THE-BREWER-TEACHER'S-AGENCY has had THIRTY-ONE years of ex perience, co-operating with TEACHCHICAGO, ILLINOIS ERS, PRINCIPALS and SUPERINTENDENTS. Write for our free booklet. AUDITORIUM BUILDING Your Credit is Good Order a Suit now and pay for it while you wear it on weekly or monthly payments PRICE OF SUITS FROM $25.00 UP NEUHAUS & COMPANY Merchant Tailors The Thurston Teacher's Agency Recommends teachers in answer to Direct Calls from Employers. Has good teachers for any postion at any time. Our free Booklet tells how to apply for a position. ANNA M. THURSTON, Manager. E. R. NICHOLS, Assistant Manager. 623 South Wabash Ave. - Chicago Register in the Fisk Teachers' Agency 33,000 Positions Filled at Salaries THE LARGEST TEACHERS AGENCY BERKELEY, 2161 Shattuck Avenue Boston, Second and Park St. "The Fisk Teachers' Agencies have had a wonderful record, and their managers are men of integrity and ability."-Western Journal of Education. Book Notes "Johnny Appleseed," the romance of the sower, by Eleanor Atkinson; published by Harper and Brothers, New York. The story is that of a half mystic, half poetic man of nearly a century ago, a lover of nature and of his fellowmen, who spent a long life of solitary and perilous wondering in the vanguard of the western migration. Johnny Appleseed spent his time and his life in planting apple orchards not in one spot but in many; in fact, his efforts were consecrated to the task of blossoming the wilderness. It is a beautiful story, beautifully told; one of those stories that young people delight in reading. "Three quarters of a century ago," says the author, "he was still a loved and revered guest in the cabins of our grandfathers. His orchards lived after him. Some of his trees may be standing today; but the man who has planted them has receded to a dim legendary figure. Let us recover what may be known of him, restore him to his time and place, recall the almost incredible conditions under which he did his inspired task. Let us give him again his need of love and gratitude for a beautiful life of self sacrifice that asked no reward, and that came, in old age, to some end obscure and lonely." able for school productions as well as dramatic clubs. The need for such a book, presenting plays that can be produced easily, with dancing in colorful and classical costumes, opportunity to develop simple and aethetic has long been felt, and will be welcomed. The plays contained in this little book do not require strenuous rehearsing, nor a great deal of study, and are picturesque rather than sweeping dramatic climaxes requiring professional art from amateur players. In addition there are in each play full directions for music, readily attainable, as well as all directions for costumes and scene setting. * * "Brief Course in Isaac Pitman Shorthand," by Isaac Pitman; published by Isaac Pitman & Sons, 2 West 45th St., New York; price, $1.25. This new and revised edition of Isaac Pitman's system of shorthand, is an exposition of this author's system of phonography, arranged in twenty-seven lessons. As its name implies the course is brief, but not necessarily thereby sacrificing any of its thoroughness. On the contrary the thoroughness of the system is retained, and it is shortened only by sacrificing superfluous exercises. This shortening produces no harm in view of the fact that the book has been planned to meet principally the needs of evening school students, who, because of their peculiar type present various difficult problems. They are studious and ambitious of course, but likewise unprepared for their lessons and with a mind already tired from a day's work. Under such circumstances a course is necessary that it is not burdened by a gradual development of the subject as rapidly as possible, for the evening school student, more than any other, seeks and must be encouraged by constant progress, slight though it be. There are a number of features introduced in this course and to meet that requirement should prove an excellent text book on this subject. * * * THE SCHOOL KITCHEN TEXT BOOK By Mary J. Lincoln, Author of "The Boston Cook Book." (Retail or Mailing Price, 60 Cents.) The School Kitchen Text Book supersedes the well-known "Boston School Kitchen Text Book," by Mrs. Lincoln, and has been written to meet the growing demand for a simple text book in domestic science planned on modern lines and elementary in scope. The first part of the book is devoted entirely to domestic science. It contains twenty chapters, covering 82 pages, taking up such subjects as "Cleaning and Housework," "Sweeping and Dusting," "Care of Bedrooms," "House Cleaning," "Dish Washing," "Care of Refrigerator and Pantry," "Washing Clothes," "Care of Food," "Heat and Fuel," "Cooking by Gas." "Stoves and Ranges," "Kitchen