Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1885-07-31
fro BIZ CONTINUED.
lnprolllnhle Srhool Work.

tnprclliable school Work.
The object of the study If books
is two-fold; To acquire knowledgc
and for mental dsc'pl ne. H.
the common schools the former. in co,-
legc- the latter is the principal aim.
Very few study mathematics, anclcn.
languages, or metaphysics, for otl,cr
reasons than 10 secure the mental dis
cipline they afford. Not five pen c.ut
OF those who have become proficient ia
these studies ever make any practical
use Of them. by the study Of the COM
mon branches. the peculiar wo of
the public schools, We expect mainly
10 acquire knowledge oi those things
that shall be OF practical Use IN every
day AHA r. In erie Of articles we
shall inquire 10 what extent this pur-
pose is realized by Inc present ~ ,cm
OF public school education aS u pie
vail througuout t.lt, 'puutry.
We plN our RESPECTS hr,t 10 The
study of geography. There are u>u-
allY three. often -four tOOE, on 49,
subject 10 bee faa-trfc below The hlgn
.chOOl. by chilGrea from ght 10 four
teen }ear. of are. I4o tudl, - usu-
/ ally Taught. consist ira mis- 81 naming
and locating ,aI.,ut cl, as. rivers,
mountains, lah. c1rc,, lands and
/ iccbcrgs. Tho su a. OF language, IS
/ here taken up with 70 Sea "eance. Ev-
/ cry TONG ir under heaven, .aNage OF
/ civilized. written or uuWr ucn, living
| to-day or dead three thousand year,
| is repre- -oAicd u this lcid. such eu-
/ pAOn,ous tOuguc-tWiat- - Ohhot-k
4 GuadaldNara,l opn. WapctI lcAuAteu!.
EaS>amaquodIN. Gual "a, o j, ana han-
tchatka. are samples oi the halnes
invented L. -our The .c"Per ana daft-
! en- the lives OF modern rcn"ol-childrcn
The intermediate geography OF almost
amy series, contain Literally Thousand,
! Of barbarous namo@ 4 l-ottr-iol Nil-
lagos, desert islands. larreu and rocky
capeS, unnaVi4abic rNcr, ana frozch
1 icrhcrgs, To hr Sought o"l On The map
and mrmorlzei by children OF tender
years. and innocent LNes. hey bear
no logical relation To- one ano her most
OF them "ill rrfcr be Ec. ri OF outside
OF the geography and though com
mttcd % memory Tor ihc TIME being.
nine tcuths of them VIII be forgotten
"a soon rs examination Is over. And
how much better would = bc + thcS>
could be rctaucd ln the ncmoy? The
great mass of map questions are utterly
u-"I"-> 10 amy one bat "a member 81 The
ituAW Typographical ~ucI"' or 10
pupil or teacher examining ior an eN
animation. j Ic smallest book OF the
-crir, contains enough geography o.
This kind, Ior any complete course.
aGd all that au1 one Ar. ID 10 know, and
iull as much a~ any one cla remember.
10 show the utter iod} OIL gong iurth-
~, We make Inc iolloWlnG challenge;
We VIII sc,Cct lls, OF twenty qucS-
tons from ANY irwuV geography and
submit them to The tea best educated
men IN the city To be chosen from the
ministers. editors luWl cfs, doctors
and buslnc>- men, and VIII guarantee
mat nor one haIi 81 lhcm can pass an
examination on the list. or secure an
average OF 80 per cent ANA now
much bcster oil would they be II they
could answer them al: l. II worth
while TO know that kal lung is C.l-
ncsc seaport, that L.attakoo l. IN South
Africa. and halaNryta IN Greece' Every
boy and girl oil hiteen Is cX-
pecled TO nave mcmorZed the
names ana location OF thousand and
one place, ana things no more
important than these. class
Of information the value of which de-
ponds entirely upon future and very
improbable contingencies. In the
event OF war between rance and CHINA,
it may be- desirable to know the pre-
else whereabouts, of kWc Chang and
Dong Dang; or ii England and Russia
engage in ho-t.lities. we read in the
newspapers of Pen dch and Sk.erne-
vice and We ycarn to know where
they are. And 50 Biographies have been
invented and the brain of school
children J., wearied with this mass OF
barbarous lore, Why not have them
memorize the dictionary in the same
manner There IT, not a word in Web
stcr that we may not sometime meet
with in our reading. when it viii be
desirable 10 know its meaning. But IN
this case we pursue the rational meth
od of seeking knowledge when we
need il. by referring to the dictionary