The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1913-01-30
KINGSTREE high SCHOOL.

Friday afternoon the wee nee LlL-
erary society celebrated Cicero's
birth month by a very interesting
and instructive programme.
The first number was, The Story
of Romulus and Remus, the Found
ers of Rome" by George Hammet.
Daisy Strong then entertained the
audience by reciting in Latin, the
poem, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little
Star"
Roy Baker read a paper on the
Life of Caesar" which was follow
ed by a reading, Mark Antony's
Grafton at the Death Of Caesar" by
Leora Gamble.
The fifth number was paper on,
THE Life of Cicero" by Minnie
Strong.
In place of the reporters papers,
which usually consist of the reading
of current events, there were reports
made of important events and inter-
esting facts about the Rome of 1000
years ago.
Perhaps the most interesting fea-
ture of the programme was the de-
bate, Resolved: That the study of
Latin should be required in the pub
lie high schools" Both the pros
and cons took a lively interest, and
some excellent points were brought
out. Some reasons given why Latin
should not be- required were:
l. Latin is so difficult that it has
become a mind and body killer.
2. 1t often causes pupils to leave
school from the 9Th grade and &C.
cept a S25 job. beyond which he
rarely ever rises on account of his
lack of education.
8. In order to 60 through the
high school, pupil is often tempted
to get it dishonesty through the
use of ponies"
4. Latin requires about two
thirds of the pupils time; hence the
knowledge gained, though valuable,
is not worth the price paid.
5. The mastery of philology, the
study of the origin and use of words,
as we'll as the history of the English
language requires much less time,
and is easier. By studying philology
pupil may easily abandon Latin.
6. Well educated men have ad-
vised the study of Latin, but they
have also advised the study of "fai-
ry tales" such as those given in the
Heart of Oak classics. In this
busy, progressive America, children
should not be required to waste their
time on fairy tales and dead Ian
guages.
Some of the points brought out
by the affirmative were:
l. All that is best in our litera-
ture, music, art, sculpture, agricul-
ture and government has come down
to us directly from the Romans, or
indirectly from the Greeks through
the Romans as a medium. 1t is as
impossible to enter into the thoughts
and feelings of these glorious people
except by direct translations as it
would be to understand and appre-
ciate the writings of Shakespeare by
reading a criticism of his work.
2. A thorough knowledge of En-
glish cannot be obtained without
some knowledge of Latin.
8. The study of Latin helps as
nothing else can in the spelling and
derivation of English words.
4. The chief value of the high
school branches is the mental train
ing they give. Few, if any, are ever
put into actual practice. AS mind
trainer Latin is second to none.
5. We need Latin socially-num-
berless Latin phrases are constantly
floating in the air." as it were.
6. We need latin from an edu-
cational standpoint, because the COL
leges either require some knowledge
of it on entrance or they require it
of some other FOREIGN lanpuape-