———j1 
'tr - 
Educational. 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
TEACHERS, GOVERN YOURSELVES. 
It has been said,— “Tue person that is unable to 
govern self, is dlsqualitied to govern others." This 
truthful adage must impress itself, with double 
force, upon the mind of the teacher. He, or she, 
who is to teach the “youug idea howto shoot;” 
under whose intiuence and by whose effort* it is to 
be t raiued; or at. whose feet the. pupil sits, as a Paul 
at the feit of Gamaliel, drawing lessons of love, 
politeness, self-coDtiol, virtue, morality and reli¬ 
gion, should have perfect control over the passion, 
and especially that little, unruly member—the 
tongue — which, when unloosed by relaxing the 
cord of an unbridled temper, says many thiugs that 
are repented of, Imt,, si is! too late. The teacher 
that governs a school, — if it be governsd at all,—hy 
rushing into a violent passion at the most trilling 
violation of the code of laws (which sometimes re¬ 
sembles the Justinian iu nutuoer, aud in every in¬ 
stance is fouud to be too numerous,),will be obliged 
to govern by “ brute force.” 
Fellow instructors, let me remind you of the self¬ 
verifying saying of England’s noted poet—“ He that 
overcomes by force overcomes but half his foe.” 
Lay aside this “brute force” and ‘‘civil suasiou” 
government. Adopt the “moral suasion" system. 
Te.-t it until you art* satisfied it will not answer tue 
purpose. If you have mules, (iu disposition, not ex¬ 
ternals, I mean,) to deal with, which you may, then 
pull down the rod, aud apply the “oil of hickory;” 
but with moderation and judgment, and, above all, 
free from auger. Bear in mind you are chastising a 
fellow mortal. Never forgot, while inflicting pun- 
ishmeut, that you were ouce scholars; perhaps mis¬ 
chievous ones too. 
Another reason for the teacher’6 self government 
may be explained aud confirmed by the following 
quotation: — “As the teacher, so the sehool.” 
When a scholar, I used to observe closely the move¬ 
ments of my leacher, and. more carefully the ex¬ 
pression of the countenance. As a result of this 
scrutiny I have established as a verity the above 
quotation. If the teacher was ont. of humor, there 
apparently existed on the part or the whole school 
a deal of sympathy. At least the same,temperature 
of feeliug was soon perceivable. Wo think no bet¬ 
ter illustration of the relation which a teacher sus¬ 
tains to hi* school can be given, than the relation 
which exist- between the head and the other mem¬ 
bers of the body. If anything is wrong with the 
head,—the battery to which arc attached all the 
wires and sections of the nervous machinery,— the 
intelligence is telegraphed to the various members, 
and as an affectionate family they enter into the 
spirit and sentiment of the information. If the in¬ 
telligence is trouble or affliction, sorrow ensues. If 
it is giad and joyous tidings, the order of things is 
reversed. If it is anger, the members may become 
violent. A hand is raised and a blow dealt, which 
prostrates an enemy, possibly a neighbor, and the vic¬ 
tim of the stroke may be one of his own household. 
The figure may be carried further, and applied 
to the teacher. As a teacher you are the head of 
your school. The members of the school are look¬ 
ing to you for precept and example. They are con¬ 
nected to you by the liues of vision if uot hy the ties 
of friendship. They will notice the smallest jar. The 
shortest unpolished sentence is observable. Tho 
most hasty glanee of anger which is made will not 
miss their detection. Teachers, forget as soon as 
possible the delusive iuea that eveu your smallest 
scholars arc “know-nothings.” Di-abuse your 
minds of the opinion that they belong to thatelass 
who, “having cars hear not, and having eyes sec 
not.” I tell you, they are little philosophers. They 
are young detectives; and though they aie young in 
years they are quibe mature iu experience. You that 
follow the honorable occupation of school teaching, 
remember these facts, and watch closely your actions 
in the school-room. Draw the reins tight over the 
temper. o. k. 
Houeoye, N. Y., 1868. 
-- 
AMERICAN SCHOOL BOOKS. 
There are sixty-four publishing houses in the 
United States, engaged either exclusively or partly 
in the business of publishing school books. The 
whole number of different text - bucks for schools, 
academics and colleges now iu the market is uot far 
from two thousand seven hundred; so that.if a 
fab-ier, wishing to lay out a complete course of 
study for his boy, should faithfully search the best 
text-books in each separate study, he would have to 
begin by furnishing himself with a library of 2,700 
volumes to be examined aud compared at bis leisure. 
