pupil's work in all subjects. If we were to permit the students to elect their subjects, I am positive that at least eighty per cent. of the pupils would take typewriting, but it is not an elective, and given only to the commercial students in the third year. 3. Every high school boy and girl in this land have from the time the first high school was established, until the present time, met some subject which they considered of no practical importance to themselves, and as often as they have asked in regard to the practicability of a subject, they have been told to take it (said subject) because it has a value that is inestimable as a discipline for the mind; this is all very true, but why not take a subject that will give discipline and also be practical? With the exception of shorthand, there is no subject given in any high school course that gives as much discipline as typewriting. After a careful supervision of forty minutes' practice each day for six or seven months, the students are then ready for very rapid work. The dictation may be given to the students working on the machines for several minutes at a speed of 115 or 130 words per minute, and they will handle it correctly. (1) If after this practice, or even a oneminute speed practice, you ask the pupils to name the letters written, you will find that it will be impossible for them to repeat the letters in the same time that it took them to write them. (2) The student in doing speed work always knows the first letter, all mistakes, and the last letter; this holds true if the entire dictation is completed, but if the student is suddenly stopped, it is an utter impossibility for him to tell you the last letter that he wrote. Example No. 1 proves that the vocal organs and the mind used in vocalization does not act as rapidly as does the fingers and mind, which are used in the skillful operation of a typewriter. Example No. 2 proves that expert operating of a machine is done by the use of the fingers and an inner mind over which we do not have an entire and complete consciousness, and which is only impressed by things out of the ordinary. The reason typewriting has not been given a more prominent place in our schools is because people prominent place in our schools is because people know very little about it, and until the last two years it was considered an art, but not a science, which of course was a very great mistake. Great as have been the developments in typewriting during the last two years, the next two years will bring about changes equally as great, such as the revision of the universal key board, etc. CARL LEWIS ALTMAIER, Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. I shall not strive after any far-fetched reasons for justifying the use of the typewriter as a means of education in schools. In commercial schools its use is indispensable, while there are many good reasons to justify its introduction in other schools. I do not consider this question a "vital" one, but I do believe that the usefulness of the typewriter to the pupil in after life, its relation to other studies, and its educational value are not fully appreciated by educators or even by those teachers who teach typewriting. Its usefulness to the pupil in after life is easily proved. Typewriting is so general nowadays that every young man finds its acquirement a forerunner of his other abilities, and a helpful introduction to the world. It is one of those little accomplishment: which bring him into confidential relations with able and successful professional and business men, and thus gives him an excellent opportunity of studying at close range their qualities and the methods which have produced success. Scarcely more than thirty years of age, the typewriter has been a blessing to thousands, and few inventions have had prouder or more peaceful triumphs. Its introduction was not fought with bitterness of feeling, with riots, with bloodshed, with the temporary misery and starvation of families, like the sewing machine and the loom; but it came quietly, peacefully; it did not take bread from one to give it to another, but without disturbing any relation of life it slowly permeated all channels of life, helping many thousands to better their condition, and giving the chance to those more gifted with abilities to develop them, and thereby become successful men and women. The teaching of typewriting can be made very useful in its relation to other subjects, but its value in this respect will depend altogether upon the teaching. Spelling, punctuation, and letter writing can, I believe, be most successfully taught by the use of the typewriter, and it is also a valuable aid in the teaching of English. I find that students feel more annoyed at making a mistake on the typewriter than they do if their work is with the pen. The mistakes seem so conspicuous. They therefore study harder and exercise more care to avoid them, and the typewriter thus spurs them on to the study of these other subjects, and it certainly develops those little virtues neatness and accuracy. Its educational value is doubted by some because of its mechanical features, but I believe it has strong claims as an instrument of education. The tendency with the pupil at first is to operate the machine mechanically; that is, after copying a page he often has little idea of the subject matter he has copied. But a little direction will soon make him alert, and he will become critical of punctuation, grammar, and English; of logical arrangement, and effective, artistic form. Good taste in the appearance and arrangement of work will be quickly developed, and typewriting is especially helpful in this respect. His eye sins; they seem malicious, as every man knows who ever sees his own writing in "cold type." The se ond value of typewriting is only for those who master the art. In technique it has some of the fundamental qualities of piano-playing. It tends to ambidexterity, to all that physical co-ordination of mind and body which we indicate by the term "manual training," and to rapidity and accuracy of the mental processes. H. W. STORLA, Instructor in Shorthand and Typewriting, Sioux City High 1. It has been of good service to most of those taking it, since the majority of those who finish our course go into business offices. 