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Review and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 18.

The First Number of The Protestant Magazine
Earlier text: District of Columbia

Canvassers’ Summary for March, 1909

Canadian Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Ontario 2 350 116 $361.15 ....
Quebec 1 42 7 36.20 ....
Maritime .. .. .. .... ....
Newfoundland .. .. .. .... ....
Totals 3 392 123 397.35 $166.75
Atlantic Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Central New England 11 840 227 1200.50 1048.20
Southern New England 10 545 112 104.45 23.00
Western New York 5 166 57 206.75 624.25
New York 13 1035 344 1035.75 327.55
Vermont 1 133 29 91.95 130.00
Maine 2 33 .. 45.15 25.15
Greater New York 11 642 170 675.35 759.75
Totals 50 3394 939 3359.90 2937.90
Columbia Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Ohio 19 1556 497 1083.65 797.40
New Jersey 10 1283 386 1107.40 80.10
Eastern Pennsylvania 14 1331 353 785.05 336.65
West Pennsylvania 4 127 47 119.20 139.90
Chesapeake 17 1788 624 1763.35 447.10
Virginia 6 317 155 269.40 260.65
West Virginia 7 308 96 355.15 502.35
District of Columbia .. .. .. .... ....
Totals 77 6710 2158 5483.20 2564.15
Lake Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
East Michigan 8 251 74 178.10 ....
Wisconsin 6 368 55 201.50 110.70
Southern Illinois 12 753 182 499.45 59.55
Northern Illinois 12 1283 390 1203.95 181.50
North Michigan 11 620 114 392.75 441.70
Indiana 1 142 9 33.60 243.15
West Michigan .. .. .. .... 2.50
Totals 50 3423 824 2509.35 1039.10
Southern Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Louisiana 11 952 352 786.00 489.25
Alabama 15 867 580 756.10 106.50
Mississippi 8 880 329 757.10 151.00
Tennessee River 12 1038 331 700.00 789.75
Kentucky 8 793 255 474.50 29.75
Totals 54 4530 1847 3473.70 1566.25
Southeastern Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Cumberland 14 92 322 525.85 240.50
Georgia 10 1200 408 1032.00 1017.25
North Carolina 7 637 172 324.35 338.20
South Carolina 7 458 241 354.35 736.60
Florida 7 305 86 157.80 54.15
Totals 45 2692 1229 2394.35 1774.15
Southwestern Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Texas 26 2621 1204 4407.40 859.80
Oklahoma 22 1763 620 1930.60 374.40
Arkansas 10 784 313 654.00 37.00
West Texas 4 269 96 361.75 ....
New Mexico 3 53 11 9.00 ....
Totals 65 5490 2244 7362.75 1271.20
Central Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
North Missouri 9 511 159 528.50 ....
South Missouri 12 500 144 476.30 ....
Kansas 14 350 88 348.40 1002.00
East Colorado .. .. .. .... ....
West Colorado 5 250 56 201.25 310.70
Nebraska 5 .. 209 422.65 428.35
Wyoming .. .. .. .... 73.75
Totals 45 1611 656 1977.10 1814.80
Northern Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Iowa 2 340 115 335.00 310.75
Minnesota 1 65 40 75.50 ....
South Dakota .. .. .. .... ....
North Dakota .. .. .. .... ....
Totals 3 405 155 418.50 310.75
Pacific Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Arizona .. .. .. $108.60 ....
California-Nevada .. .. .. 500.00 $996.05
Southern California 9 532 179 622.15 99.90
Utah .. .. .. .... ....
Totals 9 532 179 1230.75 1095.95
North Pacific Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Western Washington 8 457 260 797.95 260.30
Western Oregon 2 275 125 398.00 241.95
Upper Columbia 2 257 63 115.55 206.00
Montana 1 35 30 105.20 213.85
Southern Idaho 1 67 6 22.85 529.95
Totals 14 1091 484 1439.55 1542.05
Western Canadian Union Conference
AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Alberta .. .. .. .... ....
Manitoba .. .. .. .... ....
British Columbia .. .. .. .... ....
Saskatchewan .. .. .. .... ....
Totals .. .. .. .... ....
Conference or field AGENTS HOURS ORDERS 1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Australasian Union Conference 54 3896 1121 4031.74 4634.25
German Union Conference 43 .. .. 6675.39 7494.56
Russian Union Conference 28 .. .. 970.21 ....
Mexican Mission Field 8 .. 449 380.54 216.00
Scandinavian Union Conference 95 8098 5662 3788.09 4133.74
British Union Conference 75 4491 1602 4943.19 2583.00
Latin Union Conference 6 859 2492 188.90 ....
Cape Colony Conference 6 .. .. 515.60 ....
Brazilian Field .. .. .. 1163.39 ....
1909 VALUE 1908 VALUE
Total North American Union Conferences $30,046.50 $15,916.30
Total Foreign Unions and Mission Fields 22,657.05 20,473.79
Grand Total $52,703.55 $36,390.09

