Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-28

der out into the fields. Grant you the
old paths are safer. Safer to think what
others thing. Easier to follow along in
the path of the leaders, seeing nothing,
thinking nothing, feeling nothing and
doing nothing. Their theories are ac-
cepted. the world smiles on them and
fortune is theirs. Ah. IT is so comfort
able to bask in the sunshine of fortune.
Yes. comfortable, but it is narrowing, It
is sitting, it is degenerating to be an ape
all ones life. And the ape Is always
with US. AS that talented authoress
Kate Upson Clark recently said at a
great Woman's convention, ''even in our
schools the ape crawls and creeps; he i'm
sisrs upon cut and dried methods and
vile limitations" The ape lives on pub
lice opinion, crawling and creeping on he
goes, the green fields temrt him not. On,
on he strides on the wave of popular
favor until some one cries danger
ahead and then like high tight rope
walker. he must step by step backward
go else he falls; to the right and to the
left of him there is nothing for him to
reach out to. This is the picture would
have in the public schools; not in oils
nor water colors. photo -gravure photo
graph nor Perry reproduction but
StdiipSu Oh HlelllOfS wall ana from
the lesson that it breathes teach the art
of independent thinking, independent
feeling and independent doing. Teach
the youth the art of carving an honor
able career for himself. thewing always
straight to the line and letting the chips
fall where they may. This art of char
acter building is the noblest art of them
all and it is the one most needed in our
public schools today.
The motive which lies behind the in
PRODUCTION of what is commonly under-'
stood as Art in the Public Schools" is a
good one and in mea sure aids in the
development OF children's character.
The tinted walls picture and statuary
serve to enrich the oftimes dull routine
of daily work. There is a certain value
in the knowledge of the history of
famous works of art; industry and per-
severance are the lessons they often
teach But mere prettiness in decora-
ton is not art; a collection of meaning
less pictures, representing quantity and
not quality is not art, and too often the
very best efforts are wasted because of
lack of fitness in the selections for the
various school rooms. 1t is imperative
in this character development of children
that art should be made practical in it's
effects on everyday life. But in the con-
fusion as to what really constitutes art,
results are very small, and what was
at one time considered legitimate work
in the school room, really degenerates
into a mere fad. One picture to school
building with real merit in it is worth \
dozen in each room of those having
only color and form. 1t is the soul in a
picture that appeals to the best within
us. 1t is useless art false art that
appeals to the eye and the mind only and
leaves the heart and soul untouched.
The average modern child is surfeited
with pictures and books indiscriminately
chosen. He has SO many he does not
rightly value any of them. Our homes
are crowded with so-called artistic stuff,
and we are trying to make ourselves be-
lieve that a superficial knowledge of art
means culture. A delight in things beau
tiful and artistic often carries with it no
gentleness of heart charity, purity nor
refinement, and frequently fosters self
ish desire for things that please the eye
and appeal to that within us which loves
ease and comfort; so much so that the
desire for these surroundings deadens
the ability to judge what is right ors
wrong in securing them. -
In many of our cities the cold, blank
replaced with softly-tinted ones. Good
pictures have been hung and choice
books and statuary have converted
otherwise cheerless rooms into bowers of
beauty Particularly in the rural dis
tricts of New England has the work ofs
school room decorations been vigorously
carried on. The old log school houses
with the smoke-stained walls of genera
tions have been secured and scrubbed,
walls tinted and hung with the regula-
ton pictures. It is estimated that these
renovated school houses will be great
factors in the development of the child;
certainly they offer attractions. Yet
these same little old log school houses,
with the smoke begrimmed walls, gave
to the country some Of it's noblest men
and women, greatest statesmen and pro-
found thinkers, and the signs of the
times do not encourage us to believe that
our modern schools, finely equipped, with
| decorated walls and libraries, will pro-
! duce men and women their superiors.
| Why? There was wholesome art Of
purity. simplicity and honesty about the
| old buildings that our modern schools
| have not. We have certainly made great
| gains in some respects, but have Woe
| fully lost in others. 1t is not enough to
decorate the inside walls of the buildings
! when the walls themselves tower heaven
ward monuments of intrigue and dishon-
| esty and such are the conditions in most
| of our large cities today. The schoolboy
hears it in the street. in the home; he
reads it in the public press, and at the
| very outset of life his moral nature is
warped. Is it any wonder that he grows
up to believe that public Office is a pri-
vate grab, that our legislatures and con7
gress are hot-beds of corruption? Is 1t
any wonder that he grows up and helps
| to make those legislative bodies corrupt
| Every effort of the teacher to inculcate
principles of purity, honesty and patriot
ism by pointing to the photographs of
Patrick Henry and Abraham Lincoln,
| which hang on the school-room walls,