Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-03-07

n explaincd> a lot Of the wonderful
strong things in the French cnaIa' vi.
or course there Is an applied Sc
department, and particularly ~
there a fine arts department. for tn.a
is France, where beauty is MOI a IN
ury but a necessity. Here industlia.
designing Is taught, and ING class Is @
has b%roadened education for girls,
even to forcing open for them inc
professional classes in the big unlNcr-
stiles for young men J..
The n strongly marked note IN
this whole school was keen,
purposeful application. This was the
note, too, in the magnificent inter
mediate" school for girls when We
visited.
In this school the higher branches
are taught. and the tendency toWafo Il
broader and a more practical eduea-
ton has been more markedly SNOWY
with each year Of the war,
OF course they find tine here. as
everywhere else. to work for the sol.
diers. the young ladies and the alumni
not only sewing but clubbing together
to hire sewing m ''-t
Even the wee small. young kidd'e'
in the primary department bring the,f
~self-deDial penny a week for the sol
diers. lust as the Youngest toddlers IN
the other school we visited save their
sugar or chocolate and bring it for the.
soldiers, without even a nibb(e off a
corner: which takes remarSa"l"
strength Of mind when one is only
three or. four years old!
The same intense application we
found among the girls was to be found
also among the. boys, particularly In
the classes of the especial industrial
schools, where serious citizens Of IA
learn to hammer and saw, and
manipulate iron. and discover with a
cinematograph how bees make honey,
or sit with folded arms n profound.
ly knitted brows while the professor
of applied chemistry. with test tube
and flame, explains the miracle of
coal and its thousand commercial
The absorbed attentiveness through
out the schools could not escape COM
ment, and the comment brought the
smile of a happy man to the face of
the inspector. 4.
That is the prettiest story in
France" said he; then we learned
how the school children OF this land
answered the call of La Patrie. :.
When the war broke out SO sud
In history, everything was disrupted in
the tremendous task of mobilization.
1t became necessary, particularly in
the cities near the front, for the mill
tary authorities to take over all use
able public buildings, including the
schools for barracks.
Instantly the school authorities saw
the danger of the suspension Of edu-
cation. If this war were to be of the
duration which it's magnitude threat
ened. France more than ever would
naod q HIGH cfo ~ o.s5 ~ - :, -
capability n moral responsibility in
her future citizens.
The school authorities were as
prompttas the military authorities in
this dilemma. and by a superhuman
effort managed that there should be
no interruption to the educational sys-
tenn.
In one of the cities near the front,
where every building Of any size was
taken over by the soldiery, there was
only a. five-day sustension; but when
tn big intermediate school recovered,
1t was scattered among seventeen un-
finished buildings, residences, small
shops, anything.
Teachers next. All the young men
who had been engaged in this work
had been Immediately modified.
Women and retired old men came for
ward to take their places, and pro-
ceeded to dash madly about over the
city all day long, from class to class.
M inconvenience and uncertainty
or attendance in such out of the way
spots was the big bugbear, however.
for French children. like, any other
children. had been known to- play
''hooky." - !,
An appeal to the children them
selves was all that was necessary, an
appeal to duty. to- loyalty. to patri-
otism. Every childish breast 'swelled
Immediately in response to that call.
hat it had been. but better! They
came every day.> these children. with
no hardness and no a%bsentees; for no
French child would he a traitor! You
can't lick a nation which starts out in
that way. - ae r.. -.
They kept up this attendance even
when the city was bombarded, each
pupil bringing lunch and a gas mlsk,
ready, on warning. to bob into the
hastily constructed bomb-proof
cellars under h temporary schools. :,
Not only was the attendance i'm
proved. but the attention also. for the
great determined purpose Of France
was reflected Immediately in the chill
dren.
Today, after nearly four years of
the war. h improvement continues
throughout the land!
They're going to be such a-race Of
hustlers. these young people. boys and
girls alike as France has
known.
They will enter into a golden era,
OF opportunity when they mature. and
they are preparing themselves thor
ouehlv to grasp it. ~
Talk about French being bled
white? Why. she is just beginning to
run good and red!