The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-07-30

because Of my inability L get al tn
exchanges, and my distance from tn,
Offices IN the capitol.
| am at my desk again this week
however, and will henceforth give m,
best efforts to this wOrk-a work tina
should be very close to the heart o
every loyal Mississippi MAJ and wo
man, KATE NJ. POWER.
-
Ere this letter will have reached oul
readers the School Bulletin will be II
circulation In Mississippi, and we ara
confident that its bright pages will
in all truth, fill a long felt want ~ne
Bulletin Is a large four-page fsix col
umhs to the pageJ paper, which State
Supt. Whitfield issues from his Office
quarterly. 1t is brim full of practical
information concerning school mat.
ters, and brings forth arguments in
favor Of a better state of things, edu.
cationally, that only a chief justice
need attempt 10 meet. The teachers
need just such plain talk az they will
get in the Bulletin, and the people,
need not only these many columns
Overlooking 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 do
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-
| COmplishment. The bulletin Ia 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 q recent school
commencement in C0piah county,
hence quote first, from that address.
In discussing the supreme duty of the
hour, he said:
We live in a different age from
that in which our fathers lived. Life
was simpler in those days. Then it
was the simplest Of tools, the OK cart
and the water mill; now 1t Is the
most complex of machinery, it 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
chincryi then very little attention was
paid to training the people for the
great industrial combat; now the pro
SressiY2 communities of the earth vie
with each other in the opportunities
given for training the people for their
work; then muscle and Drawn were
almost everything, now brute force
hardly counts for anything, training
Il everything. My friends, unless you
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.
met with just such discouraging
remarks as Well. / got my schoolin'
{ bout ever stndyin' bout no Anna
Liza, and | don't want no such fool.
in the chiIlen's heads. lust set
-. " .- T., =.
back grammar and they'll know all
he language they needs to know"
etc.
Particularly do he parents in some
of the city. MS we'll as the
country. object to the modern methods
teaching beginners and I have
;nown of numerous instances recently
n which parents nave taken their IN.
lie ones from school and emploved n
eachar or attempted themselves IN
each the children their "A n Cs" !
Until I was a guest last year in a :
,e~tghborbood where five ruraI tpacb. ,
rs live, I had 10 convention or tbe !
iHcuIfies undar which thev rabor An .
II these yorTug women are snIaraid :
eacbers arc well educated and filed !,
With love for their work, but without a
they are sadly discouraged =
nd for lust the reasons given by Mr.. f
Whitfield And il wouId seem Mt a G
lance. useless for the teachers of !,
ONE of our schools ia spend so much ;
ime and money Mt our splendid NOR. :
}9ls when thew know from sad ex- !,
that their patrons will NOT +
)lerate any .'new.fangled" notions !
that n teacher who tennis anv.
tinr bevond s.readin'. 'ritin' and 'ritl,. :.
.etic" will find herself out of a iob !,
t next election time. =
This Is deplorable, for the children
re alert for everything new and inter. :
sting For instance I made 4 talk :,