Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-06-26

inabiilty 70 paSs t6s required examina-
ton IN elementary English branches. Mr..
Iawney calls attention to the fact that
each OF his appointees was graduate of
q Minnesota high school and selected
largely upon his high standing asa sttss
dent. AZ The Mlnnesot6 echoelg rank
very hl1t Hi aWneY 10 apparently Jus
tilted IN thar the criticism he makes of
the public school system must have gem
eraig APPLICATION and not be confined to
Minnesota nor to the district from which
ms candidates were selected.
Mr. Tawney believes that the fault Is
with the modern system OF examining
children and rushing them through the
grade schools without proper attention
to their training in elementary English.
He calls attention to the fact that hun
drcds and thousands of children In his
state are entering the high schools at the
age OF fourteen years or under, and he
does not believe 1t possible that these
youths have been proerly prepared for
the heavier work OF the high schools.
The criticism made by Mr.. Tawney has
been urged by many OF the ablest edu-
Gators of the country for several years,
apparently without any appreciable eff
feet No one will contend but that re-
variable and desirable progress has been
made In educational methods within the
last generation. Many of the old rules of
instruction that made study irksome and
secured at best a parrotlike proficiency
have been properly abandoned. but there
are indications that the pendulum of re-.
form has swung too far to the other side
In very many instances. What with OBJ.
Ject lessons. nature study, sight spelling.
grammar by example and geography by
observation 1t would appear that the
experimentation of education" had been
carried too far. The elementary branches
nre the foundation upon which the entire
fabric OF education Is built, and 1t should
require no argument to show the fallacy
OF an educational system In which tho
elementary grades are subjects Of neglect.
There should be no difficulty for the
graduate OF any high school In the coun-
try passing the examination required in
elementary English for admission to West
Point or Annapolis. Those requirements
are not exacting, vet the fact remains
that many high school graduates fall to
meet them and that q large number Of
drilleries throughout the country are
prospecting by coaching applicants for the
military and naval academies In studies
which they should have mastered in tho
public schools. The question is one
which should command the attention Of
oficials charged with the conduct and
management OF the public schools Of the
country.
Now, there Is little consolation In
that. The only -crumb of comfort is
the fact that my district Is not alone
in the unpreparedness of its boys.
Upon inquiry at Annapolis was
given the following figures: Out of IS
only 81 passed at two examinations,
and 100 out of total Of 400 examined.
About % per cent of those who failed
on first examination passed on second.
These figures show that the vice Of
our latter day educational system Is a
lack of thoroughness. It is spread out
too much. The curriculum is too ex-
tensive. Better to know few things
well than to have a smattering of I'LL
things. Experts are the persons who
climb high and who receive big wages.
Thorough, should be the motto Of
our educators.
A New Wrinkle.
For, 10, these many years our north
ern cousins have been making fun Of
our southern cousins because, as al
legged, the latter derive their soft and
broad pronunciation from the Afro
Americans, alias negroes, alias plain
"niggers." This accusation may or
may not be true. However that may
be, there are certain games and per-
formanccs which are recognized as
peculiarly African or Afro-American
in their origin and practice. Among
the former is craps; among the lat
ter is the cake walk. While certain
southern white persons have been be-
guiled by the seductive and hazardous
game Of craps. no southern white per-
son has been known to indulge III a
cake walk; consequently the following
dispatch from over the sea will be
read with amazement by most Ameri-
cans: &
London. May 3O-Afrs Frank Avery,
who was among the Americans presented
at court this week, Is great social sue
cess. The other night she gave a smart
dinner. Among the guests were the Duke
and Duchess Of Newcastle, Marquis and
Marchioness Of Dufferin, Prince FecIe.
Earl and Countess Leicester, Countess Of
Essex. Lady Lis.erkaye. Marquis and
Marchioness of CRANKY. the American
Lord Fairfax, Marquis De Several, the
kings friend. and many notables. After
dinner Mira, Avery had the principals OF
/ Walker and WtlliaHs' .Dahomey' CONS
/ pany. who did q cake walk and coon song4.
i The New York negroes and negresses are
an enormous success They are in de-
i mand at entertainments in fashionable
society, and many fashionables are talk
Ing lessons In cake walking, as did the
Newport -Four Hundred.
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