Comparative Summary

1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
January $14,000.00 $21,000.00 $26,325.50 $25,929.06 $40,677.05
February 10,000.00 15,000.00 26,369.61 30,466.40 48,748.21
March 12,000.00 18,000.00 36,253.65 36,390.09 52,703.55

“Hold the Fort”

By E. R. P.

In a few days our general missionary agents will be on the way to attend the General Conference. It would be unfortunate for these leaders to be away from their fields for a month at this season of the year were it not that we have such a strong loyal force of missionary agents, who will be in charge of the canvassers.
We believe we shall not ask in vain when we call upon these loyal men to put their shoulders to the wheel, and lift even more strenuously than before.
Our motto now is “Onward and Upward.” There must be no turning back. It can not be conceived that the work of God will suffer in any part of the vineyard through the absence of the general agents for a brief season during General Conference.
There is no doubt, also, that every canvasser will feel an additional responsibility to put in a few extra hours, report a little more promptly, and sell a few more books during this General Conference period.
This meeting will be an important occasion. Missionaries are already on their way from distant lands. We expect that the power of the Holy Spirit will be present in this large quadrennial gathering of God’s people, and the thrill of power will certainly be felt around the world. We trust it will warm the heart of every canvasser in our ranks, and give power and effectiveness to his work.
E. R. P.

The Summary

By E. R. P.

It looks good, doesn't it? even though it does contain a few blanks, reversals, and disappointments. The report is complete, however, from seven union conferences, and from all the foreign fields. Nearly all the blank spaces represent snow-bound territory. We confidently expect, however, that next winter the enthusiasm of our boys and girls will either melt the snowy obstructions in the far North, or their perseverance will climb over them.
The Southwestern Union Conference stands well in the lead, with a total of nearly six times what it was last year. Isn't that good for the month of March? Elder W. W. Eastman held his institutes early, and was doing good field work last month; and now he is looking forward to a strong re-enforcement from Keene Academy.
There are other substantial gains also, as indicated in the summary.
Do not overlook the little comparative summary at the close. It gets more and more interesting, doesn't it? How beautiful it would appear in print if we could give a summary of the heart-to-heart experiences of our agents with the people, as they go about doing good!
E. R. P.

