Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-04-02
ROYAL ROAD TO LEARNING.
Edison Wants to Teach Geography BY
Means of Moving Pictures.

Il
years old. He is about like othel
boys. His teachers are about like
other teachers. But school does moi
interest him. He knows he should bt
interested, but he isn't. A year age
Mr.. Edison began to wonder what was
tho matter.
| His perplexity became greater wher
he was told in Germany last summer
THAT within few years 5000 German
children had committed suicide rath.
er than go to school. When he re-
turned to America he began an in
lvestigation. He found that New York
city had paid last year $215,0o0 to
truant officers. Plainly something was
wrong. But what was It?
"I had to go to Darwin for my an
swer," Mr.. Edison is quoted In the
World Today as saying. "And this is
what Darwin told me. Children are
in many respects only little animals
Like all other animals, they receive
most of their impressions through
their eyes.
"The receipt Of impressions through
spoken words Is an acquired power.
Children. possess this power only to a
limited degree. But these are facts
that we do not recognize when we
send children to school.
I'VE try to teach them as we try to
teach adults-with books. We ignore
the easy way to take the hard way.
We make little or no appeal through
the eyes, but make almost every ap-
peal through the tedious process OF
memorizing. School books are made
for children, but children are not
made for school books"
Then came Mr.. Edison's determine
ton to try to make the moving pic
ture film do what school books have
failed to accomplish; that Is, make
the schools universally interesting to
children.
"See how we teach geography" he
said. 1.-The teacher, we will say, is
trying with the aid Of books. to give
children who were never outside of
New York city some idea Of the great
continent Of Africa. The children are
told that there are Kafflrs in South
Africa. There may be picture or
two-small, lifeless things-to show
how the Kaffirs look.
But when all is said and done the
children do not know much about how
the Kaffirs look and less Of how they
live. And when the child has been
drudged almost to death to memorize
the principal products Of Africa the
lesson Is ended.
"I am going to teach geography In
q different way. At this moment
have one Of the best moving picture
photographers in the world in Africa.
told him to land at Cape Town. and
to take everything in sight between
there and the mouth Of the Nile.
His pictures will show children
what Kaffirs are and how they live,
He will show them at work, at play
and in their home. They will be life
size Kaffirs that will run and skip
or work right before the children's
eyes. Do you believe many children
will play sick while these pictures are
being run off?
But the Kaffirs will be but the
smallest part Of what the African pic
lures will show. The biggest beasts
Of the jungle-the elephants, lions
tigers and giraffes-will be shown. not
in cages, but in their native haunts.
The city Of Cape Town will be shown,
with its characteristic streets and its
shipping
1.-THE broad veldts over which Kru-
gers armies marched will be shown
Just as they are, with here and there
a burgher's cottage. Every step in the
process of mining gold and diamonds
will be put upon the film. The Nile
will be shown, not as small black
line upon a map. but as a body OF
beautiful blue water, alternately
plunging over cataracts and creeping
through meadows to the sea.
Then will come the pyramids, with
natives and tourists climbing them,
and. lastly, the great cities Of Alexan-
dria and Cairo. Would any child stay
at home IL he knew such a treat rs
this was in store for him? Would he
ever forget what he had learned about
Africa?"
This Is but a sample Of what Mr..
Edison intends to do for the teaching
of geography. He intends to show
all reachable parts Of the earth In the
same way. In addition he will give
the children exact and detailed infor-
nation with regard to the way every
manufactured thing about them Is
made. Nothing will be too small or
too great for him to put upon films
because he regards such information
as important. He will not only shoa
how a pin is made, but he will show
how steel rails are made.
He will show men making and run
ming locomotives. The children them
selves will seem to he speeding ove'
the country, because the pictures will
be taken from a locomotive as II
speeds. The landscape will seem to
whIz past them as it does past an en-
gineer.
I'm this way" he says, II shall &c
over the whole field Of knowledge that
is suited to a child's comprehension
I have made a list of these subjects
and there are about 1000 Of them.
am going to make films of them all
I have already made films Of some OF
them, and we are turning out more OF
them, here in the laboratory, every
day.
IT do not expect that moving pic
lures will take the place Of all school
books. but I do expect that they will
take the place Of most books used be-
low the ninth grade. / do not know
how could teach grammar with NOV
ing pictures, but I can teach reading
writing. spelling, geography, arithme-
tic and physiology.
"I can even teach history and some
branches Of science with moving pic
lures. One Of the best films we ever