R U ii A L NEW-YORKER 
11 / 
The New School Law 
The writer is aware of the fact that 
the old distriot scliool system was not in 
every instance a great success, but the 
trouble was not in the system itself, but 
in the people who had control of the 
schools. The local school .system, like 
every other democratic system, cannot rise 
above the intelligence of the individuals 
living in a certain di.strict. The trouble 
was that in some districts most of the 
people were indifferent and the manage¬ 
ment of the schools was left to the ten¬ 
der mercies of a small cli'iue consisting 
of three or four persons. If now and 
then some one rebelled against the rule of 
those persons, he Avas a voice crying in 
the wilderne.ss .and unable to do an.A thing. 
As a rule, the teacher, genei’allv a .voting 
girl, was engaged not because of tier ((uali- 
tications as a teacher, but bec.-iuse she 
was willing to teach for .$0 <a week. I 
knew a teacher who did not know that 
Longfellow was an American poet. This, 
of course, did not disqualify her from 
teaching grammar and arithmetic, but it 
is a sad commentar.v upon the general 
intelligence and knowledge of some 
teachers. To he a teacher one must 
have the ahilit.v to impart knowledge to 
the children, but many of the teachers 
lack this qualit.v. The.v may know cer¬ 
tain sulyiects well, but they cannot make 
the pupils acquire that knowledge. T 
was once present at a le.sson in physiolog.v 
and was amazed to .see that the children 
had not the slightest idea of the meaning 
of the words they were uttering, and 
the teacher made not the slightest at¬ 
tempt to make them understand. All 
this is the fault not of the system, but 
of the individuals. 
It was the duty of every voter to take 
an active part in the school affairs and 
to engage competent teachers. If the 
district school system was a failure, then 
democracy itself is a failure, but I agree 
with the lawyer, who.se article on ‘’The 
New York School Law” ai)i)ears in TitE 
It. N.-Y. of Januar.v 15. that centraliza¬ 
tion is not a blessing. ‘‘Carried to its ut¬ 
most hideous length and yon have modern 
Germany and its logical fruits—the 
present cataclysm in civilization.” That 
is to sa.v, while efliciency may be a good 
thing, it is not .always the he.st thing in 
the world. Besides, i.s the efficiency of 
the new school law much in evidence? 
It may possibly be that in .some towns 
centralization may he a benefit. The 
town board ma.v do away with certain 
inefficient schools and teachers and have 
union .schools and competent teachers, 
hut in many i)laces this is simply impos¬ 
sible. In the vicinity where I live in 
the Winter months the temperature often 
goes down to 30 degrees below zero .and 
blizzards are a common occurrence here. 
Abolish the district schools and most <>f. 
the childi-en will .seldom attend school 
during the Winter. 
My greatest ob.jection to the new school 
law is that it is based on in.iustice so far 
as taxes are concerned. For instance, in 
m.v neighborhood, the increase in taxes is 
300 jter cent, and why? Simply because 
the town to which we belong is buililing 
a new .school house, but the taxes in the 
town itself are o!ily a trifle higher than 
they were last year. 1 am i>erfectly wil¬ 
ling to pay a higher tax if the town or 
tin* county is benefited thereb.v, but why 
should we in the country carry the great¬ 
est burden without getting the slightest 
benefit, while those in the town who 
actually reap the benefit contribute very 
little toward that end? 
I am not ready to say that we should 
restore the old school system. There 
may be something better to take its place, 
but I am convinced that the new law is 
obnoxious and should be repealed. 
Sullivan Co., N. Y. c. p. ukryi.sox. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC’.—Every woman factory 
Avorker Avho comes in contact Avith ma¬ 
chinery of any kind must wear oA^eralla 
and a cap or net to protect her hair, ac¬ 
cording to an amendment to the Ncav 
Y ork State industrial code received and 
indor.sed by the State Industrial Com¬ 
mission at a hearing at Syracuse. .Ian. 
no. 