2. I think it does not. 3. Yes, especially in the art of letter writing. Shorthand and typewriting should go together; but the student should have a fair English education order to make the best use of his training. Business men are demanding better educated young men and women. I believe that a high school course in shorthand and typewriting should be a four years' course. In the work, and on an equal footing with the regular that time the student ought to be well equipped for high school graduate. is pleased with a clean, neat piece of work, and he will spend more time and develop more patience in attaining it than one would suppose. Typewriting also develops rapidity and accuracy of thought, for rapidity and accuracy of execution is its constant aim. The pupil enjoys using the typewriter. He finds it a refreshing relaxation from other studies, ELINOR S. MOODY, and in learning it he is becoming proficient in something which may be a staff to him when his superficial knowledge of other subjects will not be of immediate market value. It has relieved thousands from dependence and helped them to get a start in life, and the Queen of England and the Czarina of Russia. I believe, consider typewriting an accomplishment. SUPERINTENDENT WILLIAM E. CHANCELLOR, Bloomfield, N. J. Is typewriting useful to pupils in after life? I know a young lady, graduate of one of the best women's colleges, and especially fitted by nature and education for teaching, who after two years' success ful experience found that she could not endure the physical strain. She understood typewriting; and upon her first application for such a position secured profitable and congenial employment as private secretary to a man of letters. She prepares all his manuscripts for publication, cares for his general correspondence, and fills the position to his entire satisfaction. Without a knowledge of typewriting she would, though a college graduate, be to-day in a very difficult financial situation. Another lady who knows nothing of shorthand, but is an accomplished typewriter, had been an expert dressmaker. In this employment her eyesight failed. She had learned typewriting in a New England high school. Upon the suggestion of lawyers she opened an office to prepare legal briefs. These she had read to her. Within three years her net income exceeded one thousand dollars a year. These may be exceptional cases. They are noteworthy chiefly because they show the value in money to even well-educated people of the course in typewriting, and because they show its value isolated from phonography. Does typewriting interfere with other studies? It is a mental and manual accomplishment, not unlike elementary draughting in its demands on the attention of the mind. One nail drives out another. We can seldom do two things at once. I hold that in proportion to its cost in time the learning of typewriting repays most students fully in increased manual culture. It needs two hours a week for a half year in the second year of the high school course. As no preparation is required, its interference with other accomplishments is just that of physical culture, music, or drawing, when two hours are given to these. Has typewriting any special educational value? Unquestionably, two values. Of these the first is in English. Typewriting enforces correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation, as handwriting never can. It is my idea that every pupil should do typewriting, if only in copying the regular term essay each term, Type and print reveal many literary Portland, Me. 1. We should say that a thorough course in typewriting would be of some value to a student. 2. It must necessarily take more or less of th student's time from other studies, therefore must lessen his accomplishment in other studies somewhat. 3. With certain classes of students we believe it has. From our experience in a school wholly made ar of business studies, very many of the students of which are graduates of high schools and academ from all over the state, we do not think we should advise taking much time from the regular school curriculum, to devote to the study of typewriting as the more time the students have to give to ta getting of general every-day knowledge up to the ag when they will graduate, the better equipped they will be to profit by practical business training when they take hold of it. With any trade, science, or profession in which we wish to excel, we must keep closely in touch, and perhaps this is quite as true of typewriting and stenography as of most things, so that unless the student can make use of his know!edge in these branches pretty regularly, it would be our opinion that he could not afford while in school to take much time from his general English educa tion to give to the study of typewriting, as he coull get more of value that he could take with him : into the world by devoting the time that he wou'd necessarily spend on the typewriter to a careful study of English. We find that the more complete the English education of the boy or girl, the better !ypewriter operator will that boy or girl becom", and for that reason we would not advise sacrificing any part of the education to those things which seem to us to follow the education. We hardly see how any trade or profession, the pursuit of which calls for a good English education, could be pursued with great profit before that education had been received, and yet we are not sure but that typwriting (without shorthand) might aid, and that quite materially, a certain class of students in learning punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. correct Engin Our observation for the past few years be shown us that there are few young people who go out into life better equipped than those who after get ting all that is possible in the way of education