MAY 17. 
MOORE’S EIJEAI NEW-YORKER: AN AGBICU1TUEAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPEE. 
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BOYS AND GIRLS TOGETHER. 
SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS. 
One of the greatest difficulties existing in 
our system of Common School Education, is the 
establishment and maintenance of a proper su¬ 
pervision and visitation, -without involving too 
serious an expense. Several years ago, a sys¬ 
tem of County Superintendence was established, 
and kept up for a time ; but the cost of main¬ 
taining fifty or more of these officials in the 
State, at a salary of'at least five hundred dol¬ 
lars, was deemed too expensive for the benefit 
conferred. The law was therefore subsequently 
repealed. Town Superintendents were next 
resorted to, and maintained up to the time the 
new law was enacted by the late Legislature, 
establishing a system somewhat similar to the 
previous County Superintendency, except that 
Assembly Districts are substituted, and the 
name of the officer changed to that of “School 
Commissioner.” 
We copy this week so much of the law as re¬ 
lates to the first appointment of these officers^ 
omitting section 3d, which is merely local in its 
application. 
“The people of the State of New York, repre¬ 
sented in senate and assembly, do enact as fol¬ 
lows : 
1. The board of supervisors of the several 
counties in this State composing each one assem¬ 
bly district, and also the boards of supervisors 
of each of the counties of Fulton and Hamilton, 
shall assemble at their usual place of meeting, 
on the third day of June next, at noon, and 
elect for their county an officer to be called 
school commissioner. Such officer to be elected 
by ballot, and shall hold his office from the day 
of his election until the first day of January, 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. 
2. The board of supervisors of the several 
counties in this State having more than one as¬ 
sembly district, except the counties of New 
York and Kings, shall meet on the third day of 
June next, at noon, and elect by ballot an officer 
to be called school commissioner, for each as¬ 
sembly district in their respective counties, who 
shall hold his office until the first day of Janu¬ 
ary, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. 
4. In the several counties composing each but 
one assembly district, the respective boards of 
supervisors shall have power and are hereby 
authorized, in their discretion, to choose two 
school commissioners whenever the number of 
school districts in the county shall exceed one 
hundred and forty, counting two parts of dis¬ 
tricts joint with other counties as one district. 
In case two commissioners shall be chosen as 
aforesaid, then the board of supervisors shall 
immediately proceed to divide the county into 
two districts or sections, having reference in 
such division, as nearly as may be, to equalize 
the territory and number of schools and pupils 
under the supervision of each commissioner, 
and also having reference to the density of pop¬ 
ulation, and the facilities for traveling. They 
shall make a description of the divisions estab¬ 
lished by them, and assign the charge of one of 
them to each of the commissioners then chosen. 
But no town shall be divided in the formation 
of any district. Such description shall be filed 
in the office of the county clerk, and a copy 
thereof sent by him to the superintendent of 
public instruction. 
5. In case any two persons shall have an equal 
number of votes for the office of commissioner, 
at the election hereinbefore provided for, the 
clerk of the board may give a casting vote, but 
except for that purpose, shall have no vote in 
the proceedings. 
(j. A certificate of the election of every com¬ 
missioner shall forthwith be made by the clerk 
of the board of supervisors, and filed in the 
office of the county clerk, and a duplicate 
thereof be sent by mail to the superintendent 
of public instruction; and the county clerk, 
upon the filing of such certificate, shall forth¬ 
with give notice, in writing, to the school com¬ 
missioners of their election, who shall, within 
ten days after such notice, take and subscribe 
the constitutional oath of office, and shall give 
notice of their acceptance to the superintendent 
of public instruction, and enter upon their du¬ 
ties immediately. They shall hold their office 
until the first day of January, one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-eight, and until their 
successors shall have taken and filed with the 
county clerk, the like oath of office.” 
Several things are worthy of attention at this 
time by Supervisors of towns, and by all per¬ 
sons interested in school matters ; among which 
may be mentioned the fact that the new office 
does away with the present Town Superintend¬ 
ents ; that the Supervisors of each county shall 
meet at noon, on the 3d day of June, prox., and 
choose a School Commissioner for each Assem¬ 
bly District; that when in any county compo¬ 
sing but one Assembly District, the number of 
schools exceed 140, two Commissioners can be 
chosen ; and that the Commissioners hold their 
respective offices until the first day of January, 
1858. By a careful perusal of the law so far, it 
will be seen that no clause restricts the election 
to persons residing in the district for which he 
may be chosen, and nothing in any subsequent 
section refers to this point, except a clause inci¬ 
dentally occurring in connection with another 
matter. We shall continue this subject, and 
publish further from the law hereafter. 
