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EVENING PUBLIC LEDGERr-PHILADELPHIA, THUKSDAY, JULY "28, 1921
',
H.
yi
s-
JEucnma public Hedgei:
i TUBLIC LEDGEJt COMPANY
f fctnUB It. lC, OUHTIS, ParalDSKT
t Jshn O. Martin, Vice President una Trsaaurari
Cnarl A. Tyler, Becretaryi Char'es II, I-udlnr.
mi; I'hlllp 8. Collins, John II. William. John J.
urnfon. 0or8 F. Ooldamltti, David H. Smllay,
PTrertr.r. . '
nAVtD K. SM11.BT... i Editor
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Philadelphia. Thondiy, Jolr II, 1121
FAIR ENVOYS WELL PLACED
RODMAN WANAMAKER In Paris and
Edward Bok In the Netherlands are
auspiciously placed to foster interest in the
sesqui-centennlal idea.
The somewhat unofficial capacity of these
nvojs, for the work of organized exploita
tion can hardly be said to have started, is
rot necessarily a barrier to accomplishment.
Not only through intimate acquaintance
with the two countries visited are these
spokesmen for the exposition well qualified,
but their position is enhanci d by the 'fitness
of the Netherlands and France to be pio
neers in arousing Kurope to the importance
of the coming anniversary.
It was a Dutch vessel which gave the
first Old World salute to an American ship
flying the national colors. The historic
concern of France with the birth of the
Republic is worthy of legitimate emphasis
In promoting the international fair.
The two countries should serve as, excel
lent starting points for developing that de
free of foreign enthusiasm and sympathy
which must be among the ingredients of
success in a memorable undertaking.
AN EXCESS OF CAMP RECRUITS
THAT there will be only 7So Pennsyl
vanlans. including IS" Philadelphians,
in the citizens' training camps this year is
proof of the modest scale upon which the
experiment is begun. The total of recruits
throughout the country will number about
11.000.
The possible subsequent expansion of the
undertaking is primarily dependent upon
the mood in which Congress votes appro
priations. In the nine training corps areas
this year the number of applicants for volun
tary service has been treble or quadruple
the number for whom accommodations and
equipment could be furnished. The excess
ill bo placed on the preferred list next
summer.
If the Organized Reserve, consisting of
the Officers' Reserve Corps and the Enlisted
Reserve Corps, Is to become much more than
an elaborate fiction it is obvious that the
resources of the summer training corps
arena will require amplification.
. The citizens' camps represent to a con
siderable extent the groundwork for earrjing
out some of the most novel provisions of
the Army Reorganization Act of J 020. As
there is virtually no opposition to the prin
ciple of voluntary enlistment preserved in all
branches of military service Regular Army.
National Guard nnd Reserves Congress
would support public sentiment by adjust
ing the scope of the citizens' training camps
to the popular interest already displayed.
A STAND FOR JUSTICE
SECRETARY HL'GHES' demand for the
release of American prisoners in Soviet
Russia is quite properly independent of the
conditions imposed by Secretary Hoover in
answering the appeal for famine relief. The
State Department's case is one Into which
bargaining or any suggestion of it cannot
be logically introduced.
Despite the fact that Russia and the
United States have not established formal
diplomatic relations, the two nations are at
peace wit!, each other. Imagine the in
evitable furore were Mexico, with which
republic conventional diplomatic inter
changes have not yet been restored, to fling
a dozen or so American citizens inconti
nently in jail. It is possible that Vera Cruz
might gain a second glimpse of a minatory
fleet.
The American Government has unques
tionably been patient with the Moscow
regime. No promise of freedom- for our
eight or ten incarcerated compatriots and a
eonsiderobly greater number of citizens de
tained within the Russian frontiers has been
forthcoming.
With characteristic vigor Mr. Hughes
calls for a cessation of these outrages. His
act is entirely unrelated to the principles
of so-called capitalism or of communism.
It is of no consequence in this instanee
whether I.enlno beholds a light which the
majority of Americans fail to discern or
whether he is benisbfd and the evolution
of property -holding democracy is the world's
salvation
The T'ni'eiJ States is umplj exercising
one of its functions, the protection of itn
rUirens abroad. Justice, not social theories,
is the strength of its clear case.
MONTICELLO ON THE MARKET
UNDESIRABLE as it may be to separate
the ncntiment.il from the materialistic
value of the famous JifTcriini.in etat of
Monticello. It Is nevertheless piceiselv this
fus'on wh'ch has rendered rue fate of what
ought t be a permanent shrine o alarm
ingly uncertain
In it sense it npp-ars almost as nld
blooded nnd ruthless to put a price upon
fills cxprcHsUc memorial to h great Ameri
can an to ctpr"i. tin. orth of Mount Ver
non in dollars and centx or to npprnise the
Llbrrtv Ilell in the coin of the Republic.
