1472 t Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
All Sorts 
A Hard School Situation 
I live on top of a hill. There is a 
school about 1% mile from my home. I 
sent my boy there for years. Now all 
children are out of school age, except my 
boy of 13 years. The trustee does not 
want to hire a teacher this year; it costs 
too much, but around here is no other 
school. These men want me to send my 
boy down to the hollow. To go around 
tire road takes a horse two hours, and 
back much longer; but the trustee said 
he can go across. That is very danger¬ 
ous in Winter down that steep hillside all 
through the woods, and in wet weather is 
awful. He says I do not have to send 
in the hard storms, but our Winters are 
full of storms, and in Winter 10 to 20 
feet of snow. One of my neighbors said 
to board him out. but we need him, and 
he is sick. Nobody would take him to 
board, and who has to pay board for him? 
The State pays $200. and the teacher 
wants $00 to $S0 a month, so this district 
has to pay very high taxes. Do I have 
to send him or not? Is it not terrible 
that a child has to go from 7 :30 A. M. 
to 6 P. M'. only for school? People do 
much for a city child, but it looks as 
though nobody had a heart for a country 
child. MRS. A. B. 
New York. 
We print this letter in order that more 
of our city people may realize what some 
of our country readers must endure. We 
believe this letter is a true statement of 
conditions in that locality. The letter 
was referred to an intelligent and sympa¬ 
thetic school superintendent, who says: 
She cannot compel the maintenance of 
the present district, but, on the other 
hand, if the district is abolished, it be¬ 
comes the duty of the authorities to see 
that the boy is carried comfortably and 
regularly to some other school. In mauy 
cases, where there is but a child or two 
in the district, it would be cheaper to 
pay their board than to arrange to have 
them carried; but I do not know that 
the law can be stretched to that extent. 
There are cases in this State where as 
much as $200 per year is being paid for 
the transportation of a single pupil, and 
even that is cheaper than to maintain the 
school. After all, there is no bigger 
roblem than the maintenance of any 
ind of school facilities in these back, de¬ 
cadent agricultural communities, where 
population is very scant and land values 
very low. Of course, all intelligent folk 
will agree that somehow or other it must 
be done. 
Yes, indeed, the problem of giving chil¬ 
dren in the far-back districts a fair 
chance is the great educational problem 
of the day. The beautiful high school 
building in town cannot overcome the 
danger of leaving back districts neglected 
as this one is. One of the supporters of 
the recent school law, which was repealed, 
says this incident proves the need of a 
strong hand at Albany to force such a 
district to provide a school. 
Teaching from the Teacher’s Standpoint 
Tiir R. N.-Y., m common with many 
other papers, lias b“- i printing consid¬ 
erable concerning schools and teachers. 
It seems to be a subject much in the pub¬ 
lic mind at present. 1. being a teacher, 
have been very much interested in the 
articles on this subject by the various 
correspondents, and felt that I would like 
to “have my say,” too. 
Dr. M. V. O’Shea, one of the foremost 
educators of our country, in a recent ar¬ 
ticle in an educational journal, says that 
the reason for the teaching profession 
being in the public mind at present is due 
to the fact that people in every walk of 
life are becoming aware “of the impor¬ 
tance of the school and of the teacher in 
determining the intellectual, moral and 
even physical welfare of the nation.” He 
goes on to observe that this has been 
brought about by the World War; that 
our performance in the war has won the 
admiration of all nations. There are 
now in America a number of commissions 
from foreign lands studying our schools, 
and that! these commissions have said 
to him in substance: “The remarkable 
achievements of America in the war were 
due mainly to her schools. She gave an 
exhibition of resourcefulness, of patriot¬ 
ism, of devotion to high ideals, of courage 
and daring, such as the world had never 
before seen. We must go to America and 
observe how the schools are conducted, so 
that we may reconstruct our educational 
work along similar lines.” 
Getting Acquainted With a Young Family 
0 
While others have different opinions, 
one thing is certain: Dr. O’Shea has 
made a nation study of the subject, and 
his opinion carries weight with it. It is 
also certain that a few years ago America 
was going to Europe to study her schools, 
and if ottrs were now at the “lowest ebb” 
would the situation be reversed as it is? 
Every teacher who was told that 10 years 
ago Germany’s schools were the most 
“efficient” in the world is now rejoicing 
that the ideals she endeavored to impart 
to her pupils have been acclaimed by the 
world as worthy. 
As regards the subjects taught while 
square and cube root are no longer con¬ 
sidered necessary in the making of useful, 
intelligent citizens, we teach hygiene as 
it was not taught in grandfather’s day. 
