EDUCATIONAL NEWS.

-At the meeting of the Canton Schoolmaster's Club, at the McKinley Hotel, Friday evening, March 22, Prin. L. S. Hopkins, of Massillon, and Supt A. B. Wingate, of Beach City, were initiated and received as members.

Prin. J. H. Hines, of Beach City, and Prof. L. L. Weaver, of Alliance, were guests of the evening.

Supt. C. L. Van Cleve, of Mansfield, was the speaker of the evening, and gave one of his usual eloquent addresses on the subject: Shall we write Schabod?

Those present were: E. A. Stewart, Frank Jones, E. E. Scheu, C. A. Armstrong, John K. Baxter, W. F. Gilmore, L. L. Weaver, J. H. Hines, A. B. Wingate, L. S. Hopkins, H. P. Hazlett, C. J. Bowman, F. A. Snell, W. C. Faust, M. G. Marshall, Carl H. Myers, E. F. Weckel, H. M. Shutt, W. S. Ruff, C. L. Van Cleve, A. J. Dehoff, M. E. McFarren, and L. L. Nave.

-Supt. L. C. Brown, of Jersey, has been re-elected and his salary increased from $75 to $90 a month. It is sun up in Jersey.

-After fourteen years of most faithful and acceptable service, Supt.

Charles Haupert, of Wooster, has tendered his resignation to the board of education, to take effect at the close of the present school. year.

-"School Management," by Prof. Samuel T. Dutton, of Teachers' College, Columbia University, deals with practical school problems in a practical manner. One of the many good features of the book is the absence of unnecessarily technical. terms. The teacher who reads it will have little trouble in grasping the author's meaning. The publishers

are Charles Scribner's Sons.

-Supt. E. B. Cox, of Xenia, in his annual report, speaks up "loud and strong" as follows: "Church affiliations, personal friendships, and politics should under no circumstances be permitted to influence the appointing power in the selection and appointment of teachers."

-Supt. D. H. Barnes had another all-day meeting at the Bath Township high school, March 15, which was the best ever. The crowd reminded one of a county fair and the good things to eat made it "a land flowing with milk and honey." Then the program! Commissioner Jones was there, and Joseph Wing, and Supt. E. B. Cox, and many other speakers.

There was music, too, good music and plenty of it. It was a great day for the schools and for the people.

-The Warren Co. teachers had a most enthusiastic meeting at Lebanon, March 23. The attendance was large, and the interest even larger. They have a way of getting things done in the county that is beautiful to behold, due to the fact that they all work at the problem.

A. B. Prior has been elected to the superintendency at Homer to succeed J. L. Clifton, who went to Mendon.

-At the May meeting of the Scioto county teachers there will be a debate on the question which was proposed in Principal Harlan E. Hall's article in the January MONTHLY under the caption, "Am I My Brother's Keeper."

-Supt. S. H. Layton of Fostoria, writing for the local press, makes these points for manual training: 1. It develops skill. 2. It is a thinking process. 3. It develops ethical habits. 4. It develops habits of order and neatness. 5. It develops perseverance. 6. It develops accuracy, and therefore a love for truth. 7. It develops self-reliance. 8. It makes doers of things.

-Supt. J. G. Crabbe of Ashland, Ky., has been elected Secretary of the Commercial Club of that city. The local press says: "Our new Secretary is a hustler, and always a great factor when it comes to any broad, liberal, public-spirited work."

The editor spent March 5 in the schools of Lancaster, and met with the teachers, now numbering nearly 60, in their teachers' meeting at the close of the afternoon session. Some excellent work was seen, a marked

feature being the readiness of pupils to respond in the recitations by talking freely, logically and intelligently upon the subjects assigned for study. The new high school building is a model in arrangement, lighting, heating and ventilation, and Supt. Cassidy and his associates are working in harmony for the welfare of the children in the schools.

The Souvehir of the Wells High School, Steubenville, recently prepared by Supt. Edward M. Van Cleve, is one of the finest specimens of artistic work we have ever seen.

-A visit to Valparaiso, Indiana, five years ago revealed a school attendance of such magnitude and an equipment of such excellence as to lead to the conclusion that high water mark had been reached, but a return trip, March 1, made evident that the flood is still rising, and, with streams of attendance pouring in from all the states in the Union, no one can safely predict what the future will bring. Organized September, 1873, with three departments, four instructors, thirty-five students and a part of a building, this school, originally devoted largely to training teachers, has developed and modified its courses of study to meet the ever increasing demands made upon it, until it is now a University with Teachers', Scientific, and Classical Courses, much more complete than formerly, and many new courses and departments added. As a University it is regularly chartered, confers the usual degrees, is open for four terms of twelve weeks each, with two midterm sessions for the special accommodation of teachers and others, whose employment for the winter makes it impossible for them to attend school all the year, but whose industry and economy make them the best of students. There are now 25

