Queer Features of Australia's Public Schools
tropyrlght. 1901. bv Frank O. Carpenter )
SYDNHY, Nexv South Wuli'B, July 7.
I Special Correspondence of The
Hotv) -I Mini curious letters from
our American boys In the depart
ments of ptilillc lnirinil(in In Aus
iralhi Some of uir school teachers In
terest th Ir pupils In geography by having
I horn correspond with school hoys all over
the world. The Bchool boy writes n letter
tolling about Ills home and life in the United
Slates, and In return aks the Australian
boy to reply with a letter about his home
and how things are going on on the other
side of the world. One such letter, which I
have before mo, comes from Archie Ash
more, n 13-year-old boy of Maltlaud, Neb.
It has been answered by one of the Sydney
school boys, and young Ardilo already
knows how boys live In Australia. Here are
n few sentences from his letter on how ho
lives at Mallland:
I live In Mallland, Neb., nn the North
western r.illioad N.,t mnnv years neo there
was tcariely anybody living here, but so no
time ago people began to move here irom
foreign countries, some nf them from Swe
den, Norway, (let many, Denmark and Ho
hernia. This Is a line place, only dry und
windy at times.
Next I will tell you what we grow here.
We use plows to stir up tin- ground and
harrows to level It off We plant oats an I
corn Willi n maeiilne culled a cornnMin'er.
We cultivate the corn with n cultivator
three times. We cut the oats with n bind r,
shock It up and when It Is dry It Is hauled
to the house and stneked. In tho fall when
the corn gets ripe we have to husk It and
crib It up to keep It for our stock or sell
It If wo want to.
Our school begins at 9 o'clock In tho
morning and closes nt o'clock In tho
afternoon. Then we go homo and do our
chores ami get ready for supper. After
supper 1 help In my father's store.
Most of the girls help their mothers do
housework. When they think they get old
enough they get married If they can find
somebody to suit them. Well, I guess 1
will o1o-o. Yours truly.
AIJCHIK ASIIMOrtH
Auat riilla'n l'nlille .SelioolN.
" I find that the Australians have a good
public school sytom. Kvery colony has Its
own books nnd Its own methods. In Vic
toria the Hon id of IMuratlnn publishes
school papers, widen come out once n
month, to take the place of the rending
books used In our schools. These papers
nro composed of extracts nnd such orlgltnl
matter as the teneherM think will benefit
the children. They contain frequent ref
erences to the news of the month and the
articles published are on current topics nnd
on matters Australian. There nre now
mnny articles about the Uners nnd the
Chinese nnd tho wars which have been go
ing on nmong them There are papers on
how plants grow, utorles of geography,
poems nnd songs. The papers are Illus
trated nnd Ecem very attractive. Some of
tho poems nro pnrodles, nnd ono of tho
songs which wns published a few weeks ngo
has tho words nnd air of "Columbia," be
ginning: Hrltnnnln, tho prldo of the ocean.
The home of tho bravo and the free,
' Tho remainder of tho song Is about the
hump as our "Columbia, the Rem of the
Ocean."
In nearly nil the colonies education Is
compulsory, nnd that notwithstanding the
children have to pay for attending si hnol.
Tho chnrge Is never more than fi cents n
week per pupil and never more than a
shilling, or 2." cents, per week per family.
In Now South Wales If children between
fi nnd M are kept out of i-chonl during the
school season, or during nnv part of It,
their parents nre fined $1.2." for tho first
offense nnd $!"i or seven dnys' Imprisonment
for each subsequent offense. There nro
school officers who go nround ami hunt up
tho pupils, and the trunnts nre sure to be
caught. There are compulsory schrol laws
In Victoria, Queensland and also In New-
Zealand nnd Tasmnnln The system Is not
ns well developed In Western utrn11n, but
even that colony hns fairly good schools.
llnllronil I'iihufh lor eliiiul Children
In Bonio of tho colonies school children
nre carried free on tho rnllroads In going
IN THE MELUOUIINU OU8BHYATOKY
to nnd from school. They nre given passes
to the school nearest them and every effort
Is made to give ever one an education
In the country districts there are itinerant
Bchool teachets, men who traxel from place
to place and tench for a short time In i
number of families, going back again to
carry on tho work they have laid out to be
done In their absence.
