given, they should come first. If you live inland and have known some retired sea-captain who was tall, broad-shouldered, and whitehaired, and who wore ear-rings, "Captain Seth, a man with ear-rings," will recall to your mind the appearance of the sailor you have known. To say afterward that Captain Seth is middleaged and little will not change your picture. Nothing will. A writer has just one chance to make you see what he wishes, and you will never consent to give him a second trial. If the unsignificant details precede, they will be included in and made significant by what follows. This is the only way. The observance of this principle in the examples given above may be noted. Other principles of importance will be discovered by both teacher and student. In visualizing persons it will be well, just as in pencil sketching, to begin with subjects whose appearance is distinctive or peculiar. The salient details alone need be given. All other details, the reader's imagination, once roused, will supply for itself. If the first result is caricature, as in pencil sketching, no harm is done. It is easier to tone down than up. But Some examples of student work may now be given. The examples are purposely taken from the first work of the lowest class to which this subject has been presented. Under the circumstances, it would be unjust to demand all the elegance of a skilled novelist, though practice will often bring even this. it will be seen that there is no reason why pupils of the common schools should not write with intelligence and some knowledge of the art, or why they should not take an artist's pleasure in their work. No specific number of instances was asked for, but some of the papers returned contained as many as fifteen. "A pale, calm face beneath a Quaker bonnet." "A cow-boy on his bronco, swinging his sombrero over his head." "Grandma sat by the window, her Bible open in her lap. The evening sunlight rested on her calm face and snowy hair." "Sister Mary, her face worn with suffering and her delicate form shaken by sobs, knelt before the image of the Virgin." "As we passed the farm-house, an old man with a straggling gray beard leaned against his scythe and wiped his brow with a red bandana." "A short, dark man, with long black hair and beard, bearing a large basket of tinware on his back, often comes to our house." "She passed just now. I saw her pretty pink shirtwaist, her sailor hat with its plaid ribbon, and her fluffy white parasol." "In a sunshiny garden, a broad-shouldered, graybearded old man was vigorously digging potatoes with a hoe. A little boy under a big straw hat following close behind him, picking up the unearthed potatoes, knocked the dirt off, and threw them into his handcart." As a summary: I wish to tell you of the appearance of my friend. I may have known him for years. I could recognize him among ten thousand, and in any part of the world. I do not know his height in feet and inches, or his weight, or the length of his forearm; and my guess as to his age may be in error by five years. You have not seen him. I cannot expect you to know how he looks when I tell you his height, his weight, and his age. But if I give you the details by which I distinguish him from other men, you will know his height, weight, and age as well as I do,-not very well, but well enough. It is often not at all easy to succeed in such descriptions. Speech is a very vital distinction between man and beast, and between man and man. To command the resources of language is to master the highest of the arts. There are men one cannot describe at first trial. Otherwise, as a student has said, "one would be disgusted with an art so easily acquired." In fact, there is no exercise of the mind more fascinating than to attempt with the pen to make others see clearly just what we have seen. C. F. ANSLEY. THE II. Some Papers on the Public Library Direction and Supervision of Reading HE public library movement in America, and in fact in the world, is but fifty years old. It may be called the crowning event of general public significance of the second half of the nineteenth century. The first half of this period was, in the nature of the case, formative, experimental, individualistic; the second has been that of development, expansion, and pre-eminently of co-operation. Excellent schemes of classification have been devised, and methods of library control and management have been perfected by debate in the annual conferences, and by papers contributed to library journals. Earnest librarians have ever had uppermost in mind the desire to make the library serve the noblest purposes of which it is capable, and contribute to the highest development of its patrons. The eager demand of the people for light fiction was early noted, and yet the belief was generally held that gradually a taste for better books would be developed. Doubtless this was the case in a large number of instances, but the librarians, with the serious matter of a 75% circulation of fiction in mind, could not remain indifferent and passive, as mere mediums for the distribution of books, but early devised means to create a demand for the more solid books. In 1877 the Boston public library published its class lists of English prose fiction, with notes pointing out the historical sources of works of fiction. Mr. Winsor, the superintendent, justly remarked: "The best chance for success in inducing more careful habits of reading lies