The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-06
MAKING Of A CITIZEN
AN ACCOUNT OF WHERE THIS M
PORTANT PROCESS BEGINS.
Interesting discoveries Made as Re-
suit Of Seeing n Child Scrub
hing n Fence.


South Side fiat, watching little girl who
seemed to be scrubbing the back fence
of the yard below them. She was neatly
dressed child, with long yellow braids that
jerked this way and that as she reached
high above her head and rubbed away at
the boards with all her might.
she belongs to that family down i'm Flat
A, you know. Do you imagine that any
body told her to wash that fence? I'm CO.
ing down to ask her. just for fun
A minute later one of the women stood
at the elbow of the small maiden.
What are you doing, dear?''
Keeping the city clean," was the prompt
answer.
The woman stared "Who told you to
do it?''
why. nobody, really, but l found out in
my civics class that i ought to help. and
they say the place to begin is right at home.
And say. our alley out here looks dread
fully. Won't some of you grown-up folks
tell the garbage man he mustn't spill so
many things and leave them lying around
when he empties the boxes?''
The woman peeped over the fence.
Dreadful, indeed!' she calculated. II
never looked out there before. What class
did you say?"
'Civics-where we learn to be good citi-
zens, you know
How old your"
Eight and half"
Eight years old-and you study civics?"
Eight and half. Why. civics, yes.
school, We have one special teacher for 1t,
you know. and she has a civics class in
each ROOM"
"Civics in the baby room! Where do you
90 70
Right around the corner. oh, civics is
the Most fun of anything! And when I'm
a little older it will be nicer STILL because
the teacher takes the higher grades on
great long trips down the drainage canal
and out to the cribs and such places, so
they'll understand better, you know. We
younger ones can't go so far. but we see
plenty OF things here in Chicago. It's great.
You just ought to visit our school"
I'm going to- was the answer, and the
very next day the two women, who had
stood wondering at the kitchen window,
dropped into the school around the cor
ner'' and found themselves in a world of
new ideas.
WHY BOB's FATHER PAYS TAXES.
They happened to strike a session of the
sixth-grade class In civics. The subject
under discussion was taxes, and one boy,
who looked as IL he had a chronic case
of wanting to know the reason why
was just saying, Taxes may be all right.
sometimes, but 1 don't think my father
ought to pay taxes on his house and lot
when he owns it,
The other pupils looked at their teacher
to find out whether Bob had made himself
ridiculous or had really said something
wise. For minute they couldn't decide.
The teacher smiled at Bob, quietly.
Very WE'LL she said, perhaps you're
right; Perhaps your father, having paid
all his property is worth, has right to
enjoy 1t without being troubled about taxes
Well suppose. just for the sake of argu-
ment, that the city has excused him from
won't he? But. of course. Bob. you'll have
to carry all the water you use III your
house from the lake. And you live a good
many blocks west, too. That will be rather
inconvenient, but you couldn't expect to
use the city's water works system unless
you helped pay the expense of keeping 1t
in order. could your?
A litter went around the room.
But you must all remember" reminded
the teacher, that Bobs father is to have
the advantage of not paying any taxes.
He can get up private system Of supply
ing his house with water, perhaps, though
I'm not quite sure that he would have
any right to use the lake water. even
then. Who can suggest another public
benefit that Bobs family will have to give
up If his father doesn't pay taxes"
bob can't come to school for nothing"
IF his house gets on fire he can't ask
the city fire department to put it out, :"
added another.
And he can be held up. but the police
won't have to help him."
He mustn't grumble If the Health De-
partment let's grocers sell him aduherated
food"
He can't use the Public Libraryy'
1.-The city won't build any sidewalks or
fix the roads around his land. He'll have
"He can't have the use of Chicago's
sewers!"
HE wouldn't have any right in the
parks!'
At last there was a lull.
"Well, Bob" said his teacher, would
it pay your father to support a private
fire department and police and all these
necessaries, do you suppose?"
''Guess not" admitted Bob with a grin.
Guess taxes are all right, after ALL"
CIvICS IN THE KITCHEN SINK.
This is a sample of the practical way
these boys and girls are finding out the
| meaning of city. state and national gov
| eminent. First of all they begin by study
| ing the work of the Health Department
| That sounds far away, but it isn't. 1t s right
| in the faucet over the kitchen sink. Little
| girls of six go to the blackboard and draw
| diagrams showing the mechanism of that
| faucet and of the pipes that conduct the
water to it. Somebody in the class has a
| father who is a plumber and the whole
roomful adjourns to his shop to learn just
| how he pipes a house for water. In this
| connection the laws governing sanitation
| and hygiene In city buildings are studied.
Then the pupils learn about the mains
| in the streets; they follow them to one of
| the pumping stations and investigate that;
/ they take a trip out to one of the cribs
! and see just how the lake water is strained
| into the great tunnels that bring ii TO our
| city.
| Next. having got the water from three
| or four miles out in the lake safely into
! the house, the civics class begins to study
| how TO get Ii out again. 1t takes up the
| subject of sewage. The plumber is called
| on again and asked to explain all the al :
tomato contrivances for preventing the
| escape of sewer gas, and so on. The boys
| and girls begin to look wise when they
| hear any one speak OF traps" and the
like.
Presently they learn that distinguished
men from Russia and Austria have come
! all the way TO Chicago just TO study the
| Thirty-n street. 1t is suggested 10
| them that it would be good thing to COM
pare our sewage system with that of other
/ large cities and, first they know, they are
| writing interesting papers on the subject
One of these civics class expeditions was
| made for the purpose of inspecting this
| same wonderful sewer of ours, while IL
| was being built. Ii was not easy to breathe
| down there at the bottom of the elevator
| shaft. The compressed air was almost too
| much for even the enthusiastic civics
| teacher. She came home weary and .fe-
cided not to talk about the sewer in class
next day. She would wait until she was
| quite rested and fresh enough for so big a