Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-01-08
EVENING CHAT

DIR. j. George Becht. secretary of the
State Board of Education and a for
mer president OF the State Educational
Association, has contributed to the
Pennsylvania Farmer one of the lead
ing agricultural papers of this part of
the country, an article on rural school
architecture which everyone raised in
the country can appreciate. The doc
tor has gift of expression that makes
his article very interesting. He re-
marks that the old style little red
schoolhouse which dotted hills and
valleys was generally severely plain"
in style and that practically all of the
one-room schoolhouses were of the
'box car" type. He also comments on
the fact that the more abandoned the
plot and less fitted for any use the
more desirable it appeared to become
as school site. Fortunately, this old
type of school is disappearing through
the work of such educators as DIR.
Brumbaugh, DR.. Schaeffer, DR.. Becht
and others who have been working for
years to better school conditions in the
country. DR.. Becht brings out the
IttCt tilttI the dIIenIlOn OIL everyone Is
being devoted to vitalizing rural life
and that life in the country is no
longer a mere phrase and that the
place of the public school, especially
as q social center. is having a pow
erful influence. The writer does not
deal with glittering generalities, but
shows how the State has prepared
plans for standard buildings and how
new locations, well situated in regard
to roads and population, are taking the
place of the secluded and desolate-
looking country school, The educator
has brought home to people just what
some of the schoolhouses within a
dozen miles of Harrisburg look like
and to read of what has to be done to
make them warm and comfortable is
enough to make the city man shiVer
with the radiator on full tilt.
Thomas Il. Wierman has donated
500 to the funds of the Harrisburg
Public Library for general library pur-
poses with his best wishes for the
second year of the library. Mr.. Wier-
man was q donor of 500 for the pur-
chase of books on American history
last January when the library opened
its doors to the people and his gift
comes a year later when the library
has demonstrated its big place in Har-
risburg.
Friends of William D. Boyce in Har-
risburS have received autograph copies
| of his latest book, entitled "The United
States Colonies and Dependencies, n
Observation-Disclosures 635-page edition
indeXed for ready reference. 1t is the
work of extensive travel and investi-
cation. Colonel Boyce. who is we'll
known as the publisher of The Sat-
urday Blade, The Chicago Ledger, The
Farming Business and The Indiana
Daily Times, is a noted traveller and
his writings have been published and
republished in many newspapers and
magazines of national circulation. His
book is the very last word concerning
the Philippines, Hawaii, Alaska, Porto
Rico, the Panama canal zone, Repub-
lie of Panama, Cuba, the Dominican
Republic and the Republic of Haiti.
1t contains 600 etchings from unusual
photographs, most of them made by
the author in his wanderings. 1t bears
the stamp of Rand, McNally & Co.,
Chicago, and one of it's interesting
features is map of the United States
when the Declaration of independence
was signed and another of the United
States in 1914. The findings of the
author are summed up in this para
graph. which is of interest in view of
the present controversy at Washing
ton: MY journeys in recent years to
every quarter of the globe and to all
our outlying possessions have con-
firmed my belief that the United States
is not only the best country In which
to live. but that colonies or territories
coming under it's ownership or pro-
lection are more justly treated and
rapidly developed than are the similar
possessions or dependencies of any
other nation"
The city dam across the Susuue-
hanna at Dock street, while not vet
finished, is completed to q height suffi-
cient to provide Il uniform obstruction.
over the stream, and the possible effect
of high water and ice on the dam will
be watched with more than ordinary
interest by weather, State Water Sup
ply and city officials and hundreds of
townspeople in the lower end of the
city. The present rising stage Of the
river will offer the first opportunity for
careful observance of the effects of ice
crushes and floods with relation to the
dam and wall and the data that may
be collected on these problems at this
time Will figure pretty generally in re-
ports and compilations for many years
to come.
Hiram II. Brosius of Brookville,
one of the members of the legislature
has been spending several DAYS in the
city looking after matters at the Capt.
tol. He will reside in Harrisburn
throughout the session. Mr. Brosius
was member of the last session.
DIR. Charles b. Penrose, chairman of
the State Game Commission, who was
here Yesterday iS a hrotbar 10 tho cap