BEFORE beginning our study I wish to assure you that it is not my aim to make an attack upon the public schools; for they have done a work for our country that nothing else, outside of true Christianity, could have done. Though this system of education comes far short of God's plan, God has used it as a means of promulgating the cause of truth in the world. For this reason I have always been a friend of the public-school system. But the time has come, and the conditions in the world are such, that if Christians wish to save their children to the cause of God, they must give them a purely Christian education.
In a late book on education, I read this definition: “The object of education is to make good citizens.” That is good as far as it goes. And the writer well knew that a secular school has no right to, and can not, give a Christian education. A Christian school will do this, and more—it will prepare students to be good citizens of the heavenly country.
To begin our study, I read from the twenty-ninth chapter of Deuteronomy: “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
God has seen fit to set a boundary to the human mind, and to reserve a great amount of his dignity. Could men learn fully all the things of God, then there would be no chance for development; men would become equal with God, and respect for his great majesty would be lost. Therefore the admonition to David: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
“True education is the harmonious development of the physical, mental, and spiritual powers of the child.” “The object of true education is the restoration of the image of God in the soul.” Its development is as the growth of a tree with three branches and a great trunk, the trunk representing the Bible, the foundation of all educational effort. A non-Christian system of education can not base its work upon the great foundation. Therefore it can not possibly develop the spiritual powers, and must be lacking in its development of the mental, and the proper directing of the physical. In such a system of education the tree has no trunk, and, as a rule, no physical branch, no spiritual branch, and at the very best, only a dwarfed mental branch; for I read in “Education,” page 124: “As a means of intellectual development, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined. . . . No other study can impart such mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous truths of revelation. The mind thus brought in contact with the thoughts of the Infinite can not but expand and strengthen.” This being true, we can plainly see that the worldly system of education has taken away the trunk, the spiritual branch, and, at the best, has only dwarfed physical and mental branches.
This is certainly enough to show to any thinking person the great lack of such a system. Will parents who have the great light of the third angel's message, continue to send their children to be educated and trained by a system of education so badly crippled that it is able only to give a little mental development?
God intended that parents should train their own children for all common duties of life, the mother being the chief teacher. After this, in ancient Israel those who wished to make further advancement were sent to the schools of the prophets, established to prepare students for special lines of work.
God's instruction to parents with reference to training their children reads as follows: “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Were mothers and fathers to heed this admonition, we should see many times more children rejoicing in present truth. It was the word of God the psalmist hid in his heart that kept him from sinning. Ps. 119: 11. Is not the Word of God as powerful today as it was in David's time?
A departure from the true principles of education always led to apostasy and idolatry. It was the false principles of education that caused a union of church and state, and brought about the long night of the Dark Ages; and, at the present rate of decline, should the world stand many years, these same results would inevitably be brought about.
“In these schools the laws of heaven are not only ignored, but defied. The boy and the girl are left to their own resources to find out those truths which are of the utmost importance to them in their future life. They pass through school and return to the dead level of their parents without a conception to sustain or elevate them, except what may be gained from such elevating things as arithmetical cube root, algebraic equations, the boundaries of States, causes of volcanic eruptions. They return home with the idea firmly implanted in their minds that a knowledge of these26things is education, and the ability to display that, wisdom.” They believe that the world owes them a living with very little exertion on their part. Instead of being taught that the law of life is work and activity, and the successful man is the one who knows the common things, they are taught that the man who toils in the shop or on the farm is not wise; but the man who makes his living by his wit is the man to pattern after.
“Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” Can we then expect the youth to maintain Christian principles and to develop Christian character while their education is largely influenced by the teachings of pagans, atheists, and infidels? . . . In the education of children and youth, fairy tales, myths, and fictitious stories are now given a large place. . . . How can Christian parents permit their children to use books so filled with falsehood? . . . The widespread use of such books at this time is one of the cunning devices of Satan. . . . He means that our children and youth shall be swept away by the soul-destroying deceptions with which he is flooding the world. . . . Never should books containing a perversion of truth be placed before children or youth.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VIII, pages 306, 308.
