Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-02-10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
GOSSIP FROM:
SCANDINAVIA:
FINLAND
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FINLAND.
A few evenings ago a bright light
was seen in the sky at Sastmola, but
it soon disappeared. About the same
time an unusual phenomenon was no.
ticed on a river at the village of Ala
karvia. The ice was crushed over
an area of about $50 by so feet as if
it had been struck by some heavy OBJ
ject. That had fallen through the
deep at the place, but the bottom
consists of soft mud, in which no
solid object could be felt.
DENMARK.
About three and a half years ago
a committee was elected to propose
changes in the plan of instruction OF
the public schools of Copenhagen.
The occasion was, that cooking had
been made compulsory in the high
est girls classes, and few ho6rs in
writing and needlework had been
dropped. OF the members of the
committee, five were elected by the
school inspectors, five by the lady
teachers and five by the male teach
ers, and the superintendent, Prof.
Bauditz, acted as chairman. The re-
suit of the work of the committee
has just been presented to the pub
lie in the form of a book of one hun
dred pages, the propositions made in
it having been endorsed by the board
of education. Some of the changes
proposed are so radical as to merit
particular attention. Under the pre-
sent system, children that are the
reverse of bright are tagging behind,
completing, for instance, four years
work in five years or more. The COM
mittee proposes to avoid this by d.
viding the pupils into two "lines,'' or
courses, at the end of the third year.
The two courses may be designated
by A and 3. The A course will not
deviate much from the present plan.
But the B course will require less
theoretical knowledge and more prac
teal work from the pupil. The A
couse will consist of the classes Al
and graduating class, and the B
course of the classes 4-6. The parents
of the children shall have no authori-
ty as to the choice of courses, but
the school authorities shall, at the
completion of the third school year,
place the child where it is supposed
to derive the greatest benefit from
its school work. Experience has
that there are children
who cannot even keep up with the B
classes. For such children the COM
mittee recommends the continuation
of the "auxiliary classes" which were
established three years ago. A mini
mum of theoretical knowledge is re-
CURED in the later, the mind of.
tho pupil being developed chiefly by
meas of interesting conversations,
while practical work takes up large
part of she time spent in the class
room. The ''auxiliary classes" have
already proved a great success. The
changes proposed in the branches
taught are less sweeping. The men,
bers of the committee agree that
there is danger of introducing too
many subjects, and that new studies
should be added only when dictated
by the most mature consideration.
Such branches as sociology, hygiene
and history of the church should be
taught only incidentally in connec-
ton with the study of history, re-
ligion, natural history and domestic
economy. There is unanimity as to
the Importance of instruction in
and cooking in the
girls classes. German is recommend
ed as the only foreign language to
be taught, but Swedish ought to re-
ceive some attention in connection
with Danish in the highest classes.
The instruction in mathematics which
was introduced in 1895 has been mea-
ger in results, and should be drop
ped. The only new branch which the
would make compulsory
is manual training, but it should be
only in certain classes at
first. The committee wants to make
a very slight reduction in the num-
Der of school hours per week. The
city council of Copenhagen has al
ready taken up the new plan for
consideration, but the results are not
known at this writing. Many of the
will no doubt be
adopted.
Some pens for keeping oysters at
Nykiobing were broken down by the
ice, and oysters to the value of at
least $4,000 were lost.
The temperance group" in the
riksdag consists of about 80 men,
bers, two of whom belong to the first
chamber.
Miss Eva Fryxell, a celebrated
writer, received many tokens of hon.
and she said that she had never
dreamt of becoming the object of
such great attention.
Clocks will be placed in the cleo
trio cars on the street railways of
Stockholm so that the passengers
may see what time it is.
The Orebro cracker factory, which
is only about seven years old, is the
largest in Sweden, the annual pro-
duction being 100000 pounds.
A railway car blew away unawares
at Elmhult, and after running down
grade for a considerable distance it
met n freight train at a curve. The
single car was hurled to the side, and
the locomotive of the freight train
was pressed down so forcibly that it
slipped down between the rails,
spreading them apart, but it was in
jured so slightly that everybody was