Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-09-21

with few exceptions" feels it incum-
bent upon himself to state that among
these surprisingly wonderful things
are shrubs valued for their use as
beverages" And SO the travesty on
English speech goes on until the eli
max is reached in the last paragraph,
which, for opaIueness OF meaning and
unanalyzabe construction, is I'M
matched, except by the one just pre-
ceding. 1t reads:
The barometer falls for southerly
wind, including from southeast bv south
to the westward, for wet weather, for
| stronger wind, or for more than one of
these changes except on few occasions,
when moderate wind, with rain or snow,
comes from the northward."
Pardon us, reader, for precipitating
this misty cloud of verbiage, but we
have duty to perform and must not
halt when the task becomes an inflic-
ton. These ridiculous passages are so
frequent that again the query obtrudes
itself: who examined the adopted book
before it was allowed to 60 upon the
market and for which the law provides
compulsory buyers? Or was it, and
others, not inspected at all? If they
were not; why not?
1t is said that the sample copy OF
this monstrosity submitted to the
State Board, had map which showed
the town Of Whatcom to be forty miles
from the seashore, and had been made
to conform to the Tacoma lie that no
water communication existed between
Olympia, at the head Of Puget Sound
and the "City Of Destiny" Clarke
county WAS left entirely off the map!
In lauding Seattle, OF which the eau.
thor with several exceptions" processes
much knowledge, he declares that Its
ocean commerce consists of several
oriental steamship lines and fleet of
vessels engaged in traffic with Alaskan
ports, besides many steamers which ply
on the Sound" This is the first time
we have ever met with an attempt to
make commerce "consist" of ships.
Were the members of the board
asleep, that with so many palpable and
discovered errors, this nondescript.
which sets at defiance all the rules of
grammar as we'll as betraying the most
profound ignorance upon the subject
it processes to treat, should be foisted
upon our compulsory educational sys-
tem9 After several weeks of profess.
eddy arduous labor, had not the public
a right to expect reasonably fair re.
suits?
1t would not do to conclude this re-
view and omit reference to The Teach.
ers' Manual, and State Course of
Study, which is designed to be used as
q textbook in some branches. For
instance, there are several outlines for
Nature Study, as outlined by Miss
Grippe, the prominent training teacher
OF the Ellensburg Normal School.
Here are few samples, taken from
page SO of the Teachers Manual.
The topic is "The Earthworm," and
here are some things that are said of
it, quoted disconnectediy:
"She moves often, so she can get more
work DONE" "Does She ear
anything besides earth? We will have
to take some to visit us and offer II diff
ferent things to eat to see."
Watch the piles of earth as YOU come
to school and as you come home"
Evidently this is a case of "catch
it a'comin' and catch it a'goin.'"
ut has no ears nor eyes, because thew
would get full of earth in the ground.
and they don't need them, as thew live
in the earth and couldn't see if they had
eyes,"
On page 62, the same author perpe-
trates this luminous paragraph, in a
lesson outline on "Joan of Arc:
Aim, to show the beauty of perse-
verance, self-denial, patriotism, courage
and justice, also, that pupils may know
the story for its historical value, and for
the benefit they may derive by repro
ducing, both orally and by writing, SO
that they may learn to express them
selves in good English"
There may be some question about
the benefits to be derived from the ef-
fort of the children at reproducing
anything creditable from the lesson
prescribed, but if they will only learn
to express themselves in good English
they also, in the fullncss OF time may
become primary training teachers in a
Normal school, and maybe they may
reach such position without that &C.
complishment. 1t seems that others
have done so.
There remains much more to be
said, but let it pass for time, while
we reflect upon the question, els
State Adoption of Textbooks a Good
Thing for the Public"
How THE STATE AUDITOR LOST AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPELLING A SHOW.
DowN.-In keeping with the Cover
nor's attempt to foist his family ex.
pense account upon the shoulders of