The record-union., 1898-06-26

NpEINEM I'M NJ MN0A
A dietetic teacher advises elderly peo-
pie to abstain from the use of stimulat-
ing foods. The need is indicated by
natural inclination on the part of per-
sons after they have passed the age of
90 to return to the simple foods of their
childhood Bread and milk, for ex-
ample. is usually an esteemed diet by
old people, and it is an excellent one.
Another authority, talking on longev-
ity, advises the free use of milk, but
protests vigorously against too much
bread, which, to a person after 90,
should be called the staff of death in
stead of that 'of life
There is a great deal in a name.
There are cartain garments which may
not be mentioned in polite society sim
ply because they are tabooed, no one
knows exactly why, while another gar
ment answering to all intents and pur-
poses the same object may be men
toned with impunity. 1t is one of her
delightful inconsistencies which, per-
haps, keeps us from being too tiresome-
-
ency is the shirt A mans shirt is re-
spectacle member of society, while "a
well, an American woman does not
wear such a garment. She compro-
mises, however with a shirt waist"
and feels that she calls things by their
right names and preserves her sense of
propriety at the same time. This is,
it is to be understood the American
woman. With the English woman IT is
different The standard of propriety is
evidently different in England, and an
English woman may wear shirt with
impunity. 1t is what the American Wo-
man calls the shirt waist. but the Eng
lish woman leaves off the last part of
the word and talks about the newest
summer shirts" and summer shirts at
their prettiest," even SO publicly as in
the London Daily Mail" 1t shows
another inconsistency, the locality max
ing word good or bad form.
A specialist addressing a company of
educators lately pointed out that brain
fatigue is one of the things to be feared
in the present methods of education,
and one of the most essential to be
guarded against He spoke of the fact
that an incoherent statement, such as:
This is the first of January; it is six
weeks to May" made at noon. would
be received by the average class with
out instantaneous rebuttal; whereas
the same statement made in the first
hour of the session would be promptly
comprehended in it's lack of intelli-
gence. In this connection it is inter-
esting to find that in Philadelphia.
where it has been necessary to esta blish
halliday sessions, in order TO accommo-
date with at least half-day's school
ing the large surplus of scholars, it
has been discovered that the halliday
students made quite as good progress
as those who attended the whole day.
They went at their lessons always with
freshness and vigor. and stopped before
the limit of interest was reached. The
halliday children as a class stood the
years round of work, too, better than
those of their companions who attended
the whole day. This is especially inter-
csting because the halliday sessions
have been heretofore regarded by even
the most competent educators as some
thing to be deplored and eliminated as
soon as possible from the school sys-
TENS. There are many other evidences
that the faults of the public-school sys-
TENS in this country are to be weeded
out In Brooklyn the other day the
committee for the arrangement of study
for the Boys High School announced
the introduction of a modified elective
system in the last two grades of the
course. This is radical change, but
one for which there has been a crying
no
grades are largely made up of boys who
will continue study in college or at
some special institution, and the possi-
bility to arrange their last years high
school work in conformity to such in
tention is of great Importance to them.
One of the good results from the re-
cent meeting Of the State Library AS
sociation at Syracuse will be the en-
couragement to all of the smaller Il
braries of the State to increase the
usefulness of their children's depart
ment The number of libraries through
out the country that have children's
is still very small. The num-
Der of libraries that have at least a
children's corner is large and growing
In the smallest of village libraries it
gent attendant. the chldren's reading
1t was the opinion of experts at Utica,
who spoke on this subject last week,
that the children should be given first
what they want in moderation with a
persistent effort, then. in case what
they wanted was not the best for them
to cultivate in them almost uncon-
sciously to themselves the desire for
else. The work of the chill
dren's department at Pratt Library in
Brooklyn, n. Y. during the summer
months should be regarded as one of
the most important of the various va
cation efforts in behalf of city-bound
children. The pleasant rooms are filed
constantly. and the direct and negative
good secured to the young readers at
a time when a long idle day would
mean. perhaps. serious mischief is al
most incalculable.
The subject of college life uniting
women for domestic duties is brought
lp in Margaret Sherwood's article upon
undergraduate life at vassar in the
June "Scribner's." A Brooklyn woman
physician settled the matter of college
life and domestic duties some time ago
TO her own satisfaction. No one will
deny physicians opportunity for MAX
Ing comparisons and for seeing the ms
and outs of domestic life in all its
phases. This woman had preconceived
opinions. She had not believed that
college graduate would be fitted to
make good use-mother, but she was
convinced that she was in error. She