Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-08-15

Cambridge, Prin. l. F. Patterson, of Steu
benville, and Supt A. B. Hall, of Quaker
City. They decided that Miss Hattie
Johnson was entitled to first prize, Mis-
Clara Adams the second, and Mr.. F. ID
Howell the third. Honorable mention
was made of Miss Olga Watt, the young
est contestant, and Mr.. E. E. Ayers. Tht
decision met with general approval. II
is but jnstice to the various speakers, tC
say that they all did well. The prizes
which were So for the first, 50 for the
second, and 81 for the third, were then
presented to the successful contestants
by President Meek, and the contest was
over.
THE ASSOCIATION.
The regular Institute session of the
Belmont County Teachers Association
met in Lyceum Hall last Friday after
noon. Mr.. c. U. Patterson presided, and
Miss Laura Close acted as Secretary.
The first paper was one "On Books" by
Mr.. w. H. Fogle, of Atlas, Ohio, which
contained some excellent points. 1t was
discussed by Messrs. Taggart, Duncan
and Creamer. Mr.. Duncan suggested
that we follow up our special bent of
mind, and make business of reading in
some special line of thought. He depre-
Gated the habit of spending so much time
in reading newspapers, but Mr.. Creamer
thought he had derived much good from
the paper.
Mr. o. B. McMichael, of Somerton,
who is the only colored teacher in Bel
mont county, read very complete essay
"On Reading" He treated fully of his
methods in learning pupils to read, and
made good impression on the Associa-
ton. The paper brought forth quite a
discussion on learning to read by sound
and on the reformed spelling, participat-
ed in by Messrs. Henderson, Harris,
Workman, Powell, CreameE, Taggart,
and others. Some were of the opinion
that since the primary object of spelling
is to indicate the pronunciation of
words, we should discontinue the use
of silent letters. Others were opposed to
such change, claiming that silent let
terS served to indicate the etymology of
words and thus show their original mean
ing. Still few others were in favor of
radical change, and improving the
alphabet so as to have character for
each sound in its language. 1t is prob
able that paper on Reformed Spelling"
will be presented at the next meeting of
the Association.
Mr.. U. w. Gallaher, of Drill, Ohio,
gave talk on a system of Diagram
ming" which he has invented. 1t is call
ed the ExpOnential System, and seems to
possess some advantages over the other
systems, one of which is that it does not
require a great deal of room. Any one
interested may, we believe, obtain a copy
of his system by addressing him as
above.
Reports were received from the various
Township Associations in the county. 1t
appeared that Goshen, Somerset, Wash
ingtOn, and Wayne townships had organ
lied local associations during the past
year. All concerned in them thought
that they had done much good in ad-
vancing the interests of the public
schools. Efforts had been made in this
direction by several other townships, but
it seems that the prevailing wet weather
of last fall had drowned them out. A
motion was unanimously adopted shat
the teachers of each township be request
ed to organize an association for the
coming year." The President was also
authorized to appoint committee of one
for each township to look after the inter
ests of the local organizations. 1t was
announced that The School Messenger
will publish reports of such associations,
and the publisher requests that they see
to it that the reports are furnished.
The meeting next year will show an in
creased number of these local organiza
tions
The time and place for the next meet
ing were left to the Executive Commit
tee, and the Association then adjourned.
NOTES.
Miss Nellie Moore, who has had charge
of the Primary work, left, on Saturday.
for Portsmouth, where she will teach in
the Institute to be held there next week.
An informal reception was given her on
Friday evening by her many friends, and
she replied in speech full of wit and
wisdom.
Messrs. Jos. A. Henderson and John
NJ. Beckett, of st. Clairsville, visited the
Institute on Thursday and Friday of last
week. Mr.. Henderson also attended the
Association on Friday afternoon, and
took an active part in the discussions.
Welcome back.
A number of teachers attended the
camp meeting at Burr's on Saturday and
Sunday.
About twenty new members came in
on Monday and Tuesday, making total
enrolment of POS, as mentioned above.
The candidates for office during the
ensuing year were nominated on Monday.
The election will occur on Wednesday, at
which time the place for holding the next
session and its length will be determined.
Tuesday was Directors Day. A num-
Der of Directors were i'm attendance, and