Current Mention

— On April 25, eight persons lost their lives by the sinking of a towboat in the Mississippi River below New Orleans.
— Two Japanese cruisers are now making calls at Pacific Coast ports. These cruisers were captured from the Russians during the war with Russia.
— The Supreme Court of Alabama has declared the prohibition law of that State valid, and it is stated that the law officers will now begin to enforce the act more rigorously, there having been hitherto a doubt as to its validity.
— The number of horses in the United States increased during the years from 1900 to 1908 by 6,455,000, adding to the value of such property in the United States during those years more than one and a quarter billion dollars.
— At the present time there is in operation in China a total of 2,170 miles of railway, with 806 miles of new road under construction. Provision has been made for the construction of an additional 2,232 miles, and 3,286 miles of new road are projected.
— Another substitute for wood in the making of paper has been discovered recently in the South. It is the okra plant, which is produced in large quantities in the Southern States. It is expected that a factory for the manufacture of paper from this plant will soon be erected at Macon, Ga.
— Nine men lost their lives through the sinking of a vessel on Lake Superior during a heavy storm on May 1.
— The lower branch of the Florida Legislature, on April 23, passed the McMullen state-wide prohibition bill, which had passed the Senate on the previous day. This bill provides for the submission of the question of state-wide prohibition to a vote of the people in 1910.
— The Red Cross Society has opened a fund for the relief of the thousands of helpless and homeless refugees in Asiatic Turkey. Ambassador Leishman, of the United States embassy at Constantinople, is acting with the society in getting funds to the bereaved and starving people.
— The refusal of an Italian storekeeper to pay $1,000 to the Black Hand Society in New York, resulted in the burning of the building which he occupied, on April 30. This building also contained tenements occupied by a number of families. Eight of these persons were burned to death, and fourteen others were more or less seriously injured.
— There were very pronounced earthquake shocks throughout Portugal and Spain on April 22. The populace of Lisbon were in great fear of a repetition of the disaster of 1755, but no serious damage was done at that place. The town of Benavento, however, was practically destroyed, and forty dead have been taken from the ruins. Two hundred sixty-eight persons were injured, and 12,000 are reported homeless. At Alhambra twelve were killed, and six at other places near Lisbon.
— Within the past few days the concern known as the sugar trust has paid into the United States Treasury the sum of $2,134,000 in penalties and unpaid customs duties, in settlement of all claims arising out of the fraudulent weighing of sugar on the docks of the sugar refineries in Brooklyn, N. Y., and Jersey City, N. J.
— A despatch from Vienna, Austria, dated April 29, states that the Austrian government contemplates the construction of seven battle-ships of the “Dreadnought” type. The fact that Austria and Germany are now practically allied, makes this program of Austria look like a reply to the offers of the English colonies to supply a certain number of battle-ships for the British navy.
— On May 25 the commander of the Turkish constitutional troops succeeded in inducing the sultan and his defenders to surrender without further conflict. The troops were disarmed, and placed under guard, and on April 29, the reports state, 250 of the leaders in the conspiracy were courtmarshalled and shot. The sultan was taken to the city of Salonika, with his family, where he is expected to end his days, under guard. The new sultan gives promise of a more humane reign, being much more democratic in spirit. It is understood, also, that he is to be ruler more in name than in fact. The government of the United States was the first to recognize the new head of the Turkish government. Russia and some of the other governments are holding aloof from such recognition until the new government shall demonstrate its ability to control, and shall make known its attitude toward existing international complications. Despatches from Paris state that mobs surrounding the villa where the deposed sultan is now living are demanding his head, this attitude being due to the fact that the responsibility for the uprising, the loss of lives in the fighting in and around Constantinople, and the massacres, lies, without doubt, at his door. It is also charged that on the very day of his surrender, the sultan took the life of one of the favorite members of his household, a beautiful Circassian girl of eighteen, and that he had prepared for a general massacre of all foreigners in Constantinople, including the representatives of foreign governments. The commander of the constitutional troops, learning of this intention, entered the city one day earlier than he had intended, thus frustrating the sultan’s purpose. Plans had been laid for demolishing foreign embassies, and blowing up banks and other strongly protected buildings. The ministry of the interior is convinced that the attacks on Armenians and other Christians in the Cilicia district were arranged from Constantinople, coming as they did at the same time as the mutiny of the Constantinople troops. A despatch from Alexandretta states that Moslems of that district have, during a two-days’ massacre, murdered 7,000 Armenians. The rivers of Asia Minor are still carrying dead bodies down to the sea. In one instance there was found floating in the river the mutilated body of a woman nailed to a cross. Turkish troops are now being despatched to the disturbed districts, and the new government is promising a thorough investigation of the massacres in Asia Minor, with a view to the punishment of those implicated.

