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gave to the Association at Buffalo a membership of 2, 132 and it will certainly be in good form for the state of Wisconsin to give the Association at Milwaukee a membership of 2, 133."

-The proportion of young women in the university to the young men remains about what it was ten years ago, but it must be remembered that there are practically no women in the colleges of law, engineering, agriculture, etc. Comparison of the enrollment in the college of letters and science, in which most of the young women are found, shows in 1886-7 only 116 women to 221 men, and in 1895-6 327 women to 491 men.

--The report of President Adams shows the growth in attendance at the university in the ten years from 1886-7 to and including 1895-6 to be almost exactly three hundred per cent. At the first date the enrollment was 539, and at the last 1,598. The most marked growth has been in the college of letters and science. -from 386 to 815, in the college of engineering from 75 to 207, and in the college of agriculture-from 25 to 190.

-The Executive Committee of the N. E. A. has received official announcement that the Western Passenger Association has granted, for the Milwaukee meeting, July 6-9, a rate of one fare plus $2.50 for the round trip, ($2.00 on account of membership fee and 50 cents on account of expenses of joint railway agency at Milwaukee.) Tickets will be on sale July 3rd, 4th and 5th, from all points in Western Passenger Association territory east of the eastern state lines of Colorado and Wyoming, and on July 2nd, 3rd and 4th from all points west thereof. An extension of time limit for return, until August 31, 1897, will be granted on tickets deposited with joint agent at Milwaukee on or before July 12, 1897.

-Marinette supports a child-study circle whose membership is made up of teachers and parents, is now in its second year, and is in a flourishing condition. The circle promises to do much good in the way of creating a proper sentiment toward right education. A move of importance has been initiated, namely, the appointment of a committee of two ladies each to visit the various schools and to report at a subsequent meeting. Some of these visits Some of these visits have been made, and it is understood that an urgent plea for better conditions will be made. The board of education has asked that the report be made to them; also through the influence of the society women will probably be represented on the board of education.

-The development towards professional requirements for all teachers, upon which we have commented elsewhere, is shown by the following resolution adopted at the last session of the Illinois Teachers' Association: "Resolved, That we view with profound gratification the Act passed by the legislature of New York, by which no teacher can be certificated for position in village or city schools unless he has had three years high school work in a school approved by the superintendent, and has passed a professional course in a normal school. That we also look with gratification upon the movement in the Massachusetts legislature which provides that no teacher shall be certificated for the schools of Massachusetts unless he has had a professional training course. That we consider this one of the most marked movements in the direction of better education in this century. Further, that we, as an Association, petition the legislature to pass a similar law, to take effect from the beginning of the new century."

-Of the relations of the university to the accredited high schools President Adams says in his annual report: "During the past year an effort has been made to strengthen the tie that binds together the university and the preparatory schools. We fully realize that the university is a part of the school system of the state, and that whenever there is evidence that a preparatory school is doing the work required by law and a proper standard at the university, its pupils should be admitted to the university without any other examinations than those passed in the preparatory schools. In order to insure as much uniformity as possible, it is required by the university that an inspection of every school should take place at least once in three years, and when important changes in the staff of instruction of the school occur, such inspection is required as may seem to be necessary. The methods of inspection, so far as we can learn, are advantageous and satisfactory to the schools, as well as to the university. In two or three instances, where the university committee felt compelled to point out defects which must be remedied before the school could be admitted to the accredited list, or be continued on it, dissatisfaction has been expressed; but in general the examining officers have been welcomed not only by school boards, but also by the staff of instruction of the school, and the suggestions made by the examiners have almost invariably been received in most excellent spirit"

SUBSCRIBE FOR THE JOURNAL.

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THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN.

The new high school building at Prairie du Chien was dedicated February 5, 1897. Short speeches were made by local speakers. Dr. J. W. Stearns and State Inspector W. H. Chandler made addresses appropriate to the occasion, which were inspiring to the community.

The building is built of red brick, two stories in height, and cost $12,000. It is 78 feet long, 70 feet wide and contains three main assembly rooms, two large laboratories, a library, a superintendent's office and two recitation rooms. The front entrance, 30 feet square, has an octagon tower 50 feet high surmounted by a flag-staff 24 feet high. The basement, under the entire building, is high and well lighted. It is the intention to have it fitted up for toilet rooms in the near future.