and mind training, then take up the study of shortha: i and typewritng, not of course as a finish to the ed cation, but as an art with which to make a place fo themselves in the world. The bright, earnest ha' school or academy graduate will in the study shorthand and typewriting accomplish in a fa months what the school girl will not do in years and that leads us to think that the less mature years may be spent with greater profit to the student in the pursuit of every day knowledge. The typewriter operator will find in his work more or less of ordinary letter-writing, and we know of few ways in which a person's education is honestly tried and proven as it is in the various styles of letter writing, particularly perhaps in that which we call business letter-writing; therefore we think that the prospective typewriter operator needs just as broad and just as careful an English education as it is possible to obtain while in school, leaving the trades and professions pretty well alone until such time as the broader education would make them comparatively easy to master and of far greater value to the mature mind.. CARLOS B. ELLIS, Springfield [Mass ] High School. 1. Measured by its usefulness to pupils in after life, the value of typewriting in our schools is unquestioned. The great majority of new recruits in business offices enter from the public schools. The boy or girl who seeks a position in an office is met with the question, "What can you do?" and other conditions being equal, the one who can keep books, write shorthand, or operate a typewriter will, find a good position sooner than the one who lacks this technical knowledge. Formerly the ability to write. well with the pen was a prerequisite to employment, but the work of the typewriter is more rapid, more legible, and neater, and a boy can scarcely find a position in a business office where a knowledge of typewriting will not be useful to him, and in many cases it is required. 2. The introduction of typewriting into the school ought not to, and in my experience it does not, lessen the accomplishment of the pupils in their other studies. The work is unlike any other school subject, it is not as easy as it may seem to one who has never tried to use a machine, but most pupils find real pleasure in it, and in fact it is a recreative exercise. To do good work requires the closest application, and this affords a complete rest to those mental faculties which are not involved. Then our thoughts sadly stray through the years that are past, Till they linger by one lowly mound. Though twenty and more are the years that have flown 1. Go ask the Sphynx, who dumbly looks In consequence, the pupil returns to his other 2. Or ask that land of fjord and floe, studies with his brain refreshed, and his other work should be done more easily because of the interruption. The land of frozen wintry skies, Where biting winds all rudely blow, And, wrapped in sleep, the old earth lies. Beneath her cold stars' steely gleam, Her frozen fields of snow he trod. He saw her pale lights heavenward stream, And felt the awful power of God. 3. Ask of the Ganges' sacred flood His name and deeds, it knows them well, 4. A heaven-born poet, with a touch He changed the dross of common things Pupils together. 3. Whether the typewriter in our schools shall have any educational value depends upon the teacher. If you believe that the subject is so simple. that no direction is needed except to keep the parts of the machine well oiled and that the teacher of typewriting needs no other qualification than the ability to keep the record of class attendance, the typewriter will not be an educator in your school. Some months ago, a writer in one of our periodicals, in a spirit of sarcasm, adviseed the introduction of typewriting to give a little mechanical skill. Is there no difference between the skill of a machinist who operates a machine in a factory and the skill of a typewriter operator who writes seventy-five or more words per minute? The first machine works automatically, while the second must at all times be guided by the mind of the operator. The first machine will do its work without an while the workman is attending to other duties; the Though beneath the sod he's sleeping, second will produce a perfect jumble of errors, unless controlled by the undivided thought of the operator. E'er for all that's brave and earnest, Certainly, to write seventy-five or more words per minute, with the work neatly and carefully arranged and with correct spelling and punctuation, requires something more than mechanical skill, and this ability can only be secured by the most tireless and painstaking work. error, Hark! every mountain, rock, and hili (Pupil places à laurel wreath about the picture, and all sing. Tune: "Norwegian National Hymn," "Songs of the Nation.") Yet his name shall be, An epitome. And though years may come and vanish Into the unseen, Still shall every clime and nation Keep his mem'ry green. Keep his mem'ry green, his mem'ry green, ever green, his mem'ry green. 5. A pupil reads a brief sketch of his life. [Suggestions for the sketch: Born at Kennett square January 11, a family of ten children. Ancestry; childhood. Early desire to travel. Education; love of knowledge; facility The typewriter is an excellent teacher of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing, as all errors of this character stand out so prominently on the typewritten page that they cannot escape the 1825. Son of Joseph and Rebecca Way Taylor. One of eye. But this does not fully measure the educational value of the machine; it puts a premium upon neatness and accuracy, both of which are of prime importance in the education of every boy, and when the teacher accepts only perfect work, the use of the typewriter becomes a strong factor in the cultivation of the habit of doing all work neatly and accurately. The typewriter does not teach many things, but it teaches a few things uncommonly well, Yet scarce had boyhood's golden sands And now the fair, green, foreign fields The record of his wandering life, In "Views Afoot" is told. 7. Brief sketch of his visit to California; life after his return; marriage to Mary Agnew; death of his wife. 8. Nothing but time could heal the wounds That cruel Death had made, And so once more across the sea Our poet-traveler strayed. The days and weeks slipped into months, The months in turn to years, Before time's slow, but healing, touch Had dried his falling tears. 