Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-01-30
THOSE WHO TEACH
IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
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Continued from First Page.1
questioned about her habit of sweap-
ing the dust of room into the closet
said:
AT home / take a pail of water and
a broom and wash and sweep every
thing out of doors because the f1oor
is of stone. But here the inspector
will not let me sweep into the public
hall, and when ] used pail of water
1t ran through into the fiat below,"
1t never occurred to her to use a. dust
pan.
Such a thing as the ventilatins Of
bed clothing, comforters or pillows Is
almost unknown. Frequently the
younger children are ''sewed up for
the winter" into their underwear, un-
less a teacher or settlement worker
finds the stitches in time
Grinding Poverty
The rigid, grinding poverty to
which many of these children are ac-
customed was pitifully illustrated re-
Gently in one of our public schools
during the visit of Civic CIub
worker. In explaining the city gov
ernments power to borrow money. she
brought up as an example a neigh
borhood storekeeper wanting money
for a new show case.
What would he do?" she asked
Steal it." was the instant repIv.
When the uselessness of that meth
cd was explained the answer can,a
again with conviction.
He would pawn his pants or over
coat to get it,
Infinite patience, infinite tact and
infinite firmness are required by the
teachers who have these Immigrants
under their care. Deeply rooted in
arffn tI,,.
spirit of gratitude which descends
from father to son for a person who
has once befriended them. Those of
all nations display a reverence for
authority and strict obedience.
which is a good object lesson for
many an born child. Their
deep religious instincts and their love
of art and music are very admirable
traits to be fostered and developed
when remaking them into young citi-
zens of the United States. A great
number of the children are entered
into school within twenty-four hours
after their arrival in this country. In
many cases they have attended school
abroad and have only to learn our lam
g'iage to advance rapidly. Some times
they pick 1t up so quickly that they
can pass three grades in one term.
Three Types of Problems
There are three types of problems
to be met with in the education of the
child-the educational.
civic and moral. In the first, results
are usually very gratifying because
of their ability to rapidly absorb in
and to remember it, In the
second, what often appears to be law
lessness is really an ignorance of law
as it exists here. Once that knowledge
is mastered they are reasonably tract
able. In the third case they are
naturally clean minded, and by incul-
eating in their young minds a rever
ence for the right kind of home-Iife
we have gone a long way in their
moral instruction.
When questioned, very few of the
children express any desire to return
to their old homes. The freedom
the hustle and rush of this wonderful
America charm them as readily as
their elders. An example of this oc-
Cured in our foreign quarter recently
young Roumanian girl, scarce
ly more than a child, had
saved $500 by working In a
cigar factory. She became ena-
mored of a young fellow w-country-
man known as an idle. -do-well.
The girls father tried in vain to stop