The first floor of the building is occupied by the first and second primary departments and a botanical laboratory. The second floor is used entirely by the high school. The main room, which can accommodate 125 pupils, is well lighted and furnished with Grand Rapids rubberless automatic single seats. On one side is a large alcove which is used for reference books and a reading table; this room is furnished with electric lights. The entire building is heated by steam. The interior of the building is furnished throughout with the best venetian blinds and artificial slate black boards.

The library, found on the second floor, contains about five hundred books for use in all departments of the public schools. Efforts will be made during the present year to make valuable additions in the way of supplementary reading for the grades as well as for more extended work in the high school.

PENNSYLVANIA NORMAL SCHOOLS AND THE COLLEGES.

Whilst the elementary course does not aim to fit students for college but is designed to prepare teachers for the ordinary common school, the normal schools have, by instruction in addition to their regular courses, fitted many of their students for admission into college and given them the desire for a higher education. The charge used to be made that by the bestowing of diplomas at the end of an elementary course the attention of young people was diverted from the benefits of a college training and that the colleges suffered from this cause. But normal school pupils are not the only students who get stranded before they reach the haven of a complete education; college boys in large numbers also fall by the way. The fact that normal schools stimulate and prepare their students for higher institutions of learning, has not diminished, but rather enhanced their value as professional schools, and the annexed statistics showing how many of their former pupils were last year enrolled at different colleges, prove that no matter what may have been true in the past, the reigning spirit at these schools now tends strongly in the direction of higher education.

Table showing number of students from each state normal school in attendance last year at colleges and universities:

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It was impossible to get reliable statistics from the normal schools of the Ninth and Tenth Districts.-Pennsylvania School Report.

LONGFELLOW THE UNIVERSAL POET.

That Longfellow's poems, and especially his least mature ones, have sung themselves into many hearts in many lands, is, of course, known to everybody; but we were hardly prepared for such a striking illustration of this fact as is narrated in a recent issue of The Independent by Professor E. A. Grosvenor. The incident occurred in 1879, on board the Messageries steamer Donai, bound from Constantinople to Marseilles, and conveying passengers

of many nationalities. follows:

The story is told as

"One evening, as we were quitting the Straits of Bonefacio, some one remarked at dinner that, tho Victor Hugo was born in Paris, the earliest impressions of his life were received in Corsica, close to which we were passing. Ten or twelve of us lingered after the meal was finished to talk of the great French poet. One of the party spoke of him as embodying, more than any other writer, the humanistic tendencies of the nineteenth century and as the exponent of what is best in humanity.

"We had been talking in French, when the Russian lady exclaimed in English to the gentleman who had last spoken: 'How can you, an American, give to him the place that is occupied by your own Longfellow? Longfellow is the universal poet. He is better known, too, among foreigners than any one except their own poets.' Then she commenced repeating, in rich, mellow tones: 'I stood on the bridge at midnight, As the clocks were striking the hour, And the moon rose over the city

Behind the dark church tower.'

I recall how her voice trembled over the words: 'And the burden laid upon me

Seemed greater than I could bear.'

and how it swelled out in the concluding lines:

'And the moon and its broken reflection

And its shadows shall appear

As the symbol of love in Heaven,

And its wavering image here.'

It was dramatic and never to be forgotten. Then she added:

'I long to visit Boston that

I may stand on the Bridge.'

"In the company was an English captain reHe was the son turning from the Zulu war. of that member of parliament who had been the chief supporter of the claimant in the famous Tichborne case, and who had poured out his money like water in behalf of the man whom he considered cruelly wronged. The captain was a typical British soldier, with every characteristic of his class. Joining our steamer at Genoa, he had so far talked only of the Zulus and, with bitter indignation, of the manner in which the Prince Imperial had been deserted by British soldiers to be slain by savages. As soon as the Russian lady had concluded he said: 'I can give you something better than that' and began in a voice like a trumpet:

'Tell me not in mournful numbers Life is but an empty dream.' His recitation of the entire poem was marked by the common English upheaval and downletting of the voice in each line; but it was evident that he loved what he was repeating.