Renlitl's. however, intrude.
Kx-C'iPfrrcsumnii Levi, the present owner,
long has found Mmillcrllo enormously lostly,
as did indeed its Illustrious creator. liiit
the Mile pnipoml ultlch iai been made
from time to time haw not been micli as
commended themselves to numd business
instincts. Historically priceless. Monticello
7'itsldercd In the harsh terms of Virginia
real estate has been generally regarded n
worth considerably lejs than the ?l,(KX),n00
kotight by Its present occupant.
A ny nut of the quandary was thought to
bare been found a year njo when the
Thomas Jefferson Mepiorinl Association was
formed1 to ra'se the money bv popular sub
icriptlon nnd to convert the place Into a
permanent nntiomil monument. The move
ment failed to thrive, nnd now Monticello Is
t'ctiinllv ini'iii the market, prrsuinablv for
what It win brine.
ft tufl' t'lls n-Wiir th.t the Federal Ony
trlitncnr nitcllt nlilirnnrlntelr nlen In. For
lsweM-jjlek appeal--atowialy svgrtrfetW
ism, the cotala should be made Government
property and preserved in all its charm and
inspirational meaning. A. generous appre
ciation of this opportunity may avert a
spoliation or neglect which would insplro
belated and unavailing regrets.
Congressional consideration of the case Is
impcravely duo. Given tho requisite tact,
terms reflecting both justice and an appre
ciation of historic proprieties could con
ceivably be reached.
OLD TIMES DO NOT RETURN
AND 1914 IS GONE TO STAY
Business Will Not Be Revived by Folk
Who Fold Their Hands and Walt
for Pro-War Prices and
Cost Schedules
MOST conspicuous among all the obstacles
that prevent a full revival of business
aro the folk who believe that if they wait
long enough with folded hands the cost and
price levels of 1014 will be automatically
re-established. These dreamers will not
build. They will not buy. They will not
open their mills. They are waiting for old
times to return.
But old times cannot be made new. Some
time in the far future the economic balances
of 1014 may be restored and production and
selling costs tnny be reduced to the old
levels, but the change can be brought about
only by a complete restoration of the con
suming nnd producing power of the country.
Idleness, voluntary or enforced; wages
that limit the buying power of the majority
or industrial policies that retard output in
order to keep prices high and return large
revenues to a minority will only obstruct
and confuse the work of business revival.
Ruyers and sellers alike who wait for a
return of 1014 Instend of readjusting their
minds to the needs of 10111 are n drag on
the country. Quite unconsciously they do
more than any one else to postpone the day
for which they yearn.
The time has come to spend, work and
get busy and take the losses.
Director Caven is actlus wisely, there
fore, in making a determined effort to get
all authorized public work under way at
once to provide readier employment for
skilled and unskilled men who need It.
The city, too. might wait for a return
of "the conditions of 1014." and a time
might come when it could save a little of
the cost of contemplated improvements. Hut
public work of an important sort might
thereby be delayed for two or three or five
years.
Instead, the city Is doing what every one
else in business and out of it should do.
It is going Into the market to spend and to
make the best possible use of its money by
putting that money In circulation.
The Department of Public Works, like
the average citizen, was forced to a state
of inaction. It has almost ?10.000,000 to
spend. Rut the people who hnd material
to sell and those who hnd their skill or labor
to sell wouldn't do business with it. The
department's bankroll wasn't big enough.
It couldn't sit in a game dominated by
profiteering and cost-boosting combines of
all sorts.
Now. with falling prices in all commodity
markets the city's money has regained much,
but not nil, of Its old bujing power. So it
ought to be spent.
The dollar is almost as valuable now as
it is likely to be for a year or more. When
there is more money iu circulation, when
production Is increased, when steady and
general employment brings the buyers back
and uhen competition Is resumed, the dollar
may begin to look more like the dollar of
1014.
It is foolish to suppose that the pros
perity of the country can be assured or
maintained by the simple act of battering
down wages. The interests of wage earners
and the interests of about ninety -Jive out of
every hundred business men are parallel aud
identical.
Low wage schedules and depressed living
standnrds for n time may bring benefits of
a sort to the small minority which controls
nnd profits by basic industries.
