The Jersey City news., 1902-11-11
SOCIETY TOPICS
School Tech RS Aroused
Against Women Direc-
tors by Mrs. Prem
tiss's Remarks.
FAILED 10 RECOGNIZE PEDAGOGUES
Visited Forty or Fifty, She
Said, and Supposss She
Hurt Their Feelings by
Not Remembering
Them.

One Of the greatest antagonizers Of
teachers against women representatives
in the Board of Education was Mrs.
Prentiss, of Brooklyn, who, while not a
member of the Board of Education, was
member of one of the local district
boards, and strangely enough came TO
Jersey City to arouse the women over
here to sense of their duty in regard to
school boards. Mrs. Prentiss was tell
ing her experience.
in my district" said She raising her
bejewellcd hands and rafting her hun
dred dollar chatelaine, Il suppose there
are something Ike forty or fifty teachers.
/ visited them all at the school once or
twice and / must have passed them any
number of times on the street since, and
| suppose they all feel hurt because
didn't recognize them & couldn't be ex-
peeted to remember forty or fifty teach
ers.''
Now that the movement to put women
on the school board has actually come up
the teachers who were present recall this
speech, repeat it to their colleagues, and
the result may be guessed. More than
one teacher has referred to this speech
in recent interviews. Yet Mrs. Prentiss
was considered woman tactful enough
to be in the Board of Education.
Three years ago when the Board of
Education wanted to start summer
schools and Fairgrounds and couldn't
raise the funds TO pay teachers, it sent
ont plea for volunteers, expecting some
of the club women would respond. The
expectation was in vain. Then the
teachers, worn out with the winters
work, were appealed TO. Some of them
volunteered, but public sentiment, luck
lily, was against oyerwerking the teach
er, and the playground scheme fell
through. Now that the club women
want to get on the school board, the
teachers are remembering this, too.
No man can serve two masters-it
takes woman of tact to do that. The
woman of tact is rarity. therefore it
would be the hardest kind of thing to
find a woman, let alone two, who could
serve ON the Board of Education and
serve on her club (for of course she would
be a CLUB woman). Many of the teachers
who are members of the Woman's Club
recognize this fact. Being club members
they don't want to oppose the club, and
being teachers they don't want to run
any chances of opposing the Board of
Education. They are between two fires,
SO like the mugwump they sit on the
fence waiting to drop TO the winning
side.
Better than a play is the study of
womens faces round the charity euchre
prize table. Spread before the winners
is job lot of bargain day prizes. They
never know just what they want until,
with their shopping propensity of touch
they have felt the quality of everything
on the table, from glass vase to pock-
ct handkerchief. They are admitted to
the prize table in 'bunches," being
classed according to the number of games
they have won. OF course everybody in
one class can't have first choice, there
sometimes being as many as ten who
have won an equal number of games
Little number cards are made out and
awarded according as the winners draw
an ace, king, queen or everyday spot, No
] having first choice. Here is where the
fun comes in. Just watch her sisters
while she chooses. Each has her eye on
something, and each striving not to be-
tray her own choice, acts upon No.
with a sort of hypnotic influence, which
makes her hand lowering over the bank
rupt sale of bric-a-brac linger just little
longer on the spotted prizes. Ten to
one she catches the look of disappoint-
ment at that moment on two or three
faces, and instinctively makes up her
mind that that is what she wants. 1t
may be something she has no use for,
but her smile of satisfaction tells the tale
lit was what her neighbor wanted. Her
act is accompanied with look of dis
appointed disgust from the other winners
and there is another nervous tension with
the same hypnotic influence while No. 2
chooses, and SO on down the line, always
marked with variations ON the faces of
those round the table.
"At one time said refined looking