Equipment," "Laying the Table," "Waiting on Table," "Table Manners." These housekeeping lessons are designed to accompany and supplement the actual work in cooking. The treatment is simple and lucid. The next 208 pages include 59 lessons on the subjects of "Food Groups, "Processes of Cookery," and the "Simpler Chemical Elements" and their action,-arranged with special reference to elementary work both in the home and school. The appendix contains 32 lessons, outlining a practical, elementary course in "Home Sewing." This may be omitted at the discretion of the teacher. LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY, E EXTEND A CORDIAL INVITATION TO WE ALL TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS WHO VISIT THE PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION TO COME TO THE COLUMBIA EXHIBITION ROOMS BLOCK 18, LIBERAL ARTS PALACE : : : EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT COLUMBIA GRAPHOPHONE COMPANY Woolworth Building, New York City Ed WESTERN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION Vol. XXI MEETINGS Bay Section the California Teachers' Association, A. J. Cloud, San Francisco. National Educational Association will meet in Oakland in August 16-28, 1915. David Starr Jordan, President. Northern California Teachers' Association, R. W. Camper, President; Williams, Cal.; Mrs. Minnie O'Neil, Sacramento, Secretary. Central California Teachers' Association, Craig Cunning. ham, Madera, President; E. W. Lindsay, Fresno, Secretary. Southern California Teachers' Association, C. H. Covell, President, Redlands; J. O. Cross, Secretary, Los Angeles. Meeting for 1915 at San Diego. California Council of Education, E. M. Cox, Oakland, Cal., President; A. H. Chamberlain, San Francisco, Cal., Secretary. State Federation of School Women's Clubs, Mrs. M. M. FitzGerald, San Francisco, President; Alice Rose Power, 324 Phelan Building, San Francisco, Secretary. California Education Officers, Sacramento, Cal., Hon. Edward Hyatt, Superintendent of Public Instruction; Margaret E. Schallenberger, Commissioner Elementary Schools; Edwin R. Snyder, Commissioner Vocational Education; Will C. Wood, Commissioner Secondary Schools. State Board of Education, William H. Langdon, President; Mrs. O. Shepard Barnum, Charles A. Whitmore, E. P. Clarke, Marshall De Motte, Mrs. Agnes Ray, George W. Stone. Little Talks by the Way By EDWARD HYATT (Under this head Superintendent Hyatt will try to give some account of what he sees and hears and thinks in traveling about officially among the schools of California. It will be somewhat hasty and ill-digested, being jottings on the road. It will deal with personal experiences, and so may look egotistic. It will be subject to frequent change of opinion, and will seem inconsistent. It is done as a free and easy means of communication between the school people of the State and the central school office. If it provokes retort or comment, that will be printed, too, provided that it be brief and interesting.) Good Old Vacation Time SAN FRANCISCO, JUNE, 1915 I hope everyone who reads this will take it for himself. It belongs to us and is a part of the High Sierras of California, that wonderland of the continent. What insane, ignorant, narrow-minded folly it is to be sure, for Americans to spend good American gold in going to see the Alps, the Rhine, Lake Como and what not before they have ever felt the glory of their own Yosemite, Tahoe and Shasta! Now comes the teacher's vacation time, to spent in work or play. Different people need different forms of relaxation. Most of us need some lively bodily labor or exercise, something to make the blood circulate faster, the appetite grow stronger, the microbes of worry and doubt to evaporate in the warm sunshine of all outdoors. A complete change of occupation, climate, and mode of life is highly desirable. It restores the elasticity, the resiliency of the spirit, renews the patience and good humor, the youth, that is so absolutely necessary to the school teacher who must needs deal with youth. If you are worn and fagged and nervous and thin at the end of your term, it may very well be that the worst thing you can do is to undertake an exacting course of study at summer school or elsewhere. That work perhaps is so similar to what you have been doing that you have no chance to accumulate energy or renew the springs of life. Of course, we can't always do what we'd like or what we ought, but must do what we can. But let us remember that the primary purpose of a teacher's vacation, its function toward the State that employes us, is to relieve the tension of the bow string, which has been stretched almost to breaking during the year, to give it chance to recover somewhat of its life. Finest Scenic Drive on Earth For myself, I managed to