This department will appear in the first issue of each month of the REVIEW AND HERALD

By Frederick Griggs; C. C. Lewis

It will be devoted to the consideration of Christian education in the denomination, involving the work of primary, intermediate, and advanced schools. The principles of education in a broad sense will be discussed in their application to the methods employed in the different grades of these schools. Reports of the work done in all parts of the world will be published. The preparation of workers to carry the gospel to all lands and the immediate finishing of the third angel's message will be kept prominently before the schools as the leading aim in Christian education.
This department is conducted by the Department of Education of the General Conference.
FREDERICK GRIGGS, Chairman. C. C. LEWIS, Secretary.

Simplicity

ALL our educational efforts should be marked with great simplicity, and yet with neatness and culture. This has particular application to the closing exercises of our school year. It is a time when there is a tendency for students to spend more money and take more time for social functions than is necessary.
It is but natural at this time that the friendships of the year should be commemorated by little gifts of remembrance. Now these gifts, though small in themselves, are very liable to assume quite large proportions in the aggregate, and much money may be spent unnecessarily. This expenditure would give more lasting happiness to the giver if it were placed where it would be of real benefit in the salvation of souls.
We do not mean to imply that all gifts of remembrance between fellow students are to be discouraged. Indeed, we still do not think they should be, but we do urge that the demands of our great cause of truth require of our students careful frugality in matters of dress, gifts, and all other expenses incident to the closing of the school year.
Hundreds, yes, thousands, of our young men and women in other lands have no school opportunities, because of the lack of money. We are now seeking to raise substantial funds for the union conference schools of Europe, and our young people may well remember the needs of their young brethren and sisters in these less favored lands, and find their keenest joy in helping them to secure an education by which they will be able to proclaim this saving message to their own and other peoples with great power.

Dangerous Discipline

THE following news item appeared in the Washington Post, under the date of March 5:—
“YONKERS, N. Y., March 5.—Henry G. Issertell has made a charge to the board of education that teachers at public school No. 12 are responsible for the death of his twelve-year-old daughter, Marjorie. In his complaint he says:—
“My little girl was taken violently ill in school. She was attacked by a violent chill. She asked to go home; her request was denied. So she was made to keep at her work until, finally overcome by pain, she went to the cloak-room and fell to the floor in a faint. The teacher finally compelled her to return and finish her lesson.
“The child reached home in a raging fever. Delirium set in, and for three days and nights she raved constantly to be allowed to go home. A consultation of physicians was held Sunday, and peritonitis and grip were declared to be the cause of her condition.”
“The child was removed to a hospital, where she was operated upon. In the child’s delirium the parents and physicians say Marjorie screamed: ‘O, please let me go home! I’m so sick. O please don’t make me do any more!’”
“She repeated these pleas over and over again until the hour of her death.
“The child’s mother is frantic with grief. Mrs. Ida Blakeman Issertell is a magazine writer and author.
“The teachers declare they did not know Marjorie was ill.”
This story has its lessons. “It is the nicest work ever assumed by men and women to deal with youthful minds;” and because it is a work of such fine discriminations, great wisdom is required. It is better to err, if err we must, on the side of leniency than rigor; but better still is the ideal, not to err.
Pupils who are disposed to take advantage of the teacher can nearly always, sooner or later, be detected in the wrong course, and to do so the teacher does not have to appear as a spy either. This teacher evidently felt that the child was feigning illness in order to escape school. The child might better have been dismissed, and then, at a later time, in a most natural way the teacher could have called on her when her condition would have been readily discerned. If the teacher then had reason to believe that the child had been endeavoring to deceive, feigning illness where nothing serious was the trouble, a kind talk, which would have shown the child the wrong course, would undoubtedly have solved the whole situation. But suppose the child had carried her feigning to the extent of going home and there continuing it, the teacher, by wise diplomacy, could have enlisted the parents’ efforts, and the child have been put to bed, where sick children should go. This punishment would have been a natural effect of the cause.
Wise teachers and parents follow up the doings of their children, and know concerning them. The knowledge that they will do so is a continual restraint to children. All children must be restrained and controlled, and at all times; and punishment must necessarily be meted out on necessary occasions; however, great effort must be put forth that the restraint may be wise, and the punishment just. But always must the guardian of the child be moved by reason rather than by impulse.

