Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-04-03

school girls specialize on angel food
and fudge, but that is a base slander.
Looking over a record of the sub
jects studied during the present
school year revealed a very compre-
hensive list, comprising nearly every
thing relating to housekeeping. Both
theory and practice are included in
the course, showing the why and
wherefore of all operations-the sci
ence and reason back of everything
and then the best and easiest way
of performing the work
The cooking class really spends
little time on sweet. sticky stuff, go
ing in more for bread and biscuits,
mashed potatoes and gravy, and not
despising such plebian dishes as
corned beef and cabbage, bacon and
greens The cooking is accom-
plished by means of gas, each stu
dent having her own fire and cook
ing utensils. The baking is done on
a large range, on which food for five
dozen people has been kept warm at
one and the same time. A cupboard
of canned fruit looked mighty good
and showed what could be done in
the preserving line.
The writer had the good fortune
to assist in sampling the food when
was being prepared at the time of his
visit. The instructor appreciated the
fact that it was impossible to intelli-
! gently judge cookery without sam
ping same. The menue consisted of
baked apples, cream of wheat ONE
lette and creamed potatoes, and cof-
| fee. White pepper was used on the
spuds because it harmonizes better
with the pale complexion of the pota-
toes than does the common black
kind.
The meal was served upon tables
made by the boys of the manual
training department, while two of
the girls actedt as waitresses-swi
neat and noiseless The rest of the
class, together with their girlish
teacher, assisted in consuming the
eatables described and the pleasant
surroundings may have had some
thing to do with the favorable i'm
preston produced upon the writer.
If it wasn't so far away | should
seriously consider taking my meals
regularly at the high school.
An invitation to visit the sewing
room was accepted, although this was
entirely out of my line. The class
looked and sounded good deal like
sewing society The instructors
know that feminine fingers can fly
faster when moving in unison with
tongues, so permit quiet conversa-
ton. Some of the beginners take
hold of the cloth as awkwardly as a
pup playing with gum overshoes
pricking their fingers about as often
as the drygoods, yet after few
terms of well-directed practice they
learn to sew like professional dress
makers. At the time of my visit the
girls were working with white goods,
making some sort of lacey, ruffly
garments. Just what they were
could not say.
A physics class was found conduct
ing some interesting experiments
with electricity and other forces OF
nature. A couple of Latin classes
were struggling with language roots,
striving to find out what those old
Roman writer's were driving at when
they took their pen in hand to write
poetry some two thousand years ago.
How much better it would be to de-
vote the same time to mastering one
of the modern romance languages,
such as the Spanish, which is spoken
in Mexico, Central America and most
of South America, as well as by
many people in the United States.
The construction is similar to Latin,
giving it a similar linguistic value,
in addition to superior poetical ad-
vantages. The Latin teacher, who is
an expert in his line and recently
came within an ace of capturing one
of the coveted Rhodes scholarships,
is studying Spanish in a private class
Messrs. Briscoe, Moore, st. John,
Mannion, West and Wheeler, Misses
Davenport and Eubanks, deserve
. special mention for courtesies ex-
tended to the writer and heroic en-
durance during his visit to the high
school. o. II. .BARNHILL.