The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-12-19

r
had been restored to her from the dead
IS you might say, and then IS her
husband, with swimming eyes, Looked
fondly upon her from the other end Of
the table, and said
"Dian't J. seil you, my little woman,
il would all come out right, and so it
has, Susan;''
She jumped up and ran to HIN, be-
fore all the conpsry, Threw her arms
around his neck, and said, with a kiss
that meant whole volumes
/" Indeed you did, Hiram, and L was
foolish to worry as did,"
"M. Quad" on Medern SthOo!.ieaeh.
ing.
Mr.. Old Fogy came over to have a
/ talk with me the other evening. He l.
a school-teacher, and he seenied to be
laboring under the impression that l
meant TO GUST him from his situation,
simply because | favor the departure
from. the present school system
"Why, sir-why, SIR" he began as he
took chair, 1" if children don't go to
school to study what do they go there
forPn
"To learn" / replied.
"Ahl yes, to learn; but hoy would
they learn if they did not studSa"
"Do you know when the United
States Mint was first established2' /
asked. ~ ,a--.-
"Well--well--ahem- really DON'T"
he replied.
swell, 1 will tell you, It Was in
17a2. Nov, how long will you remem-
Der iti'
"Just as long as 1 remember any
thing" -.
Certainly you will, and you have
learned it without study or reference to
school book. What's to prevent chill
dren from learning in the same wsyP"
"But-but-it isn't REGULAR" he
stammsred. /.
"So, OF course not. Your father cut
wheat With & cradle, and it wouldn't be
Regular for you to cut it with a
reaper"
''But if children didn't have study.
hours and regular classes there would
be no order in schools, BE protested.
"tpstead OF study-hours would call
they were searching answers to ques-
tions.. The classes would be the same.
l would ask questions which knew they
could answer from xt-books, and their
search for them would be pleasure in
stead of study
al don't understand. D."
Don't you? Suppose l ask vou
what city in England is devoted to the
manufacture of cutlery"
"Td answer Sheffield, of course
"And so would school-bby, after
hunting it up. And further, he would
also find that coal and iron is mined
near by, and you would have fine
chance to tell the whole school that
American cutlery is now being sold all
over Europe and right at the doors OF
Sheffield. In telling them that ask them
what the knife-blades are made of, how
prepared, and what substance Is used
for handles. Let them go home and
ask their parents-let them go to ma
chine-shops or anywhere else where in
formation is to be had"
every irregular-very irregular" he
sighed.
"Yes, and if your aunt died before
your uncle it would be the SHINE thing.
The textbooks say that an island is
body of land surrounded by water. Just
80. That's a cold fact known to all pu-
pills. But suppose l say: Children,
in telling me to morrow what an island
is, tell me also on what island great
soldier was kept prisoner until his death
and ans further facts you cam Don't
you admit, Mr. Old Fogy, that in an
swering that request they'd give me the
name of Napoleon; the island; the
ocean around it; the nationality of the
captors; the last battle fought by the
prisoner, and perhaps other informa-
tionP"
"But what's the use of text-booksP"
he growled.
'sThey are good for reference-noth-
ing more. Let the teacher ask the
question, and the textbooks furnish
the answer. Before you went to school
at all you knew the alphabet, didn't
your"
"Of course"
"Did you learn it by study, or from
your mother?"
"From my mother"
Yes, and from mother and father
and others you learned the names of va
rious animals, articles Of furniture,
buildings, tools, and so forth. How does
a boy four wears old know q horse from
3 cow?"
4" lie has been told"
" So he has There is no book to tell
him. And yet, when that boy is II,
with his mind enlarged and his facul-
ties frightened, you contend that he will
not remember what he is told! If by
telling and talking parents teach chill
dren so much, what could teachers not
teach them in after years, when the soil
is ripe for seed? Now, then, your pupils
all know what the capitol of this State
cost?"
" Well-well-perhaps."
"Can you tell YOURSELF"
He chewed away at the question and
gave it up.
"Well, my way would have been to
take newspaper into the school and
read aloud to all my scholars all about
the new building. Then would have
said: Now, children, in telling me
when the capital was removed to Lam
sing, tell me also how many members
there are in the Legislature, how often
it meets, who presides over each body,
how long the sessions usually last, and
what pay the member; receive Some
of the answers can be had in their text
books, other from parents, but what
harm if they halted pedestrians on the
street or wrote letters of inquiry to the
Secretary of State? The more trouble
to get the facts the longer they would
remember them, and The more incidental
information would be picked up. The
whole schoolwould profit by the an
swer, whereas but one pupil would be
benefited by the answer to a question
put directly to him.
"Well, dunno,n he sighed, as he
hitched around on his chair
perhaps you don't. Perhaps you
don't know that if my boy came home
and said that the teacher had told him
to find out who William Penn was that
l wouldn't take pride in posting him