9. He remained abroad a little more than two years, and on his return published a "Journey to Central Africa," the "Land of the Saracens," and a little later "A Visit to India, China, and Japan." Together. He married Marie Hansen October 27, 1857. Recitation.-"The Vision." 11. A year went by, and then he left His active brain was never still. 12. Tell me some story that he told 13. Yes, tell the ballad that he wrote, Recitation. "Song of the Camp." 14. Sketch of this period of his life. His connection with the Tribune; lectures; visit to California; building of Cedarcroft, his home at Kennett square; appointment as secretary of the legation at St. Petersburg. Return from Russia and publication of his novels, "Hannah Thurston," "John Godfrey's Fortune," and "Story of Kennett." 15. Brief sketch of his life and work for the next few years. Final appointment, in February, 1878, as United States minister to Berlin. His departure from this country and death in Berlin December 19, 1878. 16. The busy hands and tireless brain Shall tell us tales of Southern climes, Yet many an olden story wrought, Have now a leaf of laurel brought (Here the pupils in the front part of the stage step aside, and, as they do so, others, dressed to represent the different books, enter, and after placing a sprig of laurel above the picture, cross the stage and pass out at an opposite door, or, if there is none, behind a large screen.) All. May we who sadly turn away To hide our falling tears, Recitation.-Aldrich's poem on "The Death of Bayard Books for reference: "Life and Letters of Bayard Taylor," by Marie Hansen Taylor." Poems: "Views Afoot," "Faust," and later poems. in acquiring languages. Love of poetry; early attempts Taylor." 6. Ah, who could dream so many lands (Boys who delight in stories of adventure will, I anı sure, be interested in his story of "A Visit to India, China, and Japan," "A Journey to Central Africa," and "The Land of the Saracens." His stories of "Travels in Russia". are also particularly fascinating, and all are such that no teacher need hesitate to recommend them.) Journal of Education. 3 Somerset Street, Boston, A. E. WINSHIP, Editor. RULES OF PUBLICATION. Date of expiration. The date on the label of your paper indica the time when your subscription expires. Discontinuances. - Subscriptions are not discontinued at their expiration. Any subscriber wishing to stop his paper must notify the Publishers, otherwise he is responsible for payment as long as the paper is sent. Do not depend upon your Postmaster or any one else to order the paper stopped for you. Change of Address.- Subscribers must notify us of any change in their address, giving both the former and present address, otherwise they are responsible for the paper if sent to a former address, until ordered stopped, or address changed. How to Remit.-To secure safety, it is important that remittances should be made by checks, drafts, post-office orders, express money orders, or registered letters, made payable to the Publishers. Receipts. Remittances are acknowledged by change of date following the subscriber's name on the paper. Should such a change fail to appear on the label of the second issue after the date of remittance, subscribers should notify us at once. Missing numbers. Should a number of the JOURNAL fail to reach a subscriber, he will confer a favor upon the Publishers by notifying us of the fact, upon receipt of which notice the missing number will be sent. We guarantee a full year's subscription. All letters pertaining to the Editorial department and all communi cations for the pages of the JOURNAL, should be addressed to A. E WINSHIP, Editor. All letters pertaining to the business management of the JOURNAL should be addressed to the Publishers. *NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING COMPANY, WESTERN OFFICE: A. W. MUMFORD, Fine Arts Bldg., 203 Michigan Avenue, freshness makes it a universal favorite, but it must and freshness. Out of season school work is stale. which was greatest, the disgust of the teachers in the twenty-four days they waited for the money, or the four hours they were spending it. Great is Chicago, and her capabilities of excitement, bad and good, were never better illustrated than in not paying and then in paying her teachers their $600,000 monthly salary at the close of the nineteenth century. The Educational News is to be credited with this What will the twentieth century bring forth in good story: A teacher in the Philadelphia girls' normal school tells a story of a girl of humble parentage who gave her name as Bridget when she was first enrolled. During her first year Bridget changed to Bridgetta. During her second year the first syllable was dropped and she became Etta. That developed into Margaretta, and when she received her diploma her name was Marguerite. New Year's day will be the wedding day of Super- young Cuban teacher. The bride will celebrate her BOSTON & CHICAGO, DEC. 27, 1900 States of all educational affairs in the island. The index for the year accompanies this issue. One work of art in the schoolroom is worth a thousand non-artistic pictures. Good habits of thinking, like good behavior, begin in the early days of school life. The Fredonia normal school horror should make it the first duty of every boarding school, public or private, to provide fire escapes and train pupils in methods of escape. Not a day's delay should occur. Lawrence, Mass., has a wide-awake and vigorous Schoolmasters' Club, and its programme for the monthly meetings of the year is one that calls for a deal of work on the part of the members who propose to review in detail the educational