Court holds the company liable. It says that the two em ployes were not fellow servants. The conductor was in a superior and the en gineer in a subordinate grade of service, The Court was not called upon to deter mine the law in a case of fellow servants But it set aside the old common law rule in cases where the employes are not in the same grade of service. Four members dis sented from the opinion of the Court. Sugar. New York Herald. The Rio News says that sugar is a glut in the consuming markets of the world, and is now "cheaper than guano." All coun tries producing the cane sugar are going through a severe crisis by reason of the low price of the commodity, and the Euro pean nations, having stimulated by boun ties the beet sugar industry into an unnat ural activity, are-pouring into other mar kets their surplus products, which are sold at the best obtainable prices. In 1852 the world s production of beet sugar was placed at 153,000 tons; in 1879 it had in creased to 1,393,939 tons, and in 1883 to 5,225,000 tons. So that in the last four years the-production has increased nearly seventy per cent. The cane sugar indus try has in that time hardly changed, and seems to have been almost stationary after 1879. In the last named year the produc tion is placed at about 3.500,000 tons, and in 1883 at 3,759,000 tons an increase of only seven per cent. What the result of this contest between the cane and beet products will be cannot now be foretold Tha cane planters are economizing in eve ry way, by using the best machinery and the most improved processes and are util izing all waste products. The beet, how ever, is heavily subsidized, and that is a great advantage. No money There, Sure. New York Sun. The fact that men like Gould, Vander bilt and Sage are so little heard of lately and so conspicuously out of the market is the best proof that there is no money in it. When they take a hand in the deal an outsider may lose money, but he may 'make, some, too, if he be nimble and smart enousrh. But as it is played now the game is a petty skin game, with a cer tainty of losing more or less, and not the slightest chance of winning anything. New England's Decline. New York Sun. The decline of the Republican vote ia the six New England States is attracting the attention of philosophers' down East. Blaine received in New England 30,000 votes less than Garfield. The total vote for all the candidates was only about 5,000 in excess of the total vote of 1880. The total vote of New England, moreover, de termining thirty-eight votes in the Elec toral College, was only two-thirds of that of New York, with thirty-six electors. Why He Remained. New Orleans Times. A bright, thoughtful boy one summer day Planted an acorn ana weni nis way. Both grew, as boys and acorns can, Till one was a tree, the other a man. Now mark the reward : Along comes the man And the tree shelters him, as the oak tree can, But why stays he there In the moonlight dim t He stole a fine horse and was hung to a. limb ! ARKANSAS RELIGIOI7S VATS Lead to Serlone Colored Troubles. Arkansaw Traveller. One of the strangest law suits known to the history of this State, as a new reporter would say, has just been brought before the United States Court for the eastern district of Arkansaw." A history of the case, so far as we arc able to ascertain, is as follows: Years ago, about the time the great horn of reconstruction was blown, an able- bodied negro, who declared that his name was St. bun, made his appearance in the cotton districts of the lower Arkansaw Valley. St. Sun was as black as the tra ditional tar baby, and why he should be a saint and especially a Saint Sun, is a ques tion which people of ordinary education have been unable to settle. However, the court does not feel that it is called upon to render a decision concerning this point. Shortly after St. Sun arrived in the State, having come, he declared, from the mountains of Hepsidam where the lion roareth and mourneth for his first born, he instituted a revival. His persuasive elo quence, vivid pictures of an awful place of punishment and coal tar painting, of a terrible devil with hoofs of flint and tail of steel wire, drew many sinners from the clutches of a gathering wrath unto the comfortable embraces of a joyous promise. Even such characters as Lop-eared Ben, Bandy Shank Ned, Kidney Footed Ander son and Lick Skillet Napoleon forsook their evil ways and assembled under the banner of St. Sun. Everything prospered. A large church was built for the wonder ful preacher. So great was his influence that those who did not live within easy range of his church were to be pitied. Minis ters came from a great