The Indianapolis journal., 1885-10-18

| never urged as an excuse Tor declining WORK IN
/ volving intellectual effort On the contrary,
/ these women are wise enough 10 know that they
cannot hope expect to maintain a sympathetic
| companionship with their children except
| through continued study. Itis a strange anon
| ally in women that leads them to consent to the
| rustng of their mental faculties while
| keenly alive TO the advancement in culture of
their children. 1t is strange indifference in q
mother not to be present at the occasion of every
| new thought into the chds bran-not to fa-
miliarize herself with its mental methods, its
| psychologist development. In our city do
| mestic duties are so habitually urged as an ex-
/ cuse for declining intellectual work that heard
| with peculiar interest the experience of several
| young married ladies in the club One of these
| said to me, 81 have five children, the youngest
| babe but permit nothing to interfere with my
| club duties" This earnestness seemed to char
| acterize the whole atmosphere of the Womans
| Club.
On Saturday attended class which holds its
conversations weekly. devoting the entire morn
/ ing to the purpose. The programme here is also
| arranged in advance, so that the necessary books
| may be secured in time for careful study. The
| chief topic of the morning Emerson, two
| essays and one poem giving the themes for con-
| versation. On other days there are other classes
| in the same paror. All these classes unite In a
| club which meets in the evening, weekly, for the
| study of Shakespeare.
Later in the day it was my privilege to be one
| of number of guests invited to hear Mrs
Mckays intensely interesting paper upon Lydia
Maria Child, and the movement to which her
| life was devoted.
Mrs. Mckay is quaker by birth: to hear her
| papers and the conversation which always
follows is to be filled by the martyr spirit There
| is no descending TO meet at these symposlums
On another occasion at smaller assembly a
| lady wto has been much interested in the study
| of the English novel, presented paper as the
| result of month of thoughtful preparation.
| The Saturday Night or College Corner Club,
composed of ladies and gentlemen, is devoting
the entire year to the study of Goethe, having
enjoyed as preparation for the work Mr.. Den
| ton Snyder's conversational lectures on Faust
| and "Wihelm Meister." Such preparation fits
one for a broad and comprehensive view of the
subject
'.Gnthe's poem" saws Mr.. SNYDER, draws its
life from the universal view of man and world
living spring, deeper than all formations.
Faust" in the sweep of his destructive and con-
structve energy, embodies more profoundly the
modern man than any other character In lltera-
ture." Mr.. Snyder is widely known as an in
| terpreter OF the great world -poets-Hcmer,
| Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe
The College Corner Club has been in existence
for years. Many of its members belong to the
The Gentlemen's Literary Club has large
membership, and rents its assembly-room from
! Plymouth Church.
In all these clubs there is large percentage
OF the teachers of indianapolis, and thus the
| mothers of the school children come into living
contact with their instructors. THE world is
| saved" says the Koran "by the breath of the
school children" Granted. with the condition OF
wholesome and healthful teaching. Every wise
| parent knows that the teacher of primer class
who is not daily advancing in her own mental
| culture is not a fit teacher of the primer; knows
| that the best teachers themselves earnest
and devout students. Miss Martin. the chem
istry teacher of the High school, of Indianapolis,
| presented to the American Scientific Association
at its annual meeting microscopic study of gals
so valuable that plates of her drawings were or
dered by the society Stepping into her chem
| istry class Monday. found that each student
| had at hand bottle of water obtained from the
city wells, which had been subjected to careful
analysis by personal experiment.. Observe. the
work is performed by the student in every case.
| We must learn that mere lectures in chemistry
| and experiments performed by the lecturer only
! accomplish little for the student.
The well-equipped laboratory of the Indianapo-
lis High-school is pleasure To behold contain
| Ing AS lr does every appliance for individual eX
| pertinent Over each table large metal funnel
is adjusted. through which gases escape into the
outer~air, and although classes of fifteen or
| twenty relieve each other at frequent intervals
| during the day, there is disagreeabe odor
perceptible at any time. The fact that the
| teacher herself is student is a continual inspi-
| ration to her pupils.
Another fact which revealed itself during
| the days visit to the High school was this,
that true culture is no monopost Who
| Can forget the teaching of Emerson on this
poinu In Miss Nicholsons classroom / found
| hanging on the wall pictures taken from her own
| home. each picture renowned in art. No student
| can leave her normal classes without having
| been permanently influenced in his or her taste
by these silent monitors of beauty
On slde-table in this room | found several
educational journals. and expressing my sur
prise, learned that they were provided at her
own expense for her training classes who are re-
quired to prepare abstracts important sub
Jects therein presented.
Since nothing gives so essentially the idea of
| form AS moldiDg in clay, Miss Nicholson has
introduced this work to her training classes pro.
| vidng material and giving instruction gratu-
tously. The pictures on the wall, the papers on
the table. the clay the moding boards, the
flowers on the desk, culied daily from her own
garden, reflect the spirit that multiples gifts by
sharing them, and indicate a lesson for all edu-
| Gators.
Teachers in this city have complained to me
that they are hampered in their efforts to secure
| larger culture to the children by the board of
| trustees. They will not sanction this or that
Innovation" it is said.
What trustees will refuse to indorse their
| teachers in such measures as those of Miss
| NicholSOn2
In conversation with many of the indianapolis
| teachers, found that all belonged to clubs doing
excellent intellectual work. Indeed. the best
| teachers were those doing most outside work
The question now is, why cannot the teachers of
this city give an impetus to its intellectual cult
| ure and the maintenance of its library by their
| own study of topics outside of the school rooms
| Why cannot the mothers of Louisville co operate
| with Them and give some of the excellent re
suits which we find in neighborng city2
One of the Lessons To Be Learned.
| Indanapol Independent.
| The contest for political supremacy has been a