activities of the century and to forecast those of the future. Professor George Herbert Palmer, Litt. D. and LL.D. of Harvard, will give eight lectures on "The Nature of Goodness" in the Twentieth Century course, Tremont temple, at 11 o'clock on Saturdays, beginning January 5. There has been nothing in the whole history of these lectures more scholarly, interesting, or inspiring. The evening schools continue to thrive through out the land. In Chicago seven high and twentytwo grammar school buildings were opened for evening schools on November 12. There have been 2,000 large posters and 150,000 hand bills in English, German, Scandinavian, Polish, and Bohemian languages giving particulars about them. Much as the Journal regrets any interference with school authorities by others, it must confess to a bit of satisfaction when Mayor Harrison of Chicago put an end to the scandalous contest of the school board with the civil service board by sending a personal letter to each member of the school board which began: "I beg to suggest," and then told them what to do and to do it at once. The strawberry is the first fruit of the season. It is peculiarly delicious in taste. Its crisp, luscious The death of Harry N. Andrews in Boston from master set which represents the most delightfai THE BAXTER SCHOOL. MERRIEST CHRISTMAS ON RECORD. 'Twas the day before Christmas, and all through Marshall Field's house thousands of creatures were stirring less still than a mouse. Because of complications too foolish to speak of, the teachers did not get their pay the first of December, as they should have done. It was not till the morning papers appeared that they knew that they could have it even on the 24th. Early in the forenoon every principal went to the board rooms and received -- not cash, but a check for every teacher. At twelve o'clock mcst of these principals went to Marshall Field's and awaited the coming of their teachers. Very soon those near by arrived, and a steady stream came thereafter. The firm's cashiers had money counted out in seventy-dollar piles, and cashed the checks as by magic. Arrangements had been made to have all salesmen give the teachers the preference, and all other shoppers took it good-naturedly; and it was astonishing how soon the cashiers had most of that money back again. It is estimated that more than three thousand teachers got their pay of Marshall Field and spent it, more or less, there. Never before in the world's history, not even in Chicago's history, has this been equaled. Now the discussion is as to Chicago? ANTI-PULL ADVICE. Trustee F. J. Loesch of the Chicago school board says:- Politicians of the past have left their finger marks on the public school system of the city. They are there in the presence of teachers who ought not to be in the schools. But they are destined to disappear. The outlook for Chicago schools was never so hopeful as now. Pull has been done away with absolutely. A year's trial of the Dawes measure, I am convinced, will fix it firmly in the school system. If you have a teacher in your schools who should not be there, he said, addressing the principals, file a request for her dismissal, stating your reasons. If necessary, fight it out to the end. If you have good have the school board with you. reasons, it will not be necessary to fight, for you will I can count on twelve or thirteen members of the board of education to resist any influence that is brought to bear upon them. SANBORNESQUE. "Whoever visits the schools of western cities, as Mr. Alcott used to do, and as I do at intervals, sees at once that Indianapolis, Des Moines, and Topeka have a spirit in their educational system that has languished or gone out in Boston." Thus writes Frank B. Sanborn in the Springfield This is complimentary enough to Republican. Indianapolis, Des Moines, and Topeka, whose schools are exceptionally good, but there are 500 schoolrooms in Boston, any one of which is as good as the of which Mr. Sanborn had seen in ten years when he best in Indianapolis, Des Moines, or Topeka, no one wrote that sentence. He is talking about schools that he may have seen in Topeka and comparing them with schools that he has not seen in Boston. I know the school work of Indianapolis, Des Moines, and Topeka, and appreciate it highly. I also know very much of the school work of Boston, and it does not suffer in the least from comparison. YOUTHFUL INVENTOR. The Louisville grammar schools are indulging in a bit of allowable pride in the fact that Albert A. Stoll, Jr., an upper grammar class student, has invented the "furosite" shell, which has been officially tested by the American and German military authorities, who pronounce it the most destructive projectile known in the science of war. The German experts.bolted a cubic foot of stee! to a two-inch plate of iron and fastened it to a backing of stone and wood. One of the "furosite" shells was fired at it from an eight-inch gun. The steel and iron plates were cracked, and the heavy timbers supporting them were set on fire. The shell is so constructed that the explosive which it contains is only generated after the projec tile leaves the mouth of the cannon. This is brought about by the rotary motion of the shell imparted by the rifling of the gun. The young inventor has just entered the high school. WISH YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR' A Happy New Year to the readers of the Journal, but a genuinely hearty wish. Nor it is merely pr one and all! This is no mere seasonable salutation. sonal, but professional as well. Nor is any ordinary the century of which I wish it. This word wish year to indulge the wish, for it is the initial year of carries a good deal with it. How easy to say a hundred times in a day, "Wish you a Merry Christmas," or "Wish you a Happy New Year," but how difficult to accept the responsibility of such a wish. proprietary articles, documents, and legacies for Africa. Brief as the session was, it was marked by "Wish" is a cross between "win" and "ask." It is charitable purposes. scarcely