The gospel of fresh air, digestible food, 
the care of the teeth, etc., has been 
preached in city and cross-road schools 
alike. My grandmother believed “night 
air” to be dangerous. She kept her deli¬ 
cate daughter in an almost hermetically 
sealed room all Winter long, and she grew 
up to be a frail woman with a constitution 
unequal to the demands upon it. Her 
parent’s knowledge of cube root was not 
much help to her in her life-long battle 
against ill-health. In grandfather’s day 
square and cube root were used as the 
measures of mathematical ability. In my 
childhood I looked upon these two opera¬ 
tions as something requiring a giant intel¬ 
lect to perform. When I finally bumped 
upon against them, I found the fabled 
giants to be rather sorry-looking pyg¬ 
mies. The fact is, that they require no 
mathematical ability to solve whatever. 
The child who learns the multiplication 
tables, and multiplies a number by two or 
Ihree digits, has performed a far more 
difficult task. 
As for spelling, the old-time speller 
may have excelled in ability to spell 
orally, but that is not a very useful ac¬ 
complishment. I believe that the average 
boy or girl of 12 can write a better letter, 
more correctly spelled, today than a boy 
or girl of similar age could 50 years ago. 
And that is when he needs to spell. If 
we can spell the 1,000 words most com¬ 
monly used as compiled by the expert, 
Ayer, wo will not need to bother learning 
such words as conjunctively, adumbration 
and the like, which used to be rolled glibly 
off the tongues of the good “spellers.” 
Several correspondents have complained 
of the poor attendance in Winter time, 
when the money for schools is wasted. If 
attendance is poor in Winter, could it not 
be remedied? In dozens of cases the chil¬ 
dren could attend school if the father 
would hitch up an idle horse to sled or 
buggy and take the child there. My 
father did this for weeks at a time in 
Winter. 
As to rural teachers for rural schools, 
undoubtedly—if they are properly trained. 
But they will not remain live, up-to-date, 
efficient teachers by spending their vaca¬ 
tions as “housewives’ assistants.” Teach¬ 
ers need the broadening, helpful influence 
of Summer sessions in colleges, and they 
need real rest, too, strange as it may seem. 
I teach 4% hours a day for five days in 
the week. My hours are short, for I have 
primary work. That is my time of actual 
teaching, but blackboard work, prepara¬ 
tion of the next day’s lessons and correct¬ 
ing papers take many hours more. I can 
assure you that at the end of my day I 
am far more tired than when I have 
finished a day’s housecleaning, when I as¬ 
sist my mother in that necessary work 
when school Inis closed. The true teacher 
gives, gives, gives, all day long. Of 
course, I realize there are teachers and 
teachers, but if your district has the 
wrong kind it is up to you to change it. 
We teachers are feeling woefully the 
pinch of our inadequate salaries in these 
days of high prices. One of our great 
magazines is spending thousands of dollars 
in a campaign for better pay for teachers. 
The press of America is almost universal¬ 
ly back of the movement, for thinking 
people everywhere realize the grave men¬ 
ace to our schools in the thousands of 
untrained teachers in our schools, and the 
thousands of other schools that are closed 
for lack of teachers. I read the state¬ 
ment with a little smile: “Most of us feel 
that the teachers are paid more than they 
earn.” Oh, let us have imagination 
enough to picture ourselves "in the other 
fellow’s place,” and we will not make 
statements like this. We certainly do 
not want to get to the place where we 
will need to paraphrase Kipling. “Farmer 
is farmer, and teacher is teacher, and 
never the twain shall meet.” 
The consolidated schools and hot 
lunches seem to have come in for more 
than their share of criticism, too. There 
is not a doubt that it is far more advan¬ 
tageous to a child to go to school in a 
modern building equipped with heat plant 
and indoor toilets, rather than to the 
wretched buildings that are characteristic 
of so many schools in rural sections. 
Hot lunches have been discussed pro 
and con so often that I will add nothing 
more than to say that, like everything else 
concerning the school, it depends largely 
on the teacher. That is the crux of the 
whole situation. Let parents insist on 
trained teachers with that best of all 
September 18, 1920 
God's gifts—common sense. Give the 
teacher your loyal support and a fair sal¬ 
ary. And don’t make the mistake of 
thinking that the old ways are best. 
They are sometimes, but we must remem¬ 
ber that the “world does move.” 
ELLEN JOHNSTON. 
