, 1872-12-23

can hcreafter be do warmth OF feeling either be-
tween and the Aleuts, or between and tho
Gear. The least Alaska can do is to keep her |
cold weather at home.
IMPORTANT CHANGES AT HARVARD.
Two radical changes announced as about /
to be made in the discipline Of Harvard College. |
The first discontinues the custom OF morning |
prayer and chapel service; the second abolishes
compulsory attendance at recitations. There ia
no doubt that the Inauguration OF these chg .nees
will shock the conservative ideas Of 1arr "a class
: OF persons made up Of professional e. .ducators,
men who have learned to confusf, the Pro-
fessor's position with that ,tof 3 school
teacher, and antiquated alumni who
recollect how they we're whir 1ped in their
studies by the college rules Of heir day. There
are many others, however, VII will recognize in
the proposed changes decib ID step in dyance
toward the true university ST. andard, which rises
above the fundamental mott ons of applyi1 ,e tho
birch and the parrot-lke acquiring Of theAB
Cs. Those who fall back upon tradition for an
argument against thesG rumcred innovation as1nay
be answered by citing the circumstance tt at the
oldest and most famous universities Of Europe
have not, and never had, the customs t which
Harvard now proposes to dror J. In
these very two point,, more than
any others, perhaps, is to be 10 md the
distinction that is made be,tween the niversities
and gymnasiums Of Germany. pu rely techni-
cal education can be yursued in the latter as far
as IN the former. The gymnasiu ms are pro-
Vided for those whose youth OF dis inclination to
learn Is brought under direct d fscipline, and
whose morala are cared for BY p1 :eacribed ralig
1ous exercises The univeraities on the ut1xer
hand, ara repositories Of learning where ma turer
minda ara permitted to seek fur fher and broader
knowledge in the way most natural and oon-
genial to them.
While it is entirely probable that proposition
to discontinue public morning prayers, at which,
all students are required to be present, will call
out some earnest protests from those who con-;
ceiye that the college shc,nld be as much moral
guardian rs public instructor, the intellectual
classes will discern many good results in the
change. They willfreadily recognize the facti;;
that no enforced attendance at chapel service
can be productive Of religious progress. There
could be many genuine cases cited in which this
system OF compuso1:y religious exercises haaren
dered prayerand cb urch-going actually repu1sive,
andto sucha degEf,e that thesufferers from ithave
persistently refused to return to the practices
in after life When they could follow their OWL
| lnclinations. Few college men will deny that
| these services we're inconyenient at times. and
often assumed dreadful and almost sacrile gious
t monotony> There ia no reason why young men
| Who have reached the advancement necessary to
! natricn}ation in a university should not bo per-
mitted to exercise their religious de7otions in
such manner and at such times as they please.
The moral standard OF q college may be enforced
| without formal observance Of chapel worship,
which may interfere seriously with habits OF
study and personal preferences. The discontin-
uanca OF compulsory class attendance dnds
an approval in the same line
! OF argument. So long as the
examinations are rigid (and they are apt to be
more rigid il conducted outside the familiar
routine OF class duties), there is no need of
the restraints that are put upon the pupils in
elementary instruction. Strict division into
classes frequently causes serious loss of time*
The student who develops IN aptitude for
mathematics does not always need to follow
the slower processes Of a majority Of his class
who do not possess this natural advantage and
the time which is consumed in sitting out the
hour set aside for geometry might be more
prodtably employed Tin his case, by
studying Greek, which does not come
to him go readily The habits and
inclinations Of hundred students are too vari-
GUS to be moulded into one routine without en-
bar1assments and hindrances in theway ofequh
progress. The class system, and the rules OF
attendance at college services, prevent that H.
dividua1 division Of study and recreation which
s requisite to the best use OF students time !;
and the greater self-reliance that is included in
greater freedom will increase the qualifications
Of successful applicants for degrees, though it
may diminish the number Of Bachelors Of Art.
This would certainly be change for the better
Mr. Albert Brisbane, the inventor Of the Pueu-
! matte Tube, has gone to work at the construc-
tion of one Of his tubes from the Capitol to the
Government Printing Houae, for which Congress
appropriated ST., 900 at the last BesRion. The
process Of operating these tubes is exceedingly
simple. Instead Of car with four wheels, =
sphere is used. The sphere is moved BY e1-
haustng the air at one end Of the tube, SO as to
, create 8 current through it, and this
.ir-current pressing against the sphere,
which is two or three inches smaller than
the tube, propels il with great velocity: Rapid
ity and power are gained by the saving OF fric-
3 ton, Mr. Brisbane claims that books, docu-