The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-04-17

Especial Correspondence

/ lSDeClal correspondence.
! SAN Francisco, March 3I-The first Chi
! nese school l ever visited l thought a riot had
broken out. About fifty boys were seated
upon high three legged stools, and each
swayed his body to and fro and shouted at
the top Of his voice. 1t was more like tho
raviug ward in a lunatlc asylum than place
for learning classic lore But il was only an
ordinary every day scene in study hours.
I puzzled my brain over the matter not little
before l discovered the reason of the noise
When l was { pupil in a country school we
used to ''study out loud" during the tempo
rary absence of the teacher, but We never
adopted the plan permanently.
The Chinese language cannot be spoken in
a whisper. 1t has tones and acCents ana III
Elections and grunts and gutturaIs and nasals
which can only be produced IN full voice. and
every variation and precision in tone, etc, is
essential TO the proper meaning of the words.
The same identical word pronounced in diff
feTent ways has as many different meanings
as IL has different methods Of accent. Thus,
while each pupil made rs much n0iss as he
could unaided by goug5. or bluELerbUses, his
own noise ef7ectualy drowned all other
sounds TO him, and he y-asin practical silence.
At Chinese theatres everybody in the audi
ence talks out at the same time the PLAYERS
are talking. It's the running comment upon
the play aud players. At churches, while the
preacher IS delivering his discourse, his audi
ence is also talking At full speed. Il IS more
like q sewing bee in the country, where the
ladies meet to talk over their personal mat
ters, than anything else know Of.
Some people DO not believe Chinaman can
think without singing over the,subject Of his
thoughts. Ii is at lesSt a common occurrence
to hear an animated conversation around
some turn in the road, and when you come
upon what YOU have taken to be a company
OF travellers you find one man talking 10 him
self
Each pupil at school furnishes his own desk
and chair. or stool. lie also provides himself
with a teapot and fan and q book. These
comprise tho outfit. In one end of the room
sits the teacher. He Is sallow. small man,
whose coat sleeves are about a foot longer
than his arms, and his finger uallS are as long
rs his fingers, and he wears glasses with
lenses about as big IS the top of a coffee cup.
Ee looks wise and solemn through il all
He never disturbs the pupils by calling
upon them 20 recltC. When a boy has sung
over a paragraph until he can sing IT of with
his eyes shut, he jumps down from bis perch,
and hands the book 20 the teacher towstch If
he trips in bis recital, and turning his back
70 the teacher ne sings of the words COM
rnitted. II order II concentrate his attention
upon his work, the pupil lifts first one foot
and then the other, giving his body a sway
ir- motion Ike a sa.p rOcSod IN the cradle OF
the deep. The lesson having been repeated,
be resumes his pcrcn ana takes Ins rrZt para
graph in band The curriculum. E&s every
thing else, Is uniqUA
Il does rot include mathematics noT geoE-
raphy, nor ANYTHING elss IN particular. The
only boo-S stEdied are Chinese classics, being
extracts from Coufuci=S and other ancient
writers. TIE cducRtioa consists II commit
ting these oooks 70 memory. Thai IS all
y rat they nzssn, L i2dsed they have arr
meaning. Is alike unknown 70 teacher and
pupil. 3. \. ToY.