The Washington herald., 1909-05-03
FREE LECTURES IN SCHOOLS
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

prime factor in doing away with the con
fusion Of tongues ard making Of the one
hundred different nat.onalities gathered
there intelligent and reliable American
citizens. In London the school instruc-
ton IS in English for the English. IN
Faris It Is for French people In New
York. the largest Irish and Jewish city
or the globe. and one OF the largest Itai-
ian and German, the instruction must be
for all peoples. and toward the one end
perfect assimilation In ore East Side
school there are Iwenty-three nationals
ties represented. and the ianitor Of many
schools has 10 be a man Of several Ian
guages.
The public school reaches the child pop
ulation IN thorough way, the city ot
New York spending twice as much on its
educational system as any other city IN
the world. over 1SGo0 teachers offer in
struction TO the esl 0o0 or more children,
and The cost Of it ali TO the city this year
was S7.500.e0o The public lectures reach
the adults az an annual cost Of s16o. .000
six years ago three centers were opened
where the lectures were given IN Yiddish,
and three where they were given IN ItsI-
ian. The lectures IN the foreign tongues
are chiefly on American institutions and
history: the rights and duties Of AnleTi-
can citizens. and sanitation and hygiene
Usually the same people attend a GER
tain center yoar in and year out. but the
circulation OF a notice that there TilI be
a lecture. for example. on Switzerland.
VIII find a general gathering Of the people
OF that nation from ali over the city 20
hear again stories OF the home land.
More than once as pictures OF Southern
Europe are shown one can hear in Ital-
fan or French or Greek a half-sobbing
exclamation OF recognition Six years ago
there were six lectures given in French
By distinguished lecturers from France.
During the past year q ssries was given
IN German In this closing year the lee
tures have ranged anywhere from Shake
speare's gentlemen and the evolution o.
the Dutch nation 10 city administration
and Wsgner's operas, from electricity
and magnetism. wireless telegTsply. and
the making OF coal tar dyes 10 crises in
American history and travels through the
entire known world.
And al this remember. Il without
money and without price to any and all
" iAN a. ~ 0AlEAu. III aEEN4LES 6tE
advertised as widely and as carefully by
those in charge as is any high-priced
theater attraction by the most Jealous
advertising agent The newspapers give
liberal space and printed announcements
Of each lecture are spread far and wide
For each lecture center a bulletin has
been printed giving The location Of the
lecture hall. the dates Of lectures. and the
names OF the lecturers. On each is also
printed the titles Of reference books that
viii help in understanding the lecture and
the location Of the nearest libraries. The
public Libraries enter most heartily into
the spirit Of the work ard arrange books
for distribution Large placard announce
ments are put IN shops. factories. and
public buildings. and every means posi-
ble Is used 70 attract the attention OF the
people toward the lectures
Not only is the foreign element. but
often the native one. ignorant Of the his
tory and government OF the city in which
It lives. So very wisely. on the z51h an
n.ve-sary OF the founding OF New York
as a municipality. supplementary course
OF lectures on the history OF New York
was given in nearly half the ceaters. and
in thirty outdoor exhibitions in the city
parks. about 531.t90 people attending. Le-
gal holidays have often been chosen as
lecture DAYS. with the story OF the day
told and birthdays of great men have
been cOmmeHloTated by special lectures
Scientists have gone before these audi
ences to tel o. new discoveries; explorers
20 tel o. the arduous journeys they have
made, authors 10 tel OF their work:
scholars 10 tell OF the Old World Htera-
ture; art lovers and nature lovers with