The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-01-29
SCHOOL WORK PROMOTES
INTEREST IN HAWAII NEI
A Birmingham Ala, Paper Prints Some Letters
From Pupils in the Honolulu Schools
About the Land We Live In.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News has the
following article embracing some let
tiers from Honolulu:
A practical system of teaching
physical geography and one that is
likely to be adopted by all the gram
mar schools of the city is being con-
Quoted by about one hundred students
of the Powell school on Twenty-fourth
street and Sixth avenue. The two divi-
sions of the sixth grade are carrying
one an exchange of correspondence and.
products with a similar number OF stu
dents of the high school of Honolulu,
Hawaiian Islands, at present. a pic
ture of the high school of Hopolulu is
shown herewith, being photograph
sent to one of the Powell pupils.
A GOOD ADVERTISEMENT.
In the past, the system has been used
with New Zealand, Canada, Northern
states of this nation and with points
in England. The unusual interest
which goes with such work is perhaps
the greatest argument for It's use in
geographical study by pupils who are
vet young and hardly evolved from the
necessity of object lessons. And 1t
must be incidentally a great advertise
ment to Birmingham for the samples
of iron ore, coal seams, coke and Stag
are the first to so out of the local school
to the CORRESPONDENTS who are seeking
information mutually with Birmingham
seekers of knowledge. After the re-
souces of this district are exhausted,
the products both of nature and man
ufacture in other portions of the state
are corraled for shipment. Accompany
ing all samples are letters explaining
the existence of the resources, album
dance or scarcity, uses and Nevery
property of the things represented by
the exhibits
AMUSING SUGGESTION.
An amusing illustration of the woeful
ignorance of some correspondents was
a letter received from student in the
high school of oneida, \. Y. The letter
was we'll written and gave every evil
dence that the author is possessed OF
| the average Intelligence of that part OF
| the country. The topics of the com
munication included several questions
about cotton in Dixie. one wished to
know if the weed" grows on the streets
| of Southern cities. She had heard ana
| read so often of negroes working the
streets that she thought they were en-
ployed to pick cotton. OF course, she
| understood that rustic negroes toiled III
the fields in the country, but concluded
that the elite united in gangs and pick
ed along the thoroughfares of the CITY.
Needless to say, her correspondent at
the Powell school had not only to go
| back to primary days in the cotton
| proposition but had to distinguish, COT
| ton picking from working out police
sentence to the New Highlander.
INTERESTING SPECIMENS.
Recently the Powell pupils, under the
! direction of the principal. Miss Cahalah'
have received numerous letters from
| Honolulu accompanied by samples of
growth of woods, products of various
| kinds and coral reefs. Among the stu
dents are Miss Marguerite Merrill, Miss
Gamaliel Dixon, Miss Nellie Newton,
Miss Louise Thornbury and Frank
| Olmstead. The handwriting is vertical
and seems TO be an imitation of the
stylc until recently taught in the Birm-
! ingham public schools. The pIettiest
! exhibit is FRAGMENT of coral reef that
| has q CHI. cld,a color in contrast with
| the growth along the Florida coast
! vnian is hall,ifully white. In the list
| VAS also seHl a piece of stalactite
| which was taken from n cave in Ha-
wall. 1t differs but little from the same
| formation in the United State. The
most interesting sample in the latest
| consignment is n string of moss taken
| from the crater of Haleakala, Maui,
| the largest extinct volcano in the whole
world This volcano is situated in the
| vicinity of Honolulu and is an attrac-
| tive point for tourists and scientists
engaged in research of the geology of
| volcanic action and the theory of the
| hidden cause. A nest of sandal wood
shavings has also arrived with a letter
| explaining II.
The Honolulu superintendent of pub
lie schools by an understanding with
DIR. j. III. Phillips, superintendent OF
| Birmingham schools, has confined the
correspondence to the SIKH grades in
| this city 1t is hoped that later on
other grades will be admitted into the
practical laboratory of exchange, so TO
speak. and the mutual knowledge Will
then be more extensive and varied.
Although 1t is not a text book by au-
thority, the geography supplement- Of
fcred by the News 10 annual suhscrip-
tlons is being used by the students as
a guide to the practical work of eN-
change and personal correspondence
rhe pupils in the two sixth srades are
all required 10 participate in This eN-
cellent system and il viii be pat of the
curriculum from now on, The Students
are taught to go out and SEE the
products themselves. Several have al
ready gone to the iron furnaces of the
city and studied the process of making
iron, the mining of coal. the uses OF
coke, gas and other resources in the
district, Usually the teachers assign