The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1950-09-21

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abroad. Nearly every other country
teaches English. 1t seems important
to us that our schools should give
foreign language choice in the
lower grades when children car
learn easily Mrs. Elliott said.
Mrs. Elliott, who says that she is
"just a housewife" was in Banft
with her husband when, because she
was so near Alaska, she decided to
make the trip to Wrangell to visit
her sister. She had not been in
Alaska for more than 20 years and
in that time finds Alaska has de-
veloped tremendously.
With Mrs. Barnes, Mrs. Elliott
made the trip to Skagway and to
Whitehorse. They returned to Ju-
neau on the Princess Louise and
will sail for Wrangell on the
Alaska
At Boston Convention
On her trip to Boston for the con-
vention of the International Fed
Grafton of Women's Clubs, Mrs.
Barnes was accompanied by her
daughter, Miss Dorianne Barnes,
formerly of Juneau and now Sc
attic resident. While her mother at
tended convention meetings that
lasted long into the night, Miss
Barnes went to concerts-the Bos-
ton Pops-and did the sightseeing
for the family. They visited Mrs.
Barnes son, Frank, Stanford grad
uate, in Syracuse, NY. where he is
sales manager of the television and
broadcast equipment division OF
General Electric Company. With
Mr.. Barnes and his wife and
daughter, they drove to Montreal for
three days, then south through the
lake counties of New York state.
Before returning west they at
tended a United Nations meeting
at Lake Success. A report of the
United States trusteeship OF the
Pacific Islands was on the agenda
of the day and Mrs. Barnes heard
Frances Bowes Sayer and Admiral
Fiske speak. Though it was just
before the Korean war started, no.
thing that was said gave any indl-
cation that a war was impending,
Mrs. Barnes said Among the COM
ments by representative of other
nations, following the report, Mrs.
Barnes mentioned the talk of the
Dominican Republics representa-
tive, "a woman, who spoke in
French" All the other talks wdre
in English, Mrs. Barnes commented.
But the reference to the universal
use of English and to the French
of the DIR. representative again lead
to conversation about more gen.
eral study in our schools of foreign
languages.
Has Hobby
IF American youngsters could
start learning Spanish or French or
any other foreign language in gram
mar schools, it would eventually
lead to an international under
standing that is difficult now, y
Mrs. Elliott said, pursuing her
hobby"
And foreign language is a hobby
with the Elliott family Next to
golf,' Mrs. Elliott said. A member
of the national hole-in-one organi-
zation, Mrs. Elliott would like to
play Juneaus famous million dollar
course" on the old Alaska Gastineau
tailings.
About languages-Spanish is her
second language, land l was nearly
40 when I started to learn Spanish"
Mrs. Elliott said. Spanish radio pro-
grams, books in Spanish transla-
tons and, when her speaking Span
ish needs polishing, another trip
to Mexico-these are the methods
Mrs. Elliott uses to keep her foreign
language. But it would have been
SO much easier if had learned my
Spanish in grammar school"
To get back to Mrs. Barnes and
her affiliation with the Aladla Fed
Grafton of Women's Clubs: She
brought back to the clubs the greet
ings of the new General Federation
President, Dorothy Houghton, and
this thought, "thatsw I'VE may each in