Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-09-02
STAMP.COLLECTING.
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE MANIA
INTHE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Royal Road 20 LearninE-0etfins
Good General knowledge Of the
Earth and the Different Nations
Thoreof-Examples.
Mex York World.l

New York World
Teachers in tie public schools Of this city
have discovered that there is one royal road
10 learn much Of wha. Is taught between
the fifth and first grade, AID that !. through
a st mp-aibum. The re ult is that they are
encouraging the children in every possible
way to form collections. that they set the
examples themselves, and that at the noon
recess they often preside over . stamp ex-
change. Said one teachsr receutiy at
teachers meeting: Il bavs bsen only thrss
months collecting. and in that tinns have
learned more geography and moro current
history than in any previous year. l have
two boys in my class fifth gradei VINO have
been collecting for year-one 10 and the other
ll-and no boy in the first grade can match
either OF them. They know the name and
date Of accession OF every ruler in the world;
the population, coinage lin our money!,
shield. flag Of every stamp-issuing country
or eolonyf the different issues OF stamps, Of
course: and they have better general
knowledge Of tho earth, ths relative siz's
of countries, the intelligence a the people,
than nine grown persons out OF ten fhey
have learned it without study. a. IN amuse-
ment, without knowing that they vera &C.
auiring information moro valuable than the
rules Of marbiss,7 she did not exaggerats
in the least
A principal at the Same meeting ssidi
aMy brightest children are stamp collectors
All nv show scholars are. ! can go into
any school and pick out in ten minutes
every stamp-collector. To do it viii give
out twenty questions Of general INFORMATION
and every one who answers tan o. mose
what questions she would ask. she gave the
following as offhani illustrations What
European countries own the West India
islandsi Nams the groups belonging to
each. What is the population Of Aontser-
rati How arc the Virgin islands governsdl
Where and what is Heligolandl nams
the countries Of Europe according
to sizs. then according 70 popula'
ton. The Same for South America and Cen
trail America Name England's colonies In
South Africa, Australasia, in Asia, accord
ing to size and then according to populs-
ton. How many British colonies use our
American coinagei How many foreign
countriesl Name the present ruler OF each
country in Europe and the title Of each one.
Name som, of the kingdoms Of India still
ruled by native princes. What do you
know about Bornsol Where is Stellalandi
Name the rulers Of Spain sinse 1854 VI
France. OF Italy ANY child she said,
swho has been collecting for year could
answer any one Of them. The newest col
l.ctor could answer six or eight, ami per-
haps ten. How many children who do not
collect could answer five Of thsmF
Another teacher told how an inspector
came to her classroom at the noon recesS
intending to stop this 1foolishness about
stamps" They were in the middle Of the
stamp exchange and . boy had just handed
her a stamp to 1placs and value in others
Keep your sat- said tbs Inspector.
grimly; Il want to see what you are doing
She held up the stamp TO the boys around.
.Sarawak," they chorussi. IWhose headP
-Raiay Brooke" What dateP "lS74"
@What isit WORTH Eight cents unused" lin
exchanged 1Twenty cents 1t was good
opportunity" said the teacher. "and knew
what tho inspector had come for. 80 l
thought would teach him q lesson. AMI
continued on Sarawak. Where is sara
wak?- an Borneo" "Who rules BOrneOr
1S,iltan Abdul Mumein.- What Is the
capitaI cityg, ABruni" what il the pop
ulation,, ~Twenty thou>and." -Of tbs
isiandr NEARLY a.0oo.UJ0, who i,
Raiah Broker "Sir Charles Johnstone
is Sarawak.' a pr vince o: Bo-n.o.'
When the Sarlw khan .tamo boy had
peck ,ted his three stamp; All cen ci'i
balance due, tn, teacher turmoil t. tle j.
rector, who had stood silent. grim. an
frisiy, and asked him. with butter in h'r
mouth: $40 your children collect, Mr..
BIank., .rhey do not" said he rather
gruifiy-his less IN had been severe-"but II
this i, Collecting postage stampS they shall
lsyin To- morrow This il ths fourth grade:
they are both in the first; neither one OF
them could answer one question you have
asked" Since that tim, Inspector Blank
has been an earnest supporter OF philately,
AMI has given to school children over a
dozen albums He now has a standing offer
of an international lthe best album to any
scholar in his schools who collects 400 differ
ent stamps
The same teacher said, in reply to Ques-
tions, that she found it hest never to inter-
fere with trading except to determine the
value Of the stamps, and to see, generally.
that value was given for value according
to catalogue prices When a new stamp
came in the trade was postponed TO the next
exchange day for tn, boys to read up Il
leave all to the boys, AMI never say any.
thing except when they ars at loss. keep
it from being a lesson
One who has never started a collection
cannot understand Or appreciate the feeling
which soon takes possession OF the cole tor.
He collects for the pleasure it gives him.
and the pleasure constantly grows on ac-
count Of the information acquired When
ne receives n new stamp, say from Surf
name, Stellaland, or Nowanuggur, no oan
not remain satisfied until he knows all about
the country and how and when tho stamp
was issued. Toe result is that for general
information concerning any country or
colony issuing stamps. tho American small
boy collector is far bstt,r authority than
tine gazetteer OF encycloI Il liza. What dis-
monds are to n woman rare stamps arc to
the collector, while the common stamps are
TO him what ordinary jewels ara to her.