The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-11-15

hacked Dy a DlaGKDOaFu, says ,ttC
Philadelphia North American,
Tho audience lie faced was as
mixed as any respectable audience
could be. There were men and wO-
men as wcll-to-dO as he and men and
women not at all weI-tO-do. There
were young folks and children. They
crowded the desks and many extra
chairs stood two deep along the
walls.
II was the opening Of a public
school building as social center,
and this is what the old banker said,
after clearing his throat and read
iuSting his glasses:
This is going to make the neigh
b0rh0od feel like home, in spite OF
telephones. trolley cars and all the
modern improvements.
when ! was Il young man back III
Licking county, QhiOF folks 4sed ia
meet like this in the old drab, wealth :
crboard schoOIhOuSe!' We called i'll
the Literary; in some PLACES !they
called it the I.yCcum. and in som"
il was Just 'SchOolhousc meettng,'
The old durable seats weren't any
TOO comfortable; the light from the
kerosene lamps. with their tin reflec
1OrS. wasn't any too good; but there
was a hHman spirit in those gather
ings, man-tO-man frankneSS and
democracy that made America mean
something to us young fellows
and there was a spirit OF neigh :
borho0d there not only in the so
GABLES. the spcll-downs and singing
schools, but in the meetings. where
folks just listened to speakers and
talked. Getting together about things
wc had in common whether It va
what kind Of a bridge VIC should have
across the, creek or the tarttI--w@
rGl, a firslIhand responsibility for
being citizens"
u came away to the city. ! go@
into the scramble. I've been at it as
hard as anybody. and I'VE succccde'!
fairly well. Hut, all the time lhcfa
has been something missing
81 know lot Of fine people, but =!
don't know my ncighboTs. obey
the laws and vote at election time
int somehow don't get that feel ~
being Il citizen. The fact Is. "" lived
here twenty years. and it has ncvc"
trlt like home.
'Bur tonight when we're getting
1osrthcr not as Il party, or a sect
or us Il particular social set. but Just
as folks, as citizens, as neiSl'borS' III
this building which cmb0dtcS the
greatest OF oar common interests
that old feeling comes back; and as
we 90 ON with this. tell you, even
the city is goiuG to feel like home.
We have not forgotten what Mr.
Justice Hughes. OF the supreme court
said to the school board Of it0ch"S-
ter when, as governor Of New YORK
hc made a special journey to that city
to inspect the pioneer movement IN
this public school social center WORK
"YOn are Undressing tn" Io"'"N-
ton of democracy, was his mes
sage
We recall the comment OF PreSt'
don't Wilson, who. when governor OF
New Jersey, said: II soc in this move
mcnt recovery Of the constructive
and creative genius. Of the American
people" We are not unmindlnI OF
Sir Johnston Forhes-RohcrtsonS %
scrvation that this is program
worthy Of America.
But we think the old banker wGc
was born in Licking county ONO
came nearer to tn" heart OF the mat
for than any Of these gifted and clio
uucnl analysts. The Fundamental
brncti, to be derived from the llS'
Of public school buildings as social
crntcrs is that it gives folks the
feel" of being citizens.
That is why We regard as lmpoF'
tant to rhiEadclphia'S welfare ana
progress the recent action Of thS
board Of education in giving the Lit
tie Mothers League permission Il
hold its meetings in twenty public
school buildings.
Already the Home and Schoo'
League is allowed to use certain o.
these houses built and maintained by
the pcopIc's money. So this added
privilege, while it affects only 10"
hundred little girls. marks another
stem In the direction Of change
which ought to do even more I"'
Philadelphia than it has done to'
other cities that have tried it, be-
cause Philadelphia primarily is q
city Of homes.
While New, York and many Of f., on u
tlaTTerSr cities now arc throwing open
line school mildings for all sorts oil
nublic uses. from political mcCtinS'
Ito concerts, in Rochester, the Idea
first was tried out on IN extensive
scale. And It was the success Of the
movement there that influenced Its