The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-10-13
Vacations and Vacation Schools.
a Paper Read by Miss Eunice D. Sewall
Before the A. A. w.

YoN0hAOA4
evil, and we must make the best of it," said
the busy pastor of city church, early in the
fall, as ne looked about him in the evening
meeting and, seeing the vacant places, thought
OF the weeks that must eapse before the fuil
current of Christian activity would be flowing
In It's accustomed channels. The problem in
the conservation of moral force which he was
trying to solve was one which perplexes many
pastor, viz: How shall the church so adapt
itself this condition of things that the loss OF
time shall become gain OF power?
Our divine Master who said, 81 must work
thu work of Him that sent me while it is day,
the night cometh when no man can work,
said also to his weary disciples, Come ye
yourselves apart into desert place and rest
awhile."
How shall We secure the due proportion Of
work and rest tn our lives? By recognizing
the fact, think, that We are in the world for
earnest work of some kind and that the object
of rest is to enable us to take up cur work
again and do it more effectively.
The pastor just quoted qualified his state
ment by adding, though, living as we do, we
could hardly get along without these breath
ng-places." That we may realize the prevail
ing way of living let us look through the eyes
of missionary who, on returning to this conn
try after several years absence in the Hawaii
an Islands, said: THAT which most impressed
me was, that every one appeared to be in
hurry"
Who, in our cities at least, is not conscious
Its unceasing competition, its ever-enlarging
circle of activities, sweep us ON in race
against time until rest which shall bring re-
creation becomes necessity for most workers,
or the human machine would soon wear itself
beyond repair. Ii you are not In the race your
self you feel the breeze and see the dust
raised by the eager throng about you, and grow
weary with the constant stir and din.
The vacation has grown to meet this need Of
modern times and has become such an impor-
10, 4nla hot fnAs
ence and its uses need more than passing
| thought. The physician prascribes it as often
more effective than any medicine; and the
wise ones do not wait for his prescription, but
take it as an ounce of prevention while they
| are able to enjoy it. Easy and rapid modes of
transit make it light matter 10 secure the
longed-for change of scene. Where fifty or
| sixty years ago a visit to a neighboring State
| or a trip to New York or Washington was an
event for lifetime, journey of some kind is
| an annual affair, and visit to Europe no great
| undertaking.
| So we shutup our houses, we leave our stores
| and Offices, the church and Sunday school are
closed, and we flee to the country or the sea-
shore and travel hither and thither, as our
! purses permit-anywhere to be away from our
| usual employments and look out on new faces
| under new skies.
Some newspaper critic deplores this yearly
| migration on the part of those who too often
can i'll afford it, as in many cases unproductive
| ing pinching economies in the household DUR
ing the rest of the year. Would it not be a
more judieious investment, he asks, to spend
thesmoney consumed by the vacation trip in
adding to the comfort and attractiveness of
home and increasing the enjoyment of the
family throughout the year? A question worth
cons deriDg, No doubt, for those who think they
must leave home because their neighbors do.
The influence of the ebb and flow of this tide
| of travel upon our homes may become subject
f%A1 = hx.t
| are all the brighter and dearer to us for the
change and we return with enlarged natures
| TO make them more than ever a source Of cheer
| and inspiration to others, we need not be anx-
/ iOus about it,
| My theme naturally presents itself in rela-
ton to the school-going part of the population
| the boys and girls and their teachers. "Ah, "
| said a lawyer, one day, what an easy time you
teachers hayei Less than 6ve-sevenths of the
week in the school-room, snd-how many is it?
eleven weeks vacation in the Summer, to
say nothing OF Spring and Winter vacations,
while / sm tied to my office, and can hardly get
away for two weeks at a time during the year.