Economy

THIS is the season of the school year when there is a constant tendency to a needless expenditure of money on the part of students. This is true of students in all the grades, but especially of our graduating classes. It is quite a custom in our schools at the close of the year to exchange photographs and other remembrances of friendship. While the spirit which prompts these feelings is natural, it should be curbed and controlled in a right manner.
It is a mistake for our young people to spend unnecessarily these large sums of money. In Europe are hundreds of our young brethren and sisters who do not have the privilege of attending school. The only way in which they can be educated is for some one to loan or give them the money with which to attend school. An effort is on foot to raise substantial sums of money among our young people of America for the education of those in less favored lands. We in this land do not appreciate the blessings of prosperity which come to us. We need to know more of the spirit of sacrifice, self-denial, and economy, that we may thus help to prepare men and women for efficient service.
A young man or woman who comes to the years of accountability and is trained for efficient service is a most valuable acquisition to the cause of truth. We have hundreds, yes, thousands, of sturdy young men and women in these less favored lands who are anxious for an education. Can not our young people deny themselves unnecessary luxuries in order to help in this way? This is the spirit which should actuate the students in all our schools.

Whole-Hearted Endeavor

EVERY truly noble life is always born of high purposes, strong resolutions, and a great life motive. It must have a large fund of enthusiasm as its mainspring. Half-heartedness always results in inferior work; not only so, but the inspiration which goes from such a life is meager and almost worthless. Man, in life's race, has great dangers with which to contend; the wrong tendencies of his own being, the forces of nature, and the contentions of society, are all to be overcome and placed on the right side of his account. And whole-hearted, energetic endeavor makes this possible. Doing with our might whatever we have to do insures almost invariable success to ourselves and a healthy inspiration to others.

Our Opportunities in the South

In a speech at Atlanta, Ga., recently made before the Conference for Education in the South, a fuller account of which appears elsewhere, Gov. Hoke Smith, of Georgia, offered, as a partial and practical solution of the negro education in the South, the suggestion that Northern men move among them, and that employers in the North seek the services of the negro; for, as the governor showed from statistics, the negro develops best when scattered among the whites. There are two very needy classes in the South, the poor whites and the negroes, both of which demand the uplifting efforts of the gospel. Work for these people is made very possible at this time by a sentiment in the South thus forcibly voiced by the governor of Georgia.
It was conclusively demonstrated at the conference that the most effective means for doing a permanent work of value for these classes is through the school. These people perhaps always need to be led; consequently work of a pastoral character is imperative. The civilizing influence of a school which teaches the value and dignity of manual work, and particularly agriculture, is of the greatest value. While it is true that much of the work begun will have to be followed up by continual labor, yet it is also true that many of these people may be so educated that they can, in turn, carry on similar work for others in like conditions.
Much can be done for this needy people. But it is evident that this work can not be best prosecuted by desultory or spasmodic efforts. If it rests upon us, and it does, whether we realize it or not, we should organize for more effective work than we have heretofore undertaken. The value of unity and organized effort is as great in this field as any in the world. Not every one is qualified for work in this land, and those who go need the counsel and support, financially and otherwise, of those who are studying the field as a whole. We have hundreds of families living in our crowded cities of the North, and even in rural districts, who, it would seem, could be speedily prepared for valuable service as teachers and gospel workers, to live among these needy classes, and give to them the uplifting and soul-saving influence of the gospel. Surely the gateway to a great, broad avenue of opportunity is wide open.