Disobedience to parents is one of the sins of the last days, and if we save our children from this sin, we must withdraw them as far as possible from the influence of the world, and give them a Christian training.
The finger of scorn is often pointed at Seventh-day Adventist children. And I wish to tell you that this is the most piercing, the most humiliating experience that a child can pass through. Because of this I have known the lives of some children to prove an utter failure.
Summed up, the effects of the worldly system of education upon the Christian child are these:—
Seeds of doubt and unbelief are sown in the heart.
Sin loses its exceeding sinfulness.
Lessons of disobedience are learned.
Respect for the Word of God is lost.
Spiritual powers are dwarfed.
They are cowed by the finger of scorn.
Ambition is aroused to engage in worldly pursuits.
It unfits the student to receive the message for this time.
Ultimately it will result in the sacrifice of sons and daughters to idols.
Concerning the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, I read in Vol. VII, page 195, the following: “The blood upon the lintel of the door symbolized the blood of Christ, who alone saved the first-born of the Hebrews from the curse. Any one of the children of the Hebrews who was found in an Egyptian habitation was destroyed.
“This experience of the Israelites was written for the instruction of those who should live in the last days. Before the overflowing scourge shall come upon the dwellers of the earth, the Lord calls upon all who are Israelites indeed to prepare for that event. To parents he sends the warning cry, Gather your children into your own houses; gather them away from those who are disregarding the commandments of God, who are teaching and practising evil. Get out of the large cities as fast as possible. Establish church-schools. . . .
“The word of God comes to us at this time: ‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God. . . . Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.’ . . . Where are your children? Are you educating them to discern and to escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust? Are you seeking to save their souls, or are you by your neglect aiding in their destruction?”
Sad indeed to think that we may be aiding in the destruction of our children! In view of these facts, and the great possibilities that lie before our children and youth, it is my prayer that the Spirit of God may impress upon the mind of every Seventh-day Adventist parent the importance of giving his children a Christian education, and thus fitting them to have a part in carrying this last message of warning to the world.
I. C. SUETZ.
The School of Eternity
By Litta Belle Hibben
LITTA BELLE HIBBEN
Do you wish to comprehend the science
that will stand
Through all enlightened ages yet to be?
He who measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand,
Will willingly consent to tutor thee.
Do you gaze in awful wonder at the heavens spread abroad,
Just one corner of his fathomless domain?
When we pass the gates of heaven to the universe of God,
Earth’s accumulated questions will be plain.
For, though he took no counsel in the day he brought them forth,
And meted out the heavens with a span,
Yet in a faultless measure e’en the dust of this old earth
Did he, the wise Creator, comprehend.
How we’ll revel in that study in the class of his beloved,
In the sciences to him so clear and plain!
For he numbered all the millions of the stars around, above,
And calleth every moving sphere by name.
Soon on its golden hinge each gate shall swing at his command;
We shall enter to be strangers nevermore.
He who measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand,
Will be our King and Teacher evermore.
Sheridan, Ill.
Manual Training an Essential Factor in Education
By J. H. Haughey
“Industrial instruction should include the keeping of accounts, carpentry, and everything that is comprehended in farming. Preparation should also be made for teaching blacksmithing, painting, shoemaking, cooking, baking, laundering, mending, typewriting, and printing. Every power at our command is to be brought into this training work, that students may go out, equipped for the duties of practical life.” “While attending school, the youth should have an opportunity for learning the use of tools. Under the guidance of experienced workmen, carpenters who are apt to teach, patient, and kind, the students themselves should erect buildings on the school grounds, and make needed improvements, thus by practical lessons learning to build economically. The students should also be trained to manage all the different kinds of work connected with printing, such as typesetting, press work, and bookbinding, together with tent making and other useful lines of work. Small fruits should be planted, and vegetables and flowers cultivated, and this work the lady students may be called out of doors to do.” “Whether men or women, they should learn to mend, wash, and keep their own clothes in order. They should be able to cook their own meals. They should be familiar with agriculture and mechanical pursuits.” “There should have been experienced teachers also of household labor. . . . There should have been teachers to give lessons to young ladies in the cooking department. Young girls should have been instructed in manufacturing wearing apparel, to cut, make, and mend garments, and thus become educated for the practical duties of life.”
