The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-05-03

successes Of hundreds Of methods tried
during the past two terms. ana nntion-
81 attention - again attracted TO me
system OF adult educstion that has
been 30 SUCCESSFULLY conducted In New
York for twenty years. and IN fcw
other cities for shorter period. New
York. the one city in the, world whore
child 10 taken through the kinder.
garten, elementary school, high school
and college without one cent OF ex-
pense. saw no reason why person
should be recioned as having no FUR
Their interest in education because no
happened % cs Erown and was s a.so.a
sands among the three and half mii-
lion population Of New York have new
or completed courses OF study that
they would havs liked to complete, and
as many thousand more have little
time to read up on subjects, even u
they had somsone to direct such stud.
les.
To these, twenty yeaes ago came the
city board OF education, and opening
six school honses during an evening
each week. gave free lectures On The
Chemistry Of what we nat and Drink"
illuminating 0as.s American Poets"
"How to STUDY Science at Home"
Constitutional Law" ana "The Human
Machine Shop That the neixhborhcod
people were hungry for such instruc-
ton and diversion was proved by an
The next year more centers were open.
ed and the same type Of lectures ofrer.
ed. but these people Of the professional
world. OF the shops, Of the factories.
OF the trades. wanted something more
on the university extension tine. and
beginning then. regular courses In the
arts. sciences and literature have been
"a -
turers have been followed with grati-
Tying success.
In the twenty wears the lecture GEN.
tres have grown from six to IT'S; the
six miscellaneous lectures have expan-
ded into three groups comprising i1e
courses OF 5o7 subjects. and the atten-
dance OF $4,000 has grown 10 evor
with the times from the small upstairs
rooms where unillustratsd lectures
were held. through successive stages
of public halls hired for that purpose
by the board. 20 the free halls Of the
public libraries and social organixa-
lions and museums. ana school audi
toriums Of the most modern kind. all
fitted with platforms. good seats and
stereoptican outfits to illustrate the
talks.
who 70 to these ieetufesf Note
some OF the letters written the Depart
ment Of Education In answer to the
question why they came TO the leo.
lures and II they enjoyed them. A
very old man writes CDR. osier's the.
Org don't worry me. ! work all day az
manual labor, but in the evening ]
feel like child attending school with
regard to attending these grand IN
structive lectures" A woman writas:
my husband and take Il turn about
staying with the children so the othar
can attend the lectures. 1t is our only
diversion" Ono writes he attends the
lectures for two reasons, first for plea
sure and second to listen and learn
new subjects never heard In school.
Another couple reports they have at
tended the lectures for fourteen years.
another for sixteen. and a lawyer OF
seventy seven adds his testimony and
tells that he has attended almost every
lecture given In his neighborhood. \
man In the iron business writes grate-
fully OF the lectures on rnetaiiurgy. an
other shows how the centers are more
attractive to him than the cheap shows,
writer's to be students OF some certain
branch, pursuing the lecture course ei.
Their to benefit themselves In their ca
reers or for the general culture and
education given.
In New York. the great polyglot
city OF the world. the educational work
is the prime factor In doing away with
OF the one hundred different national-
tiles gathered there, intelligent and
reliable American citizens. In London
the school instruction is in English
for the English. In Paris 1t is for
French people. In New York the lar
gest Irish and Jewish city on the globe,
and one of the largest italian and Ger
- H. RnW all
peoples, and toward the one end--psr-
feet assimilation. In one East Side
school there are twenty-three nation
alities represented. and the ianitor OF
many schools has to be o man OF seve-
raj languages.
The public school reaches the child
population in a thorough way, the city
of New York spending twice as much
on its educational system as any other
city in the world. Over $4,000 teachers
offer instruction to the $4,000 or more
children and the cost Of II all to the
city this year was seven and a half
million dollars. The public lectures
reach the adults at an annual cost of
$4,000. Six years aRo three centers
were opened where the lectures were
given in Yiddish. and three whore they
were given in Italian. The lectures in
the foreign tongues are chiefly on
American institutions and history: the
rights and duties of American citizens;
sanitation and hygiene.
Usually the same people attend
certain center year in and wear out.
but the circulation of a notice that
there will be lecture. for example.
on Switzerland. will find general
gathering of the people OF that nation
from all over the city 10 hear again
stories of the home land. More than
once as pictures of southern Europe
are shown, one can hear in Italian or
French or Greek. half sobbing ex-
clamatiop of recognition. Six years
ago there were six lectures given In
French by distinguished lecturers from
France. During the past year series
was given In German. In this closing
year the lectures have ranged any
where fpom Shakespeare's gentlemen
and the evolution of the Dutch nation,
10 city administration and WaEner's
operas: from electricity and magne-
tism. wireless teleGraphy and the max
ing of coal tar dyes. to crises in Amer
lean history and travels through the
entire known world.
And, all this. remember. Is without
money and without price to any and all
who care to attend. The lectures are
advertised as widely and as carefully
by those in charge as Is any high
priced theatre attraction by the most
Jealous advertising agent. The news
papers give liberal space. and printed
announcements of each lecture are
spread far and wide. For each lecture
center a bulletin has been printed, CIV
ing the location OF the lecture hall. the
dates of the lecture and the names OF
the lecturers. On zach IL also printed
the titles Of reference books that will
help in understanding the lecture. and
the location OF the nearest libraries.