OUR PUBLIC SHOCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15449, 9 May 1912, Page 2

OUR PUBLIC SHOCHOOLS COLUMN

FOR SENIORS AND JONIORS. (Conducted by MAaisTF.u. to whom all communications must bo addressed.) [MAOlsrEn will bo glad to rccoivo Nature notes, marked papers containing 'educational articles, diagrams, details of experiments, etc., of scholastic interest to teacliorc and pupils. Correspondents must uao OSLt one bide of tho paper, and wiicthor using k pen namo or not, must send both JiilU aud iDUBtSS.j SOME NOTES ON BEETr.ES.-11. As I said last week, I havo promised somu notos on beetles, having moro special leferencu perhaps to tlio Prioniw reticularis. But I am a little wide of tho mark sometimes, mainly to suggest observations on other beetles and on moths and butterHies. You probably know by this time that I aw fond of looking up roots. I' Beetle" comes from a loot meaning "tho biting ono"; beetling (clifi), and licetlo-browcd (Darwin's face show this characteristic) all originate in t.'no samo root; and so tlof-6 beetle, a mallet, u word, I imagine, not in general uso except in dialects. Do you know that a '' beetle-brain" is a blockhead? Havo you particularly noticed tho antenna:, or feelers, of moths, butterflies, and beetles'? Wlmt is their use? To fcol with, of oourso, is tlio reply. But anything wore? Probably they bear numerous olfactory nerve-endings—they arc, then, fceleis nid smellers. Anything more? Hudson says in "New Zealand Moths ajid Butterflies,'', that tho majority of tho older naturalists regarded them as orgai.s of hearing. The antonnm aie inoiu fully dcvclopod in the males than in the females, and "from this circumstancc many modern ontomologists consider that ono of their functions is to linti their wives!"

Now get a good jjockct lens or ,1 microscope and lcok at these feelers. Tho following arc tho used in describing tho dilForrnt foniisir^' l Pectinated, when the joints have long processes like tlio teeth c.f a comb. If these are on one sido only, tlio aiitemiic aru' imipectinatcd'; if. on two •sidefc, bipcctinatcd(2) 'dentati,' when tlio joints aro armed with slight pointed spinci>; 13 ) ; serrato' when the joints have sharp projections liko the teeth of a saw; I'l) .'filiform' when tlio whole antennas i.s simple or threadlike. Tlio clothing til the antenna* also varies, and is distinguished by tho following terms; (1) ' Ciliated' when clothed with ono or two series of short hairs; (2) 1 fas-ciculate-ciliated ' when tho hairs are collected into tufts; (3) 'pubo6ocnt' when the antenna; aro clothed with uniform short hairb." They aro not only " pectinated," "dentati," "nimto," or " fill form," but may Iks "moniliform" (boadlikej, "clavate" (knobbed at the tip), " lamellate " (furnished with a series of Inwid layers at the end and opening like a fan), etc So a pleasant hour or two can be spent in looking at wonderful forms shown by the apparently uninteresting feelers. It inight be remembered that it the antenna: arc cut off, Ir.itteidiw, moths, and beetles seem to lost all senso of direction.

\V« ;ire nat gciti.-ig on very fast, arc we? Never 1 ' mind. The front of tlm head i* called the face, the top tho crown, but tho eyes are at the siili.—say, wheru our temples are, and occupying a comparatively largo area. A good magnifying gltifA mokes tlie eye appeur as if it is covered with a vciy lino t'liii/.L'. Ivicii little suction is it lons, of, pcrlwi*; I should say, a facet, and each cyo may lie made up of as many a\ 25,000 of theic facet*'. As far as is known; however, each facet throws on tlio rotir.a, not a complete image, but a section, so that tho complete imago is a mosaic made up of 25,000 pieces. Then, again, lmtween tlieso oompound eyes, occupying a similar position perhaps to our own, thuro arc two eyes tormcd like ours. (To be continued.)