What is the whole capital invested in the school 
book manufacture it would he very difficult to ascer¬ 
tain, since so much Of it is in parts of whole capital 
used in the publishing busin -ss collectively. The 
average cost to the consume! at retail, of a hundred 
text books taken at random, was fouud to be $1.02, 
but this is doubtless too high. 
The number of pupils iu educational institutions 
in the United Slates, on any average school day, is 
computed at live millions. School age may perhaps 
be considered as including ten years, from six to six¬ 
teen. Allowing this, we have five hundred thousand 
new pupils demanding text-books every year. The 
number of text-books used by a pupil who begins at 
a primary school and graduates at college i- not less 
than one hundred, if he goes no further than a 
high school or academy, it is probably sixty; if no 
further than a district school, from ten to thirty. If 
we average the demand per pupil, at forty books, 
then we have an annual demand from the whole 
school population of twenty million volumes a year. 
But that these figures are below the actual cou 
sumption is evident from the facts that we find a 
single house reporting an annual sale of more than 
four million copies of their own publications alone; 
another over two million copies; another, as many; 
that over a million copies a year arv sold of Web¬ 
ster’s spelling book ; half a million, of Mitchell’s 
geographies; oue hundred thousand of Smith’s gram¬ 
mar; that is, the reported annual sale by three 
houses, and of two separate books and one series, 
including not more than three hundred and sixty of 
our total number of twenty-seven hnudred publica¬ 
tions, amounts to a total of ft,GOO,000 volumes a year. 
It seems probable that the total sales of text-books 
must reach at least twenty'-live million copies a year. 
If, instead of $1,62, we allow an average cost of less 
i than half that amount, viz.: 75 cents, we have an 
a knnual expenditure for school books alone, iu this 
' country, of $18,750,000. This is a gigantic market, 
j and fully justifies the expenditure of all the money, 
' machinery, intellect aud enterprise which are in- 
> vested so lavishly in the competition to command it. 
A man who is thoroughly in earnest, is honest, 
and having a moderate share of talent, can hardly 
(y fail of success. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
RECONSTRUCTION. 
BY C. A CHURCH. 
Probably no topic has ever been so thoroughly 
analyzed and seeu in so many different lights, by 
the wise and the ignorant, old and young, men and 
women, as the great subject of our nation's Recon¬ 
struction. It has becu held up aud calmly viewed; 
it has been debased and considered as a mere politi¬ 
cal farce, or as a means by which to attaio political 
glory. ’Tis true that our nation needs reconstruc¬ 
tion bad enough, — but its rulers, one and all, need 
it len times more. Men may say and do what they 
will, our weary, peace-longing country will never he 
fully and properly reconstructed untiL revenge, and 
hatred, and corruption be driveu from the breasts of 
its rulers. But Reconstruction at Home,—we will 
call it,—is our subject. 
How can we expect to be reoresented by truth, 
honesty and gooduesa, while we ourselves are 
wading through the sickening, stagnant pools of 
depravity? Instead of Virtue beginning its work 
away, and coining towards us, the work must begin 
at homo and spread abroad. I know of nothing that 
needs reconstructing more than Our principles, aud 
our determiuation to uphold and maiutaiu them. As 
a people, our success has carried U6 along with such 
a dizzying velocity that principle, justice and reason 
have been unable to keep pace with us. And it was 
only through the ageucy of these, their invoked 
helpers in war and peace, that our revered fore¬ 
fathers became heroes of liberty. We love to talk of 
thorn as good and true ineu; we recognize iu^their. 
characters the highest spirit of bravery and equity; 
aud yet every day pierce to the very heart, with the 
agger of selfishness, gain and notoriety, those ex¬ 
cellencies which made them what they were. Of a 
i rath—“ Consistency, thou art a jewel l ” 
For the last one hundred years Civilization and 
Religion have each held up their coverings, and 
have partly concealed the great, struggle, not only 
between men, but between nations, that has been 
going on for superiority, and will continue to go on 
until mau,— head, heart and hand, —shall become the 
willing subject of a new and mighty reconstruction. 
Kings, princes, aud subjects need it; teacbere and 
scholars uecd it; husbands and wives, fathers and 
mothers, yonng men and young women, rich and 
poor need it,—the whole world needs it. Honor, 
and love, and truth, aud charity demand it. How 
truly Alice Cart sings: 
“ I hold that Christian grace abounds 
Where Charity is seen; 
And when we climb to heaven ’tis ou 
The rounds of lore to men.” 
