El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-19

domestic hygiene. One out of every
three babies born in the Philippines
dies before reaching the age of one
year It is believed that the infant
death rate can be greatly reduced by
I the instruction in nursing and hygiene
! given in the schools.
The system of education adopted in
! the Philippines is not copied after that
of the United States Quite otherwise,
in fact It is considered by the war
department to be greatly superior TO
our system, having been organized
without interference by the trammels
Of precedent and prejudice.
Philippine Children Deft.
The Filipino child is much more deft
in the use of the fingers than the
American yOungster. Both boys and
girls show a striking facility IN dill
cult finger manipulatiOns, pupils from
10 to u years Of age doing work WhlCh
would test the capacity Of American
children three or four years older. The
Filipino is endowed by nature with an
abundant patience, and the child of that
race delights in toiling Tor a long
period over a task which an American
girl or boy would soon tire Of
Twelve thousand girls are being
trained in the schools of the Philip
pines in the art of making embroidery
"a very remunerative household in
dustry. The United states imports
$40. 900. 900 worth of embroidery from
Europe annually, paying 80 to 40 per
cent duty. There is no duty on the
Filipino product Here, obviously, is a
market opportunity.
The School of Household Industries
in Manila drafts $50 young women
each year from all the provinces, ana
teaches them to make lace or to en-
broider. 1t is expected that each
pupil thus trained shall return to her
home town and establish local center
of Instruction, gathering about her a
group of women and girls, whom, when
they have become skilled, she will her
self employ at fair wages Steps are
being taken to make it possible
throughout the islands to puchase the
requisite materials and also to insure
a prompt sale for the output Local
dealers viii take over this end of the
affair later on.
Teaching Baseball.
In connection with the educational
system in Porto Rico, a special effort
has been made to introduce baseball
and other American athletic sports
These have been taken up with much
enthusiasm One rather odd sort OF
difficulty that had to be overcome was
that the Porto Rican boys and young
men were not good losers Defeat IN
a game engendered Jealousy and
hatred But this has been cured TO a
great extent and the youngsters have
been taught that q losing team must
be the first to congratulate the Win
ners upon their victory.
On the island Of Guam-which is IN
der naval administrations much at
tention is given to education as in the |
United States. But instruction is prac- !
tically limited to the primary branches, !
and everything is taught in English. |
Such school buildings as have been
erected since the American occupation !
are modest structures of corrugated |
iron.
The Territorial Legislature of Alaska |
may be said TO have come into exist |
ence during the present year, under an 4
act. passed by the last congress II 1
held its first session at Juneau last I
school attendance compulsory Con /
gress gives about $4,000 a year for /
the support Of the Alaskan schools /
which are under the charge OF the gov
eminent board of education.
There are very few American chill
dren in Alaska, of course, and the Sc
schools distributed over the territory
are for native youngsters.
The education of the Alaskan ma
ives is conceived as meaning their ad-
vancement in civilization. Teachers
are expected to regard themselves as Il
social workers, striving to elevate the
native races intellectually, morally, /
and physically A feature Is made OF Z
manual training and the domestic arts,
especially sewing and cooking The /.
school service employees 192 teachers, 1
whose labers are supplemented by |
those Of u physicians and eight nurses
Suffer Prom Disease.
The advance of civilization over that
part Of the world has been very dis
astrOUs TO the natives. The white |
mans alcohol and diseases. have
worked havoc among them, and the
destruction of the Walrus and other |
sanie animals has deprived them OF !
food Occasional epidemics of measles
have N-ped out whole villages. To
keep the people from starving to death. |
the bureau of education introduced |
reindeer from Siberia, and there are
now nearly 10000 Of these animals IN
The territory. They are distributed 1
among the Eskimo as fast as the lat
ter can De taught to take care Of them. /
From an economic standpoint. the
most Important work of the board OF
education in Alaska Is its reindeer ser
vice, the civilizing effect of which
upon the Eskimo has been remarkable.
The teachers Of the schools are local
superintendents of the reindeer herds Z
IN the vicinity OF their schools. As an
means of contributing to the
support OF the natives the bureau has
taken steps to provide a market for
the furs and ivory collected by the Es-
klmo on the shores Of the Arctic ocean
and Berlng sea Until recently they
were obliged TO sell such products at
Wretchedly low prices to traders, 10
whom they were always in debt. But
now, with the extension of the mail
service, they ship packages of fox,
lynx, and other skins to reliable sales
agencies in the Puget sound region and