“Schools should be established for the purpose of obtaining, not only knowledge from books, but knowledge of practical industry.” “The students, every one, need a most thorough education in practical duties. All kinds of labor must be connected with our schools.”
And now comes the reason why all these things are to be taught: “God’s people are not to crowd into the cities. He wants them to take their families out of the cities, that they may be better prepared for eternal life. In a little while they will have to leave the cities. Get out of the cities as soon as possible, and purchase a little piece of land, where your children can watch the flowers growing, and learn from them lessons of simplicity and purity.” “Fathers and mothers who possess a piece of land and a comfortable home are kings and queens.”
Indeed, we have reached that period in history when only those parents who live in the country can be kings and queens in their own little kingdoms, provinces, realms, or homes. The farm is not the cure-all, but many of the constitutional maladies peculiar to mankind can not live in the pure empyrean air of country life.
The cure for unnatural excitement, and the only cure for it, is honest, faithful toil. It is a fact that where the trades and agriculture have been introduced along with book study, the continual craving for amusement—football, baseball, cricket, and lawn tennis—is literally choked to death. It also cures, under the operation and teaching of the Spirit of God, that sickly sentimental desire for reading novels, myths, and fables, pagan and infidel authors, whether in the ancient or modern languages, as well as gives strength to resist the scientific foibles and philosophic sophistries of the would-be wise men of our great colleges and universities all over the world. Useful industry kills the bookworm, and cures the mental inebriate, restoring them to the healthful employment of all their mental faculties to the very best advantage. When physical, mental, and spiritual education go hand in hand, each one strengthens the others; and they all rise as they otherwise could not, with a symmetry, a beauty, and a power unknown to those who obtain an education without this heaven-ordained combination.
Our schools, I repeat, have entered upon this work. They have entered upon it under divine direction; they have the divine credentials; they can not, and while they continue to follow their Leader, will not, take a backward step. That furrow of land which established the Avondale school will go on plowing deeper and deeper until this third element in the great threefold education has demonstrated to this people, to the world, and to the universe, the true dignity of labor. It is the A B C of health of body, of mind, and of soul. It leads, with Abraham, away from the city to the holy land; with Moses and John the Baptist, into the land of Midian or into the wilderness, to sit neither upon the throne of Egypt nor at the feet of Gamaliel; with Jesus Christ, humbly to the mother’s knee, or to the carpenter’s bench in some Nazareth or Galilee, and not to the schools of the rabbis at Jerusalem, the metropolis of the nation. It is time, then, that there be a trembling among the dry bones; it is time for flesh to come upon them; and it is high time for life to enter the dead bodies. And this is made possible only by our following the order of the two great commands, the natural order, the order of the dispensations, the divine order, the biddings of our Commander-in-chief. So, then, while the world is saying, “Go to, let us do this,” and “Go to, let us do that,” let us say, “Go toil,” “Go teach.”
J. H. HAUGHEY.
The Formation of the English Language
By Robert A. Beckner
When Cæsar, in 55 B. C., landed on the island of Briton, he found a rude, barbarous, nature-worshiping people, called Celts. He was soon forced by these warlike people to leave the island unconquered; but in 45 A. D. the Romans came again, and conquered that part of the island now known as England. They built roads and towns, and turned it into a model Roman province, Romanizing and effeminating the Britons.
Rome was forced to withdraw her legionaries from this far-off province, to defend herself against the inroads of the Gauls; and the poor Britons were at the mercy of their cousins, the Picts and Scots, who came pouring down upon them from the fens and highlands. The fierce highlanders were so terrible and came so often that the Romanized Celts were forced to ask their Teutonic neighbors, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, living around the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, to come over and help them keep back these inroads.
About the year 449 the Teutons came over and drove back the Picts and Scots; and not being content with this, they took possession of the land of the Britons, and drove many of them out; however, there was more or less of a mingling of the two races. Thus there was a combination of Celtic, Roman, and Teutonic elements composing the people of England at this time; the Roman element, however, was slight. In like manner the language was composed of these same elements, the Teutonic predominating, the Roman showing only in the names of a few places.