Jefferson. Co., N. Y., 1868. 
-- 
HOME-MADE BAROMETERS. 
Take two sheets of pasteboard paper of any con¬ 
venient style,—say three feet long by two feet wide. 
Bring the ends together, aud glue or paste them 
tight, each sheet by itself; and they will look like 
two pieces of paper stove-pipe. Cut thin, round 
boards exactly to fit in the ends of these paper cyl¬ 
inders. Careful ly glue or uail them tight- Now you 
have two air tight, paper drums with wooden heads. 
Take a pole of any leugth you desire—three feet or 
twelve feet—let. one drum be fastened to each end 
<>f the pole. Now balance this pole with the drums 
on eueh cad on nice pivots, in the middle. Then 
bore a gimlet through the end of one drum, and 
>oti h ave a good farmer’s barometer. One drum is 
air-tight; oue has a hole in it- 8o there will be 
more or less air iu oue drum than there is in the 
other, according as the surrounding air is dense or 
raritied. Consequently, in dense or heavy air the 
light drum rises, while tho one with the pin hole in 
it goes down. Crosswise through the middle of the 
bar or pole should run a stick as large as one’s fin¬ 
ger, a foot long, with wire gudgeons, on which the 
Instrument should vibrate or teeter. Let the ends 
of the pole be slightly lower than the middle, that 
tho whole may not make a summersault; smear all 
with glue or oil, so that air may enter only in the 
puncture mentioned. Have something you can 
slide through the bar, to keep it nearly level. 
Mark, if you please, figures along the pole to show 
how far you have moved the balancing poise; 
though for this there is little need. This instru¬ 
ment may not be so perfect as a costly barometer, 
but for all practical purposes it is all one could ask. 
1 have had one more than a year. I look at it a 
dozen times a day. They could be made as long as 
a barn, and placed in Hie loft, with an indicator, to 
show the distant mower when to make his hay.— 
Boston Journal of Chemistry. 
-• ♦■» • »«. «»-i- 
A NEW PLYING MACHINE. 
A steam bird is put forward by the English jour¬ 
nals as an offset to the New Jersey steam-man. 
The bird is a contrivance by Mr. Kauffman, a Glas¬ 
gow mechanic, to solve the problem of aerial 
navigation, The plan has answered on the email 
scale of a model, and is to be tried on a machine of 
huge proportions, which is being made, and will 
(so it is said) he exhibited at the show which the 
Aeronautical Society is getting up for the Crystal 
Palace next June. In appearaucc it may be describ¬ 
ed as n locomotive, with a pair of pinions each some 
forty feet long, and a fan, to act as a tail, of corres¬ 
ponding size. The engine is of seventy horse power; 
the weight of the machine about 8,000 pounds; and 
It is expected to fly at the rate of forty miles an hour, 
carrying a car and two or three people with it. The 
drawings give no indication of any contrivance to 
break its suddeu descent in the event of derange¬ 
ment of the mechanism during flight—a consequence 
certain to follow from the enormous speed at which 
the wings must be worked to sustain the great 
weight of the machine. We fear that both the Btcam- 
man and the steam-bird must be added tothealready 
long list of useless curiosities of invention. 
-■» •• »- 
New Material for Walls and Ceilings. —At 
New Erie, Pa., they are using thick, strong paper to 
form walls and ceilings instead of lath and plaster— 
tbe paper being put upon a backing of common hem¬ 
lock boarding. By this new and approved method 
all he walls and ceilings of a good sized house can 
be put up in a very short time, aud as well in winter 
timeasia summer, uo drying being required. Be¬ 
sides, the paper walls aud ceilings are much cheaper 
than the lath and plaster. 
-»«•»-- 
The palindrome is a line that reads alike back¬ 
ward and forward. One of the best is Adam’s first 
observation to EveMadam, I’m Adam.” An¬ 
other is the story that Napoleon, when at St. Hele¬ 
na, being asked if he could have sacked London, 
repliedAble was I ere I saw Elba,”—the best 
palindrome, probably, in the language. 
DESIGN FOR A VILLAGE CHURCH—ELEVATION. 