Rut it must be plain to every one that unj
nystem of economic practice that limit.s the
buying power of workers nnd wage earners
nnd the salaried man Is bad for the people
with whom wage earners and salnrkd men
nnd workers do business.
The more a man earns the more he can
buy nnd the greater and more stimulating
will be his demands upon the facilities of
those about him.
So it is idle to continue talk about con
tinuing reprisals against "profiteering
labor" and to hoard money nnd refrnin
from doing business until all things are as
they were before the war.
The worst profiteers were not the wage
earners. They were the people who gam
bled mercilessly with the necessities of life
and made many of the extravngant demands
of workers inevitable if not neces.ary.
Little In little, not without intensely
painful frlctbn and many dungreenble
shocks and momentary iniustices. nil the
nrious groups who keep the bushiest of the
eountrv goins are being restored to reason.
The great tangle is b"ing slowli cleared up.
Husiness men have passed through the worst
of the slump. Most of them lire sick of
inaction. Plants are opening, and ome of
them are being opened up out of sheer faith.
The demands of business and the de
uinnds of labor are fair enough ns matters
stand. And tiie average citien, irritated as
he is br the memory of past afflictions, can
do no better now than follow the example
of the Department of Public Works and
loosen uii nnd co-operate and put his money
in circulation, That rule is a good one for
buyers and sellers, producers and consum
ers, employers anil employed alike.
MARKET PRICE FOR RAIN
ACCORDING to the latest mailable quo
tations, the market price for rain is
S.'tOOO an inch. This sum has been offered
by a societj of Wisconsin farmers to the
secretary of the Medicine Hat Agricultural
Society.
It seems that the members of the Medi
cine Hnt society thought they needed rain
to save their crops. They heard of n Cali
fornia rain-maker nnd offered him $2000 nn
Inch for all the rnln he could produce within
a given period. The man went to Canada,
set up n tank twenty feet high, filled it with
chemicals and let the fumes escape Into the
nir. Within the time specified 1.24 Inches
of rnln fell nnd he pocketed more than
$$000.
As the rnln saved the crops, it was cheap
tit the price. If this part of the country
couiu nave nan run in June tun jersey
barn
sand dollars moro than they received for
their crops this jour.
Whether the rain-maker can mako rain or
whether he was just lucky we shall not at
tempt to decide. Farmers 'in three counties
in Washington are said to have faith in him,
for they have paid him $3000 an inch for
rain which followed after his manipulations.
It used to be supposed that rain could be
produced by tiring cannon into the air, but
experiments made under scientific conditions
proved that there is nothing in this theory.
Rut the belief seems to persist that rain can
be induced by artificial means, and it will
doubtless persist so long as men profess to
know what artificial means will work.
NEXT STEP IN TRANSIT
WHILE the P. R. T. officials profess
ignorance of tho experimental run of a
trackless trolley car on Fortieth and other
streets early Wednesday morning, they are
known to be interested in the trackless
trolley system.
A bill permitting the operation of such
cars was passed by the Legislature last
winter, but it was vetoed by Governor
Sprout on the ground that It did not safe
guard tho interests of the public sufficiently.
Tho advantages of the system aro obvious.
It docs not require the laying of heavy rails
in the street, nor the tearing up of the
pavement to repair the rails when ther aro
worn out. The only cost of installation is
that incurred in setting the poles and string
ing the wires to carry the current.
As the cars run on rubber tires, they can
be operated through residence streets as
noiselessly ns the nvcrngo automobile. The
lines can be extended into the undeveloped
outlying sections of the city, where there Is
not at present business enough to justify tho
expenditure of such sums as arc necessary
to pay for heavy rails in the streets to carry
tho ordinary trolley cars. And the cars can
be operated through and between country
towns now without street car service be
cause the cost of installation is prohibitive.
It is within the possibilities thnt the next
stage In the development of street car traffic
in the cities will be, introduced with the
adoption of the trackless trolley cars for
all-way traffic to supplement elevated and
subway high-speed lines to accommodate the
long-distance riders. The high-speed, lines
could be fed by the new style car running
on rubber wheels and tapping the sur
rounding territory.
How far in the future this is no one can
tell. It all depends on the speed with which
the new car is perfected and adjusted to the
conditions of traffic. If the car can be per
fected before the automobile builders succeed
in mnking a commercially practicable street
car generating its own power without cither
wires or tracks it will have a vogue for a
while.
The motorbus which can run nnywherc
has advantages for certain types of service
uncqualcd by any other vehicle. Even in its
present state it is running profitably in
many parts of the country. It also Is used
to feed the trolley lines, as the trolley lines
are used in some parts of the country to
feed the steam railways.