too much to say that when we wish anything for a friend we pledge ourselves to "win" for him what we "wish." To wish is, then, more a consecration to strive for our friend's attainment of certain success than the mere suggestion that it will give us pleasure if good comes to them. In the broadest, deepest sense do I wish the profession a Happy New Year and a Happy New Century. The Journal will strive to help the profession to win whatever it needs. This is the wish born of long-time devotion to the cause. The ends aimed at will be chiefly as follows: For the children: Better schoolhouses and equipment, better books and teachers. For the parents and taxpayers: More for the money in all school affairs, less friction and more consideration on the part of teachers and school authorities. For superintendents and school officers: Greater confidence on the part of the teachers, greater interest on the part of the community, permanent tenure. For the teachers: Improved conditions of work, permanent tenure, better pension provision, more efficient organization for professional advancement, and an increase of salary. Isn't this a wish worth expressing? THE WEEK IN REVIEW. The senate finally rectified the Hay-Pauncefote treaty by a vote of 55 to 18. This was done after the adoption of two amendments, in addition to the one referred to in this column last week. The first of these amendments makes the treaty "supersede" the Clayton-Bulwer treaty; the second strikes out the third article, which provided that the United States and Great Britain would invite the other powers to adhere to it. These amendments make the treaty quite a different instrument from that which was laid before the senate. If Great Britain accepts the treaty as amended, the United States will be wholly free from the restrictions of the old Clayton-Bulwer convention; will be at liberty to close or blockade the canal in time of war, but not to build fortifications; and will be under no necessity of submitting its arrangements to the approval of Europe. In other words, the canal, if built, will be distinctly an American canal, owned, operated, and fully controlled under all conditions by the United States. The usual practice, in apportioning representation in congress, after each census, has been to find a ratio which would disturb very little, if at all, the existing representation of the several states, and to distribute a small number of additional representatives among the states which showed the largest gains in population. The house commitee on census. has abandoned this plan. The Hopkins bill, which the committee has reported, keeps the total number of representatives at the present limit, 357. The basis of representation adopted will take away one representative each from eight states, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia; and will add one representative each to Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia, and two to Texas. The bill was reported by a vote of seven to six, and will meet with determined opposition. The war tax reduction bill was passed by the house, without any change in the schedules reported by the ways and means committee. The attempt of the brewers to get a larger reduction in the beer tax failed, and the representatives of that interest probably realize now that it was a mistake to raise that issue in the house. They may fare better in the senate or in the conference committee, but public attention has been directed to the issue in a way which is distinctly damaging to it; and there is a widespread feeling that to give the brewers the benefit of one-fourth of the total reduction, which is what the bill as passed by the house does, is all that existing conditions will warrant. The bill takes off about forty million dollars of taxation: ten millions on beer, three millions on cigars, seven millions on bank checks, etc., and the remainder on The United States supreme court began December 17 the hearing of the most important cases which have come before it for adjudication for many years. The cases arise from the collection of duties on goods from Porto Rico and the Philippines; and there is involved in them the whole broad question of the relations of those islands to the United States. Are they foreign territory? Or are they a part of the United States in the same sense that Arizona or New Mexico is? Or are they possessions of the United States which congress is free to govern as it may please, without regard to the constitutional requirements of uniform legislation for all parts of the United States? Another group of closely related cases has been set for January 7; and it is impossible for the court to decide these cases without pronouncing on the broad questions just enumerated. Momentous consequences must follow this decision. The senate has done nothing as yet with the army reorganization bill, which the house passed, beyond reorganization bill, which the house passed, beyond committee hearings on points of detail. The return movement of troops from the Philippines must be gin in a few days and must be kept up continuously if all the troops whose term of enlistment expires on the 30th of June are to be brought back by that date. It is of the utmost importance that the transports which bring these troops home should take out others to take their places; yet there are no troops to send, and there can be none until congress has passed the bill authorizing their enlistment. It is highly unfortunate that a matter which is so urgent should be complicated with all manner of questions about staff appointments and such issues, not to mention the question of the continuance of prohibition of the army canteen. Every day's delay now increases the later difficulties. No session of congress passes without some attack, covert or direct, upon civil-service reform. The present session is no exception. The movement took the form of a proposition to give the preference in civil appointments to veterans of the Spanish war and of the fighting in the Philippines, as well as to those of the