The School

By Ellen G. White

Home Schools

As church-schools shall be established in the future, there is a class of work to be done in connection with them that has not been done in the past. All who can should have the privileges of a home church-school. It would be well if several families in a neighborhood would unite to employ a humble, God-fearing teacher to give to the parents the help that is needed in educating their children. This will be a great advantage, and a plan more pleasing to the Lord than that which has largely been followed of removing the youth from their homes to attend one of our larger schools. The church-members, uniting, could erect an inexpensive building, and secure a wise teacher to take charge of the school.
Our small churches are needed. And the children are needed in their homes, where they may be a help to their parents when the hours of study are ended. The Christian home is the best place for young children; for here they can have parental discipline that is after the Lord’s order. God would have us consider these things in all their sacred importance. It is the precious privilege of teachers and parents to co-operate in teaching the children how to drink in the gladness of Christ’s life by learning to follow his example. The Saviour’s early years were useful years. He was his mother’s helper in the home; and he was just as verily fulfilling his commission when performing the duties of the home and working at the carpenter’s bench as when he engaged in his public work of ministry.
It is not required that all the youth rush off from home responsibilities to seminaries or higher schools in order to reach the highest rung of the ladder. It should be remembered that right in the home there are generally young children to be instructed. The elder should ever seek to help the younger. Let the elder members of the family consider that this part of the Lord’s vineyard needs to be cultivated, and resolve that they will put forth their best capabilities to make home attractive and to deal patiently with younger minds.
There are young persons in our homes whom the Lord has qualified to give the knowledge they have to others. Let these strive to keep spiritual lessons fresh in the mind, that they may impart the knowledge they have gained. If these elder members of the family would become learners with the children, new ideas would be suggested, and the hours of study would be a time of decided pleasure as well as of profit.
The tender years of childhood are years of sacred duty to perform in teaching their children to help bear the burdens of the home, to be content with plain and simple food and neat and inexpensive dress. The requirements of the parent should always be reasonable; kindness should be expressed, not by foolish indulgence, but by wise direction. Parents are to teach their children pleasantly, without scolding or fault-finding, seeking to bind the hearts of the little ones to them by the silken cords of love. Let all, fathers and mothers, teachers, older brothers and sisters, become an educating force to keep up every spiritual interest, and create a wholesome atmosphere in the home and school life that will train the younger children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Our children are the Lord’s property; they have been bought with a price. This thought should be the mainspring of our labors for them. The most successful methods of assuring their salvation, and keeping them out of the way of temptation, is to instruct them constantly in the Word of God. And as parents become learners with their children, they will find their own growth in a knowledge of the truth more rapid. Unbelief will disappear; faith and activity will increase; assurance and confidence will deepen as they thus follow on to know the Lord. Their prayers will undergo a transformation, becoming earnest and sincere. Christ is the Head of his church, the dependence of his people; he will give the needed grace to those who seek him for wisdom and instruction.
I speak to fathers and mothers: You can be educators in your home churches; you can be spiritual missionary agencies. Let fathers and mothers feel the need of being home missionaries, the need of keeping the home atmosphere free from the influence of unkind and hasty speech, and the home school a place where angels of God can come in and bless and give success to the efforts put forth.
Let parents unite in providing a place for the daily instruction of their children, choosing as teacher one who is apt to teach, and who as a consecrated servant of Christ will increase in knowledge while imparting instruction. The teacher who has consecrated self to the service of God will be able to do a definite work in missionary service, and will instruct the children in the same lines. Let fathers and mothers co-operate with the teacher, laboring earnestly for the salvation of their children. If parents will realize the importance of these small educating centers, co-operating to do the work that the Lord desires to be done at this time, the plans of the enemy for our children will be frustrated.
MRS. E. G. WHITE.