Church Architecture is a subject, in which 
thousands of our readers must feel more or less 
interest, for the Rural's parish embraces members 
of numerous local pal > hes, of various denomina¬ 
tions, throughout the country. And no doubt 
many of our friends are now directly interested or 
engaged in planning and building church edifices, 
«s this is the season 4 - laudable, labor li: that 
direction. With the Wow of aiding the efforts of 
all such, we present the accompanying plan for a 
Village Church, designed by Messrs. A. J. Warner 
tv Co., Architects, of Rochester. Wo think it will 
meet the wants of many congregations, as the de¬ 
sign is chaste and the building may be erected 
without an extravagant expenditure. The Archi¬ 
tects furnish ns the following description: 
This Design for a Village Churqli in the Gothic 
style, is well adapted for almost any situation or 
denomination. It has been made, however, with 
more especial reference to places where wood is not 
readily obtained, while stone is abundant; and the 
use of the latter material has been contemplated in 
its construction. The main portion of the walls are 
to be of t-omc dark colored stone, rough dressed, 
and the trimming* light, fine dressed. The outside 
dimensions are 40 by 64 feut, exclusive of tower, 
' a hleb is 12 feet square aud 76 feet high, tipi re and 
roof to be covered with slate in two colors. Side 
walls arc to be 14 font high, and the ceiling to finish 
up on the same angle as roof and be oi Lamented witu 
wood tracery, brackets and plaster-rib mouldings. 
The ground plan show* the internal arrangement 
for 25(5 sittings. A, Pulpit; B, Rostrum]; C, Study; 
I), Organ Recess; E, Choir Platform; F, Vestibule 
aud Tower. 
S sell a structure wouid cost in this city, (Roches¬ 
ter,) about $12,000, and is appropriate for almost 
any site. The same design might be carried out 
in brick in place of stone, having cut stone trim¬ 
mings, with good effect, and at less cost than stone. 
village church —ground plan. 
Singular Sagacity in a Bull. — A little boy, 
while herding cattle on a farm, near Balbeggie, 
Perthshire, was suddenly attacked by a bull, and 
tossed to the distance of some yards. The hull wa3 
following np the attack, when It suddenly desisted. 
On hearing the screams of the boy, the animal ran 
up and licked him all over with marks of kindness 
and recognition of an old acquaintance! The boy 
had put on a strange upper garment to protect 
him from the rain, and the bull thus mistaking him 
for a stranger, a fatal result had nearly taken place, 
but for the animal recognizing the well known 
voice of his friend. 
- 4 -- 
Outward politeness cannot be learned in set 
forms at school, for, at the best, it will be hollow 
and deceptive; geuuine politeness, like everything 
else genuine, comes from the heart 
Written lor Moore’s Rural New-Yoraer. 
SELF-DENIAL. ^ 
- i 
BY KBSN K. KKXFOHD. 
Billy Dane had a dollar,— a w r hole, new dollar! 
Not one of those round, shining, silver ones we 
used to see so lopg ago ; but, a crisp, rustling paper 
one, with a pretty green face. 
Now it’s a very nice thing to have a whole dollar 
for your own. But a great many hoys are apt to 
think it a great deal nicer if they cau have the priv¬ 
ilege of spending it Just as they please, without 
having to ask any one what they shall do with it. 
That was what Billy thought. His father had told 
him when he gave him this, that, as he had been a 
good boy, he should allow him to me it according 
to his own Judgment, and he thought he could safe¬ 
ly say that it would not be spent foolishly. 
“ What arc you troing to buy ?” Nettie asked, as 
she and Billy were in the sitting-room studying 
their morning lesson, 
“ I don’t know,” answered Billy, thoughtfully. 
“I want a pair of skates, hut a dollar won’t buy a 
very nice pair, I guess. I’d like a pop-gun like 
Ned Ames’, that goes off with a ‘bang’ like a 
pistol—but I’m afraid Pa would think that wa 3 
foolish.” 
“Oh, don’t get one of them," said Nettie, who 
had a girlish dislike for anything resembling a gun. 
“If 1 had a dollar for my own, I’d buy a dress for 
my doll, and a picture-book, I guess, and ob, lots 
of things 1” 
Vision* of charming dresses for her doll, bright- 
colored pictures, candy for her “sweet, t.ootb,” aud 
other things which could be bad for a dollar danced 
through Nettie’s mind in bewildering confusion. 
“ Pd rather have a pop-gun than a doll, any way,” 
BrLLY said, with a very scornful emphasis on the 
word doll. 
Nettie whs about to resent the implied insignif¬ 
icance of dolls, when their mother came in and sat 
down to her sewing, putting a stop to the conver¬ 
sation. 
That afternoon Billy started off to spend his dol¬ 
lar. He had determined to buy a book, at first; 
then he changed hi3 mind and thought he had rather 
have a picture to hang up in his little bed-room. 