GENERAL WOOD'S JOB
FOR the second or third time since Gen
eral Leonard Wood arrived in the
Philippines it has been reported thnt he
had reconsidered his acceptance of the offer
to become the head of the I'nlversity of
Pennsylvania nnd would remain in the Far
East.
So far as Is known, there is no evidence
to support the rumors. General Wood was
asked to become Governor General of the
Philippines nnd declined the offer before ho
decided to come to Philadelphia. He then
preferred the job of putting the University
on its feet. He Is a full-grown mnn with
several years of experience iij,high executive
positions. He has served in the Philippines
and is aware of the discomforts of life In
that part of the world. He made his deci
sion with full knowledge of all the facts.
Therefore it may bo assumed that he will
carry out his agreement with the trustees
of the I'nlversity. Yet it need surprise no
one to hear the rumor .thnt he will not do It
repented several times before the general
takes up his work here.
BOTH PLANS ARE BAD
THE President's plau to turn over the
work of relieving the farmers to the
War Finance Corporation is better than the
plan of the Norrls bill.. Rut it is not the
kind of a plan which old-fashioned Ameri
cans can contemplate with much satisfac
tion. The defect of both proposals lies in the
use of the credit of the (ioernmeut for the
relief of private enterprise. It is difficult
to defend anything of this kind. Yet the
Southern Senators, who with few exceptions
nre opposed to a protective tariff, are urging
that the Government go directly to the
relief of the cotton growers, and the West
ern Senators are asking the same thing for
the benefit' of the wheat growers.
The, protective tariff is intended to pre
serve the home market for the home pro
ducer. It levies a tnx on foreign goods nnd
thus produces revenue. The Norris plan
nnd the plan which has been proposed to take
its place provide for the direct use of the
money of the Government to finance the
farmers when the foreign market for their
crops ennnot absorb what they have to sell.
There may be an emergency which will
excuse such a policy, but it should be defi
nitely known that the policy will bring
actual relief before it is entered upon. ,
GREEK GAINS AND PROSPECTS
IT IS probably with tuned feelings that the
Western Powers regard what seems to
be P definitely successful ndtnncp of the
Greek Army In the Near Enst. Angora,
cipitul of the Turkish Nationalists in the
hinterland of Asm Mlnot. 1 reported aban
doned, nnd there nre indiciitloiis that the
recoverv of Ottoman prestige planned by
Kemal Pasha mny be indefinitely postponed.
All this is, of course, good news to the
partisans of King Constnntlne and the
Greek Imperialists. Rut should the war be
terminated t Ills summer with a decisive
Hellenic victory the problems of the chnu
(cileries nre unlikely to be ensed In the
least degree.
The French Republic is markedly antl
Constaiitinist in sentiment. Grrat Rrltaln
is inclined to take the opposite view, nnd
Itnly. whose Interests run counter to Greece
as before the outbreak of the World War,
1h still nnotlier factor of unrest In the situa
tion. Obviously, it is ConstanUne's intention
to present the Powers with what Is known
in diplomatic circles as an accomplished
fnct. Whether Greek ascendnncy In Asia
Minor will be accepted on that basis remains
to be seen.
The Topekn Daily
Parables and Things Capital complains that
when a farmer ships
four steers two of them will belong to the
railroad before ' the journey Is complete.
This, of course, mny not be nenrly ro ex
tortlonntc as It sounds. A glass of water
Is worth a lot In heaven's antipodes, nnd
the transportation company that totes it
there may reasonably bo exppctcd to charge
the price of three or four glasses at least.
Perhaps It would have to go out of business
if it didn't. Good intentions, for instance,
ma be particularly hard on water-wagon
tires.
Do you sui pose that there Is any pos-sl-bilitv
that Mr. Edward Henry Smith
Wilkinson. RritMi millionaire spendthrift.
who threatens to come to Uiljf country, has
THE NEW EL DORADO
Groat Gold Field Bald to Have Been
Discovered In Alaska Tho Mothor
Lode Romahoe An Unusual
Plan to Explore That
Region
By GEORGE NOX McOAtN
pkPTAlN JOHN BLAINE is one of
J thoso rare mortals whose life has bcon a
succession of romances, .
He was born In Huntingdon, later became
a master mariner nnd is now a resident of
Seattle.
During the war ho was in charge of the
shipbuilding Interests of tno Government in
tho Puget Sound district.
He Is now a ship owner nnd manager.
