The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1904-08-10
WATER CHAUTAUQUA.' .
Children Learn as They Sail on
a Steamer.
LECTURES ON NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

Vacation School Organized by chi
cagO Teachers Combines Unique
Water Pleasure Trips with Educa-
tiOn-Brass Band an EnIiVeninG
Feature.
"Water Chautauqua" is the newest
thing in summer school work, says a
Chicago dispatch. 1t is a real novelty
that had it's inception in Chicago, its
principal object being to give school
children and adults Of the poorer dis
tr1cts a pleasant outing as well as en-
tertaining instruction.
All the sessions of the ChautauQua
are held aboard steamship, generally
the new steel vessel City of South
Haven, but always a craft that is sea-
worthy. Although the South Haven
and her sister ships used in this serv-
ice are built to carry 1000 to 1900
passengers, only $50 children are taken
aboard for any Of the trips.
Among these are trips to the cribs"
Of the waterworks system, to the gov
eminent lighthouses and life saving
mouth, where freight worth millions
Of dollars is daily received. Sightsee-
ing on that portion Of the drainage
canal within the city limits, with lee
lures on the sanitary value of the
S4O,OOOOO0 enterprise, is among other
notable things included in the course.
Several visits have been made to the
Carter Harrison crib, the newest in
take on the lake. When the steamer
reaches the side Of this crib the tuve-
nile Chautauquans disembark and go
aboard the crib, storming its rooms
and halls. They are allowed to see all
the sights of the place, and when their
eyes are tired they hear a lecture ex-
planning the operations of the water
works and the Importance of the sys-
TEN to the health Of Chicago's 100000
people. They are assembled for these
lectures in the cribs main room, which
affords accommodation for several hun
dred auditors.
Other subjects taught are govern
ment improvement of harbOrs, dredg-
ing, piling, jetties, tunnels, break
waters, life saving, fishing. the action
Of currents and ice, the sanitation and
Identification of Chicago, first aid to
the injured, resuscitatiOn of persons
nearly drowned, power applied to navt-
CATION, coal and steam as navigating
powers, use of the compass and other
nautical instruments, commercial geog-
raphy of Chicago, what the river has
done for the making Of the city, the
relation of Chicago to the country and
the world, and practically every OBJ
ject which arouses the curiosity Of the
students on each voyage.
The brass band of the Graham school
Is an enlivening feature of this vaca-
ton school. Members of this band
lead patriotic songs as we'll as play
popular music while the boat is in the
inner harbor 1t is the plan that every
person enrolled in the school shall learn
several national songs, both words and
music, during the two weeks term.
The programme of the water Chau-
tauqua is governed by the weather, no
trips being made in rough water. 1t
was the original plan to have steamer
chartered for every day, Sundays ex-
cepted, but 1t was found impossible to
get the kind of steamer required, so
the trips have been taken three or four
times a week.
The steamer starts from the Rush
street bridge at o'clock in the fore
noon. 1t passes up the river, moving
slowly to give an adequate view OF
both banks, with their docks, ware
houses, railway terminals, bridges and
other objects of interest After navt-
eating both branches of the Chicago
river the steamer returns to dock,
makes a brief stop to take on belated
ChautauQuans and then puts out into
harbOr and lake.
When the lake is smooth and the
weather man says there is no wind in
sight or storm lowering, the steamer
makes a trip of two to three hours to
some point within ten or fifteen miles
Of Chicago, returning again to her dock
at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Then
another trip is made on the lake or in
the outer harbor.
Little or no instruction, and only the
briefest in any event, is given during
the river trips, as there are so many
things worthy of observation on the
river front that the time is fully taken
up. During the outward trips the boat
Is brought to a stop in the basin, just
far enough from shore to be in the
zone of GOODNESS, and there the students
assemble in the lecture hall and receive
their lessons.
In addition to Principals Watt and
Marshall and Lieutenant Buxton, about
twenty other teachers are engaged in
the instruction work of the water
Chautauqua. Dr. w. H. Bohart Of the
Englewood Union hospital gives lee
lures ION the First Aid to the In
jured," illustrating with a boy for his
subject. He is also the lecturer on the
sanitation of cities and the prevention