The Pleasure of Conversation. —There is 
nothing, says Plato, so delightful as the hearing 
or speaking of truth. For this reason there is 
no conversation so agreeable as that of the man 
of integrity, who hears without any intention 
to betray, and speaks without any intention to 
deceive. 
Mrs. Jameson, in her “ Common Place Book 
of Thoughts, Memories, and Fancies,” says : 
I am convinced from my own recollections, 
and from all I have learned from experienced 
teachers in large schools, that one of the most 
fatal mistakes in the training of children has 
been the early separation of the sexes. I say 
has been, because I find that everywhere this 
most dangerous prejudice has been giving way 
before the light of truth and a more general ac¬ 
quaintance with that primal law of nature, 
which ought to teach us that the more we can 
assimilate on a large scale the public to the do¬ 
mestic training, the better for all. There exists 
still the impression—in the higher classes espe¬ 
cially, that in early education, the mixture of 
the two sexes would tend to make the girls 
masculine, and the boys effeminate ; but experi¬ 
ence shows us that it is all the other way.— 
Boys learn a manly and protecting tenderness, 
and girls become at once more feminine and 
more truthful. 
Where this association has begun early 
enough, that is before five years old, and has 
been continued till about ten or twelve, it has 
uniformly worked well. On this point the evi¬ 
dence is unanimous and decisive. So long ago 
as 1812, Francis Homer, in describing a school 
he visited at Enmore, near Bridgewater, speaks 
with approbation of the boys and girls standing 
up together in the same class ; it is the fir^ 
mention I find, of this innovation on the old 
collegiate or charity school plan, itself a contin¬ 
uation of the monkish discipline. He says “I 
like much the placing of boys and girls together 
at an early age; it gave the boys a new spur of 
emulation.” When I have seen a class of girls 
standing up together, there has been a sort of 
empty tittering, a vacancy in the faces, an in¬ 
ertness, which made it as I thought, a very up¬ 
hill work for the teacher ; .so when it was a 
class of boys, there has been often sluggishness 
—a tendency to ruffian tricks—requiring per¬ 
petual effort on the part of the master. 
In teaching a class of boys and girls accus¬ 
tomed to stand up together there is little or 
nothing of this. They are brighter, readier and 
better behaved ; there is a kind of mutual in¬ 
fluence working for good ; and if there be emu¬ 
lation, it is not mingled with envy or jealousy. 
Mischief, such as may be apprehended, is in 
this case far less likely to arise than where 
boys and girls, habitually separate 1 from in¬ 
fancy, are first thrown together, just at the age 
when the feelings are first awakened and the 
association has all the excitement of novelty.— 
Avery intelligent schoolmaster assured me that 
he has no trouble with a class of fifty boys and 
girls together, (in the midst of which I found 
him,) and that there were no inconveniences re¬ 
sulting which a wise and careful and efficient 
superintendence could not control. “ There is,” 
said he, “ not only more emulation, more quick¬ 
ness of brain, but altogether a superior healthi¬ 
ness of tone, body and mind, where the boys 
and girls are trained together till about 10 years 
old, and it extends in their after life. I should 
say because it is in accordance with the laws of 
God in forming us for mutual dependence for 
help from the very beginning of life.” 
What is curious enough, I find many people 
—fathers, mothers, teachers, who are agreed that 
in the schools for the lower classes, the two 
classes may be safely and advantageously asso¬ 
ciated, yet have a sort of horror of the idea of 
such an innovation in schools for the higher 
classes. One would like to know the reason for 
such a distinction, instead of being encountered 
as is usual, by a sneer or a vile innuendo. 
OHIO STATE REFORM SCHOOL. 
The Trustees of this School, Messrs. John A. 
Foot, Charles Reemelin, and James D. Ladd, 
met at the call of the Governor, at Columbus, 
on the 18tli of April, and organized by electing 
Mr. Foot, Chairman, and Mr. Ladd, Secretary. 
On Monday, May 6th, they were to meet at 
Cleveland, and together visit the Reform 
Schools of New York, Pennsylvania, and the 
New England States, and from thence Mr. 
Reemelin will go to Europe, and at his own ex¬ 
pense, will visit the institutions of Great Britain, 
France, and Germany. The Trustees will spend 
most of the summer in looking for sites, getting 
donations, and determining the architecture for 
the necessary buildings. The law, we believe, 
contemplates that a suitable site will be given 
to the State. 
