Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1916-10-05
SCHOOLS ARR /; VISITED. ! !
Gazette Representative Makes Tour
Of Schools and Finds Much to In
terest Him in Both Upper and
Lower Grades

bv the Great High Mogul of Alexan-
dria's principal industry, through the
many departments in which its great
est assets are being shaped ana
pruned and fitted for the most I'M
portant of all life's tests the hrst
plunge into the great game OF NE
The G. r. was little abashed at
the prospect. 1t seemed to him that
a fellow who had to carry all the de-
tails of the education of nearly nlne-
teen hundred white, and four hundred
or so of colored children, must be
wiser than anybody else ne had en-
countered in long time.
The High Mogul is named Sweeney
He was found in his Office in the Lee
school talking to some little girls
about vaccination certificates and
other horrible details that are neces-
sary to prevent one youngster from
going out and getting some undesl-
rable sort of disease and then giving
it away free, to lots of other little
Youngsters, whose parents wouldn't
have any use for it at all.
Then there was a lady, who was
little upset, who wanted to run the
school system her way; and who be-
came very indignant when she was
told that there are probably three or
four thousand other people in Alex
andria would like to do the same
thing. She was asked, very gently,
what she thought would be the re-
suit, if she had her own way, and
where the youngsters who are hunger
ing and thirsting for the three RS
and all their modern trimmings would
get off at if all these would-be school
superintendent and City School Board
members had their way. She was one:
of those people, however, Who answer
one question with another question.
or an entirely irrelevant statement.
She said, in effect:
know Misters E. NJ. Anderson,
J. Gilbert Cox, DR.. S. H. Lunt, Luther
H. Thompson, P. M. Bradshaw, S.
L.. Monroe William Helmuth Car
roll Pierce, R. M. Colvin,
T. Calvert Perry, Clifton Howard,
and DR.. Samuel H. Moore, and if any
of them know any more about chill
drcn than / do I'll give them the five
I've got right now. -
She knew all the members of the
school board, all right
But at this point Mr.. Sweeney
very tactfully used the G. R. as an
excuse to get her off on her way else
where and we started to go through
the grades. We began at the very
beginning, as is proper in an educa
tional expedition, and Immediately the
High Mogual became just plain
ordinary everyday sort of a chap
that had a heart, you suspected, a
little bigger than duck egg, Why?
Well, just as soon as we opened the
door Of the first room, simultaneous
grin grew on. forty chubby little
faces and, with one accord, as many
voices cried:
"Pl-ecease tell us a story Mister
Sweee-eeney."
And in every other room that we
entered until we got to the High
School, where they are getting SO near
the beginning of the test and their
natural exuberance Of youth is tinct-
urred of with, mayhap. little ap-
prehension, or they have learned t.
control their feelings better, it was
the same-Mr. Sweeney was urgent
ly urged to tell story. But one
thing was apparent, and it seemed a
very important thing. In all the de-
partmerEts in all the schools there
was an air of good cheer. There was
none of that heavy strained look that
used to be associated with education;
and which is still present in many OF
the schools the G. r. has visited
One reason for this, undoubtedly, i:
that the schedules of studies are grea
" diversified. The toddlers especial
iy do not study any one thing too
long, and they have frequent recesse:
in which they can stretch their club
by little toddle-pins,? And, better still
the teachers of the lower grades ar,
experts. They keep on teaching tn
lower grade scholars, understandin:
them. their peculiar little menta
kinks and so on, year after year, lay
ing :he foundations on which sha1
afterwards be laid all the higher ru
Continued on Fourth Page.)