The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-03-23
CONTRAST is SHARP.

Mention is made in the current issue OF
one Of the eastern magazines of the
continued existence of the little red
school house in rural New England, the
same little red school house Of the
colonial days, scantily equipped and pre-.
sided over by an overworkod and under.
paid teacher.
''Out west the magazine editor
finds the school conditions vastly diff
ferent, calls attention TO the fact that
graded schools are easily accessible
TO the rural districts in a majority of
cases, and mentions, perhaps not with
out some degree Of astonishment, that
children are gathered up in wagons and
taken over the prairieS to school, the
parents bearing the expense of the
transportation.
Western vim and vigor is thus
brought into sharp contrast with the
easy going eastern methods which obtain
in the rural districts of New England,
The reason is apparent Western peo-
pie come together from all parts of the
world, and there is a commingling OF
ideas and experiences which results in
the selection of the best methods, not
only in the matter of educating the
young, but the everyday business affairs
as well
On the other hand, The rural New
| Englanders seldom, if ever, have a
| chance TO get out of the rut. They
hang their hats on the same pegs as
their ancestors, and they never seem
to keep in touch with the spirit of the
| age. Of course the land is poor and
rocky, and there is little opportunity
to branch out, but, at the same time,
lit is fair to presume that the methods
employed in tilling the soil could be
improved. Certainly there could be
something better IN the way of school
facilities than the little red school
house of bygone days.
Fifty years ago the Sunday school
| children 'back east used 10 sing a
song which ran something like this;
| Far out upon the pralres how many
children dwell
Who never read the Bible or hear the
| Sabbath bell"
The children of the boundless west
were cIassed as heathens. 1t WASH u
so, While there was dcarth Of "Sab.
bath bells there were plenty of Bibles,
and the lessons contained therein were
committedFto memory by the children
'far out upon the pralries,' just as
| faithfully as by the little ones in the
eastern and more populous section Of
the country. The farming communities
Of the west were always strong on re-
ligion as well as education, and IN
these days of electricity the contrast
between the east and the west is becom~
ing more marked every day.
Beyond the Mississippi" is no
longer terra incognlto, aud the "Great
American DESERT of the old geogra-
phies is shown to have existed only in
the imagination of the authors who
wrote their books and made their maps
upon hcarsay, and took for granted
whatever was told them regarding tie
plains and mountains
/ nc prairie SldtcS arc HON tHlChlJ
populated, and the only land of promise
for the man of New England who de.
sires TO get out Of the rut, is the inter
mountain country. Here we have the
schools and the churches, water and
sunshine, great areas of uncultlvated
land and all that makes for a happy,
contcnted and prosperous people, Utah,
in particular, is favored in these re.
spects above all her sister common
wcalths, and in addition has the most
| glorious climate IN the world.
Just as the doors of the church are
always open for the repentant sinner,
so the people of Utah stand ready TO
welcome the eastern brother who desires
to cast his lot with them by building
a factory, engaging in business or till
ing the soil. We don t like to brag,
and it is not necessary TO give bill
of particulars setting forth all of the
advantages, educational and otherwise,
TO be found within the confines of this
state. Come and see.
So far Utah has had the March lion