The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-11-12

HE SIOh1s when UT. GlucOu
 Pianish, editor of Rural Adult Ed
 uoMtion and former Dean of Kin
 nikinick College. learns that the
 present executives of the Heskett
 Rural School Foundation are not
 eashing in sufficiently on the
 Foundation funds, he sees infinite
 possibilities. He Is offered and
 accepts the position of Managing
 Secretary.
 TT must not be thought that Dr l Planish did nothing at all AS managing secretary of the Heskett Foundation. He took part in con ferences, almost weekly confer enceS, promoted by colleges, lib- raries, municipal forums, state edu- cational associations, and he un- fiinchingly told these conferences that rural education was fine idea. He sat on committees, and if the sitting was not actual and physical, ct least he had his name on the rosters of committees, scores Of them. He benevolently allowed stu dents to use the pedagogical library which Miss Nimrock had collected, and he supervised the publication of three pamphlets prepared by uni versity instructors who had conclud- ed, after examining all the figures issued by the state governments, that teachers could be better paid and better heated. This was called Research.
 He was fond of these pamphlets, because whenever his accounts looked a little confused, he could always put down printing and promotion" as an item of expense.
 It was indeed chiefly as a It, erary man that pr. Planish mark edly improved upon Miss Nim- rock. He gave no larger financial grants Tor school-garden contests, but he increased fourfold the number of letters of advice sent out monthly to rural educators: advice on whether blackboards should be greenboards or blue boards, advice on reading poetry, advice on the established code for school janitors He sat dictating oracles all day long. stopping only to steal his information from the publications of Columbia Uniyer- sity, the Carnegie Foundation and the Association for Adult Educa- ton.
 AS literary man, Dr. Planish n also composed the Heske Foundations first aggressive series of fund soliciting letters. MT. Frisby insisted that the Founda- ton had enough funds so that 1t was not worth the bother Ito cir cularize 8 lot of fourflushers that you couldn't pry a sawbuck loose from with dynamite" but Dr. Planish saw 1t more professionally, with the eye of vision and of the Future.
 The Biblical virtue of philan- thropy was in this era turning into something far nobler than the impulsive handing out of a quar- ter. It was no longer emotion and friendliness, but Social Engineer ing, Planned Giving, with pur- pose and a technique; it was Big Business. pr. Planish saw that today the Good Samaritan would not do anything so silly and un- sanitary as to pick up a man who had fallen among hit = run driv- CTS. According to every rule of First Aid, the silly suburbanite might have killed the poor fellow by moving him. Today. the Sa- maritan would telephone to the nearest hospital and say, "Take care of him, and when I come again, shall increase my sub scription to your nationwide chain of hospitals. now headed by that great Organization Executive, Dr. Gideon Planish."
 Thus dreamed the Doctor, ten- der heart and powerful brain run ming strong and true, as he took his daily nap among the steel filing cabinets in his office.
 All this colonization of hospitals was as yet merely in his pro- phetic vision. Not for some time yet would Organized Philanthropy rank eighth among the major in- dustries of the United States. But already pr. Planish could foresee wedding of generosity and effi- ciency which would make the Crusades look like a bonus march, and perceive that 1t was going to be valuable for a scholar with a wife and child to be stationed close to this waxing flood of gold.
  DESPITE Frisbys doubting, Dr D Planish prepared a new letter Qf solicitation for the H, R. s. F. Dear Friend of Education,
 This letter isn't for your. We know from our huge files that you