Abilene weekly reflector., 1902-08-07
Miss Petrie's HYocado1.
BY KATE xILxER RABB.

the best OF the year, IS Irum 'no
Monthly and is reprinted BY special permls-
sion of the publishers. 1t SO clearly exposes
certain wrong tendencies in educatlen, Us
noticeable in the West as in the East tna'
We hope everyone interested In schooi ~orn,
-patrons, school officers and teachers-~''
read it..
Necessity, not choice was prima''
ily the cause Of the adoption BY MISS
petrie Of the profession Of teaching.
Carpentry, which her father followed
under the more euphonious name ol
contracting, was not largely rsmun.
erstiye in the town Of Enterprise, and
when Miss Petrie, robed IN white
swiss muslin. had declaimed with
many gestures her graduating "ora'
ton" on "Who would be free must
strike the blow" and faced the cold
world, she found herself faced in turn
bv the alternative Of "doing some
thing" outside, or washing dishes ~ ana
darning stockings for the well'hlleo
house Of Petrie.
Either fred by ambition or stlmu'
lated by a distaste for dlshwashlns'
Miss Petrie took her first step up the
ladder Of fame by choosieg pedagogy
as her profession. ln other words
she applied to the township srus'ss
for country school, and asked her
father for five dollars with which to
nav her tuition in the summer "Nor-
mali held in Enterprise each vacation
BY the county superintendent and the
superintendent Of the Enterprise
schools for the purpose Of increasing
their insufficient incomes.
As the county teachers had long
since learned that patrons Of the Nor
NAL had no difficulty in securing IL
cepses to teach, the attendance wal
large. and Miss Petrie found herself
shoulder to shoulder with the peda
gogicsl talent, male and female O.
every township in the county.
The road through the new couutr!
opened to Miss Petrie by this gate o
instruction, while not q royal one
was at least level and easy to travel
By a study Of the monthly examina
ton questions prepared by the Stat
Board OF Education (these publlshe'
each month, with answers, in tn
State School Educator, which thus as
sured itself OF bona fde circulatio
Of as many paid subscribers as ther
we're teachers in the state), one 500
became familiar with the Board
manner Of questioning and was pr
pared therefor. In arithmetic, for II
stance, the applicant was 80 unfal
ingly required to calculate the oaPa'
ity Of a square cistern, that had OF
Of the school patrons asked his teacl
er to tell him the capacity OF his ow
(round) cistern, the said pedagogy
would have been subjected to mu'
embarrassment and confusion
grammar, the only strain on the il
tellect was the committing to mer
ory Of the entire volume prescrlb'
by the law for state use; and in geo
raphy, he or she who could trace u
wanderings Of a bushel OF wheat fro
Duluth to Archangel, name the ca
ital O.; Alaska, and bound Indian
was assured Of grade Of one hundr
per cent. History was likewise sill
ple. The dates Of the four colon1
wars slternated from month to mon
with the great battles Of the Ci'
War; while a description Of the bait
OF New Orleans was sure to follow
question on the Alien and Sediti
Laws and these to be followed by
list Of the Presidents Of the Unit
States, in order. In reading,
most stupid teacher could make
six questions on such lines as
II take my little pOrrlnger
And eat my supper there"
For example, what is a porting
What is a little porringerP Who
speakingP What did she have in
little porringerP What time in
day is itP Where is 'there'P" An
perusal Of thin volume on The Pr
ciples and Practice Of Teaching
sured moderately correct answers
the Science Of Teaching.
The instruction in the Nori
along tle lines suggested BY
Board OF Education, and the man
and vocabulary attained by six wee