The morning times., 1896-10-07
PROF. POWELL ON BUTTONS
Visits NearlySoventy-fivePub-
lie SchOO!r0OmS.
NO WICKED ONES In SIGHT
The Superintendent Appears Unex-
pectedly at Georgetown ana South
Washington HuildinGs-Dcscribe
lie Glass and Character of the
decorations He Saw.
See, Pa" Yes. Darling"

See, Pa Yes, Darling"
Superintendent Powell, OF the public
schools, made IA quiet. eifcCtiye, although
unofficial tour nf the public schools yes
ter,iay, looking for buttons.
lie was not disguised all the pupils
knew his kindly face: they were glad 10
see him. Ii the girls made away with
lneir buttons on the instant the supcrin-
tandent-inspcctor entered the door they
must have swallowed them.
Prof. PoweII was present forenoon and
afternoon in nearly seyenty-fIvc class
rooms and he diin I see any buttons that
should be enlarged. smashed, ar BAN
lShed. \ reporter for L he Times also
saw three of the LADY supervising prln-
cip'iis oI me primary scnopis anu they also
SAID that they Knew uI M public school
craze for buttons. This was true they
suG nf the prinar departments over when
they have supervisory jurisdiction. IL
would, OF course, b. supposed Lhat II there
WAS Il button mania To the extent mat
has been suggested, the Mite children
would have II much wurSr tnan they nave
measles or whuoptng cough.
Fror Powell gave no notice that he
would make this visit. The result OF
il he stated TINS WAY to Il reporter for
The Times yesterday.
WHAT MR.. POWELL SAID.
Il have heard OF tie pupils use Of these
buttons Il nd made VISIT this morning To
upwards OF SeNcnrN-fiNe rooms with tne
view largely OF seeing what Were thr
some buttons. t!Ht not see very many
and did not nciI'c any that wcre OBJ
jectiunable. ! regard ii as perfectly
l,..lfiutaUernr Al buVIo wrara Bryan button
or Il Mckinley button II lie WHATS 10.
As a matter OF fact there has been no
uDmplaiu- ~ to the abuse of H." privilege
except what l have seen III The news
papers
1T is possible hat gnc button habit cX-
lists and is an evil in some Of the schools,
but l have been unable 10 detect II III my
visits To-Day. / shall, however, give the
question further and closer attention
shall call the attention ut he SUPERVISORS
To il. II there are Objectionable features
in the habit we Will src what can be
done to correct thcn.'
MY visits today We're To the schools
| of Georgetown ana Southeast Washington.
Neither the pupils nor any one else knew
/ OF my intention L" call al the Schouis.
! remember one class especially OF anont
fifteen or eighteen perSous. here We're
| a few boys who had on buttons, one or
these was a Bryan button aud the othcr
| a Mckinley button. one OF them had OH
! Two buttons.
NOT Up ON SLANG.
.Another boy whom recall had Oh :;
button. on which WAS the word, Mt.
! What does nit mcan""
| The reporter explained the csoteric sig
nificance OF Nit after which PTof.
| Powell went on 10 say -,,,,...
No: cannot say mat ! saw anything
| wrong auv more Than the rose which l
! wore was wrong. But on the other hand,
| if there are obscene buttons III the pos
session of tile children we must sce lha'
| they are rot worn.
Miss +. A Denny. director of the pri'
| mary department.. said that she nc'ihcI
| knew OF any cause for complaint uor had
| She heard any complaint made.
| Miss Wehstcrand Miss Blanuyalsnaverrcti
! that they had not heard OF any Complaints
| although Miss Blandy said that she had
heard that obiet tinnhble buttons existed
| "a. ,,s la Sgh, ,,,l 1ttr1 t..t inn
| Another school official said that one
principal had given orders tilat the use
| of hnttOns he entirely stopped ana that IN,
| children Obeypd with alaCrity, and came
To school next day without any decorat ations
! OF any kind. II was also stated that NJ
the Grant School the button craze mac
1 actually gone crazy, aud that some officta
action would be asked Tor. In the oiiei
| case il appears that the mere request OF
order OF the principal was sufficient IL
| abate the nuisance.
SOME OF THE VORITES
After school yesterday . Times reporter
noticed a great many or the children and. as
| a matter of fact, they were not wca arint
un usual buttons. one little fellow was
asked if he wore buttons, ana lie very
readily replied by asking: How dyol
spOse | hold my pants up:
| outside Information is TO tie effect that
the buttons With the strange devices ar
| Worn by the bigger boys Most OF then
| have become chestnuts OF last year grOwtl
| and are Very silly, such as 'lr You love IN,
| grin,' and all that kind of stuff. A favorit.
| with the girls is Fine as.silk,' which prob
ably refers TO their back hair. Who Gu
| the CheeSer' is common ana absurd, bu
there are good many of the "Wot tells
worn on the lapcls of the boys who smok
cigarettes and promenade around about tin
o street school when the Fine as silk
girls come out hungry and i'll Il hurry I,
go home and get into the soup.
The girls bItttuuS are very innocent Sucl
as see Pa Yes. Darling - YOt
Are Not the only Pebble on the Beach,
81 am So Shy
They will probably all h. Shy on button
TODAY now that there is TO lie an inspection
OF the stock.
There appears To lie a general opinio
Iamonc all who have gwen the question
a Thought, ana that is that the boy VII
| expoScS an obscene button at the schoo
| house or school grounds ought TO be eN
PEELED.