Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-03-23

of tie
MOMENT.
Subjects IN Which the Citizens of
Ereela'ed and Surroundings
Are Interested at the
Present Time.

| The Citizens Hose Company has at
length realized the necessity of more
adequate fire alarm system in the bor-
ough, and at its last meeting sent out a
| committee to devise a method and re-
port 1t to council at IT'S next monthly
meeting. This is a matter which has
rested with the hose company for some
time, and it is some satisfaction to know
that is finally receiving little consid-
GRAFTON. The increased height of the
buildings in the neighborhood of the
pre- G 1T bell, and the ever-changing wind
current, tends to lessen its effect con-
siderably, and conline its sound almost
to within few blocks of its location.
The manner of ringing the bell also ad-
mits of great variety of tone, and at
every succeeding fire in town there are
numbers of people who do not hear the
alarm at all. This is one of the worst
features of the present system. In a
town where protection from fire depends
upon volunteer effort, and when the ma
jority of citizens are nearly always at
work in outside places, it is necessary
at least, of reaching every ear within
the borough limits, in order to command
all the assistance available.
t t /
The closing days of spring and the
| short period of rest before the com
mencement of spring activities, again
brings an influx of the younger genera
ton from school. An observation of the
students from the various institutions
Of learning is eresting-interesting
to those who have gone through high
er curriculum, interesting because of the
comparative distinctiveness of student
| life and interesting as means of study
| ing the effects of the methods practiced
in the different schools. But far more
interesting is the subject, when the con-
ditions which have superinduced the
the contributions of the coal regions to
| the normal schools are considered. The
| normal schools of the state are invari-
| ably chosen by the parents of this region,
| who are desirous of educating their sons
and daughters, and the aim of the latter
| to become educators themselves seems
! to be their uppermost ambition. The
aim is worthy one, but unfortunately
| the vocation is often mistaken and re-
suits in dismal failure. However, the
sincerity of the parents, who have learn
ed through sad experience what the ad-
vantages of school education would
mean, and who are compelled to make
many sacrifices to carry out their object,
is deserving of the highest praise.
+ t
| When the condition of the coal region
at the present time is taken into ac-
count, and the common transition of in
dustral life, that of the son being the
same as the father, following the same
| line of work, is considered as a natural
sequence, the effect on the mind is APP
palling. The future of coal mining Of
fers nothing desirable to the young
man. The remuneratveness it once
possessed has departed, and the inces-
SAINT drudgery of the work is becoming
more repulsive. The European element
has driven the Englsh-speaking people
out of the mines in large numbers, but
Il great many yet remain, and it is
self-evident fact that the familiar inter
course of this class with the Huns, the
Poles and the SlaVS, has been detrmen-
tai to them rather than elevating to the
new comerS. The effect of this driving
out of the better classes from coal min
ing is what is sending the younger gen
GRAFTON to school, and they are the most
earnest students at school today. Those
young men whom misfortunes in the
mines have denied the advantages of a
school education, constitute a home
studying class which can scarcely be
rvallcd outside of the coal region, whose
sole ambition is the ultimate abandon
ment of the work which has rendered
them nothing.
The Mining and Mechanical Institute
of Freeland has been the means of salts
flying the desire of this latter class of
young men about the mines, and while
the spirit of education has not yet diff
fused itself among them to the extent
hoped for by the projectors of the insti-
tute, it has, nevertheless, manifested it.
self sufficiently to show that with a little
more substantial encouragement it may
soon become general. The branches of
study at the institute, other than mining
which, however, possesses many dcvo-
tees in its higher workngs-are the
ones most pursued by the young men,
and the earnest application of the stu
dents emphasizes the conclusion stated
above, namely that it is not the desire
OF the average young men in the coal
region today to continue the work of his
fathers.
Invalid Barely Escapes Roasting.
Fire at Pittston on Friday afternoon
destroyed the double frame building of
Mungo Thompson and the dwelling ad-
Joining, belonging to John Joyce. In