Mexico weekly ledger., 1916-12-28
COUNTY SCHOOL NOTES
By W. CLYDE JOHNSON.
County School supt

trict Is necessary - a distflct that
can provide a teachers ecttagef
All over the county it is becoming
more and more difficult to obtain
board. Many teachers are paying as
much for country board as the teach
ers in the towns pay, and yet they
do not have the eonvenienees. Is it
any wonder that our successful teach
ers 20 to town schools, where they r
furnished equipment, tools to work
WITH Would you hire a ma at pres
emit day prices and send him out with
the tools of % years ago OF moref
Then why do the teacher so, and ex-
pect to get your moneys worth?
In the last three weeks ! have visit
ed thirty schools. Many improvements
have been made in all Of them, both
in their equipment and in their ply
steal and sanitary conditions. Some
Of these / wish TO note especially at
this time. Others / shall try to speak
of later.
South Liberty Is a very small dis
trict with about $4,000 valuation.
But they are trying to have a first
class school in every respect. And
they are succeeding, too, although
some of the tax payers are not so
liberal as could be wished. Miss
] Toalson has some pupils that get very
much interested in their reading, and
are hard to stop. They have some
good library books. Besides some
books, she has bought a chair, a flag,
some fine pictures, and a sanitary
bubbler drinking fountain. This was
done with the proceeds of a box sup
per. This is the way TO build up the
school. l am glad that many others
have done equally al well. May they
prosper and their numbers increase.
Colds, diphtheria, sore mouths, la
grippe and many other diseases are
transmitted from one to another by the
use of the same drinking cups. The
drinking fountain removes most Of
the danger. Audrain now has a half
dozen or more. Another great source
of menace and discomfort to the chill
dren is the dust. Prof. Bray, of Kinks
vile, says that SO per cent or one half
of the dust is horse manure. AL
though you do not believe in the
great danger Of the germs that live in
the dust, do you want your child fill
ing his lungs all day with air filled
with manuree7 All right then, join
the number Of those who are oiling
their floors. Get a floor oil at a cost
Of 4oc or Soc per gallon and a gallon
or two will give the floor one good oil
ing. Then keep a little to put on as
needed. Four or five gallons will
probably be sufficient for a year. The
floor should be well scrubbed and
dry before oiling. II this is done it
viii shine, Then a brush is much bet
ter for sweeping than a broom. 1t
costs more, but it lasts longer. Does
not stir up the dust, and is much err
sier to use.
OF the schools visited recently, Me-
Clintie, Fox, Harrison, Lawder, Lib
erty, and Sun Rise, are using oil.
Harrison is also using a brush. Mr..
Offutt is loud in the praise of it; also
of the oil, as are all the others.
Four of the schools visited recently
have free text-books-Fisher, Fox,
Liberty and Crane. All are well pleas
ed with them. At Liberty | examined
some of the primers, and found them
almost as good as new. Miss Diggs,
at Fox, reports that her pupils take
better care of the districts books than
they do of their own.
If someone were to offer you a gift
of a ten dollar bill, wouldn't you glad
ly accept it? The law makes that
offer to you. If at the annual or a
special school meeting you will vote
free textbooks by a majority of one,
and will provide the first four grades
, with free textbooks the first year,
the next two grades the second year,
and the upper two the third year, then
the district will receive its proportion
ate part Of the county foreign insur-
anee tax about as cents per pupil
enumerated each year. At present,
this money goes into town treasur-
les and does the schools no good.
II you want to help your children with
it, vote for free textbooks. This
money is a tax paid by all who buy
insurance Of companies located in
other states. Free textbooks will
not increase the tax, but will distrib-
ute it among those who pay 1t, which
is not done under the present sys-
tenn.
Vote free textbooks and have them
in the library ready for use when
school begins. Then il you are a rem.
ter and must move, leave your books
behind you, and don't have to buy a
new outfit. If you do not want YOU
child to use second hand books, buy
them for him just as you do now, and
at no greater expense to yourself.
Give this careful consideration. Come
in and talk it over.
Circuit Court Notes.
The Guit bro,1oht h.. III ur.t N =,