Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-19
TO COOK AND TO SEW.
How Children Are Taught These Useful Arts in
Washington School.

Inc Lord furnishes the food and tho
---- The cooks" the apothcgm of a
gentleman of the old school But as
SganareM in Molere's Mock Doctor
says. We have changed all that now.
and our public schools furnish the
cooks. The coming generations VIII
eat and be happy. Dyspepsia" VIII
be marked "obsolete" in the dictionary.
ard pepsin will he drug on the mar
kel No more will porterhouse steak
he fried in lard tughD saleratus biscuit
Il legend of the past will become ana
pie will he no longer a nightmare. For
our girls are being taught housekeep-
ing. And not only how to cook. how
to market, but actually how to sew.
The husband of the future will hnl
buttons and strings in place and frayed
wristbands will he an evanescent
dream. The fruit for good and evil
which Eve ate and which turned bitter
in her mouth is proving a fruit of good
to her daughters who are learning to
take useful place in life and becoming
a blessing.
In the first six grades boys and girls
are taught concurrently along broad
lines of culture. Not only the same
books are taught. but the same manual
training. The assimilation Of hand
eye and brain is developed. They mold
the same figures, make the same cylin
ders and erect the same pyramids
While the boy will graduate from these
into higher form of manual training
for which the lower training fits him
,;,11
beneficial To the girl. as it renders acu+e
her mental faculties and better qualities
them for pursuits essentially feminine.
At an early date the present superin-
tendent urged the Introduction OF sew
ing into the schools; but before 1t was
officially instituted. one of the lady
teachers. now in charge of the sixth
grade school, took the matter up. She
taught after school hours such girls as
cared for the instruction and furnished
them the materials for practice.
Aside from the training common t"
the two sexes. the girls begin in the
third grade with exercises specially
suited to their sex Sewing as an ad-
junct is begun in this grade. Little
slips of girls of eight or nine are being
taught the delicate and exact work
which our grandmothers did and which
| is the despair of the present generation.
4 thread is drawn so as to give the
guiding line. and the busy little fingers
plv the needle with back stitches along
| that line. The girls are taught to
| measure the stitches with their eyes,
! and so wei is the work done that an
| experienced eye can scarce detect the
[ :; exist Then thew
| are Instructed how to fell and over
| seam. a piece Of goods IS given 'at
child and she makes a bag to eXempllfy
the principles of sewing when haNr
been learned. In the third. fourth ami
| fifth grades the girls are taught rlsh'
| in the school rooms, hitting thehlsei' -
for The real dressmaking which comes
in the sixth grade. And Whlie the Sifi2
in the lower grades are learning ST"
ing. the boys draw and paint.
cutting and fitting are taken up IN me
sixth grade and there are I'VE scnooiS III
oprration which are far from GlVfhG uue
accommodations. The 'ei'ain"rtoI ~
curYrv commcnds it for young chiidreh.
| Having received preliminary tfaihins M
| the lower grades the children III vi,
readily take hold of the system III 'ao
ski grade ana SltehlIN ~ i'iiN
ing. as taught in the pUblic sch''"iG ;' 40
| n,ninentlv practical. 1t has long Sll'c
n1sscd from the experimental StaS I.
Girls are being taught to make cloln M >
ca tbat either for themselves or LOT ON
,rs they may furnish raiment- a. .ha
Along with the plying OF 'h' heSu ,,i,I,x ~
min Of the scissors ana IN" httioiiit' w.
mo tame the girls learn many thinSH ~
nate 70 garment making ana whlrh &, -.
i,roc their ideas. Materials III me i"M ,
nnd manufactured state are SHOWN 'i'' i
rvnlained The origin. CULTIVATION az
,innfarture of cloth. thread. iiIeule'
thin,hl, etc. are explained. ASficu'tuui .
cnrnmerce. geography. history, mai mar. Ia,
4,,rap zach receives its due snare v! oo'.
c;iaratinn so that the child Is ihteiilSei
~, rareiing instruction in an enl!iitii., , ),
/ SracticaI way upon a most .iii I'M H.
nr,ctic.I subject. 1t is SUBJECT " na
~ ~, TO many homes IN tne laii'
mat the wife and mothel - airect
liia1 sm Not only is the olrtc'
tsa,cbing nf sewing valuable, but my H.,
-. 9,uences which flow iortn are IA,
,nIcnla@,Je The girls learn 10 oe 49,
and tidy. TO take care OF 'ne'' lam n
mend rips and tears. ana 81
srha nrnctlcal knowledge acqu.i IN. ha.
.ahno, ;s utilized at home. me ~ onl,
$40 $50 sa,f-reliant and usefui. 10. ~" ~
AZ ,ba,, carry home and employ ,ne con.
~ I'm ~ their own. but they necoin 's,os f.,
ahaii e. r.,, which ra1iate adVanl',senl ~ ~
,erS ilu''i "a used by others. For lach "