The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-12-06
THE POWER OF COURTESY

uBA VI - -
Three-fourths of the Doctors and
one-half the Merchants and Law
yers Owe Their Success to 1t More
Than Any Other Power. Says DR..
Phillips, of Westchester Normal
School. to Carbondale Teachers.
Miss Lloyd's Talk on Physiology.
Prof. Albert Continues Geography
Talks-Other Incidents of the
Sessions.
Half the merchants and half the
lawyers owe their success not to their
business qualities nor professional
ability, but owe as much to their cour-
teSy as to any power they have: and
three-fourths of the doctors of Carbon
dale are successful for the same rca
son"
This is what DR.. Phillips. of West
Chester Normal school, affirmed in his
talk yesterday forenoon at the city
teachers institute. He was discussing
school discipline or school manage
Inent and when he stated this fact
which is accepted as having a good
deal of force. he was seeking to i'm
press on the teachers what a source of
power they had in their school life in
being kind and courteous. Thurlow
Weed, the great politician of New
York, when he was in the height of his
power, advised Il young man to be
courteous if he would succeed.
Ttl..l q
a study of ourselves our dispositions.
will be II great help and will be anoth-
er source of power Another source of
power is the respect of the pupils for
our scholarship. The teacher who will
have her scholars respect her powers
of knowledge and learning will find
that it will go Il long way towards
her controlling her school.
The Value Of Praise.
'The value of praise is wonderful"
said Or. Phillips. with greater en-
phasis. We are too ready sometimes
to find fault when we ought to praise.
There is a good deal more in praising
than in finding fault. ] never knew
one teacher who praised too much; the
trouble is we do not praise enough.
You know how good you feel when
your superintendent or one Of your
directors visit you and says a kind
word in recognition of some of your
official acts
BE frank and willing to admit your
error if YOU are wrong; and always
hear what your pupils have to say in
defense of himself. Keep in mind that
the worst scoundrel on trial in your
court house for the most dastardly
crime has the right to tell his story be-
fore he is condemned. Remember the
advice of Edison to the mother who
brought her son to the famous inventor
TO hear something that might benefit
him. Edison was absorbed in his work:
he was lost to everything but what
was before him; naturally he was in
i'll humor when approached by the
woman and her son. Edison looked at
the woman and the lad and burted:
Madam, tell YOU son not to watch the
clock SO teachers, said DR.. Phillips,
don't watch the clock; don't hurry time
in anticipating the social or other en-
gagement that you have in mind.
In conclusion, DR.. Phillips suggested
that the teachers read more of the
work on education, by Herbert Spen-
Ger, the father of school management
He reminded them as parting
thought that, primarily, education is
not the mere teaching of the lessons
of the text books public education is
to make your scholars good citizens. In
this great and responsible work, school
management Is of the first importance.
In the afternoon, DR.. Phillips took
the teachers and spectators on IA hur-
ried, but none the less interesting trip
through the city of London, commence
ing with the ride on the railway cars
TO the famous city, after crossing the
sea, His descriptions We're so clear
and entertaining that everybody en-
joyed the illusion that she was in the
city of fogs and historic place.
DR.. Phillips gave a graphic picture
of the poverty and misery of London,
which was probably the greatest of
any city in the world as was true of
the wealth and pleasure of the big city.
The Tobacco Habit.
Miss Lloyd at yesterdays sessions
touched on two evils--alcohol and to-
bacco-and impressed on teachers the
necessity of pointing out what she
claimed We're some of the causes of de-
generacy.
She spoke ON alcohol in the evening
II was incidental to her talk on prim-
AIRY physiology. She instanced the
athletic contests of the land of Will
liam Tell where the contestants in
archery abstain for months from the
Use OF alcohol and tobacco that they
may have steady nerves to send the
arrow into the mark. Teach the boys
was her advice, that they will have
need for strong muscles and ste.idy
nerves in the battle of life. which can
best be preserved by abstinence from