Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1904-07-28
To My Readers:

exchanges, ana my distance from the
Offices in the capitol.
l am at my desk again this week,
however, and will henceforth give my
best efforts to this work-a work that
should be very close to the heart of
every loyal Mississippi man and wo-
man. KATE M. POWER.
Ere this letter viii have reached our
readers the School Bulletin will be in
circulation in Mississippi. and we are
confident that its bright pages will,
in all truth, fill long felt want. ale
Bulletin is large four-page tsix col
umns to the page) paper, which State
Supt Whitfield issues from his Office
quarterly. 1t is brim full OF practical
information concerning school mat
tiers, and brings forth arguments IN
favor of better state of things, edu'
cationally, that only a chief justice
need attempt to meet. The teachers
need just such plain talk as they will
get in the Bulletin, and "the people
need not only these many columns
overfiowing with good things, but they
need even more, an interest in the
betterment of our schools, and through
them our children, and through them
our State and our nation-that will
make them eager to read every word
in its four pages, and willing to dc
their part toward bringing education
in Mississippi up to the high stand
ard set for 1t by the noble men who
in schools, colleges and State offices
are giving their best efforts to its ac
oomplishment. The bulletin is as full
of good things as one of our fine
home-raised pecans is full of richest
meat, so | am literally embarrassed
with riches" from which to choose
But we are anxious to emphasize sew
eral excellent points made by the
superintendent at a recent school
commencement in Copiah county
hence quote first, from that address
In discussing the supreme duty of the
hour, he said:
I'VE live in different age from
that in which our fathers lived. Life
was simpler in those days. Then II
was the simplest of tools. the OK cart
and the water mill; now it is the
most complex of machinery, 1t is the
age of steam and electricity; then al
most everything was done with the
hand; now almost all the work In pro
gressive communities is done by ma
chinery; then very little attention was
paid to training the people for the
great industrial combat; now the pro
gressiva communities of the earth vie
with each other in the opportunities
given for training the people for theil
work; then muscle and Drawn were
almost everything, now brute force
hardly counts for anything, training
ig everything. My friends, unless yot
give your boys infinitely better train
ing than your fathers had, you can
not expect them to do one-tenth as
we'll"
How many times do the brave
women (for the teaching force is made
up largely of women) have their eff
forts met with just such discouragini
remarks as "Well, got my schoolin
.thont ever studyin' bout no Anna
Liza, and I don't want no such fool
ishness in the chillen's heads; just sci
'em to parsin' in the good old yellow
back grammar and they'll know al
the language they needs to know,
etc.
Particularly. do The parents In some
sections of the city, as well as the
country, object to the modern methods
of teaching beginners and ! have
known of numerous instances recently
in which parents have taken their lit
tie ones from school and employed 9
teacher. or attempted themselves tt
teach the children their "A b Cs."
Until / was a guest last year in
neighborhood where five rural teach
ers live, had no conception of the
difficulties under which they labor. Al
of these young women are splendie
teachers are we'll educated and filled
with love for their work, but, without
exception, they are sadly discouraged
and for just the reasons given by Mr.
Whitfield. And 1t would seem, at {
glance, useless for the teachers o
some of our schools to spend SO mucf
time and money at our splendid nor
mails, when they know, from sad ex
perience, that their patrons will no
tolerate any "new-fangled" notions
and that teacher who ttempts any
thing beyond "readin', 'ritin' and 'rith
netic" wIIl find herself out of jol
ct next election time.
This is deplorable, for the children
are alert for everything new and inter
esting. For instance, | made tall
recently in one of our river counties
on the subject of improving the schoo
grounds and buildings. had will
me sketches and views from differen
States of rural schools before ant
after" the enthusiasm of the children
under wise direction, had worke'
Transformations beautiful to behold
1t was delightful to speak to the cage
children and to note the pleased ex
pectancy as we passed from one ide;
tc another. Their eyes danced as II
visions they saw their dreary yars
changed to a scene of beauty, ant
their fingers fairly quivered with tn
desire to get to work. | spoke in
typical rural school house and it mad
my heart ache to think of the lone
dreary days spent in this enlarge'
goods box, with no earthly thing
save a sense of duty, to lend attrat
ton to the long days work After
had spoken we came out on the sur
baked, shadeless yard flor an "ol
field had been deemed good enoug
for the school house in sectio
where glorious forest monarch
abound). and the children, of thei
own accord. went joyously at the tas
| Of planning their improvement
was beautiful to see them. and n,
heart rejoiced that my first speech
had brought. forth such good ffui
Alas. in d few brief seconds. wa