Mower County transcript., 1903-07-15
THE o s HIST DRY
ssflovEL PLAN II os AsvAtk KEN CIVIC iV-
TEREsT lfa NEW oRK. Ss


i NOVEL PLAi To AVA N CIVIC ie- N.
TEREsTss lfa NEW oRK. S3
Prizes offered school GhIIdren sand
Tcachers For Best Essa ~ low Is1,,gv the the
/ Idea Could Be Fol lowed EIsewheres
to- Advantaee.
IN. connec ton with the writing Of
what may be called a new history of
/ New York, to commemora its two
hundred and Fl ftieth anniY the
Times Of that city has evolved an idea
which must be spoken Of in the highest
terms. and Which it is hoped will be.
adopted in some form or other in hun
dreds5 Of towns and villages in the land.
Mr.. Thomas a.. .Janvier, who is the rec
ognized highest authority on the sub
ject and y hose literary charm is vide
" known, wrote d series of articles for
the Times, as follows: he Planting
of the Ci ity, ,'ss' Il The Dutch West India
Company ''..' Dutch Rule Of New Meth
lerland. 4 How New NJ Netherland Be
came New York, Z 5..O Our First Reform
Governor, = New York Under English
Rule and ''The. Lesson Of Three Hun
dred Years. . Z .. y ..55
Beginning May 225.= the New York.
Times published these articles daily,
and to make them appeal to the rising
generation the. newspaper offered
prizes to pupils of the high schools
and the four upper grades of the ele-
mentary schools for the best essays
founded upon Mr.. Janvier's articles.
as follows: ,.J=.. s::l ss K.
Fifty prizes Of $40 each for the best
essays submitted by the pupils Of the
high schools Of the public schools of
New York city; fifty prizes of $40
each for the best essays submitted by
the pupils Of the four upper grades Of
the elementary schools of the public
schools Of New York city; a thou
sand souvenir merit medals to be dis
tributed as follows: One to the writer
Of the class Of the writer as the best
Of twenty or more submitted from the.
class y 5::57t4
That the teachers might become gem
orally and personally interested in the.
success of their pupils the following
prizes were offered them as an incen-
tive: E g %=sss$ &%, . |e..S
One hundred prizes of SIS each to the
teachers of the 100 pupils winning ten
dollar prizes; a prize Of $50 additional
to each Of the five .teach of English
in the high schools whose pupils sub
NIT the. best five essays: prize Of
$50 additional to each of the five teach.
ers in the four upper grades Of the
elementary schools whose pupils sub.
NIT. the best five essays; to each
teacher having a media! pupil the New
York Times Saturday Review of Books.
will be sent for one year, z.#.5
An idea, is not only here presented
that other great cities should not be.
slow to grasp. but it may be taken up
by town and village to their great ben
eft. There need be no waiting for an
anniversary. In fact, few towns have
any authentic anniversary, or commenlrs
crate one by so much as seven raising a
flag. There may be men who have no
history, but there are no towns With
ont A oit; Ill III
town almost as well as his family. If
no history has been published then let.
the pupils Of the higher classes Of the
schools take advantage Of the oppor->
tunity. The citizens Of any town can
afford to make up a purse of SIS, $40
or $25 as reward not for the best es-
say written on some one else's efforts.
but for an original article Of local his
toric interest, one going back. to the
first house and the first family and
bringing matters up to date. The town
records sholtld be open to all searchers
and assistance cheerfully rendered by
those in possession Of data: Local
newspapers would encourage the idea
and be only too willing to publish the
successful articles in full. In award
| Ing the prizes the rules laid down
above might be followed with profit
"a move on the part of the principal
Of q school in any town is all that is
needed to set the ma chinery in mo-
ton, and 1t will be found before the
competition closes that the whole pop
ulation Of the town or village has be-
come interested. In making up state.
gazetteer for a certain state last year
a state which boasts of its high rate
of ntelligence and its educat tional fa-
cilities-the compiler visited number.
OF towns where questions were asked
and answered as follows: E: :1s s5z
Whos founded your town y 3
Don't know ''. sas35
Nv hen was the first house erected y.
Cant say
Nv hat was the population ten years.
age?
Dom Il know s55S8.
What did the last census make It re z.
Cant tell. Z s5I5s
.sHave there been any great fires or