The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-04

the pupils have more than two school
books-the speller and a grammar, geog-
raphy, reader. or history The master
| himself often owns the only arithmetic.
and sets sums out of It for all the big
boys. Orally. he drills them in the four
rules, and since they are for the most
part quick ard keen at figures, turns
| them out mathematicians well able to
count ali the money they are likely ever
| 10 handle.
Happy When on Exhibition.
The true glory OF yelpin' school, how
| ever. Is at the school turn-out-then ev-
erybody, big and little, comes out on the
platform facing big bush arbor. and
yelps In concert, without any prompting
whatever. Mistakes are rare-if they
were made nobody could hear them. For
tilted by this happy consciousness the
yeIpers get through with a rush and
swing. They sway their bodies lightly in
! time to the yelplng, as later when the
mountain fiddle makes a musical interlude,
| both themselves and the audience keep
time with head and hand.
Various and sundry enterprising citizens
| have seen millions In the potentialties of
rural ignorance and rural desire for
knowledge. For example, the man who
sixty years back travelled all about pro-
claiming that he taught arithmetic to the
rule Of three in just six lessons. He had
system OF ready reckoning that was
| truly wonderful. He himself could rattle
II on like the wind, but to the lay mind Il
! seemed that the differential calculus was
child's play in comparison. The price was
low enough to insure plenty OF scholars
only dollar for the course. But after
the last lesson, when the pupils were hope
lessly befogged, the professor explained
that they only needed his chart to clear
up eyerything-and that the chart was 10
be had for the sum Of s.. OF course. he
did not sell a chart to every pupil, but
enough bought them TO keep the profess
sor in clover for several years.
Geography Game.
Another person tried to set the whole
country playing geography. His scheme
was TO have each school district set W
what he styled Tadiator-that is to say,
hall, full OF chairs and tables, where old
and young could congregate to instruct
themselves in the facts Of history and
geography. He had wooden maps Of all
countries, pierced with small holes at the
cities, OF the battle-heIds, or wherever
any specially striking event had taker
place. In playing geography pure and
simple the group about a map. divided in
half, under rival captains, then each o.
the captains drew from a pile al one size
a tiny wooden block. with a pin in one
end, with the name Of city upon one Of
It's four Sides and the leading facts about
that particular city printed upon the 9TH
ers. One city SO drawn marked the be-
ginning Of a tourney across the map
the other the end OF IL. Players on each
side drew IN turn further blocks. ard
stuck them in their respective holes. The
aim was, as in the children's game "tit.
tat. to-" 10 keep the attacking captain
from reaching the city OF his destination
Chance had something to do with results
but attention and a quick spprehens-o on
Of distances and direction very much
more. Notwithstanding the fact tina,
PLAYING geography was instructive, ths
public did not take 70 IL.
singing sehssl..
II was IN every way more vsh,s,s.
however. than the craze for .sing,ng
geography" which In the late thgrfses
swept the country districts Ike rfldfre
The men responsible for IL were from tha
Nutmeg State. and allied them selves
shrewdly with the then Universal tin ned
dlers. Thus they and their system r.rs
transported at low eost 70 the very re-
motest parts OF the rural distrIcts They
had weil-oiled tongues and psau,fbl.
manners. 20 they had little dificultv IN
getting around leading citizens every
where. getting further free use OF church
es 10 serve as sehool-rooms. ana thu.
starting out with a deal OF prestige ana
mighty little expense
They had books. Of esurss-bcoks fear
fui and wonderful. These they aid no,
offer 10 SELL Instead. they rented thapn
10 scholars. saying with transparent can
.sE that tie school would not las; long.