Almost the only writings of Celtic origin were those of Cædmon. He wrote and sang of the great themes of the Bible. The old poem “Beowulf” is of Teutonic origin, and is thought to have been written before the Teutons came to England. After a few generations, the language of the two races became one, and was called “First English.” The first writer of this “First English” period was Bede. Besides many Latin works, he completed the translation of the Gospels into English, just before his death. The good King Alfred aroused an interest in learning, by translating into English many Latin works; he also started the great Saxon Chronicle.
In 1066 William the Conqueror came from France at the head of a Norman army, and conquered England. The Normans were of Teutonic origin, had lost their rough speech, and had adopted the manners and language of the French. Of course they would not give up their polished manner and speech to adopt those of the rude, half savage English, but tried in every possible way to force their language upon the people they had conquered. A continual warfare went on for more than two centuries to see which should be the language of the people; and since the English were little better than slaves, their wonderful tenacity is shown in the fact that they did not give up their language entirely. When there was a common union in a common cause to fight a common foe, then came a union of the language, and a feeling of good-will between the two peoples.
In the close of this “Transition Period,” about the middle of the fourteenth century, arose “The Morning Star of the Reformation,” John Wycliffe. He preached against the abuses of Rome, and translated the Bible into the English language. Just following Wycliffe, and probably a student of his writings, was Chaucer, called “The Father of English Poetry.” He did more for the English language than any other man; for coming at the time that he did, he gave to the people that which settled and fixed the language.
Since the time of Chaucer there has been no great or sudden change in the language, yet it is growing, and is taking on new words from all languages. As it is the most widely spoken language in the world, and, being made up of so many different elements, has the greatest facility for expressing thought, is it any wonder that God has given to the English-speaking people the greatest message ever given to any people,—the message that must and will go “to all the world in this generation”? And should not those who are to give the message study to give it in the best language possible?
ROBERT A. BECKNER.
My Experiences With One “Bad Boy”
By Clara Jacobs
MUCH might be said upon the subject of “how to maintain order in the school-room.” Without this important feature, school work can never be successful.
In every school a few will be found who have acquired habits that are not easily controlled. These children will have to be studied, and many times they can be transformed.
I once had a very bad boy. His case was a continual study, for his temper was of a nature that made the other children afraid of him. One day his conduct was such that I asked him to take his books and go home. He refused with an oath. I took out my watch and said, “I will give you just one minute to leave the room.” He eyed me about half the time, and then picked up his books and left the room, swearing. It happened that he hurt his foot while going home. On hearing of it, I went to see him that night, and did what I could to ease his sufferings. When his foot was healed, he came back with his books, but I refused to enroll him, giving him my reasons. He listened to our Bible lesson, and then went home. The next morning he returned again, and I again refused. The third morning he came back; it was our “social-meeting” morning, and after listening to the good prayers and talks from others, he arose for the first time, weeping bitterly. He confessed his sins, asked my forgiveness, and also the pardon of the children whom he had wronged, and then asked to be accepted as one of the pupils. I knew that he was a changed boy, and took him back, feeling that he would now be among my best pupils, and that he proved himself.
All can not be dealt with in this way, but we are to use the wisdom from God to know how to deal with each case. We each have an important work to do, and may we fulfil our mission in this closing day.
CLARA JACOBS.
Discipline
By Eugene C. Waller
(Concluded)
No amount or variety of study and work will serve as a panacea for all the ills of the schoolroom. A few well-considered rules and regulations are necessary. The importance of this is shown by the following extract from a Testimony:—
“It is the duty of principal and teachers to demand perfect order and perfect discipline. Those teachers who do not see the necessity of maintaining the rules that it is deemed essential to make have simply made a mistake in thinking that they are prepared to teach, and in accepting the situation. No disorder should be allowed without decided rebuke and a command to cease.”
The nature and number of the rules vary, of course, according to local conditions. If possible, the pupils should be led to see the reasonableness of all regulations, and then obedience will not be such a task. At times it is well to ask their assistance in the making of a rule, but occasionally it may be necessary for legislative, judicial, and executive authority to be vested in one person—the teacher.
