The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-02-10
The Germ Theory of
Disease Is Not
Complex.
At Least It Can Be Brought
Down to Childish
Understanding.

The regular bi-monthly meeting o
the Territorial Teachers Association
drew out large crowd of pedagogues
mostly from the city schools, last night
and produced one man with a dominat-
| ing idea There were a number of ideas
held and expressed. by the teachers
present, of course. There was one idea
that will take root perhaps in wider
ground than these islands. That was
the idea of Uriah Thompson, of the Ka-
mehameha Manual school, expressed in
few minutes talk when the reports
were being heard on the subject of
Mature Study in the several schools.
Mr.. Thompson did not make any ex-
tended report of the work of his classes.
He did not have time. But he offered a
suggestion, and it embodied the idea.
81 want to suggest" he said, "the i'm
portance of educating the children on
the subject CT proper sanitation. The
germ theory of disease, universally held
by advanced scientists, should be taught
in the public schools. You can so
derstanding of the children. 1 have al
ready begun upon it with my boys.
They are all deeply interested in it,
too. There is nothing so complex about
the relation of germs to disease that it
is beyond the childish understanding,
and 1 believe we can so teach them
in our schools that when they get old
enough they will demand and secure
better sanitary conditions. AS one ex-
pertinent, we took some water from one
of the taro patches near town, and the
bbys and 1 watched the animal life
come into it, watched with the micro
scope. and the boys drew pictures of the
bugs for me, so 1 knew that they saw
them. L will warrant you that none of
those boys will ever again drink wa
ter from a taro patch, nor use it to pre- |
pare their taro in. Let us make a be- |
ginning of teaching the children how t. |
1--we better in this way, and how TO
avoid causes for disease"
The regular proceedings of the meet
ng opened with music by the girls of
Namehameha school, after which Mr.
Frederick Krause, of Kamehameha
Manual school, read a most instructive
PAPER on Soil Making Mrs. Isabel
of Kaahumanu school, fol-
cwed with paper on PLANT and IN
ect Life" showing the interest the
children took in this study from nature,
md Miss NJ. Alice King, of the High
chool, told How L Conduct School Ex-
ursions.' This paper drew out a con-
iderable discussion, mainly turning up
n the expense of such excursions and
low it was to be met. The problem
Fas finally left to the solution Of the
Individual teacher
The girls of Kamehameha Girls
chool gave another song, and them :
anne the reports on nature study in
he course of which Mr.. Thompson
Ormulated his idea, speaking for his J
chool Other reports, all of them brief
ut interesting. were received as fol-
'ws: From Pohukaina school, Mrs.
Ieapy: Kamehameha Girls school, :
liss ROCKFORD; Kalihi-waena school,
[r. Taggart; Maemae school, Miss
reen; Punahou school, Mrs. Turner:
school, Miss Felker; Nor
al school, Mr.. Pope; Kaiulani school, h
RS. Frazier; Royal school. Mr.. Law. 1
The president of the Association. Miss Il
ierce, presided at last nights meeting, s
nd there were a number of interested 7
)ectatorS present 4