St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-07-20
CONVENTION NOTES.
Gathered at the Madison Gathering
of Educators.


of Educators.
Madison, at the recent meeting, represent
ed the upper crust of the profession. The
hotels were full of ''doctors,'' s'presidents',
and "superintendents. 80 At a dinner given
by Clancy, OF Iowa, out of party of fifteen,
six were state superintendent, and three
| superintendent of large cities. The person.
mel OF the convention impressed one favor
| ably. Its members were generally men and
women OF line presence and good address.
Little OF the traditional schoolmaster cropped
out. 1t is only when we descend to the
small fry Of the profession that they become
pedagogues.
WESTERN MEN
Predomenated They are generally young.men
Many come from the best colleges of the
west because promotion is easier and wages
| better Among the eastern and southern
men there was aymueh larger sprinkling of
| gray heads. Some of these seemed to have
passed the period of active labor and held on
to places as superannuated occupants. Each
locality has its style of schoomaster. The
New England type staid, dignifed and schol,
arly. 1t believes in the old education and
| distrusts the new fogyism. The southern
schoolmaster is genuine pedagogue, dog
matte, technical, pompous and somewhat
| opinionated. The western schoolmaster is
| neither Of these. He smokes, tells good
story and enjoys it, and has the same free
and easy manners that charas.
terize his section. New Eug.
land is undoubtedly ahead in
| scholarship, but is distaneed by the west In
in energy and working ability. The colored
man begins to come to the surface In the
south. Two the best popular addresses in
any of the meetings were made by Prof.
Washington, of Alabama. and Prof Crogan,
of Mississippi. The former is a genuine ora
tor.
! THE ARIsTocRACY
Of the teachers chair stayed away. Harvard,
Yale, Dartmouth and Princeton stayed at
home nursing Greek roots and geometric CO.
eficients. Almost all western colleges and
universities were represented. Western
schools have little of that starehy conserva-
tism that keeps people at home for fear they
may lower their dignity. But as education
is no longer confined to Latin
labor is necessary in the various departments
of science, teachers of the upper grade can
| no longer shut themselves up in their studies
and evolve their ideas from their inner con-
sciousness. The common schools, in their
connection of supply, with colleges and uni
| versities have done much to free upper teach
ers from exclusiveness and pedantry.
THE BIG GUNS.
Three men tower above all others of the
convention. These are Doctor William T.
! Harris, of Concord Mass, Prof. William II.
Payne, professor of pedagogy in Michigan
university, and Prof. j. Stanley Hall, profess
sor in John Hopkins university, Baltimore.
These men are authorities in the
art pedagogical. Each is specialist
of high degree. DR.. Harris.is the best repre-
sentative of German philosophy and educa-
ton, in America. His skill in logic and in
| tellectuai fence was shown by the artistic way
| in which he took the cuticle off of Hall, when
the latter attacked the position OF a paper
| read by the former. He has quickness and
sharpness of retort and repartee seldom
united with great attainm ents in philosophy.
Prof. Payne is quite well known in Mime
sofa, where he gave course of lectures last
| summer. He is most unassuming and
modest, seldom speaking, but when he does,
] he says something of importance. His
spirit reminds one of Plato. Hall is wanting
in the humility of the other two. He intend:
his opinions to have weight. But notwith
standing little undue assertion of self-im-
portance, Prof. Hall is doing great work
in investigating the contents OF children's
minds. Supt. Long, of ST. Louis, tells
good story of Harris. Prof. Long, then
principal of one of the largest buildings,
needed an assistant. Two men were offered
by the rintendent, the one knew great
deal, but knew little about teaching; the
other had had considerable experience, but
did not know much Prof. Long chose the
former. On an appointed morning the new
man was to appear. The principal became
uneasy fearing his assistant would not come.
But few minutes before time tall young
man sauntered in, completely absorbed in
book A very meagre greeting took place,
and the new help was assigned to duties,
among which was overseeing the boys at re-
cess. The principal stepped into the yard al
recess to see how matters got on; to his sur
prise he found the boys taking care OF them
selves and the new man again buried in his
book. The book was a French gram
mar, and in six weeks he
had mastered the language,
though somebody else had to look after the
boys. Prof. Payne was formerly superin-
tendent of schools at Adrian, Michigan,
where he attained celebrity for the excel
lence Of his work. Prof. Hall was once
teacher of metaphysics in Harvard, though
he processes contempt for metaphysics now,
THE sCHooLMA'AMs
were thick as blueberries. Occasionally one
was good looking, but as rule much intel
lect and much beauty are not found under
the same frizzles. Altogether the collection
was as homely as it was respectable and lady
like. The good looking ones were in de-
mand, while their unendowed sisters had to
boatride or promenade by themselves. One
| rosy-lipped, peachy- complexioned, educa-
| tional Hebe said that she had four in vtations
to boatride on Monona, end was sorry she
could accept but one. The south has not
| vet accepted the schoolma'am as fixed in
| stitution, and sent but few as representa-
| tives The western ''A-B-C shooters'' are
decidedly younger and better-loohng than
their New England sisters. They dress more
in the style and are not so much the ''stale vir-
| gin with the winter face" Among them prom
| inent was Mrs. Eva d. Kellogg, a teacher and
writer for the New England Journal Of Educa-
! ton. She is large woman, of thirty-fve
| years, with weakness for mots that bring
| down the house, and for the homage of the
men, Miss Frances Willard is too well
known to need any description Miss Alice
| Freeman, of Wellesley, took little part, as
did Mrs. May Wright Sewell, Of Indianapo-
| lis.
| MINNESOTA