Overalls for Women 
Our whole family wears overalls except 
the baby, and she will most likely, too, 
when she gets old enough. There are 
seven of us wearing them, and they are 
a big saving to me in washing and mend¬ 
ing. I do not wear overalls, but a 
bloomer suit made like children’s romp¬ 
ers, waist and all in one.’ The leg parts 
are made full and bloused, and can be 
worn long or short. I have two bill tons 
on band, one just right to button below 
the. knee, the other at ankle. Waist is 
plain, square neck and elbow sleeves. 
My husband and boys wear overalls most 
all the time. This year the girls were 
them all Winter, too. Just as soon as 
they come home from school they changed 
their dresses for overalls. The' girls can 
wear dresses that they could not wear 
any more in Summer, instead of waists 
with the overalls, and I like it better than 
waists made on purpose, as they must be 
made rather long or some sort of draw¬ 
string used and yet they will slip out at 
waist line. I never have any stockings or 
pants to mend at the knees, and the chil¬ 
dren can play, romp or climb about with 
out being always told to be careful of 
their clothes. We get the heavy blue 
kind. Two years’ size larger than their 
age. Then I shorten lev parts and they 
are nice and roomy. We like the blue 
kind we get best, as they are made ample 
full and do not fade or shrink, and are 
more becoming to us than the striped kind. 
As to women wearing them. I see no ar¬ 
gument against them. I did feel a little 
queer at first, when I wore them, but 
now I hardly know I am wearing them, 
unless I see someone looking at me; but 
some people will look anyhow if you wear 
anything different, either in or out of 
style. As to modesty or being mannish, 
working outdoors or on a farm doing 
chores, climbing over a fence or up a lad¬ 
der or wagon, if the wind blows or it 
rains or snows, or even doing housework 
give me overalls or bloomer suits every 
time. They are more sanitary and com¬ 
fortable than skirts to work in everv time. 
New Jersey. m.'c. b. 
. I was much interested in the ar¬ 
ticle on page <347. “Women and Over- 
allos.” The opinion of another fel¬ 
low - reader certainly coincides, and 
it is a pity that the unfair prejudice 
against overalls for women is not more 
quickly overcome. Not only for farm 
women, both indoors and outdoors, but 
for the city woman in her garden and for 
such housework, at least, as washing 
scrubbing, cleaning, etc. They enable a 
woman to get about her work more quick¬ 
ly; they are a great saving in laundry; 
cooler in Summer and warmer in Winter 
than skirts. And as to the narrow-mind¬ 
ed individual with his “innocent” argu¬ 
ment, there is surely absolutely noth¬ 
ing any female or male can take exception 
to—unless some of the male persuasion 
may object because they do not. expose a 
woman nearly as much as some of the 
tight-fitting, short skirts and very low- 
neck waists! I hope the “overalls gospel” 
for women is spreading in city and coun¬ 
try by those who are using them and real¬ 
ize the many advantages over skirts. I 
surely was much “peeved” to see in the 
current issue of a large mail-order house 
catalog that no women’s overalls were 
mentioned. But, cheer up, if they no 
longer carry them, there are many other 
who do. E. L. B. 
Syrup from Soft Maple 
I made some maple syrup last Winter 
from the Washington soft maple. Would 
thero be any difference in the flavor of it 
and Eastern syrup? My father, a Michi¬ 
gan man, says there is. I could not see it. 
Custer, Wash. H. M. w. 
The old man is right about it. There 
is a decided difference in flavor, although 
it may not be perceptible upon tasting a 
single isolated sample. But compare it 
side by side, and the difference will be¬ 
come apparent. There is a slight differ¬ 
ence in the sugar made from all species 
of maple which anyone accustomed to 
sampling maple sugar can detect upon 
comparison. There is also a difference 
in the flavor of syrup made from trees 
of the sugar maple that is accounted for 
by differences in soil, or, rather, in the 
rock formation of the subsoil. Trees 
grown upon a soil that is underlaid with 
blue limestone interstratitied with slate 
yield a syrup that has a richer, smoother 
and cleaner flavor than that from trees 
grown upon any other formation. Be¬ 
cause a large part of Vermont soil is 
underlaid with rock of essentially this 
class is one reason why Vermont marjje 
products are superior to those of other 
States. It is also one reason why, even 
in this State, some men can make a syrup 
that is superior to that of a neighbor 
whose orchard is upon a different forma¬ 
tion. We have many instance in which 
a man can tell by the flavor of his syrup 
from which side of his orchard the sap 
was drawn, the difference coinciding with 
the rock formation. The whole scheme 
has not been thoroughly worked out, but 
do not let that discourage you. Maple 
syrup agrees with the description of 
whisky given by the Kentuckian who 
said : “Every kind of whisky is good, 
but some kinds are better than others.” 
C. O. OBMSBEE. 