Science as It Is Taught

SOME examples of examination questions in science, quoted by H. W. Hornwill in an article on “Science and the Schoolboy Mind,” contributed to The Scientific American (New York, August 22), are not only extremely ludicrous, but suggest serious doubts regarding the efficiency of instruction in elementary science in some of our schools. Mr. Hornwill himself regards such specimens as well worth the teacher's careful study, since they often point to some flaw in methods of teaching, and suggest in what direction there is need for reform. In the first place, he calls attention to their bearing on the recent tendency to minimize the use of text-books and to trust to oral instruction. He says:—
“The risk attached to teaching by word of mouth is clearly seen in numerous instances of a pupil's confusing some important word with another that resembles it in sound. Here are some examples: ‘The equator is a menagerie lion running round the earth.’ ‘The earth's climate is the hottest next the creator.’ ‘Sound effects the oratory nerves.’ ‘The blood is putrefied in the lungs by inspired air.’ A confusion with the word ‘rotation’ is of course responsible for the definition of the axis of the earth as ‘an imaginary line on which the earth is supposed to take its daily routine.’ Scientific teaching offers a large number of opportunities for such confusions when technical terms reach the mind through the ear only, and not also through the eye. Really, one can not be hard on a child who tells us that food passes through the ‘elementary’ canal, or that one of the brightest stars is called ‘Juniper.’”
Other specimens illustrate the dangers of misconception when a word that is in common use has a special scientific meaning. Unless he is warned against the error, it is hard, for instance, Mr. Hornwill says, for a pupil to get out of his mind the idea that “shed” in “watershed” must point to some kind of building. We read:—
“Thus we get such examination answers as these: ‘A watershed is a place where there is water and rocks overhead that form a shed.’ ‘A watershed is a house between two rivers, so that a drop of water falling on one side of a roof runs into one river, and a drop on the other side goes into the other river.’”
“In a great many instances the root of the trouble is evidently an imperfect explanation of the fact or phenomenon described. When an examination candidate declares that ‘a parallel straight line is one which, when produced to meet itself, does not meet,’ how is it possible to escape the conviction that an attempt has been made to load the memory with a definition without the least endeavor to get hold of its meaning? Such an answer reflects far more seriously upon the teaching received than does the statement that ‘parallel straight lines, even if produced to all eternity, can not expect to meet each other.’ In the latter case, in spite of the confusion between the words ‘infinity’ and ‘eternity,’ there is at any rate a fairly substantial idea of what parallel lines are. Mere rote work teaching, again, would account for the declaration that ‘air usually has no weight, but when placed in a barometer, it is found to weigh about fifteen pounds a square inch.’ Clearly, there can have been little laboratory teaching in the school from which came the answer that ‘if a small hole were bored in the top of a barometer tube, the mercury would shoot up in a column thirty feet high,’ though one can not understand how any small boy with ordinary curiosity could have refrained from attempting to verify such a fascinating statement by independent experiment. The lazy mind, catching up vaguely something it has heard while escaping the least exertion of thought, is further illustrated in the startling proposition that ‘things which are equal to each other are equal to anything else.’”
Even the most efficient teacher is sometimes exposed to the subtle danger of making an unimportant feature so interesting that the significant matter is overlooked. A specimen case quoted by Mr. Hornwill is the answer that “gravity is chiefly noticeable in the autumn, when the apples are falling from the trees.” That the child who gave this answer was by no means a mere parrot is shown, the author thinks, by his ability to reach the conclusion that, if gravitation is chiefly illustrated in falling apples, the autumn is the time of year for it! To quote further:—
“Happily many instances might be given in disproof of the frequent accusation that present-day school-teaching stifles originality. The mental activity with which a pupil, when at a loss for an answer, will construct one out of his own head is often such as gives promise of conspicuous distinction if once the habit of diligence could be formed. It is not mere adroit evasion to say that ‘the difference between water and air is that air can be made wetter, but water can be cut, too.’ No less thoughtful was the lad, who, in an essay on ‘The Elements,’ said: ‘Air is the most necessary of all the elements; if there was no such thing as air, I would not be writing this essay now; also there would be no pneumatic tires, which would be a sad loss.’ A mind capable of detecting the subtlest analogies of nature must surely have been possessed by the boy who wrote: ‘Mushrooms always grow in damp places, and so they look like umbrellas.’ We may be sure that it was not from a San Francisco school that there came the assertion that ‘the probable cause of earthquakes may be attributed to bad drainage and neglect of sewage.’ . . . A particularly curious instance of independent but inaccurate observation is this answer to a question respecting the differences between steamers and sailing vessels: ‘A steamer cut or part the water aside; but with a sailing vessel it is not the case, for it sail up and down on the waves and billows.’ This answer, possibly, is due in some measure to the pictures—advertisements of steamship companies and the like—which represent steamers as aggressively cutting their way through the water, as compared with the quieter representations of the progress of sailing ships. Perhaps familiarity with the domestic uses of electricity is accountable for the statement that ‘electricity and lightning are of the same nature, the only difference being that lightning is often several miles in length, while electricity is only a few inches.’”—Literary Digest.
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