When the Massachusetts Reform School was 
organized, a gentleman who refused to give the 
public his name, donated $10,000 for a site, and 
when it was purchased, he gave $10,000 more 
toward the erection of the buildings, and at his 
death he bequeathed $30,000 to the School.— 
The will showed this benevolent gentleman to 
be Theodore Lyman. The site for the Ohio 
School, we do not doubt, will be wisely made. 
Such an institution is an honor to any city, and 
we trust the wealthy men of this will try and 
make Cleveland the recipient of it.— Ohio Far. 
Hint to Teachers. —Our pupils, let us re¬ 
member, cannot receive from us a greater de¬ 
gree of excellence than we ourselves attain.— 
Books and other influences may carry them 
higher, but no influence from ourselves can.— 
The stream cannot flow higher than its fountain. 
It is as impossible to communicate and establish 
in the character of another a Christian grace 
which we do not ourselves possess, as it is to 
preach what we do not ourselves know. We 
must first acquire what we would impart, and 
be what we would have our pupils become.— 
Selected. 
Whatever you dislike in another, take care 
to correct in yourself. 
fySBm 
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R 
THE KANGAROO. 
One of the most singular classes of animals j 
known to Natural History, exists in Australia 
under the name of Kangaroo —(Kangurus La- 
biatus.) There are several species, differing in 
size, color, and other minor characteristics, but 
all possessing those general distinctive features 
which mark the peculiarities of the genus.— 
The largest varieties of the Kangaroo weigh, 
when full grown, about two hundred pounds, 
and measure, from the tip of the nose to the end 
of the tail, about nine feet. Their color is a 
pale brown, inclining to white upon the belly 
and throat, head small, with large liquid, mild 
eyes, and erect, pointed ears. The body en¬ 
larges from the head downwards and terminates 
in a tail of about three feet in length, and of 
prodigious strength. 
One of the remarkable features in the Kan¬ 
garoo is the structure of its limbs and organs of 
locomotion—the fore legs being not over a foot 
and a half in length, while its hinder ones 
measure three and a half feet. It never uses its 
fore legs while running, but sits erect upon its 
hinder ones, and, with the aid of its tail, pro¬ 
gresses in a series of springs of vast extent,— 
It is capable of over-leaping an obstacle near 
ten feet in height, and springs on level ground 
at each bound a distance of twenty feet. 
The female produces but. one young at a 
time, which it carries about in an abdominal 
pouch that conceals the teats, and serves as a 
receptacle for the young in time of danger.— 
The little creature will emerge from its recep¬ 
tacle, sport around its mother, and at the least 
alarm leap back to its covert. The Kangaroo 
and Oppossum are about the only animals pos¬ 
sessing this singular arrangement for the pro¬ 
tection of their offspring, and are styled “ mar- 
supiated” animals, from the Latin word marsu- 
pium, which signifies a purse or pouch. 
The Kangaroo is esteemed very highly by the 
inhabitants of Australia as an article of food, 
and it is therefore much hunted for its flesh.— 
When hard pressed by dogs, it takes to the 
water, where, if assailed, it either drowns its 
antagonists, or, hugging them close with its 
short fore legs, it tears out their intestines with 
the sharp, strong claws of its hind feet. The 
native, however, when the poor animal is 
brought to bay, soon dispatches it with that 
savage missile the Boomerang. 
The Kangaroo is easily domesticated. “ One 
of the largest tame Kangaroos I have seen in 
this country,” says Mr. Cunningham, “ is do¬ 
mesticated, and a mischievous wag he is, creep¬ 
ing and snuffing cautiously towards a stranger, 
with such an innocently expressive countenance, 
that roguery could never be surmised to exist 
under it; when, having obtained, as he thinks, 
a sufficient introduction, he claps his fore paws 
on your shoulders, as if to caress you, and, 
raising himself suddenly upon his tail, admin¬ 
isters such a well put push with his hind legs, 
that it is two to one but he drives you heels 
over head ! This is all done in what he con¬ 
siders facetious play, with a view of giving you 
a hint to examine your pockets, and see what 
bon bons you have got for him, as he munches 
cakes and comfits with epicurian gout; and if 
the door is a-jar, he will gravely take his sta¬ 
tion behind your chair at meal time, like a 
lackey, giving you an admonitory kick every 
now and then, if you fail to help him as well 
as yourself.” 