. DHAUTII'YIXG SOCIETiIw. Some limo ago 1 rcccivcd a Home paper containing a roleienw to " Tho Beniitiltd Warrington Society." It. eeeins that a Church ot England clergyman, tho principal of the Warrington framing College, started this society witJi tlw uvowc<t oujeci of beautifying waste places, and encouraging horticulture, arboriculture, etc., and no oxoeeded beyond e.\|)cctatioiis. Manufacturers, shopkeepers, tho railway company whose lino (.asies througu llie town, and ail and sundry, entered into tho spirit ot tno movement School teachers look »,h» matter up, ami 2500 children joined the society and promised not to damage shrubs, trees, or (lowers, and to check their companions when loiind doing to. Tho writer of the article ( says: — doubtcdly a great advance in the furtheranco of" our national character in the futttro will have been realised when the children of the present day ate taught to understand that tho pretty flowers in our wcll-kent gardens are there, not to bn plucked and tampered oft' with, but to bi cared for and admired." And at tho end of the article ho offers a suggestion:—"lt is that next year tho elementary schools in tho town shatl rent a field, or fit-Ids, within easy reach of tlm schools, and on given days classes filial! he taken out to the fields, there to receive instruction in tho cultivation of vegetables and flowers. Not only would the' scholars lx> acquiring knowledge of great service to themselves in after years, but there is no possible reason whv "the 1 school fields' should not becomo self-supporting by t.hc sale of the produce to the parents of the children." This is a movement which might well bo imiatated by other town*-, and no ono would more gladly see this movement suceeod here than "EJucation Student.". VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT. Shortly before, or after—l forget which --I canie across an articlo ■'Village Improvement," in either the Ladies' Home Journal or the Woman's Home Companion, ami from it I mado the following extracts : .Maiiv years ago there was observed a unique custom in the little town of Guilford. Connecticut. Un one day in the fall of the year the women of the town as-r-emblcd" or. the village Rreen. Each carried a wooden rake, decorated with her favourite (olottr. and each was dressed in white, decked out with coloured ribbons. It was a dnv of fete, and it wuc called " The Haktn: oi the Green." Then with song and laughter and wiiii many a jwt thi; hand of women cleaned the village irrecn of all the leaves and refuse o:id din oi n year's accumulation. When ihe job was done they adjourned to tho Town Hal!, where they were joined by their husbands and brothers and the villace lathers. A public banquet celebrated the occasion. More than a hundred years atjo James i Ilillhouse, of New Haven, organised what Le called tho "Public Greoa AseociAtW

Ho 1500 dollars for prnuiing the green. and for pluming elms. Onb man is eaid to have donated live uaHotia of mm for tills purpose. JamM ilillhoiiso was also United Suites Senator ior 20 years. Atiivjafc every_ raw luul ftxrtfolton wliat lio did at Washington, hut no one is over likely to forget Ilia services in making tile city of Now Haven clmiic by tlw beauty of Nature's Gothic architecture. The whole country owch nim a debt of gratitude that can only lie paid by plnntins .chitts in iiis nioiiiory. The troo that a in.'in plants today btODines tile plory of the next Kenei alion.

I.m 1653 Stockbridgo v.tis n typical country town, slovenly, ill-kempt, clown at il., heels. lt-i st roots wero crooked and tittyrii<lc<l, with deep pools of water here and there. Its sidewalks were few and disgraceful, its Rreeii was littered with cattle und reiu.e. ltd cemetery was iurrounded by a dilapidated fence, and full of intoxicated headstones and brumbies. Thorn were a few tree—but nothing that oould suggest prido or beauty. To-day, bv reason of a few public-spirited citizcra and the Improvement Association. Stockhridtrc is one of tho mwt beautiful an;l attrnctivo towns in tho world. Visitors are drawn by the of a wonderful village charm. After a visit there Can on Rawiisloy, of England, said: " I am surprised to find in your new country u town of such finished beauty and elegance." From tho standpoint of the investor there is not known any better way to increase village valuation than to dean tip tiio town and park it. Lil;o attracts like, and lovers of ordor and lu\)ut V and ideal country conditions will «cels for their soul's desire until tlw find it

Tlit* mos! nnkoinpt mul tinproniisitij; country town tan Iw made attractive ra thai it flnll be a subject of pride, if nat of advertVriurnl.