Usually, when a pupil is disobedient, if the matter is kindly and earnestly talked over with him, he will be led to change his course of action. Prayer may soften his heart and help him to obey willingly. However, if warning and counsel are not heeded, and prayer does not bring about the desired result, the Bible’s instruction may be profitably followed: “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” Prov. 23: 13, 14. The extent to which it is to be employed28is also given. “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.” Prov. 19:18.
But the teacher may say, “I can not punish a child unless I am angry.” Then don’t punish. You will do more harm than good. Never whip a child if you are not in that frame of mind where you could pray with him, and would willingly do it if it were the right course to pursue.
The proper attitude of the parents will do much to alleviate the teacher’s difficulties. Sometimes parents who would not dare to interfere with the government of the near-by public school, feel no remorse of conscience in dictating what the church-school teacher shall do. It certainly should be evident to all that no teacher can make a success of the work and follow every one’s advice at the same time. Let the parent who intends to tell the teacher “what’s what” ask himself if he is treating another as he would like to be treated were he in his place. Many times the same parent who criticizes the teacher for employing reasonable means of punishment in the school, would harshly reprove, and even cruelly treat his own child for like offenses. “In too many families to-day there is too much self-indulgence and disobedience passed by without being corrected, or else there is manifested an overbearing, masterful spirit that creates the worst evils in the dispositions of the children. Parents correct them at times in such an inconsiderate way that their lives are made miserable, and they lose all respect for father, mother, brothers, and sisters.”
If all parents could realize what good they may do the perplexed teacher by a kind word and a friendly suggestion, more such words and suggestions would be given. Let us as parents and teachers enter more into each other’s sympathies. Let us encourage rather than criticize. God is willing to help every parent and teacher who will co-operate with him in the training of the children for his kingdom.
EUGENE C. WALLER.
The Best Will Come Back to You
There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are brave and true;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
Give love, and love to your heart will flow,
A strength in your utmost need;
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.
For life is the mirror of king and slave,
'Tis just what you are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
—Selected.
The Dull Pupil
EVERY young man or woman who contemplates teaching school for the first time should read the fifth, sixth, and seventh verses of the Second Epistle of Peter a great many times. “The fiery heart of youth” is apt to get along fairly well with the bright and average pupils, but is merciless toward the dull ones. If a man or woman teaches school for more than one or two terms, and does not find his feelings of contempt for slow-brained pupils changing into one of pity and tenderness, it is a sure sign that something is wrong. We expect injustice and lack of patience from young teachers, but older ones must know better. A Christian who does not grow in grace is worthless, and the same may be said of the teacher.
“But the slow boys and girls are such trials,” some one says. To be sure they are. It is simply impossible to understand why they can not grasp even simple knowledge readily. There are pupils in every school who go into advanced classes simply and solely because their lives are made hard for them if they stay with smaller children. There is nothing to compare with the scorn of a bright little boy or girl for a big, overgrown pupil, and teachers and officials recognize this fact when they promote dull children no matter what their grades.
However dull the girls and boys may be, you may be sure about one thing, there is nothing dull about their feelings. They suffer more keenly than the bright children, and school days are days of bondage to most of them. A mother was shocked beyond expression, when the heart of her dull son was suddenly revealed in a burst of bitterness, and she instantly removed him from the school that was nothing but torment. The slow tear that trickles down the cheek of the unhappy pupil, when the exasperated teacher indulges in sarcasm, should be a warning to her to think twice before speaking once, no matter what the provocation.
A very bright young teacher was warned by an older one against holding up dull pupils to ridicule, but she still persisted. “It’s nothing but laziness that keeps them from knowing as much as the rest,” she said, positively. “I intend to shame them into doing better.” Alas and alas! Her married life has given her one son, a boy dull in every respect, and she repents in dust and ashes her unkind words and deeds. Hour after hour she labors with the child, but the same blank look that vexed her in school days is on his face, and no flash of intelligence lights his eye. There is nothing wrong with the child mentally,—that is, he is only a dull boy,—but the mother’s heart aches. She is forced to endure the kindly words of friends, to hear of the wonderful progress made by bright children in school, and to know that the boys tease her poor child, and call him “Dummy.” She does not think of trying to shame him into learning faster, though she has never forgotten for a single minute since he came, that she once considered that plan very successful.