The recent conviction of Carl I’nnz, 
managing director; George Kotter, sup¬ 
erintending engineer; Adolph lloch- 
meister, purchasing agent, and .lo.seph 
Po|)enhouse. second officer of tin* llam- 
bni'g-American Steamshi)) Line. on 
charges of <*onspiring to defraud 'the 
T'nited States Government Avas upheld 
at NeAV York. .Tan. 11. in a decision 
handed doAvn by the I’^nited States Cir¬ 
cuit Court of Api>eals. All had been 
found guilty of engaging in a conspiracy 
to defraud by filing at the Custom House 
false manifests of vessels carrying sup- 
l)lies to German cruisers in the North and 
South Atlantic. 
Four children lost their lives in a fire 
Avhich .Tan. 10 destroyed the east Aving of 
the Catholic General Hospital. OttaAva, 
('anada. Avith a i)roperty damage 
amounting to ,$100,000. 
Fire in the Industrial Building, which 
housed thirty manufacturing concerns, 
at Indianapolis. Ind.. .Tan. 13, destroyed 
the building and adjoining property, caus¬ 
ing a loss estinnited at $1.000.000. Fire 
Chief Loncks said he belmved ^ that the 
fii-e Avas of inci'iidiary origin. Several of 
tin* manufacturing companies Aveia* mak¬ 
ing machiner.v for the Gov(*rninent under 
Avar contracts. 
'rin* flag wliich AA'aA’cd oA'er tlie House 
of llojAresentatiA'Cs when the seventy-year 
fight of the Avomen for the suffrage AA'as 
Avon, so far as the House Avas concerned, 
had been pre.sented to Miss .Teanette Ran¬ 
kin, Republican Representative from 
Montami, b.v .Toseph ,1. Sinnott, door¬ 
keeper of the House. 
Fire Avhich started in ,‘i bakei'v at Og- 
densburg. N. Y.. .Tun. 14, spread to ad¬ 
joining buildings, and caused a loss of 
.$()().000. 
Believed t<_) be the most dangerous 
German spy in America. Walter Sporr- 
mau, a Lieutenant in the German iiav.v, 
Avas taken to Washington, .Tan. 14. 
Siiorrnnin was arrested near the GoAmrn- 
ment aviation field at Hampton, Va.. by 
an agent of the naval intelligence bureau. 
He is believed to huA'c landed in this 
country from the German submarine 
U-5.3, which touched at NeAvport. R. I., 
in 3!)1(). and later sank several merchant 
ships off Niuitucket Shoals. 
Taa’o persons AA’ei*e killed and sixteen 
others injured, thirteen of them seriously, 
.Tam 14, Avhen a I.oui.sville and Southern 
Indiama traction car, bound from Indiana¬ 
polis to Louisville, crashed into the rear 
of a .TeffersoiiAille, Ind.. and LouisAulle 
car loaded AAuth LouisA'illo residents em¬ 
ployed at the Ignited States Army 
Quartermasti'r’s depot at .Teffersonville. 
A quantity of army snpidies Avas d('- 
stroyed, the quartermaster Avarehonse 
mined and seA'eral oth(*r buildings dam¬ 
aged by a fire ,Tan. 14. at the Wlashington 
barracks, occupied by engineer troops. 
Impetus Avas given the flames b.v the ex¬ 
plosion of a qiniTitity of gasoline stor(*d 
in one part of the Ava rehouse. 
The third big fire since August 20 oc¬ 
curred .Tan. in in that part of Brooklyn's 
waterfront Avhich lies betAveen Ihicific and 
Warren streets. It Avas the foui'th .since 
1914. The latest loss may run uj) to 
.$i)00,000, in Avhich case the damage in 
the four blocks Avill amount to about $4.- 
000,000 for the period since the Avar 
began. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The 1018 
agricultural census of NeAv York State 
Avill be taken by the New Y'ork State 
Food Commission in cooperation Avith the 
NeAv Y^ork Stab* Department of Educa¬ 
tion and the Ncav Y'ork State Pbirm 
bureaus. A complete survey of the agri¬ 
cultural resources of the State Avill be 
made, including a special survey of labor 
requirements, seed shortiige or surplus, 
fertilizer re(|uirements and the live stock 
situation. The Avork is to be in charge 
of Prof. IIoAvard E. Babcock, director of 
the Bureau of Conservation of the State 
Food Commission. 