steal a week for vacation a few days ago, and went over a course that I want to tell you all about, for it is the most wonderful, unique, spectacular and beautiful drive on the face of the earth. A COUNTRY GIRL'S CREED I am glad I live in the country. I love its beauty and its spirit. I rejoice in the things I can do as a country girl for my home and my neighborhood. I believe I can share in the beauty around me, in the fragrance of the orchards in spring, in the weight of the ripe wheat at harvest, in the morning song of birds, and in the glow of the sunset on the far horizon. I want to express this beauty in my own life as naturally and happily as the wild rose blooms by the roadside. I believe I can have a part in the courageous spirit of the country. This spirit has entered into the brook in our pasture. The stones placed in its way call forth its strength and add to its strength a song. It dwells in the tender plants as they burst the seed cases that imprison them and push through the dark earth to the light. It sounds in the nesting notes of the meadowlark. With this courageous spirit I, too, can face the hard things of life with gladness. I believe there is much I can do in my country home. Through studying the best way to do my everyday work I find joy in common tasks done well. Through loving comradeship I can help bring into my home the happiness and peace that are always so always so near us in God's out-of-door world. Through such a hope I can help make real to all who pass that way their highest ideal of country life. I believe my love and loyalty for my country home should reach out in service to that larger home that we call our neighborhood. I would join with people who live there in true friendliness. I would wholeheartedly give my best to further all that is being done for a better community. would have all that I think and say and do help to unite country people near and far in the great Kingdom of Love for Neighbors.-Jessie Field, in "The Farmer's Wife," St. Paul. The Matchless Journey No. 6 which went Mark Twain and Horace Greeley, over the summit of 7,400 feet down the mountains to Placerville, and on to Folsom and to Sacramento, the place of beginning, aforesaid. The route describes an irregular rectangle, at a total length of about 250 miles. It can be driven in two days in a machine, but it is better to do it in four or six. Means of Locomotion You can go over this beautiful, wonderful journey in any way you choose. Pack your blankets and a tomato can and go afoot if you like. I saw plenty of good fellows along the road that way, and they seemed to get the good of it as well as anyone, or better. The journey was one that appropriately may be taken best from the capital of the State, at Sacramento. It starts northeast over the old emigrant stage road, through Auburn, Colfax, over the high summit (7,018 feet), down past Donner Lake to Truckee; thence to Lake Tahoe, and over the new State highway to Tallac, partly around the perimeter of the lake; thence over the other classic old stage road, over Next best is to put a bed and food on a burro or a horse, lash it on with a pack rope, and then take your choice between walking in front and leading your animal or trudging behind and driving him. Another way is to get some kind of a vehicle, drawn by one or two horses, to carry your outfit. This in some aspects is best of all. It is slow enough to appreciate the country and get acquainted with it and it is less laborious than the more primitive methods. However, it is labor out of doors that the teacher needs, so far as that is concerned. The Up-To-Date Way Of course, the up-to-date way for the wealthy and powerful of the earth to travel is by automobile. Being neither wealthy nor powerful after many years of school teaching in the Golden State, I didn't travel by automobile, but merely drove one_of those pesky machines manufactured in Detroit, Michigan, in such large numbers and sold for $500 or thereabouts. There were four of us. We had a long box on the running board, holding the food and cooking utensils. Each person had a small roll of bedding, two of them thrown on the hood, the other two lashed alongside. Thus equipped we could have gone to New York or Mexico, or anywhere else that can be reached by roads. Five minutes after we spied a camp-under a pine tree, beside a cold brook, perhaps, or in a little cove of lake or river-we would be perfectly at home, with a bright fire crackling, a pot of coffee getting hot, and some bacon odorously scenting all the air around. We were so gloriously independent! No hogs or cattle or dogs or chickens underfoot! No fleas, no dust, no signs of the noxious effluvia of man! We could fish if we wanted to, or read or cook or fix the machine, absolutely obvious of all