civil war. The effect of this proposition would have been to block the way of all civilian applicants for many years to come by putting ahead of them on the lists a possible three hundred thousand, more or less, of veterans of the later wars, most of whom are comparatively young men, who do not need such preferment as a reward for their patriotism. The proposition was brought up for passage under suspension of the rules of the house, which demands a two-thirds vote, and the member who had it in charge believed that he lacked but a single vote of the required two-thirds; but Representatives Gillett, McCall, and others attacked it so vigorously that it was killed by a vote of two to one. The serious condition of affairs in South Africa is clearly shown by the abandonment of the contem- the world. The British parliament adjourned December 15, to meet again in February. It had been in session only twelve days, three of which were consumed in the preliminaries of organization. Its one act of business was the voting of money, to the extent of eighty million dollars, for war expenses in South unusual acrimony. Not only was the general policy of the government in South Africa severely criticised, and Mr. Chamberlain for his share in it, but Mr. Chamberlain was the object of bitter personal attack because of the connection which his nearest relatives, his wife, daughters, sons, and brother,have had in half a dozen companies which have been thriving on government contracts. Lord Salisbury also came in for personal criticism for his flagrant nepotism in filling important government places with his immediate relatives. Mr. Kruger, after all his stormy experiences, has found a secure refuge in Holland, where he will make a home for his last years. The people are warmly sympathetic, and the government is very friendly, although it has announced its inability to take the initiative in a movement for arbitration. Meanwhile, Holland has become involved in something like a quarrel with Portugal, arising from a demand which Portugal made for the dismissal of the Dutch consul at Lorenzo Marques, because of his friendship for the Boers; and the Dutch minister at Lisbon and the Portuguese minister at The Hague have left their posts. The British channel squadron has been paying a visit to Portugal, and in the course of the festivities announcement has been made of an alliance between Portugal and England, an announcement which is disturbing to France and Spain, as well as to Holland. NEW YORK CITY. Eighty-eight men presented themselves at the last examination for principals' licenses, held in April last. The results of the written examination have just been announced-fourteen have passed the written test. The oral examinations will be held at once, so that the final ratings will soon be known. The baths in P. S. 1, Henry, Catherine, and Oliver streets, will soon be ready for use. They consist of fourteen showers, each in a separate compartment, made of semi-opaque glass, tiled and curtained so as to form a little dressing room and a shower booth. Separate boilers are provided to furnish hot water. The board of superintendents, borough of Manhattan and the Bronx, is revising the course of study. On the recommendation of the board of superintendents, the borough board, Manhattan and the Bronx, has resolved to establish ten ungraded classes. Four of these special training rooms are to be devoted to deficient and backward pupils, and six are to be utilized for truants and incorrigibles. The rooms are to be fitted up with a view to their special educational purpose, and teachers properly equipped for the work will be placed in charge. Such teachers are to receive a yearly bonus of $100 each, to compensate them for the extra difficulties of their work. At the annual meeting of the Teachers' Mutual Benefit Association Dr. Samuel Ayers was re-elected president. Treasurer Andrew J. Whiteside reported that the sum of $17,269 has been paid to annuitants during the year. He also reported that the permanent fund amounts to $152,326, an increase for the year of $5,125. The total assets are $157,729. The annual dinner and reunion of the Eclectic Association was held at Sherry's on the evening of December 15, Burtis C. Magie presiding. Addresses were made by Miss Stein, Mr. Wade, Miss Magovern, and Dr. Taylor. At the regular monthly meeting of the Male Teachers' Association on Saturday evening, December 22, at the Hotel Bartholdi, H. H. Plough read a paper on the distribution of time in school work. Superintendent Stevens of Queens county addressed the students of the Jamaica normal school on Thursday last on their duties to their chosen profession. The instructors in music and Music Director Caswell of Brooklyn have made application for a writ of mandamus against Auditor Cook to compel him to certify the salary accounts of certain music teachers. There is a conflict between Superintendent Maxwell and Director Caswell, the central board sustaining the former. Mr. Caswell maintains that certain teachers were licensed by the Brooklyn board before consolidation. Mr. Stern, chairman of the by-laws committee, could find no evidence of this, and Dr. Maxwell supports this view. John Green, who is also a member of the by-laws committee, and is chairman of the music committee of the Brooklyn board, sustains the contention of Mr. Caswell. The teachers have retained Edward M. Shepard to represent them. An opinion is expected at an early date. GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS. A CARD CATALOGUE OF MAGAZINE ARTICLES ON Risser, Elizabeth Frewen. Algiers. Overland Monthly, Vol. 36, No. 214, pp. 282-290. San Francisco, October, 1900. Good pictures, with an excellent description of the people and their customs. Old Moorish house, city of Mustapha (282). Streets, people, old town, conveyances, citadel, houses, customs (282-285). Dress of people (286-287). Shops, Moors, and Jews (289). Social life (290). Cities. Lynde, Francis. How the Railroads Fight Snow. Munsey's Magazine, Our Commercial Expansion. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. The World's Greatest Canal. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 6, pp. 834-39. New York, March, 1900. An article describing the "Soo," the great water gateway of the Northwest, and its huge volume of commerce, far exceeding the tonnage that traverses the Suez canal, or that enters the port of New York. Canals. Canada. United States. Commerce. Doubleday, Russel. Where the Beef Doth Grow. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 45-9. New York, April, 1900. Scientific stock-raising. The farmer and the railroad as controlling factors. Housing of stock in winter months. Less rounding up of herds. The decline of the cowboy in importance. Grazing. Stock-raising. Western prairies. Rost, E. C. Guam. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 15-25. A beautifully-illustrated article describing Guam, The Future of South Africa. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 171-75. New York, May, 1900. A brief review of the racial, political, and economical conditions that are moulding South Africa's future, and a forecast of the country's probable development. South Africa. Lewis, Henry Harrison. The Panama Canal. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 360-71. New York, June, 1900. The present conditions and future prospects of the great ditch started so disastrously by Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1880. Advantages of Panama route (360-62). Colon (363). Canal cutting on western slope of the divide (365). Foster, Maximilian. The Waterways of New York. Munsey's Magazine, A well-illustrated article describing the wonderful ac- Animals in Warfare. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 24, No. Dogs as couriers in the German army (267). The Northwest Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. An article describing the Yukon river, the mighty ATKINSON'S LESSONS IN BOTANY (Author not given.) A Canadian Paradise. Northwest Magazine, Vol. 18, An illustrated article describing scenery among the Rocky mountains. Canada. In the Heart of the Great Cascades. Northwest Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 5-8. St. Paul, March, 1900. An article describing the valley of the Willamette river, North and South Fork valleys, lakes, and waterfalls in this section of the Cascade mountains. Cascade mountains. Oregon. Willamette river. Halstead, Austin. St. Paul, Minn. Northwest Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 20-51. St. Paul, March, 1900. Treats of the growth, present conditions, and facilities for business of the city of St. Paul. 11. SUBJECTS FOR DEBATE.-(II.) NATIONAL POLICY. That the United States should annex Canada as soon as it can be done without bloodshed. 12. That it would benefit the United States to annex Mexico. 13. That the United States should have manifested, officially, interest in the Boer cause. 14. That the United States has been seriously at fault in not insisting upon a prompt settlement with the sultan. 15. That the disarmament of the nation is advisable. 16. That it is not right in this enlightened age to kill men in battle. 17. That capital punishment is both unwise and morally wrong. 18. That electrocution is better than hanging for a murderer, if it must be one or the other. 19. That the government should encourage college youth to study the principles and facts specially valuable for statesmanship. 20. That modern firearms make for peace. 21. That an increased navy tends to peace. 22. That the Philippines are a more promising possession than Alaska. 23. That the commerce of the Pacific will, in fifty years, be worth more to the United States than that of the Atlantic. 24. That it is for our interest to be more friendly to Germany than to England. 25. That United States senators should be elected by the people, rather than by the legislatures. 26. That no president of the United States should be eligible for re-election. By Prof. GEORGE F. ATKINSON of Cornell. xxiv + 444 pp. 12mo. $1.12, net. Miss Anna Botsford Comstock, High School, Ithaca, N. Y. : “I have nothing but praise for it. It begins the stady of botany on the proper lines; the experiments indicated are most excellent for illustrating the physiology of plants, and I wish with all my heart that the book could be introduced into the public schools of our State." Prof. L. C. Wooster, of Emporia (Kan.) State Normal School: "It is an excellent book, and will aid powerfully in uprooting old methods of studying plants. I most heartily commend it." Pacific terminus (366). Typical isthmian villages (367). LEE'S SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY By Dr. GUY CARLETON LEE of Johns Hopkins University. xvii +609 pp. a brief examination, that it will supply a long-standing The Census of 1900. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 3, demand, and be a very useful addition to the teacher's repp. 387-94. New York, June, 1900. Prof. E. B. Cheyney, University of Pennsylvania : “I wish to express my admiration for its plan and execution. It is full, well selected ard well balanced for successive periods; the introductory notes are thoughtful and suggestive. The bibliography will be valuable to scholars as well as to students." LEWIS'S SPECIMENS OF THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE By Prof. EDWIN H LEWIS of Lewis Institute, Chicago. 16mo. 367 pp. 60 cents, net. An illustrated article describing present conditions and BYRON: SELECTIONS FROM HIS POETRY future prospects of Porto Rico. General description (620-25). Peasantry (625-30). Industries and development (630-35). Territories of United States of America. Lewis, Henry Harrison. Life-saving at Sea. Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 745-56. New York, September, 1900. A description of the terrible dangers from which ocean navigation can never be wholly free. Travel. Commerce, Oceans. Edited by Dr. F. I. CARPENTER of the University of Chicago. Iviii + 412 pp. 16mo. $1.00, net. 29 W. 23d St., New York Henry Holt & Co. 378 Wabeth Ave, Chicago |