Vanilla. —The vanilla, so much prized for its 
delicious flavor, is the product of a vine which 
grows to the topsof the loftiest trees. Its leaves 
somewhat resemble those of the grape; the 
flowers are red and yellow, and when they fall 
off, are succeeded by the pods, which grow in 
clusters like our ordinary beans ; green at first, 
they change to yellow, and finally to dark 
brown. To be preserved, they are gathered 
when yellow, and put in heaps for a few days 
to ferment. They are afterwards placed in the 
sun to dry, flattened by the hand, and carefully 
rubbed with cocoanut oil, and then packed in 
dry plantain leaves, so as to confine their pow¬ 
erful aromatic odor. The vanilla bean is the 
article used to scent snuff, flavor ice creams, 
DIMENSIONS OF THE AMERICAN LAKES. 
The latest measurements of our fresh water 
seas are as follows : 
The greatest length of Lake Superior is 335 
miles ; the greatest breadth is 160 miles ; mean 
depth 988 feet; elevation 627 feet; area 32,000 
square miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Michigan is 
360 miles; its greatest breadth 108 miles ; mean 
depth 900 feet; elevation 687 feet ; area 23,000 
square miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Huron is 200 
miles ; its greatest breadth is 160 miles ; mean 
depth 800 feet; elevation 574 feet; area 20,000 
square miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Erie is 250 
miles; its greatest breadth is 180 miles; its 
mean depth 200 feet; elevation 555 feet; area 
6,000 square miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Ontario is 180 
miles; its greatest breadth is 65 miles ; its mean 
depth i3 500 feet; elevation 262 feet; area 
6,000 square miles. 
The total length of all five, is 1,584 miles ; 
covering an area altogether of upwards of 90,000 
square miles. 
THE LOCOMOTIVE. 
Elihu Burrit says :—I love to see one of 
these creatures, with sinews of brass and muscles 
of iron, strut forth from his smoky stable, and, 
saluting the long train of cars with a dozen 
sonorous puffs from his iron nostrils, fall back 
gently into his harness. There he stands, 
champing and foaming upon the iron track, his 
great heart a furnance of glowing coals, his 
lymphatic blood is boiling in his veins, the 
strength of a thousand horses is nerving his 
sinews—he pants to be gone. He could “shake” 
St. Peter’s across the desert of Sahara if he 
could be fairly hitched to it; but there is a little, 
sober-eyed man in the saddle, who holds him 
with one finger, and can take away his breath 
in a moment, should he grow restive or vicious. 
I am always deeply interested in this man, for, 
begrimmed as he may be with coal, diluted in 
oil and steam, I regard him as the genius of the 
whole machinery, as the physical mind of that 
huge steam horse. 
Color-Blindness. —Color-blindness, or Dal¬ 
tonism, as it is often called, has of late attracted 
great attention. Sir David Brewster, Dr. Geo. 
Wilson, Prof. Wartmann, and others, have in¬ 
vestigated the phenomenon with surprising 
success, and the North British Review has a 
paper on the subject, in which it says :—“ Till 
within this fe w years this affection of the eye 
was supposed to be confined to a small number 
of individuals, but it appears, from the calcula¬ 
tions of various authors, that one person out of 
every fifteen is color-blind.” According to the 
experiments made by Dr. Wilson upon 1,154 
persons at Edinburgh in l852-’53, one person in 
every eighteen had this imperfection. One in 
55 confound red with green ; one in 60 confound 
brown with green; one in 46 confound blue 
with green. 
Thackeray, when »n board a steamer, enter¬ 
ing the harbor of Smyrna, got inspired, and 
delivered himself as follows : 
“ The paddle-wheel is the great conqueror. 
Whenever the captain cries ‘ stop her,’ civiliza¬ 
tion stops, and lands in the ship’s boat, and 
makes a permanent acquaintance with the sav¬ 
ages on shore. Whole hosts of crusaders have 
passed, and died, and butchered^here in vain. 
But to manufacture European iron into pikes 
and hemlets was a waste of metal. In the shape 
ot piston rods and furnace-bars, it is irresisti¬ 
ble ; and I think an allegory might be made 
showing how much stronger commerce is than 
chivalry, and finishing with a grand image of 
Mahomet’s crescent being extinguished in Ful¬ 
ton’s boiler.” 
-«-- 
The first newspaper printed in North Amer¬ 
ica was issued in Boston, 1690. Only one copy 
of it is known to be in existence. It was de¬ 
posited in the State Paper Office in London, 
jellies, <fcc. The plant grows in Central Amer- and was about the size of an ordinary sheet of 
•aiiimflj iltmup. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
LET ME WEEP! 
Darkly creep the coming shadows 
O’er my earthly way, 
Shrouding all the blessed sunlight 
From Life’s weary day. 
Must I turn the scalding tear-drops 
Back to their fountains deep ? 
Oh ! ’twill break the quivering heart-strings, 
Let me—let me weep ! 
