The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1906-07-27

Far be 1t from me to blame either
girls or their preceptors for the great
and foolish waste that Is forever taxi
ing place in matters educational.
Primarily parents are the people most
in fault.
The other day an advertisement ap-
peared in a widely read weekly pc
riodical, which ran to the following
effect. The words are not precisely
quoted, but here is the gist of the ad-
vertiser's Wanted"
ITO take entire charge of a little
girl of ten, a young woman who IL a
college graduate. She must be fond
Of children, in robust health, and be-
tween the ages of 25 and 80. Must
have had experience in similar posi-
tons and be able to furnish the high
est references. She must be familiar
with modern methods Of teaching, and
besides the usual branches, her work
will include music, drawing and ma
ture study"
The mother Of the little maid of ten
evidently expected that her child was
W ldChlc nu5iC, uIdWlu5 anu udLuT0
study In addition to the usual
branches" These, at a rough guess,
may have been history, geography,
English grammar, spelling, reading,
~penmanship, and possibly French or
German. l was surprised hat so
grasping a mother did not require the
college graduate who should apply for
the vacancy as her daughters gov
erness to be an accomplished cook and
an adept in manual training. so that
her child might receive initiation in
these mysteries too.
The mother who advertised was lay
ing out too wide a plan for her daugh-
ter, and was demanding an impossi-
bility of some unfortunate young
woman of 25. The average age of he
college alumna is %. To have gone
over the work prescribed In an or
binary college course, likewise to have
attained distinction enough in music
and art to instruct in these exacting
departments. and to have learned the
alphabet of nature study would be
feats of herculean achievement that
would send a girl to a sanitarium or
her grave. To look for robust health
after all that effort would be absurd.
and as for the experience in actual
teaching, where would be the time for
it? The advertisement Is a straw that
shows where the wind blows to.
Girls, what you need and must have,
at n cost, is a good working knowl-
edge of reading, writing and arith-
metic; some love for and acquaintance
with good literature, and this springs
from good reading; the accuracy and
clearness which come of writing a
good hand, and the honesty which is
the product of fair mindedness and
well balanced arithmetic. Don't be
persuaded to spend precious hours on
studying sciences that do not allure
you, and annexing to memory vocabu-
laries which signify nothing to you.
But for PHYS sake learn to spell, learn
to write a decent, straightforward let
ter, and learn to converse no only
fiuently, but correctly, in clear, we'll
chosen English.
Avoid useless learning. Life is too
full to be handicapped by needless inn
pedimenta. Time is too brief to be
mortgaged to ambition. Health is too
precious to be ruthlessly sacrificed.
One or two subjects thoroughly as
simulated are worth far more to Gull
ture than a mere smattering of a
dozen, and the effect of the first on
character is much more enduring than
of the second. l wish I could convince
every schoolgirl that thoroughness in
little is a higher virtue than diffuse-
ness spread loosely over large things.
Attempt less and gain more should be
your rule.