Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-01
IDA GILBERT MYERS.

country may be found bits o
the "leaven' upon which thI!
i Il author and those Of like minC
with him are founding Their
professional hopes for education. These
points of fernent and activity are GER
tain private schools, banded together II
common outlook upon the vital matter
in hand For obvious reasons 1t is tht
private school as against the great pub
lie school system. that offers compare
lively free approach to the important
problem, ready means Of weighing its
various factors. simpler conditions gem
orally for the proper alignment Of these
and for an ultimate appraisal OF THEN
relationships.
Stanwood Cobb. president of the Pro-
s9-essive Education Association, himself
st the head Of one OF the private
schools included by it, here offers SEN
eral study of the worS q We aSSocia =
fson by way of the acEfvF es set up both
in his own school and Ia others belong
ing 10 the group Making use OF rrSt
one and then another of these schools.
Mr.. Cobb gives an objective treatment
Of the matter in hand. Assuming that
in the main the basic principles o. eou-
cation are at this time common pos
session the writer renders these con-
crete and seizable by way OF telling
what has been built upon them ana
what is vet 70 b. built. The readins
done. its first effect is that OF sanity
and simplicity. Health, 10 be sure. Is
the first aim In education. And the
wavs Ia secure Il are merely the we'll
known vavs. lifted over into the school
rnoni Health is food and air and play
and happiness and freedom that turns
that conventional Sehoolroom inside out.
throwing awav its RECOMMENDATION OF desk
and chair and narrow aiSleS, when only
irnnose rules that can thereafter be OF
no use. outside the army or the lalI.
Indeed. freedom is the password IN TINS
new education, freedom Of body and OF
mind. And In effect, II seems 10 me-
the plain substance of this project IN
education is to leave the child open 10
the world outside, so that through signt
and sound and touch and taste the
world may move into him. Ano tnen
IN an impulse as natural as that OF such
intakinc he sends out again that which
he has received-Sends it out IN hand
work. in play work III word work. Pc
lures plays, poems. songs set 10 tunes,
taynes without words, all these now our
as the child's own personal report OF
the world that touches him at so many
enthralltng points. Is this school work?
oh YES. and more. No hurry about IT,.
van know. Lessons DO not have TO De
rounded and packed away. They must
be left open for another plant or noWeF
20 step inside. for this stretch OF road
way that. by and by. will receive the I'M
posing name of geography or MS
tory" No hurry, though. for getting
the world into the child. Because hurry
defeats the object No hurry in getting
the world cut of him. Let him alone
And he. great dramatist. great actor
that a child always is. viii produce. IL
YOU lust let him alone and stop fussing
with him.
Stanwood Cobb. in describing the
work that is so engroSsing to MN.
draws upon one and another OF the
schools with which his own is IN
partnership, for the sake OF MAKING
even more clear and emphatic some
important point / could, In no more
thar nlain Justice. quote any number
AZ such illustrations. But I'm not GO
fi1r to. Instead. I'm going to
Eve lust one which comes very close
To us here in the Capital. In the
United States there are a few boarding
schools similar to the new schools OF
England and the Continent, the most
thoroughly characteristic OF which :
the Raymond Riordan School Oh Hisn-
land, ". Y, established in 1914 Ds
Raymond Riordan with the aim OF get
ting away from the Journalism OF the
traditional school and of utilizing the
arts and crafts TO stimulate construc-
five activity" There Is more OF this
Get the book and read about this Wash
in9ton boy for moment Of iustiflaole
r1ride Read also the authors version
Of The Problem Of the College ano
the Failure Of the Secondary School. .
Reen right on. then. for this Is sound
and readable outlook upon the most i'm
portant matter III the world. I'm MOI
st-essinZ the educational rigntness OF
this study, since this is an already over
stressed point. 1t is here. though ana
upon it Ia built an inspiring program
tRat win benefit parents quite as much
as It viii stir 20 greater activity the
profession itself
THE HOUSE OF SUN-GOEs-DOWN.
BY Bernard de Voto, author Of The
Crooked Mile etc. New YORK: The
Macmillan Co.
T the close Of the Civil War James
Abbey. 81 years cli, left his home
in the South and set OF for the West
That was In 1865, when. between the
Mississippi and California, many a
rams life problem ~es lying in wait
fer him. About al tina" Abbey had
10 take along with him was his South
ern pride He took ali Of that. The
ftory sets out the struggle between that
rride and The great pi&lns. Here were
the w1no and dus. from the alkal!
plains. Here was he eagf brush bar
ricede against civilized products Of the
sel. such as a man car feed himself
and his cattle on. iced his wife and
children on IL he b. RECKLESS enough
- scouire these in Tho face Of the
sikSb and the sage and cry stretches
Ct rock from whose surface the hot
Gun has rotted thin skin Of barren
earth. James Abbey cd take wife
and did beget children. But, always
Il wse the Southern pr.Sc Of James
Abbey that was paramount. Before
his mind were the Old sweet fields Of
inc South. and the E!ofs1n1ing orchard
trees And there fie fight began
James Abbey sWors DOWN in his heart
that he would conquer tnat sage, tla'
he would water that Eoil 10 fertillty
that apple trees should blossom upon
his Western Homestead And he niigh'
rave Won GUb-0IfEAH fosA aA'a~C aA6~
IL ROT been for the naughty. self-cen.
tered pride that resisted cooperation
with the other incoming settlers, and
f. his failure 70 lure that hostile land
instead Of trying 10 cocrce IL. The same
pride passed on TO MS son--but j y
hardly desirable 10 tell the story. One
wants 10 do his own reading There
are hundreds Of romances about tn
great West. Many Of them derive suS'
tensnce from Indian warfare or IRON
the adventures Of cowboy ana catti'
rr1stier and rsnchman All are bent u
the business Of proving the courage Of
fkfIl or audacitY Of men 10 the fac'
~ the vilcncss 81 the West. Here j.
something different NO human foe ear
compare with the desdliness Of nature
st its widest Nature is 30 implacable