Every budding hope has perished, 
Every joy has fled ; 
Every flower my heart had cherished 
On my path lies dead — 
Will ye bid my bursting bosom 
All its anguish keep ? 
Oh ! unseal the gushing fountain, 
Let me—let me weep 1 
When upon earth’s parched bosom 
Falls the summer shower. 
Gladdening every tiny leaflet, 
Every drooping flower— 
Would ye stay the falling rain-drops 
Kindly sent from Heaven ? 
Would ye proudly spurn the blessing 
God’s own hand has given ? 
Oh ! my heart is parched and burning 
With this anguish deep, 
Let the fount of grief be broken, 
Let—Oh ! let me weep. 
Can ye hush the storm’s commotion 
When the raging whirlwinds blow ? 
Can ye bid the waves of ocean 
Cease their restless flow ? 
Till the storm of grief be over, 
And the tempest hushed to sleep, 
Let my aching heart still murmur, 
“ Let—Oh I let me weep 1” 
Is there not a better country 
Beyond this vale of tears ? 
Where the heart may rest forever 
Free from doubts and fears ?— 
Where the clouds that gather darkly 
O’er Life’s weary way 
Quickly flee before the coming 
Of the glorious “ Day — 
Where the turbid waves of passion, 
In the human breast, 
Toss no more with restless motion, 
But gently sink to rest— 
When the dark Death-Angel calleth 
Earth’s weary ones to sleep, 
Will they wake in that blest country, 
Never more to weep ? 
Attica Centre, N. Y. Myrta May. 
THE GOSPEL AT HOME. 
It has, in all ages, been a prerogative of 
Christianity to plant and foster domestic feeling 
and felicities. We would figure the religion of 
Jesus among men, and offering them two great 
boons; in one hand she offers the treasures of 
immortality, in the other are the mild blessings 
of home. Philosophy has ever been high, re¬ 
mote, and unparticipating ; in her glittering 
robes she treads in majesty along the high pla¬ 
ces of the world, amid a light that scarce min¬ 
gles with earth’s atmosphere, but falls on the 
eternal snow, a cold, intellectual light, which 
has never yet brightened the cloud of unspeak¬ 
able sadness resting on her brow. A high task 
is hers, and we shall pay her all honor ; but let 
us dwell rather with Christianity in the valleys 
and in the clefts of the rocks, where she spreads 
the nuptial couch, and lights the household fire. 
— Bayne’s Christian Life. 
STRONG BELIEVERS. 
Luther was a tower of strength, because his 
whole trust was in the Lord. Baxter was a 
burning flame, because he lived hard by the 
mercy-seat, whereon the glory dwelt between 
the cherubim. Whitefield was “ the voice of 
one crying in the wilderness,” because, like 
John, his cry was, “Behold the Lamb of God 1” 
Chalmers foamed like a cataract, because the 
deep rapids came rushing down upon him from 
the everlasting mountains. Hall’s words were 
molten in the furnace where his faith was tried 
with fire. These were great preachers, because 
they were strong believers; and they were 
strong believers, because they loved the truth, 
kept their hearts with all diligence, and walked 
in the light of heaven. There is no age in 
which such preachers would not have power.— 
Eclectic Review. 
Religion at Home.— “ Let them learn first,” 
says Paul, “ to show piety at home." Religion 
being in the family, the holiest sanctuary on 
earth is home. The family altar is more vene¬ 
rable than any altar in a cathedral. The edu¬ 
cation of the soul for eternity begins by the 
fireside. The principle of love, which is to be 
carried through the universe, is first unfolded 
in the family. We learn to love God by loving 
our brothers, and sisters, and mother. That is, 
we exercise the same feeling, which, in an ex¬ 
alted degree, is to be directed to God. So that 
it is true in a sense more familiar, and yet more 
comprehensive than is commonly given to it:— 
“ He that loveth not his brother, whom he hath 
seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not 
seen !”— Selected. 
A beautiful superstition prevails among the 
Seneca tribe of Indians. When an Indian 
maiden dies, they imprison a young bird until it 
first begins to try its power of song, and then 
loading it with kisses and caresses, they loose 
its bonds over the grave, in the belief that it 
will not fold its wings nor close its eyes until it 
has flown to the spirit land and delivered its 
precious burden of affection to the loved and 
lost. It is not unfrequent to see twenty or 
thirty birds let loose over one grave. 
Take the hand of the friendless; smile on the 
sad and dejected; sympathize with those in 
trouble; strive everywhere to diffuse around 
you joy and sunshine ; do this and you are sure 
of being loved. 