In 1872 New Milford, Connecticut. wn> abc-ut ii.-< unallurViif n spot as the chnnoo traveller could find. Tho average village fooms lo Iks a ffavlxitfo can and ti mud hole, this was no c.\—»i:tion. Its spacious (,'rcivi ira thin a ooiiibiiiation of mud swamp and stream gridironed with deep ruls. Retire and papers and cattle contested for tho rfclit lo the few sidewalks. It was n typical town; Fiirh as thousands still left—tliat ia nil. •

to-day, umlor tho auspices of the Villatra Improvement Association, New Milford is one of tho most beautiful towns in tho State, if not in the country. Its greon has been transformed into tho finest park of its kind in Co'inccticiit. Shade trees, orol shrubbery, splendid road* and firm fiidewalks. tlio miblie library and other beautiful bnildbgshavo conspired to attract wealth and culture. The town has been transformed from a (filtered mendicant into a rich aristocrat. The increase in the' vnltin of property since tlio .VFCc'ation started has boon phenomenal. Indeed, ndvano? in rc.il estate valuta has n 1 ways nccompnnicd tho Improvement Association.

Everyone ought '« know that the Honourablo J. Sterling Morton, former Secretary of Agriculture, is the originator of Arbor Day. At his residoneo, Arbor Lodge, treo planting was lirst niado a sacred rite, and it was there also that the State of Nebraska learned its first lesson in village improvement. It naturally and loyally leads al othor States in treo planting.

Ton years ago one of tho most unattractive stations on tlio Gloucester branch of tho Boston and Maine Railroad wis that cf Beverly. This is situated on one sido of a public squaro which at the timo was tho dreariest introduction that n ehaneo visitor oould have to a pleasant city. Tho station and square probably lost Beverly thousands of dollars a year in taxes.

Then a group of women lie-gan to do what the men would not. Tliey recognised the municipal out race. They' organised, pushed, pleaded, worked, until to-day there is a new, clean station of attractive design, and the square has been transformed into a beautiful and inviting park. Woman ought always to do tho beautify, ing factor in out public life, just as she is the charm of ou r privato existence. But it takes indomitable public spirit to dress in proper garb tho publio places in our cities and towns I remember tho timo when Montclair, New Jersey, was almost tho limit as a muddy, dusty, unattractive suburban bedroom. In March, 1878, there was "iven .a lecture on villago improvement. Tho ideas advanced were greeted • with enthusiasm. The next morning a committee on street planting purchased hundreds of trees, which wore immediately planted. To make tho town neat and beautiful becamo a public enthusiasm.

In 1894 a Woiwm's Town Improvement Association was formed. Six months after this was organised trees, telegraph jioles, fences, and billboards were no longer used for ndve-lisments of quack medicines and low theatres. Door-to-door circulation of handbills is no longer permitted. Dead sanitary laws were revived and enforced.

Eleven hundred children vie with each other to put waste papers into tho neat, gal-vanised-iron waste boxes. The people are doing everything to make tho town healthier and more beautiful. Whcro the town officials failed, tlio unpolitical Women succeeded.

Tho best way to organise an Improvement Society is to liavo an export jrivo a lecture on the subject, illustrated with a story opticon with "beforo and after" pidnrcs, if posnibb. Then an Improvement Association can bo formed to include all "sets" and political parties. Tim cxfculivp committoo should number 15, of which >it least, citrht should bo women. Each ono should bo the chairman of a special committee, such as "Sidewalks." "Streets," "Public Buildings," "Advertisements" I'te. Tlui annual dues should not bo over n dollar a year. The movements of t.hc r-ociety should bo at first slow and conservative, until it has gained tho confidence of all the people; only the most glaring faiilt-s in a town should ho at'first touched— such as liltor and refuse around the publio ''iMin'.'-i and square, ot tho elimination -A unsanitary sink holes ' Pure wata r fov drinking purposes, drinking fountains >r horns and dogs; the removal of nuisances, and froo town libraries will follow, In reality thero is no limit to tho community value of a wise and vigorous Village Iniprovement Association. In my own town the focict.v is working at present most usefull.y for Iho improvement of the local train sorvicn.