There is not a harbor between Port
Townsend and Point Barrow, in tho Far
North, that he doesn't know or hasn't en
tered. Millions of gold from the Alaskan placer
diggings and tho Guggenheim Syndicate's
dredges have been carried in hla ships.
That's only a part of the remarkable
record of his life.
Ho holds the rank of cnptnln In the
Turkish Navy; in fact wns offered, prior to
the World War, a hlgli command by Abdul
Hnmld before that sangulnnry sovereign waB
flung from his throne by the Young Turk
movement.
But the captain declined with thnnks.
He comes Enst every nine months or a
year to visit old friends.
CAPTAIN BLAINE'S -Inst visit was re
called by the current news stories of
another gold discovery In Alaska that. It Is
hinted, may rival the Klondike discovery of
1807.
Blaine knows the land, and Its men better
thnn he docs Huntingdon or Tyrone or liol
lldnysburg. He has been nwny from the latter for
almost a lifetime.
His later jenrs have been spent mixing
it tin with the Argonnuts of the grent
Noi tli west. He's really a citizen of the
world.
"Some day they'll strike the mother lode
which has given birth to all the placer finds
in the country, and when they do it will be
worth talking about." he said.
The "mother lode" Is the great gold vein
or source.
By ages of erosion, the wash of waters,
the action of frost, the rotting of uuartz or
whatever the matrixes may be, particles and
nuggets of the precious metal nre released
and swept down the streams to form pockets
of gold on the bedrock.
Now it looks as though the long-sought
source. Oic drenm of the old Sourdough, had
been discovered.
I have traveled down tho Yukon with
miners who hnd spent a dozen yenrs along
that river and its tributaries, nnd helped
them pan out the shining grains on the
beach at Cape Nome, but 1 never talked
with one of any Intelligence or experience
who didn't hnve a sublime faith In the ulti
mate quest of the "mother lode."
And when it was found, "Oh, mammal"
THERE are some pretty expansive yarns
coming out of the Northwest about this
new field.
They're far wilder than the stories that
were brought out by the men who lauded the
first R7.50.000 in Seattle in 1807.
Reports of ore carrying n thousand ounces
of gold to the ton Is one of the Munchausen
tales.
"There are millions in gold yet to be taken
out of Alaska." said Captain Blaine. "The
country has been on the decline for jears
now, but it Is only tempornry. When It
comes back It will be with a rush."
THE Intest discovery just reported is on
the Kuskokwim River.
It is for this reason that I seriously doubt
that It Is the mother lode.
it Is too far from the scene of the grent
discoveries on the Klondike.
Topographically, the lay of the land would
dispose of the suggestion that the Bonanza
Creek gold came from down the Kuskokwim
way.
Resides, the mother lode Is a theoretical
assumption. The Kuskokwim find may be
another Ronnnza Creek find, but far richer.
.It must be borne in mind that only little
patches of Alnska have been developed.
Hundreds of thousands of square miles of
its territory have nerer been prospected ;
much of it has never been seen by white men.
It may be a second Golcouda in wealth
for all the world knows.
DR. GEORGE W. ATHERTON. former
nnd well-beloved president of State
College, originated a brilliant scheme for the
exploration of Alaska.
it was never, 60 far ns I know, brought
to the attention of the Government.
Even now, were It not for the matter of
financing it, the Idea would be. nvallable.
Dr. Atherton's plan was to divide our
great Northeast Territory Into sections or
divisions, so many square miles in area.
Invitations were then to be scut to every
college of any standing and cery technical
school or institution to select and organize
a scientific stnff, among the faculty and
senior undergraduates, to be placed ut the
disposal of the Government rather, the
Department of the Interior.
An inspection of each unit was then to
be mode, and on the basis of fitness these
units? vcre to be assigned to the various
areas into which Alaska had been sub
divided for exploration auN Investigation.
Each college staff was to be outfitted with
all necessary scientific and physical appli
ances, food, transportation nnd clothing,
by the Government,
Binding agreement would hold each col
lege party to their work, with waiver of
Indemnity for Injury, loss of life or dis
ability. In this way, Dr. Athrrton claimed, within
five years the topogrnphy and resources of
practically every square mile of Alaskan
territory would be known and mapped, from
the British boundary to the shores of the
Arctic.
EH. HARRIMAN hnd the same Idea.
Possibl Dr. Atherton may have com
municated his thought to the great capitalist.
I first heard the president of State College
expound his view nt a private dinner nt
the Executive Mansion, where we were the
Governor's guests.
