Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-09

day clearly shows 1t in the work he
has produced. My claim for Joaquin
Miller, that he is the greatest poet
America has produced Is not based on
mere local pride or personal liking. If
had never seen California, or met
work and that of the other great poets
of America would have compelled me
to this conclusion. And in this I am
confirmed by the decision of the great
est critics of Europe of two or three
generations. The sooner we Califor-
mans wake up to recognize this fact
the better. Miller struck a newer, a
~truer, more natural and national note
in poetry than any American before or
since. 1t is natural spontaneous, gen.
uine, simple He dared to treat original
themes in an original way He dared
to be natural and he dared to be sim
pie, two things almost unknown to
English poetry in 800 years"
DR. James then read several of Mil
ler's poems, giving spiritual and flu
minative comments upon them, to JUS
tify his remarks. Continuing, he
said:
Edwin Markham, too, won high
place with one poem alone, The Man
with the Hoe because in that he
dared all conventional methods of look
ing at the subject. He spoke as only
a western man, free from eastern
standards, could have spoken, and thus
he has become power for good in the
world.
"Who can read the works of
Charles Warren 'Stoddard and not feel
the spontaneity, their perfect satura-
ton with the spirit of the west and
its environment. His prose was al
poetry. Read for instance his 'Apos-
trophe to a Skylark' and compare 1t
with Shelleys ode. The one is not
more poetic than the other, and yet
the latter is a poets fancy, while
the other is q piece of pure and literal
description. In his Bells of San Ga
briel,' Stoddard rises to power and
yigor he seldom shows. This was the
masculine of him, much of his work be-
ing of the tender, gentle feminine
Una Coolbriths songs are lyric ana
sweet. and Herman Scheffaner has also
given to the world several songs that
it will not willingly let-die.
'sFather Woods, formerly of st. Ig-
natius in San Francisco, has shown
great versatility and power which 1t Is
to be regretted he has not exercised
more constantly. His parody on Bret
Harte's Heather Chinee' is in some
respects superior to the original"
BISHOP CoNATY SPEAKS
The subject of Bishop Conaty's ad-
dress this afternoon was "The Teacher
and Her Work." After asserting that
the greatest force in educational work
is that which comes from the teacher
the bishop said:
"The mere equipment of buildings
and libraries counts for nothing unless
there is found behind the desk the
personality Of a live teacher fully
equipped to do the school room work.
The teaching office demands an apti-
tude for the teachers work and an
equipment with which to do 1T eft-
GENTLY. The teacher is something more
than one hired to do a certain class OF
work. He is one who feels himself
called to that special work and fits
himself that he may give proper val
ues for the responsibility placed upon
him. Vocation and equipment are two
essentials in the life Of a conscientious
teacher. There is an element Of hon
esty also which enters into the matter,
because the teacher undertakes to do a
certain work, and he is bound in con-
science to do that work to the best OF
his ability. The results expected from
him are the results which proper teach
ing is warranted in producing, and If