Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-11-13
PUBLIC SCHOOL
COURSE Of STUDY
The Problem Coming to Be One
Of Great Moment With
Educators In Iowa
sEERLEY WOULD REARRANcE
Says Many Studio. are Taught in the
Grades That Properly Belong in the
High School and Vice versa-Appli-
cation for Parole Must be Pub
Iished.
Special to Times Republican.

SpeClal TO Iln1eS-RepuDilCaK.
Des Moines Nov. 13. The public
school course of study is coming to be
quite a question with educators of the
state and the discussion will likely be
more animated in the future than In
the past because OF the claim OF Pres
ident Homer II. Seerley Of the State
Normal and others, from one to two
years could be saved the child besides a
vast amount Of unnecessary work and
worry and brain fas by rearrange-
ment OF the course Of study. The
matter was discussed to some extent at
the conference in Superintendent
Riggs office last Friday and those
present generally agreed that the
course at present Is not all it should
be- but. when 1t comes to adopting
a$course that will be right 1t is claimed
there will be as much disagreement
in views as there is unanimity now in
agreeing that the present course is
wrong It is President 6eerley's idea
that subjects now being studied In the
seventh and eighth grades should be
studied In the high school and should
not be taken up till the pupil Is in the
high school and that subjects not now.
touched upon TIL the high school is
reached should be taken up first In
the seventh and eighth grades For In
stance he holds that Latin or any lan-
guage can best be taken up and ac-
Quired by pupils in the seventh and
eighth grades, and Superintendent
riggs and others agree with him, He
holds too that there are studies In
mathemat tics that are now taken up In
the lower grades that should not be
touched TIL the high school is reached
~ As Ills contention that if a,child stud.
IT'S a subject before tile mind ! has
reached the proper stage for 1t, the
child Is not only worried and harass-
ed but that the time Is lost and vast
ed. In the same way mistakes are
made by putting off till too late in the
child's education other subjects Of
study. At the State Normal elaborate
experiments have been made along this
line and in the forthcoming biennial re-
port of Superintendent Riggs he will
give In detail the results Of these ex-
periments. The only criticism on the
proposed change is that the teachers Of
the country are not prepared for It.
It would necessitate teaching Latin
and the languages in the district
schools and $50 a month teachers US
ually do not know much about Latin.
1t is held that if the change is ever
made 1t must be made gradually so
that the teachers can adjust themselves
to the new conditions and post them
selves on subjects they are at present
unfamiliar with.
From all appearances there will be
as many applications for pardon from
the, state legislature this winter as ut
the last session of the Legislature.
There are now fourteen applications In
the hands of the governor and tile to-
tai number last year was seventeen.
or the last three applicants for Glenn
ency at the hands OF the legislature one
Is Mrs. Betsy Smith, Of Polk county,
who with Cora E McCamly. her daush-
ter, was convicted of the murder OF
her husband, Smith. This was back
in 1893. The daughter committed sui
eide in the penitentiaYy by eating cob
webs She made q concession shortly
before her suicide generating her
mother but great many did not put
any faith ir the statements OF the con-
fession They were accused of attempt
ing to shoot the man first and succeed :
ed only IN putting his eyes out and
later poisoned him. Another asking
for pardon Is Orman Mcpherson of
Louisa county. He was convicted OF
the murder OF the marshal OF Co
lunrIous Junction and was trted at the
November, 1896, term of the Louisa
district court His wife had left him
and taken the child and gone to CO.
l,lndbus Junction where she secured
employment IN a hotel. McPherson
drove from Wapedlo in buggy to Co
lun1bus Junction to see his dhied. At
ter putting up hts rig at the livery
the marshal accosted him and ordered
him from town. Mcpherson is said to
have resented the order and said he
would leave when he got ready which
would be after he had seen his child.
There was a crowd of hangers on at
the livery. Some took the side of the
marsl1aN and some that Of McPherson.
Mcpherson started to run toward the
hotel and the marshal and the crowd
started after him. Fearing for his life
MCPHERSON turned and shot the mar
shall and killed him. 1t is Believed that
Mcpherson will be pardoned aus 1t Is
claimed that he SHOULD never have
been convicted of anything more than
manslaughter In the first place. The
other applicant for clemency is Afmzo
.>h~1,t ~, <rf rnn1nfv
According to the laws governing the
parole or pardon OF criminals notice
that application for parole will be
made must be published for four sue
cessive weeks in a newspaper at the
capitol anrd also in one OF the county
where the man was convicted and the
publications must be completed twenty
FUN days before the opening OF th1