In Mny, 1MW, announcement wns made
from Portland, Ore., thnt n large party of
eminent scientists, mostly from lending edu
cational institutions of the country, would
leave that city for an exploring expedition
through Alnska.
Convincingly put. the story told how
"ncarl every Institution of learning of
prominence in America will have one or
more representatives In the partj."
I nerr heard the outcome of tho venture.
1 saw evidence of it. I fancy, two years
later in the shnllow water of Hunker Creek,
in the Klondike region.
The first big gold dredge, owuwl nnd op
erated by the Guggenheim Syndicate, had
just begun operations.
It was scooping out tho sand and gravel
nnd washing out the gold on the most elab
orate plan thnt, up to that time, luul ever
been tried In the region.
The new gold field on the Kuskokwisj,
according to the menger reports coming out,
is further from St. Michael, the Yukon
depot for the Klondike field, nnd more diffi
cult of access.
If the Argonauts of 1021 are looking for
adventure they are likely to be disappointed.
There nre no more White Passes or Chll
coot Passes to negotiate; no more Five
Finger Ruplds to dure.
The old romance of danger nnd destitu
tion lias gone forever in Aliiskn.
There wilPbe point to the act permit
ting railroads fM per cent on their present
value, and there may be point to the up
penl of tho American Farm Labor Federa
tion thnt this section of the act be repealed,
when the vnlue of the roads has been otli
daily determined; but in the absence of mich
valuation the permission und lhu protest arc
.! l-.J..-!, .w.lt
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NOW MY IDEA IS THIS
Daily Talks With Thinking Philadelphians on Subjects They
Know Best
MISS ELLA ROBB
On School Visitors
THE woman school visitor is playing an
unobtrusive but none the less important
part In the civic life of the city nnd in the
coustnntly bettering conditions of our schools,
nccordlng to Miss Ella Robb, general secre
tary of the Civic Club of Philadelphia.
"The school visitor," said Miss Robb, "Js
really the connecting link between the public
nnd the school. That the work of the women
school visitors is being appreciated is shown
by the fnct thnt we now have fifty-one can
didates indorsed by our committee and rep
resenting thirty seven wards. There mny
be others, but this number 1ms been defi
nitely presented thus far.
Work of the Visitors
"There are seven school visitors to each
wnrd. somo of whom nre women nnd tho
othrrs men. They hold monthly meetings, at
which their plnns of work nre defined and
the schools which each will visit are as
signed to them. Each director is rcspousl
ble for one school and visits it at least once
each mouth.
' "One of her first duties upon assuming
the office is to make herself known to the
principal of the school which she will visit,
and to consult with him as to the time when
It will be most convenient for her to innke
the visits. This is done ontircly nt the con
venience of the principal, and the principal
Is risked how and in what manner he would
like the assistance of the visitor. This as
sistance is usually asked in the way of help
in obtaining some needed repairs or some
Improvement In the physical conditions of
the school.
"The positions arc unsalaried. Never
theless, there is never any lack of candidates
for the places and they are usually sought
for. Occasionally they are used as the
stepping stones to political preferment, but
more often they are sought iu an honest
desire to accomplish borne good for the
schools.
A Broad Field
"The post of school visitor offers n broad
field for observation in the work of our
school system, and. asVthe district superin
tendent is an ex -officio member of the board
of his district, stills observation is not ion
fined to the single school for which the
visitor is responsible.
"Women nre more likely than men to see
the housekeeping arrangements of the school
buildings, whether or not the buildings uio
well lighted, properly heated, kept clean
nnd many other detallH which they are more
apt to observe. However, we do not racau
to intimate that women should hold all the
places as school visitors to the exclusion of
the men. It has been our experience that
the best results are achieved when they
work together.
A Visitor's Qualifications
"The first qualification for a successful
school visitor is Infinite tact, nnd the second
is an unxarylng and cheerful co-operation
with the principal and the teachers, not only
in such matters as consulting their conveni
ence in the mntter of the time of the visits
and the conferences, but nlso hi getting their
point of view of matters, which relnte to the
welfare of the schools and the childten In
them.
"TJhc school visitors are asked especially
to note the physical conditions of the school
buildings and jnrds and the moral education
nnd the training for good citizenship which
Is given to the children In the Philadelphia
schools at the present time there Is a course
in civics which Is icrtuinl.i second to no
other city in the country. The matter of
school discipline Is also given considerable
attention.
"The teachers also show a great willing
ness to work with the school visitors for the
best interests of their charges. They co
opcftitc hcnrtily with them, and the teachers
are often glad to have some one who is In
terested with whom to talk over the problems
which constantly confront them.
