El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-04
Interesting Talk by Miss Stanton
at the Teachers InStiture Last
Saturday.--MOralS in the Public
SchOOlS.and other Live Subjects,
Discussed

At the meeting of the public school
teachers of the city and county held
at the high school on Saturday last
some exceedingly good papers were
read bearing upon the various phases
of teaching and school government.
The attendance was unusually large,
many out of town teachers being pres
ent, and the session was prOtracted I'M
til went along in the afternoon.
Among the number the paper of
Miss Mary Stanton: THE books which
have most Influenced my life was
thoroughly enjoyed.
Miss Stanton commenced by saying
that one could best discuss such a
theme after a long. active and distin-
guished life. when just about to
Wrap the drapery of his couch about
him
And lie down to pleasant dreams. -
when. after the battle of life. he stood
on the hilltops of victories won, in
the quiet and peace of self conquest.
and could say this. and this, have in
fluenced my life.
There was a time when darkness
was on the face of the deep. and the
spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters and God said, Let there
be light Under, the sunlight. life in
all its beauties. delights and luxuriance
leaped into expression. Thorns and
brambles sprang up by the sturdy oak
and weeds and nettles flourished by
the side of the exquisite flower. God
saw everything that he had made and
behold it was very good. The first
chapter of Genesis is the song of life:
the great epic of the human soul
Darkness is on the face of the deep but
the soul leaps forth and We ourselves
are born.
Truly the soul is a mysterious must
cal instrument played upon by sur
rounding influences each bringing
forth different melodies. Now and then
the hand of a master sweeps the key
board and every nook and Granny of
the soul awakes and says: Here 1 ami
Then it is that the great symphonies
are born.
This subject said Miss Stanton.
lis necessarily a personal one because
it is about myself and some of the best
friends of my life. Once, when I was
calling at a home in Ell Paso a little
maiden of three was brought in. The
she saw me and before going
the formalities of an intro
she exclaimed: 'Dollies. Dol
bounded away and in a moment came
back with her chubby arms over
whelmed with dollies-dollies that
their golden tresses with her
own: blue eyed dol1ies. rag dollies. dol
lies with raven lock, rubber dollies
with no locks at all and unhampered
by the conventionaIities of dress. In
1 was fairly smothered with
1ollies of every race. color and pre-
Fious condition of servitude: battered
md worn some of them but they were
her treasures.
SO, when you want me to tell you
about my books with childlike ardor
would rush away down the corridors
If memory and bring from each wall
md hallowed niche the best and the
greatest of my possessions. I must
irst admit that my earliest childhood
vas absolutely free from the influence
Il books SO that possibly I may say
hat the books l never read most in
uenced my life. for in my anxiety I
urned to the book written by the Mas
er Hand. the great book of Nature.
t spoke to me "A various language and
ang to me in every tongue. Mother
'ature and not Mother Goose lulled
lie to sleep with songs that will live
my heart forever. The ground
'ueTeOu StOOu was narrowed ground.
D 1 surreptitiOusly removed my shoes
n all occasions. thereby making it
ecessary to nurse sundry stone bruises I
nd withstand the stings of outrageous
ees. And the evening and the morn '
lg were the first day"
1T is true that the ponderous works
DIR. Dix. Bunyan's Pilgrims Pro- g
-ess. and Websters Unabridged Die c
onary reposed upon my fathers i
but on them | turned my a
eel and fed to the Businesses of the a
Ountains. But again the great TRACE a
7 of Genesis was enacted. My father Il
owe me out of paradise. He intimat- f
that some sort of knowledge grew 4
Id flourished without the gates. So. f
rly in the morning of the second era n
came under the influence of Web Il
er's Blue Back Spelling book. 1t was s
standard at that time and let me {
y that no one book has ever had c
ore influence for good since the world b
gan. The thousands that learned to "A
ell from it went forth inspired to do
her things equally well. n
Then came a series of McGuffey'S Il
aders and stories ranged all the way Il