Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-09-06

r. we look into the mind OF q sue /.
sl..,,, American, n highly successful
eea.icon, eess,Ji one who would have been de-
A.Ihed n few years ago as n typical
mnt Il is not as Secretary Of Labor
os n self made man thnt MIR. Davis
0I,Je,tly desires to be known, but as
WAN who knows much about educa :
NJ who has thought much about II
uUa' .~% who is applying his theories to
~ ~. to,ching of the orphans of work
;semon .ue nj Mooscheart, Ill. Like Henry
iius is.n,s hc might have called his book
eTho Education Of James J. Davis "
,,stoad Of The Iron Puddler.'
~ mn like no other man who has
.~or lived" writes Rousseau in the first
s.ragroph of his confessions. What
R%JJe ,nJ of school is Mooseheart? That
.arnot he answered by making compari-
.ons writes the iron puddler. "for II
!. Tho only school of It's kind
Mr. Davis knows all about education.
uo once visited n college and saw how
crosk and Latin were taught. "I Wis.,
,ted the Latin department and heard
~ Rome's ancient grandeur" he
~,;tes. The Romans, they told me,
w.re not philosophers but builders.
Tbev % built concrete roads to the ends
- tbe Garth. But their soldiers brought
Ssck malarial fever from Africa. 1t
S.stroved the builders and their secret
,srished with them. Eighty years ago
concrete was undiscovered.
Knew Latin But Not Concrete
"I asked the students. DO you know
k.r IN make Concrete?' 'l'll say we
Scn't.' they answered. And that's how
much good their Latin had done them.
"What is education anyway! Trans
narration is civilization. We teach civ
jization at the Mooseheart school. We
teach art too. But what Is art without
civilization? The cavemen were artists
and drew pictures on their walls. But
you can't caS pictures. There Is n pic
ture on every loaf Of bread. You nj .
vays slice the colored label off the loaf
and eat the bread md throw the art
away"
Mr.. Davis learned all about education
from his personal experiences. He was
an apt scholar. Everything that hap.
pened to him was lesson. On almost
every page Of his book You read "this
taught me. ETC." Every chapter ends.
Ike a fable Of Aesop, This teaches. y
\ The author has a fight in the first
chapter with boy who made fun OF
The patched trousers his mother made
hIm and wore it. "All bullies, whether
nations. parties or individuals. get
licked the same way he writes. They
outrage some ones self-respect. and
then the old primordnl cyclone hits
them
Welslimen Hang On
In chapter two he Ia dragged out from
under the bed when his family is emf
rnting from its home in Wales. Hc
eoes back TO Wales forty years later.
Lloyd George. a Welshman, Is Premier.
"And he'll still be there for all | know
until he Is carried out feet first. The
Instinct of a Wclshman Is to hang on.
'These things (his being dragged
rom under the bed and Lloyd Georges
hanging on) teach that racial charac
teristcs do not change. In letting i'm
migrants in this country we must re.
member this"
Mr.. Dnvis is an eminently teachable
man. Now. see how he learned all
about the immigration problem from
being dragged from under the bed n,
tke age Of eight by his Welsh mother
No Latin and no Greek could have
taught him so much SO easily.
He goes through life picking ur
knowledge so easily and 40 fast. a spit
ball Of his lands in his teachers eye,
and It taught him all about Russia
The teacher clicked" him. His father
'?icked' him all over again at home
To-day there Is theory that the
child should never be restrained" hf
writes. Solomon said Spare the rot
and spoil the child We have no cor
poral punishment at Moosehart. hut w
have discipline. A child must be re.
strained. Whenever a crop OF unre
etricted youngsters takes the rcins
fear they will make this country one ot
their much talked Of Utopias. 1t wa:
cn Unrestricted bunch that made {
Utopia out Of Russia
Feathers Shaped His Destiny
His mother lost her feather beds
eoout all the family owned. on her ar.
rival in this country. MY love fOl
my mother and her grief at the loss o.
the feather beds turned careless boy
,hto serious money maker. This lee
TO the study Of economics and finance
= mans destiny Is often made by trifles
light as feathers
he pr!cks the pigeon eggs OF a play
mate and makes them spoil The boy
IN revenge sets his dog to worrying tn,
cows Davis Is paid to watch. Ht
goes TO- the boys mother and get.
ecolded for his pains, "This taught III,
ono OF the best lessons ] ever learned
by looking only at his side of cast
man can kid himself into thinking
% Is wholly right. that his cause il
greater than himself and represents th'
rights OF the entire community. Bu
counter-blast from the other side viii
oenate his balloon In second and he'll
come down 10 earth without even
parachute to soften the jolt when h,
hnds'
Learns Of Intellectuals =.
Mhen he goes to work as an ir0r
Ehadler he meets a Communist, Comrads
oanhcrman. He soon sees that Banner
Meh IL envious OF the rich. "Fron
snia learned that lntellcctuals is 1
name weak men crazed with envy Civ,
themselves. They believe that sue
Thslul men lack intellect. that It is al
Weh. This thought soothcs their envy
sns Keeps It from driving them mad
he generalizes readily from single in
Mncea One Bannsrman teaches hin
~ thsre Is to know about the Intel.
inStsals. This one experience o
yavis teaches him all there is to know
s sUyut education and about life in gen
al ne discovers, or thinks he discovers
he commonplnccs himself. Som,
'aeloeht teaches" him the truth o.
sCsry popular prejudice or accepted tru
%, lie IL as full OF old saws a.
Ssncho rama. - Proverbs are the con
steassd wisdom Of the ages. Life ha'
;s'snt me that the wisdom OF the age,
eae truth. The proverbs and tn,
M, commandments answer all our
yoislns. Starting at tho forg,