Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-01-02
Old Red Schoo|houSe
Customs Are Urgedin
Place Of Modern adj

business positions, who had been CIV
en every advantage of modern educa.
ton, but who were absolutely helpless
when the time came to carr a living.
First principles are so simple that
they do not present sufficient difficult
ties to the modern world, consequently
they are difficult to introduce. But
he who has learned the mis- Il power"
"Fads" Defended.
A defense of many Of the "fad" sub
jects is made by Charles s. Peterson,
member of the mOard Of education, in
letter addressed to the RecOrd-He
aid. Mr.. Peterson asserts that al
though these studies may now be look
ed upon by parents as fads, they will
not be so considered in later life when
the child goes forth either to a bust
ness life or to life in the home, where
all the information cleaned through
this study will be found of value.
Mr.. Peterson's letter follows:
II have read with much interest
the discussion in the columns of the
Record-Herald of what are termed
falls in the school system of Chicago
4 have no doubt that in some in
stances at least the curriculum is
overloaded, and that in the attempt
to give to every child as thorough
mental equipment as possible before
sent out to begin the struggle fol
existence. Subjects have been taker
up that might have been dispensed
with. and some time thus spent thai
might have been put to more valua
BILE use. submit, however, that in en-
tering a field practically new they
must be some experimenting. Should
the thorough survey of the field tha'
the superintendent is now mailing
show subjects that might better bt
dispensed with, Or time that could bt
more prodtahly employed in othe1
ways, she may G depended upon to re
medy conditions.
Fears Temporary Reaction.
my fear is not that too much time
will be given to these so-called fads
but rather that in a temporary reac
ton against the mwe may go too fa1
and undo some of the good work tina
has been done in the way of givinl
the children a practical education, o
getting away from the old ideal, run
ming back to the middle ages, that tn
ultimate aim of the schools was to pro
duce literati men whose whole live
would be devoted to the pursuit o
book learning.
"The aim at present, I take it, is tt
send the children out with the bes
possible equipment for getting thu
most out of life. TO teach them to us'
both their brains and their hands, re
membering in the meanwhile that thu
vast majority of them will need to us'
both.
What are the fads against which
these strenuous protests are made
Let us glance down the list: Cookins
seems to be n of them, sewing an
other, learning to keep the body ant
the home clean a third. How to bu!
food economically is called a fad, ant
how to preserve it for a limited tim'
after it is bought is another. Still
another of these dangerous exper1
ments is teaching girl pupils to trim
their own hats.
Favors Practical Course.
"Consider for a moment that .:
ger cent of the children in public
schools will have to get through life
on an income CT S. a day or less
mostly less. Doesn't it cen thai
fads like the above mentioned vii
be of considerable assistance in help
ing them to get the most in comfort
and in health out Of each OF those
s.? Is net, if there must be a choice
a knowledge of plain, wholesome cook
ing more valuable to the vas, ma
jority Of our our girl pupils, than
knowing the names of the kings OF
France in the thirteenth century? OF
the knowledge OF how to keep a home
clean and orderly more useful than
being able to tell exact boundaries
of Beluchistan?
1--WE had the great privege of being
brought up under the good old sys'
tenn now referred to with SO much ad'
miration. With much labor IL heads
we're crammed with knowledge that
we have never since had the slightest
use for or benefit from. We can
give a fairly complete list of the
Merovingian kings if anyone is inter
ested in them, bu: we would gladly
have traded them for some OF the
'fads' that are objected to now. The
old system trained the memory, that
| acknowledge gladly and with graft
tude, but It utilized the brain but
slightly and the hands not at all. IT
was a system TO rthe classes; modern
is intended for all. 1t made
no provision for training the hands,
because the graduate was not expect
ed TO use his hands.
"In closing I wish to express the
hope thai before abandoning tc(
many of tls\ aforementioned fads
we will bear in mind that, while we
may drop them in the schools, we
shall find it hard to dispense with
hem in after life"
MISS HALDEMANN WEEDS IN LON
DON.
London, Jan. many persons
prominent in Anglo-American social
circles attended the wedding of Miss
Charlotte Haldemann and Lieut.. Vic
or Marryat of the Royal Navy, which
,ook place today at st. M~argaret's.
Westminster. The bride is the daugh-
:er of D. C. Haldemann, former pres1-