The Backward Child
"One of the mutters in which the school
visitor can often give uluiiblc aid Is that
of the backward children, sometimes by cor
lecting matters in the homo of the child,
which Is beyond the province of the teacher.
A little social welfare work often can ho of
the greatest assistance to the members of the
teuclilug force.
"The trouble with children who aro not up
to the mark In their studies can frequently
bo traced to conditions in the home, which
the teacher has not the time to Investigate
nor lias the power to correct ; if. Indeed, ,siich
nn effort would not be resented hj the par
ents, which It seldom Is when done by the
school visitor, wlio is generally a patent
herself. In one such case recently II was
found that the child had been coining to
school without its breakfast, duo to Illness
In the home. Not sufficlvnt food aud not the
rluht kind of food Is a frcciurnt cause for
' fyjwwr. rhli1fsnik--4-ytk5rftha
CONSIDERATE OLD CUSS, AINT HE?
school visitor to find out these things and do
what she can to have them corrected.
Using the Schoolhouso
"The school visitor In also of great as
sistance in securing a wider use of the
schoolhousc. This Is encouraged by the
teachers, who themselves hnve done much
in this line through the Parents and Teach
ers' Association. There Is a wide field for
the use of the school buildings of the city
other than for the purpose of holding school,
for they are available in the evenings all
through the school term and nt almost any
hour of the day during the vacation period,
while on the other linii'd there arc plenty
of legitimate uses to which they could be put.
"The functions of the school visitor arc
purely advisory nnd rccoinmendntory, but
there Is grent opportunity to give sympa
thetic and intelligent encouragement to the
teachers, who, for their part, appreciate this
aud work willingly with the visitors.
"But in spite of the fact that the visitors
have little actual authority, In the general
sense of the world, they succeed in getting n
lot of things accomplished which otherwise
would be much slower In coming if they
were accomplished nt nil. Thus, for ex
ample, one visitor succeeded in estnblishlng
n penny savings system In one of the schouls.
while the penny lunches uro now general
throughout the schools of the city.
Improving tho Buildings
"Much of the work of the school visitors
relates to the conditions of the school build
ings. They call upon the architects of the
buildings nnd suggest changes or Improve
ments in the rooms, tiie cellars, the yards
and any other parts of the buildings which
seem to require change for the better.
"In one case where a ucw building wns
contemplated the school visitor called upon
the architect, with the result that changes
were made by which the indoor playground
was mado much lighter and more generally
attractive as well ns healthful, and shower
baths were ndded, all ut small expeueu be
cause the abbence of these things had been
found before the building had been begun.
Another visitor found a disgraceful building,
never intended ns n school building nt nil,
with tho fire-csenpe 'hnnglug by tin eyelash,'
to quote her own words. This was imme
diately corrected aud the building made nt
least habitable.
"Thero have been many such cases as
these where the physical conditions affect
ing directly the health and the comfort of
the children have been Improved by reason
of the work of the school visitors.
Value of Women Visitors
"Probably the chief reos..o;i.s for tho value
of women us members of 'the board are bo
cause they have more knowledge of the
needs of children than men ar, nnd be
cause they have more time to devote to the
duties of visitor during school hiiurs.
"The attitude of the politicians toward the
school visitors that is, the womenvaries,
but generally we have found that they ap
preciate what the women can do for the
school children nnd thnt they nre willing to
help us. When our cniidldnte.s were an
nounced letters to that effect were written
to the ward committeemen of both parties
nnd we have received a large number of en
couraging replies, telling ub that the names
would appear on the ballots, and even some
saying that they would see thnt tho peti
tions were properly signed.
Little Political Power
"The only political power that lies with
the boards Is the appointment of the jani
tors, and this work he find the men still
desire to keep to themselves, although the
women members nre more frequently con
sulted now than formerly,
"When the Inw was passed giving women
the privilege of serving if elected, there wns
considerable opposition manifested, but with
the pussing of the jears and the realization
that the women hud really accomplished
much good for the schools of the city thut
opposition melted uway, and todnv thev nre
accepted as a matter of course. Some yf the
teachers opposed the plan originally, but
that long since has disappeared,
"The school visitors are able to deul with
tho parents to much betlcr advantage Iu
many cases than (he teachers. Despite the
excellent work which the Parents and Teach
ers' Assnclntiou has accomplished, tho vis
itor has n considerable mlvnntngc. The
ihlhl Is often tiie only point of contact be
twecn the parent and the teacher and the
child is not always accurate hi his estimate
of the teacher, especially In cases relating
to discipline. The tactful school visitor can
and does smooth out many of these troubles
and women nre peculiarly efficient In this
work.