By order of the l*ennsylvania State 
Game Commission the herd of elk in 
Blair county, four bucks, seven females 
and several young animals, Avill be killed. 
The action has been taken folloAving con¬ 
tinued protests by farmers that the elk 
haAm been destroying crops. Seven «*lk 
were received from the Yellowstone N.at- 
ional Park reserve. Avhile five Avere lib¬ 
erated b.v .Tohu Kazmaier of Altoona. 
The carcasses Avill be turned oA’er to the 
county’s hospital. The herd has roamed 
the county f(»r tAvo years. 
.Tanuary 4. Senator Weeks, of IMassa- 
chusetts, introduced a bill (S. 3,344) to 
prohibit the impoi't.iti<ni of nursery stock 
into the United Stat(*s. The gist of the 
bill is, in a feAV Avords. that ‘‘it shall be 
unlaAA'ful foi' an.A* jAerson to import or 
oiler for entry into the United States any 
nui-sery stock.” 
’Fhe Pennsylv.ani.'i Department of Agri¬ 
culture is conducting an investigation of 
rei>orts froin certain sections of the 
State, of unlicensed solicitors represent- 
iug_ themseh’es as agents of nurseries. 
Strict enforcement of the hnv requiring 
registration of agents, Avhich is for the 
protection of the trade, has been order(*d 
b.A' Secr(*tar.A’ Charles E. I’atton and pros¬ 
ecution Avill folloAV the apprehension of 
.•igents found soliciting Avithout a license. 
Fiuiit groAvers and farmers are requested 
to cooperate Avith the department by re¬ 
fusing to patronize agents Avho cannot 
shoAV a State license and b.A' reiAorting 
them to the proper authorities. 
WASIIINGTON.--,Tan. 10 Dr. H. A. 
Garfield. Fuel Administrator, i.ssued an 
order shutting doAvii all industries in tin* 
East for fiA’e day.s, beginning .T:ui. IS. 
aiul for five IMondays folloAving. The 
thirteen AA’orkless days Avill be enforced 
in all territory east of the Mississippi 
River and Louisiana and Minnesota, and 
are aimed to conserve coal and permit the 
r.ailroads to clear congestion. The order 
gives fuel and service to bakeries and 
public institutions, to cantonments and 
naval stations and to industries Avlmse 
output is of immediate and direct u.se to 
the Government in moving troops and in 
prosecuting the war. It permits business, 
other than industrial, to continue for the 
balance of this AAU'ek, but during that 
time and on the succeeding ten Mond.ivs 
all munition plants .are to lx* closed. 3’iie 
saving of coal, Avhich it is ('stim.ated Avill 
be eflected. i.s placed at .30.()0(».<M)0 tons. 
(3uirches are permitted to open on 
Siinday, but no tln'.atres are to open on 
Mond;iys until after March 2.3. 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings 
Ohio State Forestry Society, annii.il 
meeting, Columbus. ()., .Tan. 39.' 
Farmers’ M'eek, Ohio State Univ(*rsitv, 
( olumbus. ().. .Tiin. 28-Feb. 1. 
Ohio State Dair.vmen’s Association, an¬ 
nual meeting, Columbus. ()., .fan 31- 
Feb. 1. 
Ohio State Horticulttiral Societv, f3i- 
lumbns, O., ,Ian. 29-30. 
Ohio State \ egetable GroAA'ers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, Columbus. O., .Tan. ,30-Feb. 1. 
Ohio Rural Life A.ssociation, Colum¬ 
bus. ()., .Tan. ,30-Feh. 1 
Ohio ,St;ite Bee K(*(*ii(*rs’ Association, 
Columbus. ()., .Tan. 30. 
Convention Aveek, Ioav.u Stjit(' College 
Ames. la., .Tan. 2,S-Feb. 2. 
Am(*rican Bt'rkshiia* Congre.ss, annual 
meeting, Orlando, Fla.. Feb. 3-1.3. 