the rest of the world. Truly, 'twas glorious summer, in the cool solitudes of the Sierran forests. We ascended by easy stages, day after day. We could buy fresh beef, groceries, bread, milk, several times every day. All the water was ice cold. All the meadows were green. All the flowers were bright. Many great herds of cattle and sheep were on the road, going eagerly toward summer pastures. Many roaring torrents, white. rapids, sparkling waterfalls, were by the way. At last we passed over the summit. The snow had been shoveled away and we passed through the cut, with perpendicular walls, twelve feet high on either side, from which we could scoop snowballs as we rolled along. Then we went down, down, down, with a lovely view of Donner Lake peeping forth now and again. At last we skirted the lake and saw the sites of the cabins and the old wagons of the ill-fated Donner Party that spent the winter here in 1846. Lovely Lake Tahoe Three miles further, Truckee and the Truckee River appeared, the stream that drains Lake Tahoe. Following up the Truckee 15 miles, we come to Tahoe itself, the mountain lake that Mark Twain said was certainly the most beautiful object is the world. It is 35 miles long, partly in California and partly in Nevada, and situated in the exact elbow of California's eastern line. Soon we come to the new State highway, which is here under the supervision of Engineer Beakey and his men; and this is the most spectacular and undescribable part of the journey. The road winds in and out, up and down, miles upon miles, through the piny odors of the deep tangled forest, up to vantage points 700 feet above the lake, across rushing streams, past waterfalls, with cold springs, green grass and leafy glades of ferns ever inviting you to camp. The miraculous colorings of the lake appear, and glisten and change with the varying lights and points of view-wonderful lights of blue and lavendar and azure and violet and purple and green. Emerald Bay in all its glory-the tents of campers-the cottages and summer homes-the shacks of the fisherman and their white boats bobbing on the water-the big steamer making its daily round-it all makes up a series of sights, impressions and feelings that one can never forget. There is nothing like it on this continent or on any other. See it and die! The Return Home From Tallac the road rises steeply from 6,200 feet at the lake to 7,400 feet at the summit. There was Echo Lake, where we camped for noon in the midst of snow banks. The little lake had just thawed off its deep coating of winter ice. Then we turned down the long hill that led toward home, following down the Amer-' ican river, down Slippery Ford, Strawberry, Kyburz, Camino, the air getting hotter and drier and more exhausting every mile. Placerville and its pear orchards appear, the Hangtown of olden days; and Folsom, an important station on the old stage road, now the site of the State prison. Then 20 miles over a splendid boulevard to Sacramento, and there we are done. The matchless journey is a memory instead of a hope. Many more words of description could roll trippingly from my stubby lead pencil, but perhaps this is enough to point the way to a summer trip that every Californian should take surely and without fail. It will yet be widely known as the most beautiful scenic drive in the world, and it will be a disgrace not to have seen it. "I can answer that best," said the man from Philadelphia, "by telling you of my own experience. A few years ago I held a very important position with a large Eastern school. My particular job was to stand down at the entrance of the school in the afternoon, catch the discouraged students from the shorthand department, and talk them into continuing their work. And, believe me, it was not an easy job! It took all the powers of persuasion I could command. It was not a profitable job either, from the viewpoint of the school, for it meant selling our service twice. When Gregg Shorthand was introduced into that school I lost my job; there were no more discouraged students. I am not sorry I lost that particular job-because it was a thankless one-and the loss paved the way for something better." "That," said the high school man, “parallels the experience of all Gregg men I have talked with in that respect. Of course, it touches only one point that they emphasize, but it is an important point and one that is of importance to both private and public commercial school teachers." Gregg Shorthand wins the student's interest and arouses his enthusiasm because he can check up the results of his efforts, and see that he is getting results. The other points that win his interest are the speed and legibility of Gregg Shorthand. A postal card will bring full information about the system. THE GREGG PUBLISHING CO. |