.Hero are a few practic.nl hints for local improvement:—(l) J'onutify the front and Kick yjrds Improvement begins at home. Keep the paths clean and weeded: plant shrubs and rtower bods in front, and vepetable beds with grape arbor and fruit trees

in ilio bao'i yarcl.i. Keep I]u> lioiim painted j»nd rojKiirod. (2) Clean village streets ant! sidewalks. (3) EiiMJiirngo tho phintiiij; of flowers, shrubs. ui:<l trues nlpnu' streets ami in all public .-((Hares. (4) tlavo the yards of llie public school building, and railroad stations cleaned up anil laid out with flowers and shrubs. (5) Klimiunto all tidvcrtbuiff nuiinnces. (6) Remove all unsightly olijrrts m the village. Warto cans shsliifi !>.•> situated in prominent places, a.n.l tlio children r.nd citizens en«mra«ed to make use of them. (7) Encourage tfi<« giv. it;j; of prizes to the best-kept homo itr.<l v;l----ip.«rc; then go to work and win tiio piiw. Mr.k(! your town a model of neatness and beauty. SOME CHILDREN'S ESSAYS. Tin- following, though not all from children, will mako merry reading for a mmuto or two:— . , Tlio Racehorse. —The inspector had requested a class to write an essay oti the raiehorse. The manager regarded their efforts with a look of benevolent pride. The inspector picked lip the paper of one small boy, inscribed in iflir, round hand and good spelling as follows:—" Tlio racehorse is a noble animal, treated very cruel bv gentlemen. Races aro very wicked places Nono but wicked peoplo know anything about races. Tlio last. Derby was won by Mr I'Anson's Dlinkt-..ny, a beautiful filly by Melbourne, rising four. Tlio odds wore 20 to 1 against her. Thirty started, and she won only by n neck." Tho ins| ector handed tlio dissertation to tho manager, who returned it to him with a perplexed look, saying: " I nin very sorry indeed for this, lie was always a verygood little lioy TILL NOW." • Sinco the medical inspection of school children became general some extraordinary views of parents on hygiene Imvo been (liscloseci Recently at Glasgow, the medical inspector and teacher, having vainly endeavoured to undress a little girl for examination, sent for tho mother to solve the bultonless mystery. "Tak' alf tho weau's clarsl" slin shrieked in volnblo protest. " Ye'll dae nacthing o' the hind. I hcv' sewed her tin for tlio winter." Liii.giiage.— I The science muster was giving a lesson on tlio Leydcn jar. lie was a young enthusiast, who wont into minute details' concerning tho discovery of tho feirsomo implement in question, and was heartily l>oring every member of his class. Suddenly ho grew molo-dramatic; tho discovery was about, to bo made; tlio discoverer was bending over his work when ho received a tremendous shock which prostrated him upon the ground. " I will tell yon." said t'ho master slowly and impressively " I will tell yon tho exact words be used at that moment." Tho class awoke from its lethargy and roared with laughter, i'he disturbed master looked round bewildered for a moment, and then, realismll;o meaning which his class attached to jus last sentence, said sternlv, " llus'li, boys! There is no need for this frivolity; the discovery of tho Loyden jar was" a clergyman. Essays' on the Elephant.—'The importance attached to foreign and ancient languages and tho neglect of our mother tongue arn perhaps lo blamo for tho following .gems selected from essays on tlio elephant, written by a junior class:-"The elephant lius Ilesh, bind and hart, but no soul. It lias a branebox but no sense." "It has a trunk about 10 feet long for picking up things from the ground, as it is too fat to do so in any other way." " They arc fed on cakes, buns, hiskits, melons, monkeymils, and paper." "Tho Arabs use elephants for crossing the long plains whero he sim burns very much. T/iey can go a long tune without drinking, for llioy can • f. l ' I ™ t , lcr , in t,lro trunks untill they'nciul jt. • Elephants aro taut to stand on their back legs- or their front ones and to ring a dinner-bell," " They are tamed and taken to tho Zoo. The keepers put hurrh scuts on Ihcir backs (tho elephants' backs l mean) and they let peoplo ride," " Tliero arc many tales told of tho elephant, hut 1 air. not going to menshun any, as they aro too well known." Absent-minded.