NeAA*^ York Stat(* Potato .Vssoci.ation, 
annual meeting. College* of Agriculture, 
Ithaca, N. Y.. Feb. 12-13. 
In this section of Bucks f’ounty. 28 
miles from Philadelphia, milk brings 7%c 
per quart, out of AA'hich the dair.A'inan 
lAays the transportation. Cream testing 
22% brings from 28 to 30 cents per 
(piart, the dairyman paying trausieorta- 
tion. The country stores are paying 
farmers from 00 to 65c per elozen for un¬ 
graded eggs. Selected eggs sent by par¬ 
cels i)ost to private* customers bring 80c. 
For my Staynmn Winesaps, fancy, I get 
from priAuite customers .$2.73 per bu.; for 
the other grades in jAroportion. York 
Imperial, fancy, .$2.23 per hu., and other 
grades in proportion. 
We pay for bran $2.40 per 100 lbs.; 
gluten ,$2.90; hominy $3.20; middlings 
,|2.S3; cornmeal $3.10: cracked corn 
$3.10: corn $1.33 per 30 lbs.; uat.s 83c 
per .32 lbs. 
Bucks Co., I*a. 
What 'would the oil 
in your enc^e 
show ? “ 
F or years, both motorists and engineers were in the 
dark as to the amount of friction and consequent 
wear due to the sediment formed in the average 
motor oil. 
Inferior oil breaks down under the terrific heat of an 
automobile farm tractor or stationary engine and forms 
voluminous black sediment. This sediment causes rapid 
wear of the parts because it crowds out good oil at 
points where friction occurs. 
How a lubricant muzzles the 
tiny teeth of friction 
If you could look at the surface of a bearing or 
other engine part througli a powerful magnifying gla.ss, 
Avhat would you see.> 
Not a smooth, even surface, but thousands of micro¬ 
scopic teeth. Sediment excludes the protective film of 
the oil and alloAvs these tiny teeth to grab and tear at 
each other, thus causing rapid wear. 
A practical proof of superiority 
The Sediment Test, illustrated at the right, i.s as 
simple as it is convincing. 
The bottle to the left contains a sample of ordinary oil 
taken from the crankcase of an engine after 500 niiles 
of running. 
In the right-hand bottle is a sample of Veedol after 
being used for 500 miles under identical conditions. 
Notice that ordinary oil contains over five times as 
much sediment as Veedol. 
Make this test for yourself 
Drain the oil out of your crankcase and fill with kerosene. Run the 
engine for 30 seconds and then clean out all kerosene. Refill with 
Veedol and make a test run. You will find your engine has acquired new 
power and a snappy pick-up. It will run more smoothly and give ereater 
gasoline mileaec. 
Buy Veedol today 
Your dealer has Veedol in stock, or can get it for you. If he will not, 
write us lor the name of the nearest dealer who can supply you. 
C YUNOEB WALLS 
I80*to SM^Fahr. , 
J Of EXPlOSlOH 2000* to JOOO’.Fohrk 
PISTON H6A0S 
300*to 1000* Fahf. 
»«.■- PISTON WALLS 
^ 200'toWFahr. 
CPANK eCAMNC OIL 
H0*to250*FaV. 
I SUMP 0\l 
^ 90*to200*F4hi 
An 80*page book on lubrication for lOo 
Written by a prominent cneincer. Used as a text book in many 
schools and colleges. Also contains Veedol Lubrication Chart, showing 
correct grade of Veedol for every make of car, tractor, or stationary engine, 
winter or summer. Send 10c for a copy. It may save you many dollars. 
TIDE WATER OIL CO. 
VEEDOL DEPARTMENT 
Successors to 
Platt & Wasbbura Refining Co. 
Id08 Bowling Grcca Building., New York 
Branches; Boston, Philadelphia, 
Chicago, ^an Francisco 
Sectlotial njienv of a popular type of' 
motor, shonxjing high operating tempera¬ 
tures that cause rapid destruction of the 
average automobile oil 
Millions of tiny teeth cover the ap¬ 
parently mirror-like surface of a 
bearing^ or other working part of 
an engine. These teeth tear and 
grind each other unless kept apart 
by a protecting film of lubricant 
