Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-08
NEW KIND OF SCHOOL
ENGLISH WOMAN TELLS WHAT
SHE WILL TEACH GIRLS.
The Practical Affairs of Life-How to
Get on and tf the Street
g
Cars

From the London Mail
At this moment, when SO many persons
| are interested in theBproblems of education,
| and when for the first time in our history
| the Importance of education as a factor in
| the future of the nation Is really beginning
| to be realized, 1t might be opportune to re-
| cord recent conversation with a prospec-
| tive schoolmistress who thinks for herself
| on these questions. For the sake Of conve-
| nience she shall be called Miss Docwra,
| although that is not her name.
Her popularity Is the conviction that ed
| ucation in what she calls 1.-The dynamfcs
| of daily life is more needed by girls than
| the usual accomplishments. Her aim is to
| fit girls for an independent career and in
| the school she proposes to establish she
will accept no pupils unless their parents
and guardians desire that such should be
the trend of their tutelage.
You see.' said Miss Docwra briefly,
what all women lack is an instinct for phys
les The why and wherefore of machinery
is utterly beyond them. Now, life is be-
coming every day more matter of ma
chinery; therefore that instinct must, if
possible be instilled if women are to sue
coed in independence And 1t appears to
me that In every class of life, including the
rich, independence is going to be more and
more the rule"
How Women Get Off omnibuses.
Miss Docwra hit upon her scheme of tut
ton in a curious way. She was riding on
the back seat of an omnibus some few
years ago, when a girl on the next seat
stopped the vehicle to get off She de-
seconded the steps with her skirt and purse
and parasol in one hand and with the other
holding the raj fartheSt from the horses.
Miss Docwra called to her to change hands.
but no notice was taken, and when she was
half way down the omnibus moved on, and
she was thrown off and hurt
For the rest Of the day." said Miss
Docwra, IT watched how women climbed
on omnibuses. and 1 noticed that out of the
seventy eight whom l counted, only three
had enough instinct for physics to hold
with the left hand while ascending and
with the right when coming down This
set me thinking, and I decided that what
the ordinary girl needs far more than in
struction on the piano, In German and in
the pronunciation of 'prunes and prisms'
Is a thorough grounding in what might be
called the dynamcs of daily life.
Il will devote my energies, I said. to
teaching them such things as will, without
in any way unsexing them. fit them to take
their place in daily life more on equal
ty with men,
Opening Railway Carriage Doors.
"Of course" said Miss Docwra, Il have
severe critics. especially among men. 1 am
told frequently that although 1 may be
" udhy SlhSteICy COmIOi
of my girls, 1 shall be lessening their chance
of marriage. The contempt for the dy-
namics of daily life, they say. which most
women display is one of their great
charms. And it is the MEMS opportunity;
they can dash in with their assistance and
win. Now that the tournament is more,
and one can no longer fight for ones lady,
one must open the door for her help her
to fill her bicycle tires. "H
But 1 doubt this. Fl believe that new
kind Of iS dpEslOniDp wi no
kind of woman. and that an efficient girl is
gong to be more attractive; than limp and
dependent one. 50
you will very likely think some of the
lessons trifing and frivolous said Mss
DOcwra, as she began to unfold the practi- |
cal part of her plan: but you must bear in
mind that a masterySof the little ordinary
things Is necessary as the. groundwork for
mastery of the larger things. The one leads
naturally to the other. ta3,-.. r..
Take, for exampleI an operation SO con-
tinuously necessary las the opening Of a
railway carriage door from the inside or
the management of the W ndow. The aver
age woman can never negotiate Or under
stand the safety spring. She fumbles with
the handle for a while. turning it as far as
the spring and then exhaustedly leans back
while one of the male passengers completes
the action. In my school, lid Miss Doc
wra, we shall have a railway carriage
door, set up on hinges In order that this
accomplishment. at any rate. shall not be
lacking to our scholars
Women's Boots.
Again" she said, take the matter of
boots. Nothing. I understand, so amuses
and amazes the ordinary man as the kind
of boots which women put on to walk In
1t has been said that the sexes are differ
entiated more strongly by their boots than
in any other respect Well. of the
things that we shall teach our girls is the
theory of the boot-what 1t is for, why 1t Is
made thick for certain purposes. what the
effect on the foot is likely to be If the
wrong kind of boot Is worn. and SO forth.
Knots again. Women do up more par
cells than men do, but how many Of them
can tie anything but granny or. even
II they can, understand why granny Is
pad and true knot good? We shall teach
knots.
I'VE shall teach folding clothes. too both
Womens and mems. Glow many women
can fold dress coat0 We shall teach do
ing up umbrellas, and trimming lamps, and
opening packing cases, and opening tins,
ana driving screws, and pulling corks and
lighting fires. This last. by the way, Is an
accomplishment that should be taught in
every board school in the country, but, of
course. 1t is not. The comfort of millions of
persons depends on 1t every day. We shall
also instruct in the care and feeding Of
dogs and other animals which some man
age so badly as a rule. and show, for in
stance. why 1t Is wrong to give dogs chicken
bones. The theory Of sanitation also we
shall teach, of which most women know
nothing at all. and we shall give practical
the Innings OF pipes and the reasons for
keeping 1t as far as possible out of sinks
There will be regular courses Of lectures on
health too.
The Boer Generals. Il
From the London Spectator
We do not agree that the enthusiastic