The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-07

Total. .......... II Scholars. -. -. {, 1854
All told there are 300 Catholic schools.
attended by 1881 children Besides these
there are several thousand children attend
ing Catholic schools in the small adjacent
towns winch are no more tn an suburbs OF
Neg York
The vast mai lrity Of Catholics in New
York are poor Ho '. then, can we acc unit
for the fact tina they are Hing to burden
themselves with the i'm nense cost of edu-
eating these thousa IDS 4 children while 10
public schools ire freel open to thema IL
is because they believe that religion and
educatioa are welded together, aud that
their separation is fatal to the full devel D.
ment of man. This doctrine has been
taught with unvarying voice by popes,
councils and bishops, and is as much tenet
of Catholic belief as i, the existence of
God. 1t has been made of obligatio / by
the last plenary council of Baltimore,
which decreed that hard by every church,
where it does not already exist, parochial
school is to be erected within two years from
the PRONUNCIATION of this council June
o, 1885, and to be kept up In tn, future,
unless the bishop see q to grant a further
delay on acc unit of more than ordinarily
grave difficulties TO be overcome in the
establishment; and Catholic parents
commanded H. send their children to these
schools. OF cours =, many difficulties have
of such vast extent. but the schools nave
nevertheless multiplied rapidly. Within
the limits indicated there are nearly 1000
600, Catholics population hich should
yield something like 100000 children
of q school-going age; SO that. extern
sive as the system Is, there is room for asst
development yet. The question of finances
is the great barrier in the way, but as he
Catholic populate becomes more CON-
Portable and well off this difficulty will de-
crease.
The next point is the fficiency Of the
methods ad pied in Catholic schools
There are several orders, both of men ami
women besd-s lay teachers engaged in
teaching thes sc ools. OF men, the prin-
cipal order is the fam us o g of Christian
Brothers, fou .ded by De La Sale in France
but which has spread all over the world.
The brot ers, by the wy, are not priests,
as many mi taksnly suppose, tut laymen
bound to VOWS Of charity. obedience and
poverty. whose sole occupation in life is to
teach the young. They have brought heir
system to the greatest perfection. They
have taken prizes at state, national and in
ternati nal exp stions. Several of elr
principals have issued public challenges,
with rofits of large sums, against the
world to bring into competition with them
any school whose results in raining can
show a b. CHER standard. The other C It Ole
teaching, although they may not always
equal the long experience gathered from
two centuries of concentrated effort OF the
Christian Brothers.
With a view OF seeing for myself, | pro-
ceeded to De La Sale Academy. on Second
street, and was courte usly received bv
Br Their Alpheus, who is the directo of
this model school The next day we It 10
the institute of the same title on Fifty
al heNx Sc 1sa,1 49, IL
equa ly affable Brother Anthony. The first
principle Of their schools is division into
classes, o suit the natural capacities of the
children. w hen pu lis a e adInitte by the
di ectcr they are examined and classed ac-
cording to age aud capacity. Upon reg
lister is ms ribed the name Of each pupil,
also the name, residence and occ Ipati n Of
his father, mother OF guardian, together
with his age and the date of his entrance
The number OF pu lis Is limited to sixty in
the higher classes and zig " in the lower.
Glasses begun at $3.50 O'Clock. l went
from class to class, ard watched the prog
ress of the exercises rst let me describe
the youngest. A quarter OF an hour was
allowed for p, culinary arrangements
Then the SCHOOL was formally opened by
PRAYER a d reflect Ii, followed by exami-
nation OF cleanliness-this hav ng appaTe IL
~ had good effect on the little chaps. for
they looked q bright as new silver dollars.
1nlfty mi u es OF reading lesson and class
talk came next, after whicl tie boys were
given short fifteen miHltes' recess, EN-
ptnyed chiefly in gymnastics. A language
lesson occupied fifteen niqutes, writing
hat an ur, and similar period was
devoted 10 ~ ism, closed bya prayer,
when a recess Of an hour aud a half was
granted. he afternoon session was sim
lar, except for o jec5 lesso OF forty
nye minute The elems tary fourth class
opened ike the first TneS came tbraa
quarters Of an hour Of homo studies and