Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-29

1 la1Q nm 10 rest. The dear OlQ man ndQ 1 served his country faithfully during fifty
 years, had awakened many a slumbering l soul, had inspired many a young soul 1 with higher ideals, with love of the 1 beautiful and good. He was true | teacher, one not satisfied with teaching
 how to work problems in arithmetic, but
 who would lead us to see the relations | of things, guide us carefully into the | realms of reason. While teaching bot
 any, his own love, among much that we | hayesince forgotten, he inspired us with | love and admiration for the wonders and | beauties of nature that will be lasting. | In geography he peopled the countries l for us, told us of the lives and habits of 1 the nations, surrounded us with an at | mosphere foreign to our own exercising | a most powerful charm over us, creating | thirst for more knowledge. To this | dear old teacher 1 should love to pay my 1 debt of gratitude. He is not dead! He 1 lives-will live in the hearts of his pu- | pills!
 At. Karlsruhe the Maudchen gymna- | sium-college for girls-engaged my in- terest This was the first school in Ger l many offering the advantages of class
 ical education to women. The college is as yet poorly patronized, but those en- | toying the privileges of this institution
 seem anything but the much scorned
 blue-stocking-a happy, bright lot Of | girls.
 The Tochtershule in this city is | splendidly equipped school. The work is l apparently of a high degree of excel | lence. The modern language work at- l tracted most of my attention. In this 1 branch, as in all others, the natural
 method gains daily a stronger foothold | educators are convinced that 1t only Will lead to success; not the radical method ] that would do away with all that has | served for years, but rather combina- | tion of the two methods.
 The village school houses are also very
 interesting. Every German village has | four prominent buildings, the pride of 1 the vllagers-the church. school house, l court house and the home of the teacher
 These German school houses all contain
 a cozy room, teachers room, where the | teacher has home comforts. Here they | spend the few minutes intervening be- | tween recitations their rest periods; here | they take their lunches, etc. Everything l is done to ease the teachers labor The | result is seen when the teacher stands in front of the class, bright, cheerful | Under these conditions 1t is not so much | of surprise that we often find teachers
 that have taught fifty years and still are 1 looking healthy and enjoying life and | their well deserved pension. For does | not the teacher serve his country as well | as any other official?
 A happy accident led me to Geneva just | about the time of the commencement ex- | ercises, or promotion festival, as they are | there called. lneSe 'leSllNllltS elG oo tii- | tirely different from anything we have l over here, and so characteristic of the l country, that I should like to tell you
 of them if there is still time
 The city gives at the close of each | school year a week of frolic to khe differ l ent schools The first to have their fun | are the little ones, the pupils of the in- | fantine primary schools. The stage. gas | light and tinsel so prominent in our com | mencement exercises, give way to sun | light, shady trees green grass and pure | air and something good to eat for the | children. The poor teachers here, or | course, as well as elsewhere, have their worries. The children. little tots from
 8 to years of age come marching into | the park, headed by their city band and | prominent officials accompanied by thelr | teachers. Imagine long line or nttIe ones. about 2000 some so little they could scarcely keep step. and it was pretty | sight to see them try so hard and look | so important As they entered they were led to side tables, where women
 were ready to hand them some | refreshing drink Then the happy crowd 1 thronged to the merry-go-rounds and other childish sports that had been pro- vided Along the center of the park long
 bearing the name of school | class and teacher. Upon spot | lessly clean covers were arranged | the gOOQleS lOr lIle Ciillultil. Y oi OehOh little one a place had been prepared, where the happy child found a little bread. small cakes, a cherry tart, big | handful of bright cherries and small glass of red wine. When they had all | had their turn at the carousals they were brought to the tables, where women were ready to look after their wants. Each fable was decorated in the colors of the school-teachers and pupils also wearing the colors for the sake of recognition. Most of the children visiting these schools
 are of the lower classes. I wish you could have seen the happy faces at the SiSHl of the sweets.
 It was comical to watch the actions of some. One little fellow grabbed his cherries and they disappeared in his pocket I believed he thought a lit
 tie neighbor might invade his 9 d9- quaint face looked affectionately at the sweets laid them from one side to the other. then decided to begin with her little bread. dipping it in the wine, and I am sure she was thinking or the satis- faction of having the best last. Another little chap could not wait till they were assigned to their places, but innocently took hold of little cherry tart, brought it to his lips, and when his little white teeth had just buried themselves in the sweet crust there approached the aVeng- ing angel in the person of one of the at tendants. The poor little one dropped his  prey like the raven the cheese. and, on, the horror and disappointment depicted on that little face! How sorry I felt for
 the little fellow. Some of the little ones shed bitter tears when they had lost their teacher, but they were quickly dried ana gave way to smiles when some one notic-
 ing their colors took them to their re-
 spective schools. All in all there was little confusion, and every one seemed to
 be enjoying the frolic. At last each one
 of inc children received a little souvenir.
 apt to gladden. a child's heart. The
 grammar and high schools also had sim
 liar festivals with such notifications as
 the difference in age would naturally sug- gest The boys had fireworks given in
 their honor on the lake shore. The effect
 of the lake. the nightly sky, the little
 boats, with their colored lanterns, the
 illumined houses by the lake side, thou sands of fiery serpents ascending and
 descending, the falling stars. the refec- tions in the waters of the lake,. were superb The prettiest part of all per haps, were the hundreds of little boats grouped along the shores with their red
 lanterns-if it was not the fountain that played so beautifully in the center of the