"Then a tall, lank, gray-haired Scotchman, who knew no French, who had hardly mingled with the other passengers, and who seemed always communing with himself, suddenly commenced:

'There is no flock, however watched and tended,

But one dead lamb is there.'

He repeated only a few stanzas, but could apparently have given the whole poem, had he wished.

"For myself, I know that my contribution was 'My Lost Youth,' beginning

'Often I think of the beautiful town,

That is seated by the sea;

Often in thot go up and down

The pleasant streets of that dear old town
And my youth comes back to me.

And a verse of a Lapland song,

Is haunting my memory still.
A boy's will is a wind's will,

And the thots of youth are long, long thots.'

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And with joy that is almost pain,

My heart goes back to wander there,

And among the dreams of the days that were
I find my lost youth again.'

Never did the distance from an early home seem so great to one, New England born, as in that strange company, gathered from many lands, each with words upon the lip which the American had first heard in childhood.

"A handsome, olive-cheeked young man, a Greek from Manchester, educated and living in England, said, 'How do you like this?' Then he began to sing:

'Stars of the summer night!

Far in yon azure deeps, Hide, hide your golden light. She sleeps!

My lady sleeps!
Sleeps!'

So he rendered the whole of that exquisite serenade-dear to American college students -with a freedom and a fire which hinted that he had sung it at least once before on some more appropriate occasion. Perhaps to some dark-eyed maiden of that elegant Greek colony of Manchester it had come as a revelation, and perhaps she had first heard it sung in front of her father's mansion and had looked down, appreciative but unseen, from the window. above.

"The captain of the Donai was not her regular commander, but an officer of the national French navy, who was in charge only for a few voyages. A thorough Frenchman, no one would have accused him of knowing a word. of any tongue save his own. Versatile, overflowing with wit and bons mots, it must have wearied him to be silent so long. To our astonishment, in accents so Gallic that one discerned with difficulty that he was attempting English, he intoned:

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'Zee seds of neet fair valeeng fast,
Ven trough an Alpeen veelage past
A yout, who bore meed snow and eece
A bannair veeddees strange deveece
Excelsiorrr!'

"Eh, voila,' he exclaimed, with satisfaction, ''ai appris cela a l'ecole. C'est tout l'anglais que je sais.'

"Mais, commandant,' said the Russian lady, 'ce n'est pas l'anglais du tout, ce que vous venez de dire la.'

"Ah, oui, madame: ca vient de votre Longfellow.'

"None of the other passengers contributed, but already six nationalities had spokenScotch, Russian, Greek, French, English, and American. As we rose from the table and went up on deck to watch the lights glimmering in Napoleon's birthplace, Ajaccio, the Russian lady said: 'Do you suppose there is any other poet of any country, living or dead, from whom so many of us could have quoted? Not one. Not even Shakespeare or Victor

Hugo or Homer.'"

WHO ARE THEY?

We are forced to believe that there are people who consider themselves qualified to teach children not only book education but morals as well who will never pay for their educa-· tional papers if they can help it.

They are teachers who will wait until we are compelled for self-protection to send statements repeatedly, who will then instead of apologizing for their neglect write most abusive letters to us for our presuming to "dun" them.

We are glad to say, however, that in every case these are the teachers who are not qualified to teach, and who have no business whatever with a certificate, nor in the schoolroom. It is very noticeable that those teachers who best appreciate their journals, and who are most prompt in payment, sending a graceful little word of apology if having overlooked the matter, are the class whose letters indicate culture, refinement and a desire for advancement.

We heartily wish for the sake of the great cause of education, for the sake of the dear boys and girls who are sent to school with a right to expect the teacher to appear a model of all that is good and true; and who will be influenced by that teacher's example, be it right or wrong; we heartily and earnestly wish that the time would come when only ladies and gentlemen, nature's true noble men and noble women, could be given the high office of teachers in our public schools. - Educational Gazette (Rochester, N. Y.).

THE SCHOOL ROOM.

THOMAS BUCHANAN READ.

March 12, 1822-May 11, 1872.

