The San Francisco call., 1910-02-19
Lick Boys Saluting.

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have to be very, very good one. With
a poor one he would have no more
chance than soldier in the real army
would have If he tried to give the ex-
cuse, II forgot" to his superior officer.
Last of all comes the colonel. He is
the most important man of all. Not
that he has more special duties. but the
entire order depends on him. He keeps
track of the under officers especially, as
well as a guiding eye over the whole.
He can call special drill during recess
or at noon time, and when new maneuv-
ers are being learned. drills the en-
tire school between the visits of the
general instructor. In some schools the
yard teacher gives extras to the best
lines. At theNe of two weeks each
captain turns in the record of his line
to the colonel who decides which line
has won and goes to the principal with
a request for an earlier dismissal.
If the lines are slouchy or the cap
tains careless it reflects on the colonel
You can tell in moment by looking
over the yard what kind of colonel it
has. The boys and girls themselves
know when their officers are o credit
to the school and keep the officers in
Office. At the James Lick school the
colonel has held his place for two years.
The captains of course change from
term to term. as they are promoted
There are different ways of electing
officers. When the school first enters
into the new system the officers are ap
pointed by the instructor. HIe picks out
a boy. one who looks as if he always
had his shoes polished and could stand
UP straight, takes him out in front, asks
if there is any objection to him, and If
not, makes him an officer, not colonel
at first, probably captain, or it may be
A0
better organized the official ranks are
filled. Some times by class ballot. some
times by the teachers appointment.
But whatever rank boy or girl may
hold there is one rule that he must
observe-under no condition whatever
can an officer enforce his or her orders
by physical means. Even colonel
can't knock boy down or hit him. no
matter how much he may feel like do
ing it. Things aren't settled that way.
The culprit is talked to, reasoned with
and his honor is appealed to- There is
only one boy or girl in thousand who
needs anything more. If he does he
gets it from the principal
AT DRILL
What the boys and girls of San Fran
cisco have to do is to wake up to the
chance they have. Most of you have
done it. but do 1t more. You can't see
your own drills If you could you
would see about one of the best things
in the city. Marching by twos, by
fours. countermarching, forming ranks,
breaking, on left into line formation.
saluting the flag, all done by girls and
boys with their heads up and shoulders
back, looking alive, proud OF your
selves as you have earned the right to
be. It's no wonder that your instructor,
the teacher and the principals are
pleased and say: This drilling means
more than any outsider knows It's a
help moral as well as physical to the
children and it's a tremendous help
to u.s."
AS one principal put it: Before we
had 10 have eyes all over our heads
and then we didn't have enough. This
wasn't because the boys and girls were
bad They were just-well-you know.
But now never have to go into the
yard at all. 1 do sometimes, because I
really enjoy seeing them. But the
point is, l don't have to. The classes
take in and dismiss entirely by them
selves. It's very seldom an officer has
to come to me. They can generally
manage all disputes alone. You know"
she added ''our boys and girls are hon
est. They're the best boys and girls ia
the world. They have proved ii by the
way they use responsibility. A coward
Will always abuse responsibility. Our
boys and girls are not towards. We
can trust them"