THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



89 



conclusions, which it did, quite satisfac- 

 torily, as follows : 



"Big fire start with cigar ; we fight with 

 wet sacks." 



how the: picture) charts are: used 



Left to themselves, the pupils read the 

 legends stamped under the photographs, 

 look at the photographs themselves, and 

 clamor for another chart. But in the 

 hands of a competent teacher, the chart 

 becomes an inexhaustible source of in- 

 formation. Tacked up on the wall be- 

 side a map, it gives use to an endless con- 

 versation, whenever the teacher insists 

 that the answers to his questions be given 

 in full. 



"Where is Holland?" 



"What are the countries around it ?" 



"What do we call the people of Hol- 

 land ?" 



"Is Holland at war?" 



"What are the products of Holland?" 



"Why would she be an important ally ?" 



"What is meant by 'below sea-level' ?" 



"How are Holland's low fields pro- 

 tected ?" 



"What happens when a dike breaks ?" 



"How could dikes be used in warfare ?" 



"What did the Belgians do with their 

 dikes when the Germans overran the Bel- 

 gian lowlands ?" 



"If Holland is neutral, why do we see 

 so many cannons in the photograph ?" 



"What other country uses dogs to pull 

 loads?" 



The list of questions is without end. 

 Most of the answers are found in the 

 photographs attached; some come from 

 the map ; some rise unexpectedly out of 

 a bit of vague, half forgotten informa- 

 tion ; still others have to be supplied by 

 the teacher. 



At first glance, the questions may ap- 

 pear difficult. One would suppose that 

 men who could answer them were in no 

 need of immediate instruction. But the 

 weakness of those "advanced" classes 

 lies just here; that the men who under- 

 stand fairly well talk haltingly, timidly, 

 with countless errors of pronunciation 

 and sentence structure. Yet their minds, 

 in their native language, if one may use 

 the term, are reaching out for a fuller 

 understanding of the war itself, and the 

 craving must be satisfied. 



The: chart op the: united states 



We waited for a time before making a 

 chart of the United States, though we 

 held our photographs in readiness. Per- 

 haps we were beginning at the wrong end 

 when we taught the countries of Europe 

 first; and yet Camp Kearny is already a 

 part of the war and the war is in France. 

 But when Mr. Olsen, of that "crack" 

 class which holds three Mexicans, two 

 Italians, one Greek, one Austrian, one 

 Pole, one Russian, one Dane, and Mr. 

 Olsen, asked for a chart of America, we 

 had it ready for the next afternoon. 



It was a chart from which might be 

 taught a lesson of the opportunities of- 

 fered by the United States. A city street 

 there was, and several factories, a model 

 farm, a railroad through a seemingly 

 hopeless ravine, an artificial lake, Niagara 

 Falls — queerly enough not one of the 

 class had ever heard of Niagara Falls — 

 the redwoods of California, the jungles of 

 Florida, the snows of the North. 



They had a good time with that chart. 

 They peopled the office buildings with 

 professional and business men, they built 

 the dam from canyon wall to canyon wall, 

 they quarreled over the railroad bed. We 

 discovered that "in the old country" our 

 Polish friend had tried his hand at en- 

 gineering, that Mr. Pappas had once 

 walked from one end of Florida to the 

 other, seeing "many snakes, long and 

 some short" ; that Senor Luna's brother 

 had recently struck gold on the slopes of 

 a desert mountain in Arizona. 



Not many questions were needed that 

 afternoon to stimulate conversation. And 

 when the hour came to an end, the excited 

 Lipnitzky was quarreling with Senor 

 Chavez over the advantages of turbine 

 wheels and getting the best of the argu- 

 ment. 



THE MEXICAN AND THE ITALIAN 

 PUPIL, COMPARED 



It is customary to believe that the Mex- 

 ican is indifferent to learning English and 

 the Italian is eager for the opportunity, 

 yet some of the finest pupils in Camp 

 Kearny are Mexicans. The difference 

 lies chiefly in the method of attack. 



The Mexican, quite unconsciously, 

 plays at indifference, yet is disappointed 