"The woman school visitor has her own
place In our school maiiiigeiiieiil. The suinu
reasons which give women equal icsponsl.
blllty In tlm management of tin. IU,P mo
good and Hiifliiient for placing her In u posl
tlon where her love for nnd iiiidcriandliiS
fit child JifcvfrftaiinllM,rfttsy.
SHORT CUTS
Life is but a span to a bridge-builder, i
Cuban sugar troubles begin to crystal.
lize
Railroads now begin to sec a clear track
ahead.
The Sileslan apple of discord has given
the Dove of Peace the pip.
Can't Congressman Johnson be pinched
for carrying concealed weapons?
"Can the dlomonds," cries the up-to-date
burglar. "Where's tho hooch?"
If war clouds yielded rain Kurope i
wouldn't be suffering from drought.
It Is not true that revenue agents are' '
arresting children for playing hop-scotch. ;
The founder of tho Ku Klux Klan ap.;
pears to he an undprstudy of Frankenstein-.
"Poco-moke little donkey," mused
the Frivolous Etymologist. "Ought to be
some kick there."
The path to pence In Ireland is a
thorny one. hut that does not mean that,
It will not be trodden.
It is apparently up to the lawyers
rather than to the captains to keep the '
American flag on the seas.
Add Rook Notes Pellagra Is writing
a chapter on "Economic Necessities" for
South's "Book of Experience."
Perhaps If McGraw transferred Mi
activities from the diamond to the ring he
wouldn't do quite so much scrapping. '
Frnnkford people, will be ready for t '
......... iAlli..t. iMhbU.,oHiiii nf transit
problems nfter the elevated Is running. ( '
There is always hope In the fact that
those iu Ireland who wnnt pence may lnslil
upon having It if they have to fight for it.
There nre two mnrrlages to one divorce
in San Francisco. Death, however, prob
ably queers the lead Hymen appears to have.
There Is every reason to believe that
.Tnpan Is as anxious for tho success of tne
Disarmament Conference as Is the rest oj
the world.
Rending is suffering from "jin't
from thousands of blackbirds. VShj don I
the residents sing n song of sixpence n
bake 'em in a pic?
Wisconsin farmers offered a rl?'M')'f
$3000 nn Inch for rnln. One bor n . tu ill
minute. Ho has a fifty-fifty chance of i
ting their money and no risk.
Four local business bodies are to lnvefj
tlgnte nnd perfect the trans t s,stcm. M
lime entered upon tho "",lpr(tnineh
the optimism that prevails ahmC-
Ix.rrlV.iBon Is of hr opln"n Jhrt lj
formation of the dengue of Nntlons m
mistake. It Is prw-lwly .is : nj w
expect from nn "'",,inP,i1S"! balance
as teetered expertly on tl w rW Men,
ol power so iun i..- --
fnlul.
n-i
What Do You Know
QUIZ
i Tlnw many pounds make a quintal!
!. What Is tho capital of Chile- , tf,
S. Who was Medusa In classical mytnoi
4. What are lnburnums? , . '
fi. Who popularized the expression inn
oub desuetude ? , ,v
6. What is the correct pronunciation
-word gneiss?
7. What Is esparto? victorlt
ft. Who was the father of Qn , '
9. Who commanded tho Union Army
first battle of Bull Run?
10. What Is a tantivy?
Answers to Yesterday's Qui
l. Alvnrado Obregon Is President ol MM
S. The standard railway BauBO Is four
eight and a Half Inches wioe.
3. Laurence Sterne wrote
Shandy." . wor(j
i n intn is n lot. an atom, "l ,7. ",.
' tho name of tho CJreek '"' cf
5. Philander C. Knox whJ,fomlnIrtrV 1
State ilurln part of the Aom. i
!,... Tfr-lr1oiir Taft .... I
. , V.. .."' ,h u ; Snanlsh danje, lsWi
n,J It. iSmV from II.. city o.ti.
7. The middle name of Ueneral VW""" I
r.,. .n .tin. I'OiMimffCll. a
s. Nuw York liuu u linger P"n,'ernv other
Hcntnt ves In congress ui -i,i
Htute. ior V
9. Two line contnliilns tho tii'iu i"', lbtr. I
tho Amor'CHii are thy8 "' "" ' ',$ I
10. In pursuance of the Treaty of V,"'1!
' Ik. TlnnMha Tl Vr haS WCenUJT .J
internationalised, ,jj
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