The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-12-17
TEACHERS CONFER.
Hudson County Associations
Session Today Opened
by Mayor Hoos.
ADDRESSES BY MEMBERS
Faults in System Of Writing
Pointed 0ut-Good Newspapers
Recommended as a Study.
ADDRESSES BY MEMBERS

Fully five hundred teachers were
gathered in the assembly room of School
No. 8, on Brunswick street, this morning,
when the exercises of the Teachers
Institute of Hudson County, began at
half-past nine. Among those on the plat
form were:-Mayor Edward Hoos, Rev.
Cornelius Brett, D. D., DR.. Emerson
White of Columbus, Ohio, DR.. George
Morris Phillips, West Chester, Pa, MI.
Charles Baxter, State Superintendent,
Edward A. Murphy. Superintendent OF
Hudson County, MIR. A. Demorest. Super
enc of Hoboken, c.. M. Done, Super
%ntendent of Bayonne. and Henry Snyder,
Superintendent of Jersey City. Every seat
in the large and spacious assembly room
was taken and a number was standing
along the aisles.
Rev. Cornelius Brett, d. D., of the Ber-
gen Reformed Church opened the exer-
cises with prayer. Mayor Hoos olloWed
with a short address, in which ne
eulogized the teachers in this county.
Among the things he said was:-
.I have the honor as Mayor of this
city to bid you a hearty welcome to our
city. We are proud of our teachers, not
only those in Hudson County, but also
those teaching throughout the State. The
echoes of their splendid work are resound-
ing all over this Union. When we stop
to consider for a moment the fact tnat
every day in the year more than oo,ou0
pupils come under you charge and care.
one gets a faint glimpse of the import
ance which you exert in building up a
community and carrying higher and high
er the public school system. Realizing
this the average citizen eager as he may
be to criticize other departments of the
municipalities is always willing to praise
the public school system, and does not
begrudge the money spent for the educa-
tional benefit of the same.
..This- county spends $1,000, 900 per year
for educational purposes. 1t is the duty
of the teacher to make his or her work
count as much as possible in order that
this immense sum may be proitably
spent"
He closed by bidding all the teachers a
hearty welcome to this city and to that
school,
DR.. Emerson, White, of Columbus, Ohio,
then made an address on language and
writing in the English language. He said:
There is no doubt that we have made
considerable rogress in the last twenty
years in both language and writing. The
teachers now do not teach the proper ex-
preston in writing. In fact the majority
of the teachers l nave examined are far
from perfect in that line. The teachers
give the children too much pen. and pencil
work in the first three years they are at
school,. Children under eight years of
age should not have more than a half
hour each halliday at writing. That is
the maximum 0 of hat kind of
-orl1 In nv r,ir7 chill 111nAnr
that g should receive. So much pen and
pencil work at such an early age affects
the muscles in the arm of the child and
consequently the writing is poor ever
afterwards. That is one of the reasons
there are SO many poor writer's.
Teachers should not start children on
fine work, but should try them in coarse
work and it develops"
Mr.. White concluded by saying that If
his advice about writing was followed he
felt sure MUCH better results could be
was warmly a~pplauded, as it was indeed
very interesting.
State Superintendent Charles Baxter
was next introduced. His subject was,
professional Ability" He then told
what his ideal of a teacher should be.
He spoke about the teachers work and
said that they should AVE some object
in view and not stop until they accom-
plish hat they set out to do.
After a piano solo by Miss Mary Cur
RE, recess was taken.
The afternoon session consisted or an
address by DR.. G. Phillips, who spoke
about the different school work in West
chester, Pa.
Mr.. Baxter, in his remarks on Current
History" said:-"lt is my purpose at
this time to urge the Importance of teach
ing current history and give a few rea-
sons for regarding newspaper just as
certainly as the text book as one of the
teachers implements. First, because it
is so fruitful a source of information. I
would urge that the teachers teach the
pupils to read good books and rational
newspapers, that they may derive from
them the greatest possible benefit" He
mentioned a number of books and papers
that both the teachers and the pupils
should read.
The pupils of the school then gave an
interesting exhibition of drilling as did
the pupils from the Trenton Normal
School. The convention this year is said
to be the most enthusiastic in years and
all present took a great interest in the
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