The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-06-13

volumes in the average home reporting l libraries was 67.
 i Newspapers of various types were re- ceived in the country homes. The reports
 show that 265 homes receive daily or semi weekly and weekly editions of daily pa
 pers; 20 county weekles, 1S9 farm jour
 nals, 55 magazines and monthly papers of the mazagine type. 20 children's jour
 nals, IS educational journals. nine polit 1 ical and six fraternal journals. Only fiye l families are reported as receiving neither apers or magazines. The average num-
 Der of papers and magazines received by | the families from which these replies came is two and nne-tenths.
 Pupils Criticise Conditions "In answer to the question, What is | your chief objection to country life?' Sl | said 1t was the school, 54 named the high' ways. 70 said poor church facilities, 40 others gave social disadvantage, Il l thought the lack of opportunity for sue cess was the greatest drawback, five said l the work was drndgery. four gave various reasons, and 160 either failed to reply or
 said that they found no objection. l Believing the school to be the chief
 factor of country life in the country-liv-
 Ing problem. T requested these pupils, ! who as high school students were having | a broader view and a wider horizon, to l state the greatest defect In the rural schools last attended by them. A sum | mary of the replies is as follows: S3 re- l ported poor equipment. 46 lack of interest | and cooperation, 43 incompetent teachers, | 32 shortness of term, Is crowded condi- l tons of the buildings. 26 not enough teachers for the number of pupils and | Srades. 26 poor attendance. IA lack Of | graduation in the schools, g poor build | ings 39 others gave various defects. in- cluding sanitation, location of building l. <xf | the situation was in the reply of nine who | said the too frequent changing of teach CTS and of seven who said a course of | study devoid of the practical phases of | educat tion. One 16-year-old girl spoke
 more wisely than she knew when she said | Some rural teachers are not fitted fot l rural teaching
 Three Lines of Improvement l The following is a summary of the | replies to the question: If you were a ] leader in rural districts and desired to
 make country life more attractive to young people, along what three lines would you suggest Improvement? Bet | ter roads, 137; better schools, 1S7 more amusements. 1S0; better churches and
 more frequent services, 123; better agri- | cultural methods, 59; better homes with | labor saving devices. 10l; introduction of 1 organized play, 70: libraries, AT; miscel- | laneouss=a3. There were five replies each containing one of the following means | of remedying conditions: Local taxation. compulsory attendance upon schools, con | solidation of schools introduction of the | teaching of domestic science, development of community leaders. One young Amer l lcan of IS years prescribed wisely when | he said that to make life more attrac- | tive for young people, I would introduce | the Boy Scout and Camp Fire Girl move | ments. I would see that there were more books in the country for young people | to read and I would organize athletic
 clubs and give the boys time to play. Truly, the red blood Of the American | youth will not stagnate: and when there l is nothing doing in the country he will
 seek 1t elsewhere.
 | Because a boy is born in the country
 he need not necessarily be confined there ! to. but he should be allowed freedom of
 choice of life work and be encouraged | in his preparatio for that work. I speak | for the boy who would remain the 1 farm and who is undecided to his lifes work because, as one boy reported The | only thing for a fellow In the country | is hard work and no fun
 q quote from pr. w. H. Wilson, who
 evidently knows the boy, his inclination
 and his rights: Boys are natural re- | sources. They can be worked out as soil can be impoverished by forever exact ing the same thing of them and never fertilizing with play. Country boys need rotation of experience, as soils need TO- tation of crops. Boys leave tiie farm he ! cause they are made work cattle. They
 eat and sleep in the house. but they work | like the horse
 | "A remedy is suggested by Dr. Bead
 shear who says: T honestly believe that 1 where young people have left the farm
 for causes other than those usually
 springing from natural changes of pro- | fession vocation, other household vr-
 tues proving equal, $100 a year spent in
 papers and books and games and amuse-
 ments would save four-fifths of the young
 people of the farm to virtue and to the farm
 q shall not discuss conditions surround
 ing the father on the farm further than
 to say that his interest Is too often cen
 tered in yields and prices. Yields are
 improving with him. He Is gradually
 having his eyes opened to the posslbil- tiles of the soil, as he observes demon
 tration methods. In time he will find | in community cooperation more sat-
 isfactory and remunerative method of
 marketing his products.
 Too Much Drudgery
 "The drudgery and constant grind of | housework can be and should be reduced by labor saving devices, by cooperation
 in the family and a division of labor, by
 convenient gardens and woodpiles. by l running water in the kitchen, and by
 various other aids Such remedies must
 be had. thereby giving mothers time for
 social intercourse and for self-improve-
 ment, and removing from them the monot- ony and isolation which of necessity has
 been theirs in the past. The life histories ------------------------------