And that is not the only thing to think of, either. Sometimes dull boys far outstrip the bright ones, and girls who were thought slow witted make wonderful strides later on. How pleasant it would be if some of the teachers of dull pupils, who blossomed late in life, could remember that they had always encouraged them and made school life as enjoyable as possible. It would take a long time to tell of the dull boys and girls who became famous later in life, and no record has ever been kept of the slow people who far surpass the bright ones in the ordinary walks of life. It is a good thing for teachers to ponder the lives of the famous dullards, and hear what they said later in life about the instructors who sarcastically called attention to their lack of brains during school days. Those things are never forgotten, and your dull pupil may make you famous some day by holding up your lack of patience and consideration to public view.
But more than all, remember that scolding does no good. If you can find a case on record where whippings, or sarcasm, or anything but time, transformed a dull pupil into a bright one, you have discovered the exception to the rule. O, yes, lazy boys and girls have been induced by various means to settle down to hard work and achieve success in the schoolroom, but there is a vast difference between laziness and lack of brains. By all means stir up the lazy pupils and demand good work, and keep the active ones busy, but be merciful to the slow pupils. Three boys in one family who were the despair of every teacher they ever had, are now successful merchants, and they never forgot the kindness of two women who almost made them forget their dulness. These teachers always praised their efforts to work, no matter if the result was an utter failure, and they began to have hope. You don’t need to be untruthful to cheer up a dull scholar. Praise the dogged persistence that keeps them plodding along after the bright pupils, even if they have no knowledge at all. Since you can not read the future and see what is in store for these poor boys and girls, make the present at least bearable, and you can not fail of your reward.—Selected.
A New Intermediate School
By Frederick Griggs
For years the brethren and sisters of the New York Conference have been interested in the education of their children in the message.
This conference has hardly been without one or more schools for the last twenty and more years. At Rome, nearly twenty-five years ago, the conference had in operation a very successful school corresponding to our intermediate schools in the scope of its work. The church at Rome has for years conducted a successful church-school, and there have been a goodly number of substantial church-schools in different churches in the conference since the beginning of the school work at Rome.
Some three years ago the question of the permanent establishment of an intermediate school to do work up to and including the tenth grade began to receive consideration; as the result there has been established at Tunesassa such a school. Since the division of the New York Conference, the Western New York Conference has taken the school under its charge. Tunesassa is a post-office at a little station called Quaker Bridge, on the Pennsylvania Railroad running from Olean, N. Y., to Oil City, Pa. It is only five or six miles from the State line of Pennsylvania, on the Seneca Indian reservation. About two miles southeast of the station the conference some two years ago purchased two hundred acres of good land. This land is just off the reservation. Here has been erected a very substantial brick veneer school building at a cost of about three thousand dollars. The building is three stories in height, above a good basement. The first floor is used for the school-room, and the two floors above for rooms for the pupils, the girls occupying the second floor, and the boys the third. The basement is now used for a kitchen and dining-room.
The general plan for the school contemplates another building, which will be used as dormitory, and in which will be the kitchen and dining-room. A barn will also be built. There is an abundance of soft spring-water, which has a natural flow to within six inches of the peak of the building. There is also a great quantity of wood for fuel—enough29to last for years. The prospects for natural gas are good, as the land lies near or within the gas and oil belt. The land has had the timber cut from it some time in the past, but there is a good second growth, which is already valuable, and is steadily increasing in value. Several acres of land have been cleared, and can be put into crops next spring.
The school was formally opened early in November. Twelve or fifteen pupils are now in attendance. It is taught by Sister Bowen. Her husband, Brother Lynn Bowen, is the business manager of the school. Brother and Sister Bowen were connected with this work in the erection of the building, and the school seems to be prospering well under their management. It is intended to have accommodation for about forty pupils in the school.
