CHILDREN’S CORNER.

Evening Star, Issue 14001, 6 March 1909, Page 10

CHILDREN’S CORNER.

HAPPY ENGLISH SCHOOLBOY. The Rev. E. Lyttelton (head master of Eton College), in a speech at the opening of a new elementary school at Slough (says the Daily Mail’), contrasted the care taken of school children in the present day with the treatment which they received •AID years ago, and incidentally pointed out fk W .happier English schoolboys are than the little boys of Germanv. It was amazing to reflect, he said, that our forefathera Were able to build up this Empire out of nothing, hardly knowing what they were doing. They “whacked” the Spaniards simply because they had nothing to do at home, and took all the best parts of ■no world from the French for the came reason. It seemed most amazing to re- | me ! ll ‘ )€r that these men vrere brought up under conditions which at the present time would be considered absolutely barbarous. People had come to such a state of mind tnat whenever a child expressed a wish for anything, unless it was at once gratified they immediately, wrote to the newspapers and made a remonstrance.—(Laughter.) These were the sort of things Shakespeare : De had to be in his place in the school at six o’clock all through the year. Ihe children has .to stay in school three hours before breakfast. In those days nobody had any time whatever for breakfast, and he fancied thev must have taken to school a portable sandwich and munched it between little bits of Latin. The morning was resumed from a quarter past nine to half-past eleven, when there was a break of an hour and a-half to enable the children to go home and get something to eat. The scholars assembled at one o’clock, and went) on to half-past throe, when a quarter of an hour was allowed for play. Then work went on again until half-past five. Little boys in Germany on their way to school had to pass the drill ground, where, in a hot sun might be seen the miserable recruit doing the goose step. That boy recollected that if he did not work out his studies and pass a tremendously stiff examination at school he would be condemned to spend three years in the army, whether he liked it or not; while if he passed the examination he got off with one year. That was the kind of school life children had in Germany. THE WOOD CALL. Oh, I’ve been away in the woods for a day, With the scent of the grape’bloom, bewildering sweet; And the sun through the trees dripped its gold in the breeze, Lacing over the moss for my worldweary feet. The high-hole s sweet note from his golden-strung throat Splashed and rippled the jewels all liquid along : He answered the tone of my heart from his own, A silver baptism of benison song. There Beauty unfurled the delights of her world ; Like a banner soft floating it gleamed on my eyes, 1‘ rom Cltytoma that lay like pink stars o’er my way To the azure tbit blossomed the ambient skies. Uh, I’ve been away in the woods all the day ; I have eaten the lotus of dreams, and 1 know That the wild note that blew wliere the grape-blossom grew Was the mystical pipe from which Pan used to blow. Isabel S. Mason. THE NEW BOY’S DONTS. [By an Old Master.] If a master lias a bad temper, don’t ask “Why?”- when he gives you a hundred lines. Don’t choke your ink pot with pellets of blotting paper, dead flies, and other refuse. It will lead to trouble. H you cannot hear what a master savs. don’t tell him so. if you are late, don’t say: “Please, sir, my watch has stopped.” If the master says the book is wrong, try and look as if you believe him. But if yon cannot work a sum ont, don’t say : “Please, sir, I think the book must be wrong”; it hardly ever is. Don’t contradict in school or out of school. If they are wrong, masters do not like to be told so by you; and if they are right, woe betide you’if vou try to correct them. Don’t toll a master you had no time to do his work in “ prep.” If the boy behind you pricks vou with a pin, don’t turn round and hit him in the face; try to control your feelings until you get outside. Don’t flick paper pellets about the class room—they will either be seen or heard, unless the master is very old. Sometimes a badlv-aimed pellet hits the master, and then there will be trouble. If you are standing behind a master when he is correcting your work, don’t pretend to pull hairs out of the back of his head to amuse the other fellows. Masters have a curious knack of seeing behind their backs, especially when they wear spectacles. Sometimes you really get hold of a hair by mistake, and then——-! Always laugh when a master makes a joke, even if he has made the same joke before. But don’t laugh unless you feel sure that what has been said is meant to be a joke ! If a master gets muddled when working a sum out on the blackboard—don’t laugh. If a master asks yon if you understand, say “Yes” or “No.” Don’t hesitate, and then say “ I think so, sir.” If the boy on your right is translating, don’t molest him with thrusts from your pen-nib or by treading on his toes. “Very few boys will pretend not to feel it in order to save you from getting into a row. Always try to look interested when the ntaster is talking. Don’t become absorbed in watching the antics of the spider in the corner of the window. If you are not working, and the master happens to catch your eye, don’t suddenly assume a worried look, as if you had never been working so hard before in your life. Don’t forget that all masters have been schoolboys themselves.— Boy’s Own Paper.’ CONUNDRUMS. Why would some snakes make good storytelletrs?—Because they get off a rattling good thing in the shape of a tail. What is the longest word in the English language?— Smiles, because there is a mile between the first and last letter. Why are the complaints of married people like the waves upon the shore?— Because they are the murmurs of the tied (tide). Why are photographers the most uncivil of all tradesmen?— Because when we ask for a photograph they begin with a negative. CLIMBING UP THE HILL. Never look behind, boys, Up, and on the way ! Time enough for that, boys, On some future day. Though the way be long, boys, Fight it with a mill; Never stop to look behind When climbing up the hill. First be sure you’tvs right, boys; Then, with courage strong, Strap your pack upon your back And tug, tug along; Better let the Lag lout hill the bill, And strike the farther stake polo Higher up the hill. Trudge is a slow horse, boys, Made to pull a load, But in the end will give the dust To racers in the road. When you’re near the top, boys, Of the ragged wavy, Do not stop to blow your horn, But dimb, climb away. Shoot above the crowd, boys; Brace yourselves, and go! Let the plodding land pad Hoe the easy row. Success is at the top, boys, Waiting there until Brains and pluck and self-respect Have mounted up the hill J