The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-06-29

ton Asso citation
making, not only with a good academic
education, but further fortified with a
knowledge OF business methods and
domestic science.
The city lad does not have the edu-
|cattonal advantage over his coupAry
cousin which he once possessed. The
ancient and classic Hoos!er schoolboyf
would not recognize the township high
munity OF to-day. Such high schools
las these teach atenography and banks
ing so that the boy may go to the
city ready for the battle with business:
they teach soil chemistry and scientific Z
agriculture. so that the boy may stay
much OFF the same land az father did:
they teach the girls the science OF
cooking and the philosophy OF keep
Ing the body clean and we'll. They arc
the enemies of sloth and dirt, the
agents Of industry and cleanliness. Ono
can find such rural schools In CalifoI.
MIA. in Georgia, In Oklahoma, Ia a.
Dakotas. Tho day will como when
they Will cover the face OF the country.
The Cleveland convention will de-
vote much attention to tho discussion
OF the part the school must take in
the physical training and care OF pu-
pills. New York City found that OF
1900 g public school pupils. onc-third.
OF visual defects by adjustment OF
proper glasses means the quickenin9
OF mental faculties. or at least an In
crease in the power to acquire knowl-
edge. New York is solving the prob
a. ~ Aafo TT.
usual children by providing special
schools In which the physical super
visor has a great deal to do.
Sixteen years ago the Boston schools
b1azed the way for medical inspection
iof children In the schools Early this
year the Massachusetts Legislature en-.
acted law requiring that all school
children In the State be tested for de-
fective hearing and eyesight. Boston
has gone farther. and has employed
corps OF twenty-onc school nurses.
These trained nurses are assigned TO
districts. and they go into the homes
and take care OF the sick school chill
dren. Boston will tell about its adj
vances at Cleveland; the teachers Will
leave with the advantage Of Boston's
progressive experience.
There will be earnest discussions OF
the relation OF the public schools to
industrial problems. to agriculture. to
the immigrant. to play. to the abnor-
NAL and defective child, to the State.
and to the movement for the preven-
ton OF disease. In all OF these discuss
sions the leaders Will occupy ground
SO advanced that the ordinary middle
aged voter would be shocked to hear
the speeches. But. for some reason or
other. the ordinary parent and voter
knows more about the workings OF the
Russian Douma than he does of the
school system where his boys and girls
are being educated. It is only when
the school progresslvists need money
that they encounter the force OF the
conservatives For that reason their
actual progress is limited in some SEQ.
tions of the country. but they believe
1t is only for the time being.
Perhaps no one feature Of the school
work which will be discussed at the
Cleveland convention is more mark
eddy representative OF the contrast be-
tween the education system ofthe pres
tent day and that OF sixty years ago
than that OF play" In the old days
Themselves as they saw At, and much
play was considered quite as bad
for Jack as Call work and no play"
Now the taxpayers hire men and wo-
men to teach their children how to
play, and the work is looked upon as
one OF the most profitable branches
of public school education. How we
do get on!
Next to the great national spelling
bee, revival Of the elder day. tho
most interesting feature OF the Cleve-
land convention WILDE the great play
festival. Four thousand school chill
dren OF Cleveland will be In Rookie
Teller Park next Friday afternoon to
show their elders and the teachers OF
the country how to play according to
science. They will be under the oirec-
ton of the Cleveland public school
supervisor Of physical training. The
main feature Of the play festival will
thousands of Ohio lads and lassies will
go through the poetic motions Of the
national dances OF the lassies OF the
Old World countries. and incidentally
demonstrate the cosmopolitan capacity
of the Americans TO- complne run, geo
sraphy, ethnology and exercise.
Another. and most important, mat
ter will receive earnest attention. 1t
is the Question of school house cons
struction. Within a few miles OF the
scene Of the awful disaster at Collin
wood, the National Education Associa-
swinging door, the unsafe furnace and
chimney, the three-story school house,
and all the other agencies OF the fre Il
demon. All8in all, the Cleveland cons
vention means quite as much to tho
boys and girls Of this great ma iona as
the Chicago and Denver conventions
mean to the grownups.a IS 5s sa
(Copyright. 1908. by rederic J. - las ass
kim ss 81,
IL -n1orrow--The Fiscal AZ levy ear q Day.
ana 100 fresh ones take their place. It
Is a honorsto marry an o alisque. Fur q
thermore. the odallsque brings her hus-
band from the Sultan q dover OF $50 81
0OO, LOS FAnge les Times