—Tho schoolmaster is proverbially absent-minded, and most of us' know at least ono man who lias walked out from tho school precincts into tho street in regulation academic attire. But t'lio case of a ' well-known master in a certain InmoiH metropolitan Softool is hard to beat. il:o gentleman in question was recently observed walking down the school steps into a great thoroughfare with a college cap still upon his head, and carrying in his hands tho common-room poker, with whic'ii ho was vacantly stirring ftn imaginary fife Q( Ho ! v I}} ould Spend a£s Note," by .« Standard V Ciirl.-" I should like to have «. j r"? ° B,vcn . , to - mc ' ' would buy no end of things With it I would buy a new pear of gloves a new hat and u new dress and a jacket, I would buy a travelling bag,and go travelling about tho continent. I would go to the seasido and the country. 1 should go to \ emco and Constantinople nnd keep a onmaL-e, and go r idin c on rotten roe. I should keep a very grand bouse with servants, nnd dressed in the most costly garments. I should buv my eacher a gold watch and chain, and 'invite her every day to tea. And have the most costly dinners such as.l'ork, Fowl. Chicken ionijue, tsagc and Onions. I should also' bo very charitable to the noor and send poor children to the seaside bv that time my live pound note would bo tfono." A Stylist.—We give an extract from a schoolboy s report of « cricket, match writtpn as a parody of the style of Mr I) n .-t Kennedy :—" A field— n greenfield—a cricket field, With stumps—stumps of wood-wooden stumps. And men-and lannels. Men in flannels—while flannels Ibt arc green at tho knees. Thai ono has just hit a catch-:, diOicult catch-,, catch that has not been caught-a catch that has bee,, missed bv fingers of butter-butter-lingers. And _ buller-fingers is using language—soft, silent, strong language; lanpnnje that is not nnrliamontary-lnngunge that meets lie situation. And tlio man in white flannels, hefore tho wooden wicket? is chortling. Chort-jing. He makes another jut. a stronir hit, a hit. to leu. (hat hurts ilio Pincers of the fieldsman; ho makei Iwo runs. Two-runs. But the ball-the round leather ball-is bowled straight; and tho stunip-the middle stumn. tho middle jvoodon stump-has fallen. Tho batsman is bowled. Out! And bo has only made throe runs; and he goes back *to the pavilion, with heaving breast and dim eyes — breast and heaving eyes." CORRESPONDENCE AND NOTES. ( On the question of reformed spelling Avrohom" writes:-"The point I would emphasise [why not 'emphasize,' 'Aviohom'?] in connection fwhv not 'connexion'?] with reformed spelling is thai there will bn no savins of time to the dull, that no year will bo saved. Whatever shapo' words take, unless one has good visual ' memory of them, tho spelling will probably be wrong. Wo write the spelling of words, wo do nol say jt. "Your fejlow contributor to tho Daily Times (' Givis') boasts of not having spent any time in learning to spoil. What did ho do when learning the declensions, conjugations, etc..'of Latin? If undor Pro. fessor Sale, I wonder if, in his composilion, he had words nicely framed in pencil for wrongly-spelt words?" Some day I*l] have a little moro to sav on reformed spelling. ,Kv tho bye, how is " ski" pronounced' lunk and Wagnall's Standard English Die tionary says "skee"; tho Conciso Oxfori Diclionnry fays "slice," nnd gives the nasi tense spelling as " sliid," and the parti ciplc as " shiing" (no hyphen). As it i; Norwegian, and as the same word gives u< " skill" (to slip), one would think tho hart sound, and not tho soft, would be u«od 11. was given as "shec-ing" in tho Time' last Monday in a reference to Cap tail Head, who is a keen enthusiast in this kini of sport, and Captain Amundsen pro nouncod it "slice" in his lecture. Web iter's International doesn't givo tho won at all Since writing tlio above lam toll that the Century Dictionary gives the nro nuncialion as "skee," and "this is tho pro mi notation given m tho latest editions o the Twentieth Century Dictionary. In fuel a conflict of opinion I prefer to take tlx Oxford Conciso Dictionary and Captain: Amundsen and Head as mv guides. Meteorological notes I am holding 'ovc until next week. Did you notice in tho rc jwrt of Captain Amundsen's lectiiro tha the captain snid he had a temnoraturo re corded of minus TOdeg? That means 102 dci below freezing-point 1