in the gradual awakening of a deeper interest by connecting the imaginative and historical renderings of the same theme." The results amply justified the position taken. At the Providence public library the interest of patrons in current events was stimulated by posting clippings from the newspapers, with carefully prepared bibliographies, showing what the library contained on the different subjects. A A closer connection was sought to be established between the library and the public school, and the excellent opportunity of directing the reading of the young was eagerly improved, among the first by Mr. James M. Sawin, of the Point Street grammar school, Providence, who published annual lists of "valuable and reliable books for young people." Year by year new methods have been devised and improvements made, such as the "two book rule," allowing the drawing of two books instead of one, provided one is not a book of fiction; the rule that books of fiction may not be exchanged the same day; the teacher's card, permitting the use of six books at a time to facilitate supplementary reading; the display of choice books in a tempting manner before patrons; the admission of the public to the shelves of the library, and the establishment of the children's room with books of no uncertain character upon the shelves. Is the work all done? May the librarian now simply hand out books and spent his spare moments in reading the treasures with which he is surrounded, according to the popular conception of a librarian's duties? Far from it. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" and the duty of all educators, especially of librarians dealing constantly with new books, new characters, and wavering human nature. The greatest care should be exercised in the purchase of books, and worthless books, already owned, should be removed from the library. There is need of the preparation, by competent persons, of a black-list of books deserving condemnation. The main features of the problem concern the reading of women and children. In 1877 an English librarian wrote: "The younger members of our libraries, almost without exception, read fiction, so do the female portion, both old and young." In 1897 an American testified: "Three-fourths of the readers in the libraries are women and children, and women always read novels." Fortunately the rise of the Woman's Club is already creating a taste for more serious reading on the part of women. Furthermore, as has been shown at the Crete public library, and elsewhere, by furnishing historical stories, brief biographies, and illustrated books on nature in place of Optic, Alger, and Castlemon, the reading of the young can be greatly improved in quality and still not diminish in quantity. The work, however, cannot be done by librarians alone; there should be a hearty co-operation on the part of all those engaged in the noble work of the upbuilding of humanity. In the first place there is need to-day of fearless book reviews, that sound no uncertain note. As an example of the "courage of conviction" in this respect, the following from The Congrega tionalist may be commended: "A new edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is issued, and the highest praise which can be given it is, it is printed and bound very tastefully. Although Whitman had occasional and sometimes striking poetical conceptions, he was very far from being a poet, and his admirers appear to be more under the influence of misguided enthusiasm than of common sense or a true conception of poetry. A few of his compositions are meritorious-the few which usually are mentioned in connection with his name-notably, O Captain, My Captain! but most of his poems are rubbish, and it is an imposition upon the reading public for any writer to offer it such maudlin, grotesque, and sometimes indecent productions as many of his, expecting them to be accepted as real true poetry." A different opinion concerning Whitman is honestly entertained by many, but the reviewer above quoted is worthy of imitation in respect to the independent, positive way in which he expressed his opinion. Again, the assistance of the public is needed in the great work of the "evaluation" of books, in which the opinions of competent persons are sought in regard to the character, purpose, language, and accuracy of books. These enable the librarian to obtain an idea of the nature of the thousands of books within his control, which he himself could never find the time to read. Again, particularly in dealing with the reading of children, there should be far greater co-operation on the part of the home and the school. Parents should watch carefully the reading of their children. When we consider the important influence books have on character, the indifference of most parents, who are nevertheless making great sacrifices to educate their children, is a matter of constant surprise. The great interest manifested by Women's Clubs in regard to children's literature warrants the hope of much improvement in the immediate future. In the schools there should be greater supervision of the reading of children on the part of teachers. Questions similar to the following should be occasionally put to the pupils, and the answers carefully studied and advice given: 1. What books have you read during (mentioning some period)? 2. Which one of these books did you like best?? 3. Why did you like that book? 4. What book have you ever read that you liked better? 