distance to study the methods of his success. The great man, non-communicative except when in the pulpit, refused to answer inquiries, and repulsed every advance toward inves tigation. Thus his sway remained undis puted until recently, when old Catfish Gabe, a hurrah preacher of long but un successful standing, made his appearance. Catfish Gabe, like numerous other preacn ers, asked in vain for an explanation. "BruderSt. Sun," said he, "I'sea putty close stugent o' de gospel myself. I has fished wid Peter an' rastled wid Paul, but I declar' I kaint see how yesse'f raises so much halleluyah in yer own church when hard times 'peers ter hab settled on all de udder churches. Tell me dat secret, will yer, bruder?" Dar ain't much secret erbout it," re plied St. Sun. "I calls on de Lawd, an' my pra'r is alius answered." "bo does I call on de Lawd, bruder, but somehow my pra'r ain'Jt answered. Doan yer reckon my voice is ez strong as yer- se'f 's? "Doan know 'bout de voice, bruder. I know's dat my pra'r is answered." "Yas, 1 know," replied Catfish Gabe, "but it doan' 'peer ter me ter be right. I notice dat jes so soon ez yesse'f 'gins ter call fur mourners, dar is er mighty shout. How is dis? ' "Bruder, yer'll hab ter ax de Lawd. I kain't no mo' tell yer den I ken 'count fur de win' blowin' in er sartin direction." It do 'peer mighty cuis," responded Catfish Gabe, "but I doan think dat de Lawd, habin' in view de sal wa tion o' 'l de culled folks, oughter gin dat power ter only one man. I'se er gwinc ter make er mighty close 'vestigation, Bruder St. Sun." The following night Catfish Gabe at tended the church of St. Sun. Several times, it was noticed, he wisely shook his bead. After the congregation was dis- " missed he called to Fox Trot Toney and said : "Lemme see yer a minnit. I hab drapped on dis heah racket." "Whut racket f" asked Toney. "Neber mind, I hab drapped on it. Doan' try ter fool me, fur if yer docs, I'll hab yer 'rested fur hol.din' up false 'ligion." Toney began to tremble. "I knows all erbout dis thing now," continued Gabe, 'an' lessen dar's er mighty fine 'tenement made, aar s gwine icr oe someooay soni ter de penitentiary. How much does dat nigger gin yer fellers fur shouting when he 'gins ter call fur mourners?" "Huh !" 'Neber mine dat 'stonished look. I hab foun' out dat he hab hired yer ter shout. How much docs he pay yer?" "Gins us er dollar ebery night." "Uh, huh. Wall now, dat man hab bout run his cou'se. How maiiy hired shouters is dar?" "Five o' us in all." "He doan pay yer lessen he takes up er c'leckshun, does he?" "Nor, sah." "Wall, now, yer fellers drap him an' come ber ter my side an' I'll gin yer de dollar apiece an' ten per cent o' de c'leck- shuns bersides." "Dinged ef we doan do it." The next night St. Sun's efforts fell flat, but Gabe, who immediately succeeded him, was wonderfully successful. A loud shout arose and case-hardened sinners dropped on their knees. Immediately after the services were concluded, St. Sun went to Gabe and said: "Look heah, whut makes yer come roun' an' monkey wid my gospel? I built dis church an' yerse'f got no right ter in terfere wid me." " Dat's all right, pod ner. Ise foun' out yer game an' I'se gwine ter work yer fur all dat it' wuth. I'se hired dem shout ers." St. Sun swore out a warrant of arrest, charging Gabe with stealing his gospel methods. The case, as hitherto stated, was taken before the United States court. Many of the ablest lawyers in Arkansaw are in attendance, and it is thought, re gardless of the decision, that an appeal to the Supreme Court will be taken, involv ing, as it does, a question of great importance. New Orleans wonders. New York Suu. Early exhibition visitors to New Or leans are astonished, on disembarking from a steamer, to find that the sewers arc open'8treama of water at the sides of the streets, and running away from the river instead of toward it; to see wells built up from the ground, not dug into it, and to learn that the cemeteries are veritable "cities of the dead," the tombs being lit-" tie bouses with gables and roofs,' and ar ranged in avenues and squares. , Massachusetts Marrylngs. According to the official report lately printed, Massachusetts, in an estimated population of 1,985,335 recorded during the year 1883 23.82 births, 9.10 marriages, and 19.01 deaths to each 1,000 persons. The number of marriages has increased from 12,515 in 1864 to 18,194 in 1883, the number of divorces from 270 to 655. The proportion of illegitimate to legitimate births has doubled in twenty years.
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 17, 1884, edition 1
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