The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-24

thoven. The lily Is not to be condemn.
ed because II is not the stately palm,
the clambering rose that IL IL not the
lordly oak: the eagle thai h canno:
sing like the lark. who scars and sings
and scars till he almost kisses the
morning sun. Why the dear old bird
can gaze un~bl,nkingly into the face Of
Old Soils monday splendor. We each
have our own niche and strive with
might and main to MI IL. Forget net
then, fellow teachers. hat music
among Teutonic and Romance nations
Is regarded as an Intellectual Gecrea-
ton and moral upbuilder; that Schil-
Ter. Dryden, Milton and Shakespeare
have eulogized IL: that since Morning
stars sang together n the sons of
God shouted for joy since Miriam
and her maidens gave praise with
timbrel and song on Arabic sands. be-
yond the Red sea: since David took
his harp to exercise the evil spirit Of
the vindictive Saul-and again forget
not that since the celestial choir sang
Glory TO God in the Highest over the
manger wherein lay Graded the in
carnate Son OF God. that music has
given voice to the highest. hol,est. ten
derest sentiments of men and angels"
Miss McNeel-vaIu of Literature
Miss Georgia McNeel. representing
the Lincoln school, said. on the sub
Ject of THE Value of literature"
1t Is not so much the biography OF
an author with its barren and meager
facts that is to be taught, for he ng
born i'm a ducks nest in a farm yard
Is no matter If n is Matched from
a swans egg But open the pages and
look straight into the heart and brain
of the author n there trace the ines
or times in which he wrote. for con-
sciously or unconsciously. that Is what
he has written. Let il not be said that
in the grades children are too young
for poetic literature; for as poetry is
the first literature of a nation. so
with the individual. The child comes
from his home into the school room,
his soul as yet untainted by contact
with the world, his heart is
filled with hope and expectation.
thought is new and pure. the imagina-
ton is vivid. the ear Is keenly alive TO
musical sounds. and so he loves po-
etry, the full meaning and philosophy
of which IL presented to HIN in prose
would be lar beyond his years. The
child upon the knee and in the
cradle loves Wen play that my knee
is a calico mare. all saddled and brid-
led for Bumpvllle;' The Voyage Of
Wynken n Blynken and Nod ard
'Hush-a-by, Sweet, My own 1t is
generally conceded that the period for
reading is practically ended at 20.
and the taste for good or bad. or no
books at all. has been formed. DR..
Johnson says of himself that mos. az
his learning had been acquired at Is.
Then let the child De taught to read
not for Information only. but for clear.
ness of intellect, loftiness of purpose.
the illumination of conscience, strength
sou. Teach them to e that they
may find that Boosting Is not skill.
that disobedience and vulgarity are
not strength. hat coarseness and pro-
family are not manliness, that dis
courtesy and irreverence are not indie
pendence, that truth. mercy. justice,
f-earleseness, ~fortitude. love of nome.
Of country. of God. are the highest
qualit' es man has eve possessed, and
your pupil may never camp
on Valley Forge, defeat a Packenhap1,
a Santa Anna, repulse a picket's
charge, or Climb the hill at Santiago,
he may. in the honorable discharge of
the duties of a citizen of this republic.
humble his station, be the
of these God-like virtues.
There are men. our countrymen.
brought up in that school. where the
of yorktown was chief WIS.,
tor and great men to be emulated,
souls are so sordid that nothing
to them except money. They
ride across the unshorn prairies with
sunlit verdant slopes and shadowy un-
wales mt dwelling for God
a~ngels-and estimate so much
so many tom of hay. to be fed
% so many cattle, to be slaughtered
II so many cents per pound. so much
per head. The golden sunshine and
generous rain. the rich soil Of Mother
Earth, the human toll and sweat and
that produce the fields of wav-
ng gran arouse in their calculating
iouls no higher thought than con-
the price of wheat. Such mon,
inder favorable conditions. get money
here is nothing sure about IL. though, |
or some of the lne souls / have
yer known were poor-and hen real
zing that there is i'm the world a kind
II man whose knee was never made
he might bend 1t to wealth. they
would fan buy culture, but IL is above
rice. They do. indeed, buy books-
Ilso, now and then. a European SON
n-lsw-books whose bindings cost
hundreds of dollars. and il fills a cul-
ured mind with sadness to see them
n such houses, i will not say homes.
hey are like a grand organ left in
ONE pillaged cathedral, over whose
the masters hand sweeps no
nore, whose sweet strains n sublime
donations are huShed forever, whlle
round it bats and owls max their
Patriotism must be taught to
ur children. Literature is the sure
through which II may be i'm
arted. Admitted that without 1t a
of flag salutat,on may be in
ulcated. but as Ibsen says, The world
lust be saved from perishlng by char
and not convention A man
ray with all seeming reverence salute
ne flag and then steal the bunting 1t
Elf. Between the patriotism of one
0 trained and OF him who merely
arms to manipulate fire works on the
of July, to slap his hands and
his feet when some strut ng
actor cries Remember the
lame to mechanically salute the flag
r fling out its folds to fioat yhen
one but peaceful breeZes flow. there
as much difference as between the
haracters Of Francis Marion and
Arnold, IT. John n Judas
When we as a people have
armed TO recognize and love the high
Il. purest, noblest that in all ages
ian has accomplished in literature.