Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-12-14

EsTINd AND VERY sUcoEsLFUL SESSION.
Correspondence of the Commercial.
| Dover, DEL, Dec. IL.
The second of the Teachers Institutes helt
under the new school law, opened in the hall o
the new Court House in this town, and contin
ued until to-day, when 1t adjourned. Thil
meeting was for the benefit OF the teachersliI il
Kent county, about hundred of whom wer,
present, and was very successful and interest
| ing.
| Singing and devotional exercises opened eaeh
| session. After the body was ready for busines.
on Thursday an election for officers Except The
presiding one. Supt. Groves filling that petition
was held, as follows ice-President, Ii. O
Smyrna Assistant Secretary, Miss Ida Pen.
nington, Dover. Supt. Groves then made the
| opening addrt 81, stating the purposes and OBJ
| jects of the Institute, and expressing the hope
that free exchange OF viaws on teaching wond
be given, to the end that the schools might be
improved. Hon. Chas. Brown and Rev. j. N.
Williams, of the Conference Academy, made ap-
propriate remarks.
In the afternoon James H. George, of Mag
nolia, read an essay on :" Writing" damonstra-
board, which, was listened to with interest and
provoked many questions. Pertinent remarks
were afterwards madel by Messrs. j. A. Fulton,
Chas. Brown, T., s., Reed aud Richard Harring-
ton The eyehing session vas mainly occupied
wish an address onlio Q Books and Anthorsi BY
President Purneli, which was polished and in
stauctiyer and showed'a great Familiarity with
the subject in hand The address was prefaced
BY the reading Of !" The 1iepern lJy Herman Hoe,
and at IT'D conclusion Miss Cannon sang d solo--
a " Reply to Birdie I'm Waiting E6iHtA
On Friday morning, F. "A. Williams, Principal
of the Dover consolidated schools, read an ds-
say OH text books which was practical, we'll writ
ten, and very generally approved Tpis was fol-
lowed BY aleotaYe ,eh grammar BY Prof. Wm. A.
Reynolds, Of Wilmington, winch proved to be
most interesting. He advocated the uss of
Swinton's Grammar in the schools, and spoke of
1t in terms Of highest mmepdatiqp, He parsed
great many sentences, conjugating the verbs
&c. He then parsed satiefactorilyla great many
sentences, (some of which were difficulty that
ware sent td him by variohs Persons in the arl-
dience. ssgE gEss % y $50 e3.s y
The AFTERNOON session was given up mainly to
an interesting discussion. of seyeralr subjects,
followed BY a class exercise In Bpelhg which
was greatly admired. These eI cises wore pre-
man Roe.' Prof Reynolds aso.gaye! the sounds
Of the Vowels,with an analysis OF them and Illus
trations showing their power irr,ila qt
The evening session was opened with a
singing and reading exercise by Miss Pen
nington, followed by very creditable leo.
ture by Prof. VIM. McCauliey Jefferis, of Del
aware College on "The Relation of Mathe-
matics to Culture and Education" Some of his
propositions were novel but all were practical.
He spoke of the value of mathematics because
Of the clearness of their ideas, showing that
most people in their early thinking had very in
different ideas, which were made more clear by
the study of mathematics said they were most
valuable in their practical application as there Is
scarcely science into which they do not enter
while in moral point of view they are equally
beneficial as they deal only with accuracy and
thus inculcate habits of truth which make men
better "Curfew Must not Ring Tonight"
we'll declaimed by young scholar, closed tile
days session.
The final session was held ON Saturday morn
ing, and was opened with an essay on Arithmet-
ic by Prof. Johns, of Smyrna, which WAS good
production. Prof. Reynolds, i'm response to an
invitation followed explaining the several parts.
and WORKING out numerous examples. Resolu-
tons Of thanks to the citizens of Dover for their
to those who had assisted in the In
stitute, and to the Levy Court for the use of
the hall were adopted, after which Hon. Chas.
Brown congratulated the Superintendent upon
his management of the Institute and expressed
his delight with the sessions when an adjourn
ment was made.
Beneficial results are expected to flow from
this Institute. The teachers took deep inter-
est in the exercises, and the readiness with |
which they participated in the proceedings
seemed to impart the idea that they were gain |
ing much information. 1t is believed that the |
Institute has ensured the establishment of |
State Normal School at no very distant day. |
Prof. Groves is already pledged to exert his in
uence to that end, and it is understood that the |
entire State Board Of Education are favorable to
it.
A singular fact WAS developed in connection |
with this session, viz: the relative difference in |
The proportion of male teachers in New Castle |
Ind Kent counties. At the Institute at Dover |
lbout seventy of the teachers present were
males, while the proportion in the Institute at
Middletown WAS largely in favor Of the ladies.
This may be accounted for probably by the
'pread of the Wilmington city influence with the
'ural districts. Ex.