Smyrna times., 1897-12-15
A SPLENDID INSTITUTE.
One of the Finest Ever Given in Smyrna
"A Fine Combination of
Entertainments.

The institute has come and gone and
on every hand there is extended praise
and compliments to Superintendent C.
| Z. Tlndal for the excellent treat he af-
torded the citizens of Smyrna, by hav-
ing such excellent talent, both in the
day session and the evening entertain
ments. The weather could not have
been finer had it been made to order,
and this fact together with the good
advertising given it, drew large crowds
every day. There was a good moral
tone throughout the entire course. The
teachers received instructions that will
help them in their daily tolls in the
school room, and the citizens got from
the splendid course something thew
could take home with them and reflect
about for a long time to come. The
instructors were of the highest order.
Brumbaugh with his wit and his good
common sense way of putting a thing;
and King with his jOvial smile and
beautiful flights of rhetoric, were pop
ular favOrites with Smyrna audience.
and they were always created with
hearty applause. DR.. White, that
strong thinker and lOgician, one of the
best known pedagOgueS in the United
States, was none the less appreciated
because he was not witty DIR. White
was one of the strongest instructors in
the Institute has had in a long while.
Supt. COughlin was an interesting
talker and gave out many helpful sug-
gestions along the line of Public
School work.
The twenty-third session opened last
Wednesday morning with prayer bv
the Rev. j. L. Estlin, pastor of the
Presbyterian church, after which an
organization was effected with Supt.
Tlndal as permanent chairman. and
MIR. Cornelius Frier, Jr., of Rising
Sun, as secretary.
The first speaker of the day was DIR.
Emerson E. White, of Columbus.
Ohio His subject was the "Princi-
pies and Methods of Teaching" " and
III the course of his remarks he brought
out three fundamental facts know
ledge, power and skill, the end to be
attained in all the methods used. When
DR. Brumbaugh of the University of
Pennsylvania was introduced, he was
greeted by round of applause. The
people had not forgotten his visit here
when the last Institute was held in
Smyrna, and his popularity, more than
anything else drew large crowds to
the Opera House. As soon as the ap-
plause had subsidized, he took as his
theme, English Literature in the
Schools. In his helpful thoughts.
interspersed with dry humor, he tried
to set forth the value of stating or i'm
parting thing in clear language, and
cultivating in the child the spirit
OF selection. There is vast diff
ference between saying a thing and
saying 1t well. Every teacher should
create an interest for the. reading of
good literature. Here is where the
spirit of selection should be taught.
The School, he said. that turns ont
boys with taste for bad literature has
traduced the child DR.. White con-
tlnued his ''Principles and Methods of
Teaching, )" showing that knowledge
could not be taught unless some activ
lty was Occasioned in the mind
of the student 1t was logical
discourse based on psychological facts.
One remark he gave forth, was, that
English grammer ought not to be taken
up until the seventh grade. This oc
casioned much comment.
In the afternoon large crowd had
gathered, with an enthusiasm such as
never pervaded an Institute here. DR..
Brumbaugh led off with a most excel
lent historical discourse on the "Old
Greek Schools, how the boys of that
day were held to the strict letter of the
law. One of the first things the Greek
children were taught, was: to love their
home, love their State, and reverence
the Gods of Olympus. The text book
used in the school room then was
"HOmer's Illiad. There were no bol-
ldays like we Americans have, but in
Greece there were over 100 gods to wor
ship and as mark of reverence. the
birthday of each was celebrated and
consequently every school was closed.
DIR. Brumbaugh went on to state the
routine of a boys life. One fact that
he brought ont was that the bows in
that time were not allowed to run wild
on the street and use unbecoming and
lmpudent language. Here he drew
comparison to the American schoolbov
and grew eloquent in his denunciation
OF these privileges the boys were al
lowed to take advantage of. The case |
was becoming worse and worse every |
day and the boys were allowed to grow |
up without reverence or respect to
proper street etiquette Another |
strong comparison he made. as con-
trary to the Greek discipline was that
IN America a foreigner was allowed to
vote If he could translate a few SEN
fences in the English language. and a
man who despised education, could not
read or write and would not know his
name If he saw it in print, was admit
ted to the full liberties of statehood. He
SAID Geece would not have sold her
statehood that way. On the contrary
she layed very stringent laws concern
ing the preparation for the full admit
tance of State rights, and it was this
fact more than any other that Greece
was made one of the foremost powers of
the world DIR. White took up his
morning subject, and discussed more
comprehensively, the training of the
powers of the mind, imp1 essing all the
while that "every power was developed
by its own activity" DIR. Brumbaugh
made the closing address of the day ON
a short talk on ''Local history"
A large audience turned out in the
evening to hear the celebrated lecturer.
Col. Henry Waterson on his lannon's
subject; Abraham Lincoln" With
the exception of few seats in the gal
Iarv avarxv caoE =, Al Ill -