We should think ourselves lucky, shouldn't
we, Bishop turning to his friend, "it we were
when a teacher leaves the schoolroom her
work is done and she can lay it aside, while the
burden of parochiaf care is constantly with me,
wherever go, neUer to be laid aside" Here
the car stopped, and the conversation with it,
be heard, Not to take this talk too seriously,
there may be others who look upon teachers as
highly favored class in respect to vacations
Many now living can remember when the
usual vacation in the Portland schools was q
| week at the end of each term-four weeks in
| all during the year, and the annual holidays
| were 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Fast Day.
| After while the Summer vacation attained .
length of four weeks, then eight, and this year
at the earnest petition of a large number
of 0if MAG cxfo1 dad TO- ar, be
Milton, in his Tract on Education. complains
J of thine lost partly in too oft idle vacancies
| given both to schools and universities" There
| are not many who are disposed to echo his
complaint to-day. Popular feeling tends the
| other way, demanding more, not less relaxs-
[ ton for young students, in the United States,
| at least. While Protestant Germany has $50
school days in the year, Massachusetts has on
/ an average l75, New York State 179. The Re-
| port of the Commissioner of Education for 1879
shows that Springfield, Ohio, has 1877 school
| days in the year; Philadelphia, 1856; st. Louis
| 1877; Chicago, 1893; Portland, Maine, and Fall
River each 200; New York city, 207, and San
Francisco, I'll. The German system in some
of its primary schools has, in one respect, as it
seems to me- an advantage for little children
above ours. They are kept in the school room
fewer hours each day, while the school year is
much longer
Yes, the teacher has generous vacations; but
they are none too long or too frequent. His
spirit and a ready sympathy which cannot
long exist with oyertasked nerves. He needs
to be at his best for the sake of his pupils and
good teaching demands no small supply of
nervous force. Besides, the progressive spirit
OF the age calls for fresh methods and living
spirit within the wheels Of educational routine
which shall be able TO shape their course ac-
coSding to the need of the hour. AS 1.-THE
thoughts of men are widening" the teacher
must keep pace with the times, and, like b.
fak al knoyUlado forh inc
certain sense, or try to. What precious OPP
portunity do the various institutes and Sum-
mer schools offer to the ambitious teacher,
whose spare hours in the school year are all too
few for the special line of study it seems i'm
perstive to pursue. From Detroit to Martha's
Vineyard. from Chautauqua to Concord, they
dot our land, combining instruction in Lam
g0ages, Oratory, the Natnral Sciences and
/ Philosophy with travel and pleasant socie y in
delightful way, almost irresistible.
Undoubtedly they meet an urgent popular
demand. Their success shows that they do.
STILL it is not too much to say that it is best for
most teachers to rest during vacations, or
| plunge into something quite unlike their usual
I line of work. AS a writer in the New York
| Times says of these Summer schools: "They
1 take away from those who attend them, in
| the shape of intellectual and nervous exhaus-
tion far more than in the aggregate they are
able to impart. The seeing and knowing
| bright people, the intellectual and social ex-
| change, is the chief thing they are good for,
| bat even this good is purchased at the expense
| of the renewed vitality which one ought to
| bring frsm his vacation into his autumnal
| work"
| But a vacation to be restful need not be idly
| spent. Let the tired strings rest, and touch
| new chord. Ii you do not or ter the Summer
| School of Science at Harvard, you may be-
| come student in the great School of Nature,
| where Agsssiz, and Dick, and Edwards, de-
lighted to study; the lessons will be Of your
own choosing. and you may take your time
about learning them. The very stones in the
road are waiting to tell their story to one who
will stoop to pick them up and is willing to OBJ
serve and compare. Every walk will have an
added zest which eDlarges your acquaintance
with shell or sea-weed, moss or lichen, or gives
you a new flower to look up. There is no pas
ture so rocky and barren, no field 80 uninvit-
ing that it will not furnish material for several
weeks recreative study. Even our despised
| door-yard weeds will well repay one who takes
| the pains to watch their growth and examine
their structure. l once knew two sisters who
of necessity led very secluded life in their
country home, some miles from a railroad.
They did all their own work and not unfre-
quently work for other people, and kept up an
acquaintance with the great world through
books, papers and correspondence. In the in
tervals of work they had one engrossing occu-
patton. One could not be long in their house
without wondering at the large number of