departments, 162 instructors, a large number of well-constructed and wellequipped buildings, including three in Chicago for medical and dental work, modern laboratories accommodating 400 students at one time, or 1,200 daily; a good library, and an annual enrollment of nearly 5,000 students. The value of the plant is at least $1,000,000. How such a condition of affairs has been brought about in a third of a century is simply unexplainable, but there are reasons: 1. The President of the institution, H. B. Brown, and the VicePresident, O. P. Kinsey, both Ohio men, have grown with the institution, thoroughly understand its workings, and attend strictly to their business. Both teach one or two classes each day, and thus keep in close touch and hearty sympathy with the real work of the school. 2. The management of Valparaiso University have always been friendly to the other educational institutions of Indiana, including those supported by the State. They are too big to be jealous, too busy to be fault-finding, too generous to be selfish, and too sane to attempt to build up their own institution by tearing others down. 3. The expenses have always been kept at a minimum. The tuition is low, room rent in the University dormitories and in private residences is most reasonable, and those who desire it are furnished board at from $1.20 to $1.40 a week. In these days of extravagance when the cost of college education in many institutions is rapidly reaching the point where many of the most earnest, in their desire to secure an education, are prohibited from attendance, because of expense, such institutions as Valparaiso are a real blessing in the opportunity which they furnish to thousands of earnest souls whose poverty in money is far more

than balanced by their wealth of brains, industry and character.

-Dr. Samuel Findley, for so many years editor of the MONTHLY, has not been as well as usual the past winter and has not spent the season, as is his custom, in his orange grove in Florida. It is very gratifying to announce that he is better again and so far as his interest in the schools of Ohio are concerned, the growth of time has made no change in him. A delightful hour spent in his home, March 18, passed all too soon. The best wishes of school people go out to Dr. Findley in the evening of his long and useful life.

-The following communication from Howard Dock, of Woodward High School, Cincinnati, came too late to be used in its rightful place in the symposium on high school work and hence, is given here:

I have been surprised to hear that anyone considers the High School course too difficult, and that only pupils of more than ordinary intelligence are able to do the work. The course at present could even be made more comprehensive, and the average student, if willing to devote some time to his work, would be successful.

I have taken the regular Latin and mathematical course, with French as an extra, and have met with no difficulties. The course, with the extra study, excluding drawing and Gymnasium, consisted of twenty-five recitations per week. I found two and a half hours of daily study sufficient. I do not wish to pose as a prodigy, for I firmly believe that any pupil, who is willing to devote a little time to daily, conscientious study, can complete the course in four years.

The general terms in which the Committee has expressed the subject assigned to me lead me to suppose that a general discussion is desirea rather than a specific treatment of some phase of the subject. Recent years have witnessed a rapid development of interest in manual training as a feature of education. Whether this is to be regarded as a protest against the inefficiency of other forms of education or whether it is a more or less earnest search after the practical in education or whether it is the discovery of a new field of education hitherto neglected we need not now stop to inquire. The fact is that manual training is here. The public mind for the present at least is fixed in the conviction that every community of any considerable size shoula provide some facilities for manual training in the schools. The interesting testimony is offered that wherever such education has been introduced public favor has supported it and no sentiment exists that would suggest an abandonment. Under these circumstances we are bound to study the problems presented by this form of education and secure such treatment or solution as will make manual training effective. It may be worth while in passing to remind ourselves that this form of education is yet in its infancy. The history of manual training is all compassed in the lives of this audience. It is not surprising then that both teachers and patrons have not yet formulated exact theories and worked out definite programs. The truth is that the most enthusiastic advocates

of manual training are usually the most awake to the dangers and errors associated with it. In consideration of our topic let us first of all announce a few fundamental principles in our educational creed in order to a better estimate and appreciation of manual training.

was

And first let me remind you that we are steadily moving away from what some one has called the vestibule theory of education. For long years we have believed and taught that education was always preparatory. The elementary school preparing for the High School; the High School was preparing for College; College was preparing for something else. The result of this vestibule and preparatory theory was that no one ever seriously expected to reap any present rewards. The only rewards were future rewards. The evident truth in this theory was important. The undiscovered truth was equally as important. Is it not true that the child of six and the youth of fifteen are living as really as the father of forty or the grandfather of sixy? Have we not failed to see or to put it the other way, have we not now discovered that the educational process in the child is enriching life and bringing its daily measure of happiness and human wealth? Is it not as natural for the child to be in school as for the father to be in business? If not, why not? Here is where the child spends as much time as the average man spends in his office. Ought not the one to be as happy and as well adjusted in his environment as the other? The