The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-04-17
SCHOOL SAUSAGES.
A NEW cATEcHISM FOR TEACHERS
AND PUPILS.

Prentice milford In Boston Globe,1

Prentice milford in Boston Globe.1
Question Is the small boy always benefited
by being filled with facts and iguresi An
swer. He Is not He is, on the contrary,
often overloaded with them. as Is his
stomach with plum-cake, and the result Of
both doses is to make him dull boy.
@. How much should q small boy learn
at school in dayi A. As much as he can
take in easily and pleasantly, and no more.
In fact, knowledge can't be forced into him
as Is the gas into soda water. Or il 50
forced, 1t won't stay.
Q. Should learning be made pleasant for
the small boyl A. It should, and for the
same reason that his bread, cake, and pie
are made pleasant to his taste. lie
will not absorb learning IL 1t Is made to
taste like rhubarb, and that Is one reason
why SO many boys and girls get sick Of
study at school
O. Whose fault Is thisi A. II Is the fault
partly Of the teacher, partly of the parent.
and, moro than all, OF the system which
forces the same kind of intellectual pie. caks
and pudding down the throats Of all rir'r
and boys, whether they like II or not
Q. What, in some respects, does our sdu-
cational system resemble. A. An immense
sausage-stuffing machine. Machins-the
the system; sausages-the boys and girls;
men who run the machine-the teachers.
O. What sometimes happens II the
scholastic sausage is crammed too fulli A.
The skin bursts and the small boy dies. On
II he does not die his mind Is crippled fol
life through the overcramming.
O. Does "well-stored memory" argue q
well.organized mindi A. No. A man may
be able to parrot the whole dictionary, and
net be capable of taking charge OF q peanut
stand
q How may such an overloaded memory
affect the small boys mindi A. As an over
dose Of plum-pudding does the small boys
stomach-renders 1t heavy, and unable to
act vigorously.
@ What do such heavy loads of book
knowledge frequently make Of peoplei A.
Bores, who are always trying to stuff other:
as full as themselves Of the dead weight oi
facts they carry.
y. What is the result of overstudy tc
many Of the children In our schoolsi A.
Premature spectaclss.
q. Visually into what may this soon de-
velop the racei A. Goggle-eyes.
Q. What Is injury to the child's eye from
overstudy equivalent TOT A. Smashing q
mans toes in training for foot-race.
.. But must not small boys and girls be
forced to learn to keep them from Ignorance
and idlenessi A. II you force fruit in O
hot house to ripen, you do so at the expense
of native strength and vigor to the plant or
tree
@. What Is the frequent reward In prac.
tical life Of full-grown and filed sausage
turned out Of :.he college stuffing machinsi
A. Ten dollars week as amanuensis OF
private secretary"
O. Why SO poorly paidi A. Too much
stuffing. Brain overloaded with knowledge.
No room left for "gumption."
Q. What Is "gumptionp A. Knowing
how to use knowledge after you've got II.
Some folks call IL wisdom. "Gumption"
knows enough to get the tool II needs, and
then learns how to use 1t. The sausage
suffer educational process swallows whols
shopful of all sorts Of TOOLS and the sausage
frequently spends the rest Of its life in vain
efforts to digest them
Q. Would you allow tho small boy to 50.
lect his own stujissf A. Would you not al
low each tree to bear Its own fruiti II the
boy wants to blossom into Latin, lot him; II
he wants to blossom into q blacksmith, fer.
tilize him with iron and lot him.
Q. What do some finished educationsr re-
semblel A. Intellectual patchwork. A lit
tie Of this, little Of that, and nothing In
particular. Result: "Crazy quilt"
Q. Or In other wordsi A mental rag-bag.
Full Of fragments Of all shapes and colors,
hut not we'll woven piece Of cloth that one
can make suit Of.