After that he bad thought the matter over, and 
come to the conclusion that a pair of nice’ gloves, 
with fnr wrists to them, would be very comfortable, 
and look ever so much better than his woolen ones. 
And between them all, he didn’t know what to get. 
So he went down the street, looking in at the shop 
windows, and seeing a great many things that he 
would like, but which he knew a dollar wouldn’t 
buy. 
At last he came to the book-store. The windows 
were full of toys and books, and he couldn’t help 
wishing that a dollar would buy them all. 
Down in the comer, close to the glass, his sharp 
eyes spied a book with a grcen-and-gold cover, look¬ 
ing as fresh and charming as a patch of moss all 
laced across with sunshine; and on the cover was a 
name that mndo Billy determine what to do with 
his dollar. Once, at Cousin Grant’s, he ’ id seen a 
copy of a story book that delighted hi. i no other 
book ever had done. The stories wer o natural, 
and about just such boys as hirmelf, . .id so won¬ 
derfully Interesting, too! And he had never quite 
finished reading the book, for it waa a borrowed 
one, and its owuer took it away before he had got 
to the lust, page. Now here was a chance to get St 
for his own, and he h; ! •« ■’ to have it so much ! 
Of course Pa wouldn’t think it foolish if he bought 
the book, for he liked to have Billy read, very much. 
So he started for the door. Just as lie reached the 
threshold, he saw a boy who had been standing by 
the window looking at the thiugs inside. 
“ Hello 1” cried Billy. “ Is that you, George 
Brown V” 
“Ye*,” answered the boy, as he took his eye6 
from tbe window with a little sigh. “ How do you 
do, Billy 5*” 
“First rate,” answered Billy, cheerily. “School 
commences next week. Of course jou’ll be there 
bright aud early Monday morning V” 
“I don’t know,” answered George, slowly. I 
can’t work out enough to get money to buy me any 
new books, and the teacher says we must have new 
readers and geographies, for the old ones are not 
going to be used any longer. Mother has all aha 
can do to get a living, and Bhe works so hard that I 
can’t ask her to buy me the books, if I dou’t have 
any. If I could only get some work to do t” and 
George sighed again, for tbe thought of staying ont 
of school greatly pained him. Uo loved his books, 
k atid study was a pleasure Some day, if he could 
only get an education to help him, he meant to be a 
man who could make his mark in the world. 
Billy knew that he hail made great plans for the 
future, for George had told him what he would like 
to he, and what he meant to do when he was grown 
up. Quick as thought Billy's resolve was taken. 
“ Wait a minute, George,” he said, and disap¬ 
peared in the doorway. In a little while he came 
out again with a package in his hands neatly wrap¬ 
ped in bro ,vn paper. 
“ There’s a present for you, George,” and Billy 
thrust the books George had been wishing for into 
hi* hands; and before he could fairly comprehend 
what it all meant, Billy was almost out of sight. 
Billy told hi* father how he had spent his dollar. 
“ Do you think t spent it foolishly ?" he asked. 
“X think you spent it as well as I could have 
wished,” Mr. Dane said, proud oi’ his son's gener¬ 
osity and kindness. “ If you always do as well, 
Biuly, yon will never spend ycmr money unwisely,” 
Aud Billy felt amply repaid for bis self-denial, 
when he saw wlmt a smiling, happy face George 
had on Monday morning when the school-bell called 
them all together to study and help lay the founda¬ 
tion of a life of future usefulness. 
A Narrow Escape. -In Tndia, two little children 
w- re asleep in a bungalow (a bungalow is a house in 
India) when a tiger came out of the jungles (jungles 
are the thick woods) smelling aftersomethbg to eat. 
lie smelt the children, and broke into the bungalow 
after them. But the first thing the tiger saw was a 
looking-glass, anil in the looking-glass he saw a tiger. 
The tiger did not know it was himaelf; sobcgrowl- 
eu aud gre V angry, and tho tiger iu the looking-glass 
growled and grew angry. That made him furious, 
and he sprang at the tiger in the glass, which of 
course smashed the glass into a thousand pieces; 
and it frightened the tiger so that he was glad to run 
off as fast as hi* leg* could carry him. 
Bk Kind to our Mother.— “ Wbat would I 
give," said Charles Lamb, “ to call my dear mother 
back to earth for a single day, to ask her pardon, up¬ 
on my knees, for all those acts by which I grieved 
her gentle spirit!” 