5. What book have you read that you did not like? 6. Why did you not like it? We know from Emerson's biographers what in great measure made him the man he was, and yet, while it would be disastrous to commend his example too highly, pupils should be constantly encouraged to read good books outside of their studies, and supplementary to them. His words on this subject are worthy of consideration: "The pupils shall have no book but school books in the schoolroom; but if one have brought in a Plutarch or Shakespeare or Don Quixote or Goldsmith or any other good book, and understands what he reads, put him at once at the head of his class." The reading of such books should be made a legitimate part of the course. If we are to develop first-class minds we must encourage the reading of first-class books. The series of articles in The Forum a few years ago on "What books have helped me," showed plainly the kind of meat our intellectual Cæsars have fed upon. In regard to the reading of the young there is another point that ought to be especially emphasized: their reading should be tested to see whether they are observant or not; whether they simply skim through a book, or whether they really read it and gain something from it. In the Crete public library slips of this kind have been placed in juvenile books: Please fill out blank and return it to the library. Title of book. Author. How do you like the book? Is the book true to life? The advantages gained from answering these questions are at once apparent. Children need a little encouragement to do it, but their natural impulse to write "splendid," "no good," on books may be successfully appealed to. The existence of the public library, supported by taxation, is justified, as is that of the public school, by reason of its contribution to the enlightenment of the community. Civilization cannot exist without these institutions. The library is performing its legitimate function then only when its influence is wholly good and uplifting. "The work of the past," says librarian Brett, "has been done by cordial and earnest co-operation between librarians. The greater work of the future will be done by a like co-operation between all the educational forces." W. E. JILLSON, Librarian, Doane College. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT tem has everything in its favor. In the single at the same time it means that the radiator will be only doing half duty, for the part filled with water will not be giving off any heat, and much valuable time is wasted while the radiator How to Heat our School Buildings NE of the very important problems that presents itself to the members of the board of education is, what method to employ in heating and ventilating schoolrooms, There are many theories, there are many plans. Some of them, wrought out after years of study, when drawn upon paper or presented by their originator seem par excellence, the acme of perfection, but in practical work they are found to be theories only beautiful to contemplate but utterly valueless as a successful method of warming our buildings. The different ducts, drains out against the steam forcing itself into carefully drawn, show very plainly the foul air going out, the fresh air coming in, all thoroughly heated, splendid in design, but generally a miserable failure when in actual operation. Generally the board will find that when the thermometer hovers a few days in the vicinity of zero or below that the building is far from comfortable. All of these patent systems are very expensive from the standpoint of fuel. One of the oft highly commended theories of heating is the so-called "fan system." It is very expensive. In the ordinary steam plant five to ten pounds pressure will keep up the heat and give good results, but with the fan the pressure must be raised to twenty-five or thirty pounds, so as to have steam sufficient to run the engine to drive the fan. The forcing of the cold zero air upon the radiator in the ducts keeps it constantly cold, and you cannot get steam enough into the pipes to keep them warm; so that instead of driving pure heated air into the 100ms it is driving pure cold air into the room and forcing out the warm air from the other radiators. I know of many buildings completely equipped in this way where the boards have abandoned the system for the reasons above given. How shall we heat? Everything considered, there is probably no better system for the heating of our school buildings than a good steam plant. With this there are two systems, both of which work well, -the single return and the double return. The first cost of the plant of the single return system is the cheaper. When you consider the repairs, fuel, and efficency the double return sys the radiator. With the double return system all this is obviated, for the water runs out the opposite end from the steam and returns to the boiler by a different set of pipes. In a comparatively short space of time the radiator is doing full duty as a heat producer, and the janitor is saved an endless amount of annoyance and waste of time. During the past four years the writer has made a careful study of the question of single or double return systems for heating school buildings from the fuel standpoint. The saving of fuel is a large item each year in favor of the double return system. The board of Lincoln, Nebraska, after careful watching and comparison of the two systems, as fast