DENMARK AND THE DANES 



of the country and all classes of society, 

 though the majority belong to the class of 

 small freeholders and cottars, which is so 

 numerous in our country. 



"Now I should like to give you the pic- 

 ture of a single day here in the winter 

 months, when we have from 190 to 200 

 young men under our care from the be- 

 ginning of November to the end of 

 March. 



"The bell rings them up at 7 o'clock in 

 the morning. They then dress, make 

 their beds, sweep out their rooms, wash, 

 and at 7 130 are ready for a cup of coffee 

 and a bun. 



"At a quarter to 8 the principal has 

 morning prayers with his household ; 

 there also are to be found most of the 

 students, though attendance is not com- 

 pulsory. First a hymn is sung, then are 

 repeated baptismal vows, the Apostles' 

 Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. Another 

 short hymn brings the service to a close. 



GEOGRAPHY IS EMPHASIZED 



"At 8 o'clock, four mornings in the 

 week, I give a lecture on geography, and 

 thereby I try to show the audience what 

 relation there is between man and the 

 earth, and how the people in the various 

 countries have succeeded in reducing the 

 soil to subjection. A song suited to the 

 theme is sung both before and after the 

 lectures. On the two other mornings our 

 Free Kirk clergyman lectures on church 

 history. 



"Breakfast comes at 9:15 and consists 

 of a couple of sandwiches and a glass of 

 home-brewed ale. 



"At half-past 9 the artisans go to a 

 special department in a house a few min- 

 utes' walk from here, where they are 

 taught what belongs to their various 

 trades — carpenters in one room, brick- 

 layers in another, painters in a third, and 

 so on. Most of their time there is taken 

 up in learning to execute working draw- 

 ings. Likewise the fishermen go to their 

 special department, where they are taught 

 navigation and the natural history of 

 fishes and other water animals, sea-plants, 

 etc. 



"The farm lads stay here in the cen- 

 tral building and are divided into four 

 classes, held in various rooms, and for 

 two hours practice writing and drawing. 

 From 12 to 1 the principal gives a lecture 

 on the history of Denmark, the political 



history as well as the history of civiliza- 

 tion, dwelling more especially on the lives 

 of noted men and women of the last cen- 

 tury, whose work we are continuing. 



"At half-past 1 comes dinner in the 

 large room below. 



"At half-past 2 the artisans and the 

 fishermen go to their own departments 

 again until 6 o'clock. The farm-lads in 

 the meantime are taught accounts and 

 arithmetic for an hour in two classes. 



"At half-past 3 these last have gymnas- 

 tics according to Ling's system. 



"At 5 various teachers lecture to the 

 farm lads only, on physics, on the geog- 

 raphy of Denmark, on hygiene, and the 

 history of the world. 



"At 6 supper is taken. 



"From 7 130 to 8 130, lectures for the 

 whole school are given on the history of 

 Danish literature by Mr. Hansen, and on 

 various subjects by the other teachers, 

 Mrs. Hansen twice a week reading aloud 

 from the best of our poets, and I once a 

 week showing lantern slides or glass 

 photographs from all parts of the world 

 and explaining them to the pupils. 



"From 8 130 to 9 130 the artisans and 

 fishermen have their gymnastics, while 

 the others have leisure time for the rest 

 of the evening. But you will understand 

 there is not much leisure time for any of 

 them; what there is, is used for writing 

 letters, reading, conversing, playing, or 

 short walks. 



"At 10:30 the electric light is put out 

 in the school-rooms." 



TEACHERS WELL PROVIDED FOR 



No teacher in the rural parts of Den- 

 mark "boards around." Married male 

 teachers have seven or eight rooms placed 

 at their disposal, always including a gar- 

 den, very near to the school-house. The 

 garden is indispensable. Each teacher 

 manages to grow his own vegetables and 

 fruit, and all Danes grow roses in the 

 season. 



Unmarried women teachers are pro- 

 vided with two or three rooms, and each 

 teacher has a separate entrance to the 

 house in which she lives. 



When a teacher has served in the 

 schools for twenty years he or she is en- 

 titled to a pension, which until recently 

 had the purchasing power of from $1,200 

 to $1,900 in Denmark. The amount of 

 the pension depends on the length of 