I greatly enjoyed a visit recently made to this school, and feel that a good, substantial beginning has been made for what may be a very valuable aid to the cause of truth in the Western New York Conference. There are many boys and girls in this conference who should be in such a school preparing for advanced lines of study and for usefulness in the cause of present truth. In many respects the location and surroundings of the school are ideal. It is away from all city influences, and is surrounded by the everlasting hills. The good water and the pure, invigorating air mark the place as a healthy one. This school should have the hearty, loyal support—which we believe it will have—of the members of the Western New York Conference, in its upbuilding and permanent establishment. FREDERICK GRIGGS.
Oakwood School
By W. J. Blake
THERE are many encouraging features at present in connection with the work of the institution, for which we feel especially thankful. The attendance is larger than it has been for some time in the past. One day last week seven new students entered. There are several more applicants, who will doubtless be in later. It appears that our quarters will be filled to their utmost capacity very soon. This is as it should be, for the school has a great work before it in training a sufficient number of workers to carry the message to the seven or eight million colored people here in the South, to say nothing of this race in Africa and other foreign countries. It would seem that we are far behind in preparing these workers, but we believe that God is leading out, and that greater victories than we have yet experienced will soon be apparent. This must necessarily be so because of the magnitude of this work.
Our building work is well under way. Manual Arts is completed, and will admirably serve as a domicile for the school shops. Brother Auger and his force are busily engaged completing the foundation of our new Study Hall, preparatory to the laying of the cement blocks. Several hundred of these blocks have been made, and the different designs will be combined in a very neat way, and form a substantial building. It has been decided to cover the building with metal shingles, so it will be practically fire-proof.
We hope soon to have a better water-supply for the school. The well drillers are at work, and expect to finish in a few days. If successful in finding a good flow of pure water, a perplexing problem will have been overcome in our work. The well is being put down on an elevated part of the school campus. A steel tower will be erected, also a storage tank, into which the water will be pumped by a large windmill; and from the tank it can be piped to the different buildings.
Through the kindness of friends a broom outfit and carpet-loom have been donated to the school, and shortly we shall be in a position to add these industries.
Our class work is going on each day as usual. The students are doing good work. We are also thankful for an increasing spiritual growth in the school. Some have left us and gone into the field, and from these we get good reports. Others will soon go out to take up the work in various places.
W. J. BLAKE, Principal.
A Word from a School in the Snow
By Mary F. Rice
WE may have plenty of snow, but pupils will come. A mile up-hill in all kinds of Green Mountain weather, through drifts and over unbroken roads, is a good test of a child’s desire to learn.
In our Bible class the study of Acts has been helpful, while the youngest ones have been interested in their Bible nature lessons. What child could not learn much from nature in the mountains and valleys, the miles of fields and woods surrounding us? Some spare moments are spent cutting out stars and fishes, also pictures of flowers, vegetables, and fruits from catalogues, to illustrate the story of creation, in their occupation books.
The pupils look forward with interest to their manual-training classes. There are three classes,—on Monday and Wednesday, raffia for the older girls, and chair caning for the older boys; on Tuesday and Thursday, sewing for the younger ones. Those who can now work by themselves, and are sure of their lessons, have the privilege of caning chairs every manual-training period, and will cane all the chairs they can find in the villages. Little financial return has yet been realized, but we hope the work will help some earn their tuition.
It would be interesting to watch the children’s sewing class, each one intent on getting the model “just right.” Having the sewing models before them, was a strong incentive to learn well the first lessons in correct position, and proper use of thimble, needle, and thread, which they practised on pieces of gingham. Three rows of each of the different kinds of stitches used in plain sewing are made with a worsted needle and red yarn, on Java canvass, the squares enabling them to get the stitches even. This is the first model.
At first it seemed impossible to have the manual training in a church-school where there are so many classes, but the time is by no means wasted. The interest aroused calls forth greater effort in other lessons. The training is invaluable, and the good, healthy atmosphere brought in well rewards the teacher for the effort. There would be indeed something missing if this were dropped out of our school. MARY F. RICE.