Middletown transcript., 1895-12-07
The Twen

|
Cling one of the unfair sex. 1t was pleas
ant to watch them as they came troopinl
along by twos, by threes,-these guardians
of our county's youth, and to note the var
ious expressions and cast of countenanc'
| that betoken, in some measure. their inter
| est or the lack of it in the Institute ant
what they will get from it. Some of thu
| teachers seem like old friends to our towr
| folk, their faces having grown famalial
from being seen frequently at former Insti
| tutes here. But there are many new face:
see in the ranks this year, many young
| teachers, and, though they may not be sc
staid as their elders, there are no more
earnest t, anxious, ambitious teachers in the
whole lot than some of these very youth
full ones who are taking their first lessons
in pedagogy. It was very interesting
gathering of bright looking women and
men, not dull or listless face among them
and though some may be bit prim and Sc.
we're. according to the generally accepted
type, and others little skittish, they are
as creditable and wholly worthy corps OF
public school teachers as one could wish to
see.
TUESDAY.
It was a bright. beautiful day, cool
enough to enliven the steps of the
teachers as they gathered in the Opera
House at the opening of the session. Supt.
Willard Smith had made all the arrange
ments necessary for successful Institute.
Mr.. E. G. Mote was made president Miss
Amy R. Piser secretary, and Miss Mary
Grimes. assistadt secretary. ReY. F. H
Moore invoked the Divine Blessing upon
the teachers, their work, the Institute and
all connected Herewith.
The address of welcome was delivered by
Rev. Isaac L. Wood and was not only cor
dial and complimentary but was encourag-
ing and instructive. The opportunity for
usefulness was dwelt upon and the teachers
were reminded that they are part of the
$4,000 public school teachers in this
country, having 100000 impressible souls
under their direction. What shall be the
results?
Prof. Henry Houck responded in a few
happy sentences. expressing appreciation
of the cordial welcome, and then DR.. By
ron w. King was introduced for half
hour on reading. The doctor is fine elo-
cutionist and at this his first appearance be-
fore the New Castle teachers he won their
favor. He explained that Mr.. Houck en-
couraged him to come here because he
Houck-had been coming for years and
the teachers want something "fresh." TAX
ing up his subject Mr.. King said in reading
the object is to express 1) the thought. (2)
the emotion, (3) the will power. He could
not give rules for reading. "Be natural
read natural" Certainly. but what is nat.
ural "Read as you talk" But how about
those who talk wretchedly! He illustrated
the "idea method" making pauses not by
punctuation but according to the idea, each
being accented" or emphasized. "A GER
tain man had two sons"
When Prof. Henry Houck appears before
the New Castle county teachers, how their
faces brighten! The Institute would not be
complete without him. He is not only
we'll known and loved by the teachers. but
also by the people of this community, and
he never fails to give a word to parents as
we'll as teachers. He is the veteran instruc-
tor, for years the assistant State Superin-
tendent of the Schools of Pennsylvania and
his kindly admonitions and wise counsel
are the words in season for many a dis
couraged teacher. He gave a practical
talk or discipline" Tuesday afternoon, in
which he made it plain that the teacher
who fails to teach and exact obedience on
the part of her pupils, though she may give
them rich treasures from her store ofknow-
ledge, is not in the truest sense, success.
full teacher. The present day lack of home
discipline and parental authority, make it
all the more imperative that the teacher
endeavor to supplement this lack. The
boy who learns to obey established law, in
the school and the home, has the first ele
ment of good citizen.
Mr.. Kings address on the "Voice' was
instructive and highly interesting. One of
the many good things he said was that
''loudness is not eloquence," fact that
many public speakers, notably clergymen,
seem to ignore. He also said that to be a
good talker one must be good walker,
and physical development is necessary to
the perfection of the vocal organs. He de-
fined the intellectual and emotional tones
and 0ova ,,1 ,,arouc illustrations HE rom
dition of Whitcomb Riley's "When the
frost is on the pumpkin and the folders
in the shock" was inimitable. Mr.
King is more than an elocutionist, he is
humorist, wit. little short of genius.
His whole discourse was bright success
ion of intellectual scintillations. He cap
tivated the whole audience and there were
many regrets because of his brief stay here.
Bringing up a parent in the way he
should 60" was the subject upon which
Rev. George Thomas Bowling, of Brooklyn.
N. Y, talked to the Institute on Tuesday
evening for an hour and ten minutes. The
speaker is a clergyman, everybody knew
that before be had gone far and Episcopal
cieTRymdus ne Is Represented dS DOStOL-
ian and held his hands, or his thumbs, in
his pockets like one. He SAID many good
things many enjoyable things i'll pleas
ing way and yet possibly most of his audi
tors felt that his talk was more of sermon
than lecture. The idea, of course, was
the training of children, q suitable subject
to present to teachers, the training of chill
dren by parents which is more suitable to
an audience where there were more par
ents. The central thought, as the topic
suggests, is like parent like child" that
the child follows the examples of the par
ent rather than lives by their precepts.
WEDNESDAY.
On Wednesday morning Prof. Winship,
editor OF the New England Journal of Ed
ucGtion, of Boston, addressed the teachers
in direct and concise talk on Essentials"
He spoke of the lamentable lack of discrim.
ination in educational work. and empha-
sized the importance of specializing. Teach