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Mr. Read was a Pennsylvanian, born on farm in Chester county. He settled in Cincinnati in 1839, determined to make an artist of himself. Three years later he went to Boston, where he received encouragement from Washington Allston, and became a friend of Longfellow. Here he began to write verse. Four years later he removed to Philadelphia: Some years after his artistic tastes drew him to Florence, and the remainder of his life was passed mostly in Italy and in Philadelphia.

Although known to most readers only by the spirited war lyric, Sheridan's Ride, which at once achieved wide popularity, Read was by no means a poet of but a single strain. His works indeed fill a large volume, and some of them as, for instance, The New Pastoral, The House by the Sea, and The Waggoner of the Alleghanies, are long narrative poems. His lyrics however have more beauty and power. In them he shows the accurate observation and eye for loveliness of the artist. Hawthorne said of him, "His pictures are poems his poems pictures." The rural

scenes of his own Pennsylvania and Italian memories and fancies had the most fascination for him. Of these the "Summer Shower" and "Drifting" may be taken as examples - the latter a charming experiment in versification. We have added "The Oath" because of President Lincoln's admiration of it. One evening when Mr. Murdoch was giving recitations in the senate chamber, the president called for this piece. On being told that the reader had not brought a copy of it, he replied, "Oh that is easily remedied; I have The Swear in my pocket."

Sheridan's Ride.

Up from the south at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,

The affrighted air with a shudder bore,

Like a herald in haste, to the chieftain's door, The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar, Telling the battle was on once more,

And Sheridan twenty miles away.

And wider still those billows of war
Thundered along the horizon bar;
And louder yet into Winchester rolled
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled,
Making the blood of the listener cold,
As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.

But there is a road from Winchester town,
A good broad highway leading down;

And there, thru the flush of the morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night

Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight.

As if he knew the terrible need,

He stretched away with his utmost speed;
Hills rose and fell; but his heart was gay,
With Sheridan fifteen miles away.

Still sprung from those swift hoofs, thundering south,
The dust like smoke from the cannon's mouth;

Or a trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster,
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster.

The heart of the steed and the heart of the master,
Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls,
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls;
Every nerve of the charger was trained to full play,
With Sheridan only ten miles away.

Under his spurning feet the road
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed,
And the landscape sped away behind
Like an ocean flying before the wind,

And the steed, like a barque fed with furnace ire.
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire.
But lo! he is nearing his heart's desire;
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray,
With Sheridan only five miles away.

The first that the general saw were the groups
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops.
What was done? What to do? a glance told him both;
Then striking his spurs, with a terrible oath
He dashed down the line mid a storm of huzzas,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause,
With foam, and with dust the black charger was gray,
By the flash of his eye, and the red nostril's play,
He seemed to the whole great army to say,
"I have brought you Sheridan all the way
From Winchester down to save the day!"

Hurrah! hurrah for Sheridan!

Hurrah! hurrah for horse and man!
And when the statues are placed on high,
Under the dome of the Union sky,
The American soldier's Temple of fame;
There with the glorious general's name,
Be it said in letters both bold and bright,
"Here is the steed that saved the day,
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester, twenty miles away!''

The Summer Shower.

Before the stout harvesters falleth the grain, As when the storm-wind is reaping the plain; And loiters the boy in the briery lane; But yonder aslant comes the silvery rain, Like a long line of spears, brightly burnished and tall. Adown the white highway, like cavalry fleet, It dashes the dust with its numberless feet. Like a murmurless school, in their leafy retreat, The wild birds sit listening the drops round them beat, And the boy crouches close to the blackberry wall. The swallows alone take the storm on the wing, And taunting the tree-sheltered laborers, sing. Like pebbles the rain breaks the fall of the spring, While a bubble darts up from each widening ring; And the boy, in dismay, hears the loud shower fall.

But soon are the harvesters tossing the sheaves; The robin darts out from its bower of leaves; The wren peereth forth from the moss-covered eaves; And the rain-spattered urchin now gladly perceives That the beautiful bow bendeth over them all.

The Oath.

Ye freemen, how long will ye stifle
The vengeance that justice inspires?
With treason how long will ye trifle,
And shame the proud name of your sires?
Out, out with sword and the rifle

In defense of your homes and your fires.

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