as repairs are needed, are changing all their single systems to the double return. In the matter of radiation, the factory-made radiators do well, but better results are obtained if you will use, whenever possible, the ordinary pipe or homemade wall coils. For ventilating purposes, in the ordinary ventilating flue put an aspirating coil, and the foul air of the schoolroom will find a most thorough and complete exit without aid of the expensive and complicated fans, ducts, etc. Hoodwinking School Boards URING the depressed times of the past few years the vast majority of the school boards found that they were compelled to limit their purchases of supplies to the barest necessities,-in fact many times denying thir schools of supplies that they knew would be of great value to them. Times are brightening, taxes are being paid promptly, districts are be ginning to feel a let up in the matter of finances. District officers are being pressed by the urgent solicitor to purchase needed equipment for their schools. Much of the matter being urged upon the schools to-day is out-of-date supplies. Some enterprising firm has purchased the unsalable stock and is now making a sacrifice sale,-a splendid opportunity to equip the school, etc.,and he will make a reduction of 50% from the regular price in order to properly equip the school; and if the truth was known, even at the reduced price he is making 200, 300, or 400 per cent profit. There is no need of any school officer being hoodwinked into the purchasing of rejected equipment, for we have plenty of well established houses, who are properly represented in every community, and who will be glad to assist any school officer in equipping the schools with the best and latest school supplies. Securing Teachers MORE than half of the school year has passed, and the question of teachers for another year is beginning to press itself upon the boards. The applications are beginning to pour in. It is surprising how little attention is paid to the question of our teachers. It is noteworthy to note how easily many members of the board will be turned aside from what appear to be firmly fixed determinations when the question of securing teachers rolls around. A little care on the part of the board and a splendid corps of teachers could be obtained. All along during the year the board will hear of the efficient work being done by certain teachers in the surrounding community; they will note during the year the weak teachers in their own schools,-the teachers who may be just passable,-and in their own mind they be come firmly fixed that this and that teacher should not be continued; but when the time for election of teachers comes the firmly fixed determinations all disappear. Who ever heard of a firm or corporation accepting the services of or employing anything but the best talent obtained for positions of trust? They usually go after the talent, no matter where they find it, when they have a position of importance to be filled. No work of equal importance to that of the teacher has so many incompetents em ployed. Whose fault is it? Surely not that of the teacher, but the boards are alone responsible for this condition. So long as the boards of education will consent to employ incompe tent teachers, just so long will the incompetent teachers be found in the schools. When the boards of education demand better teachers then will there be the universal sentiment among the teachers for better preparation and the incompetents will be driven out of the school work. Small or Large School Boards HE old question of how many members ought we to have on the boards of education is again being pressed to the front. The large or the small board both have warm advocates. The discussion grows intense. As we read the history of the discussion there flashes back the thought that after all the number is not of such tremendous importance as the quality of the individuals composing the board. The personnel of the board should be so graded as to make the position one of the highest honor in the gift of any municipality. Every year in the great cities of the land the financial side of the work of the board of education is being more and more divorced from the city government. The time will come when it will be absolutely separated from the city government. ment. We can afford then to lose sight of the number of members if we can get the better element in the position. No department of the city's work deals with such tremendous destinies as the board of education. It is the education of the next generation of men and women. It is not so much the question of five, or seven, or nine, or fifteen, or twenty-five members as it is to eliminate all outside influences and make the board absolutely responsible for the conducting of the schools. How Should Boards Work? TWO different and distinct answers will be given to this question by two different classes of school boards. One favors no committees; everything open and above all committees. The other asks for committees, to whom much of the work shall be referred, and only the well-digested report of the committee be presented or the results of the committee's work. I do not believe that every little matter should be presented in all of its details to the board. Carefully composed committees can relieve the board of many details and present the matter in a concise and compact form. On the other hand I do not believe in so curtailing the |