At present there are about S.flOO public
schools In Australia, with about 17.000
teachers and almost l.mio.ooo schnlnrs
Nenrly overj where the si hoollng Is secu
lar, although In New South Wales where
the parents do not object a pieacher is
called In for nn hour dally to teach re
ligion. In South Australia religious lu
stiuctlon Is given before school hours, tf
the parents so desire, but as a rule such
teaching Is left to the Sunday schools,
which are about ns numerous as In any
country In the woild. Kvery one of the
states has thousands of Sunday schools,
each church anil denomination having Its
own, Including the Salvation Army, which
Is teaching many thousands of poor boys
and girls.
One of the queer features of education In
this par: of the world nre the schools of
art. Nenrly ecry town hns one, nnd con
nected with It a library. In Queensland the
government will give dollnr for dollar, or
rather pound for pound, to any town which
rnlscf a sum for this purpose. Kor In
stance, If o village will raise $1,000 to es
tablish a library and school of nrt, tho gov
ernment will supply another thousand, nnd
will continue Us gifts as tho people give
more. These schools of nrt teach drawing
and pn luting, music, botany, typewriting
and stenography, and, In fact, about every
thing you will Ilnd tnught In the Young
Men's Chrlstlnn association schools In our
country. They nlso teach painting and the
higher studies They have reading rooms
At 'ST It A I.I A.N
and their libraries ate will supplied and
well patronlztd. The School of Arts In
Sydney has a library of 00,000 volumes.
Tf clinical .School.
Ill addition every city of any size has Its
technical schools. There are scventy-throo
dllfcrent classes taught In Sydney nnd its
suburbs, nnd In them are 1,000 students.
Tho city has a technological museum with
S2.000 exhibits, Including 11.000 specimens
of xvool. Tho museum building nlono cost
$100,000. There nro in Noxv South Wales
SCO mechanics' Institutes, many of thorn
night schools, in order that tho working
men may attend them. In Melbourne there
Is u xvorliltigmnn's collego which hns build-
'
lugs and nn equlpnn nt worth about J2.10.000.
and which hns at piesent In the neighbor
hood of 2,000 students. The chief classes
are In tho evening, when there nre lectures
and recitations upon scientific att, engineer
ing, mining, commercial and other technical
subjects, ns well as on the lending t ratios.
Tho technical schools of Victoria arc un
der the direct Ion of the educational depart
ment. There are eighteen of them teaching
almost every branch of science, trade anil
art. mong the Had- subjects taught are
photography, wood-turning ami pattern
MII.K HOY
tanking, metnl working, plumbing and gas
fitting, carpentry, conch building, wool sort
ing, pnlntlng nnd sign writing, tailor cut
ting, bootmnklng, cooking, dressmaking nnd
noodle work. All enrts of manual training
Is taught nnd everything In tho xvny of en
gineering. The technical schools of Nexv South Wales
have quite as broad n curriculum, the
branches of xvool sorting and xvool classing,
an hltecture and agriculture being especially
good.
A iin t rii 1 1 n ii c.ipnicri,
Tho newspapers shoxv that there is no
lack of Intelligence among the Australians
About n thnusnnd nre published on the inn
Uncut and In Nexv Zealand, including the
magazines and trade Journals. In Mel
bourne nnd suburbs alone 1 r.n magazim
and newspapers are published and fully a
many. I should say, in Sydney 'lie Mel
bmi nn g has about ion, nun i ir ulatimi
an 1 tie' Argus is a good second. The Sd
ne Mi raid is taken In all parts of A n--tr.illa
and one sees the Sydney Mall every -wli
re lirii.bane, Adelaide and Perth hai
I. n'li nn. rnlng and afleiniiou dallies and, In
Out thi re Is scarcely .i town on the conti
in ut uhn h has not four or more papers
Tie hading society papers are the Sduey
llullitin and the Melbourne i'lim h. Table
Talk, Critic and tho Sun. The leading
dailies have big Satuiday editions of manx
pages, which sell at 12 cents a copy, golig
ut by mail to all parts of the colonics.
Theii air nil sorts of ngrli ultiiral Jour
nals, sheep Journals and llnanelal J uru.ils.
The Ittxlexv of liovlows has an Australian
- lit ion and there uro local editions of tho
III i irated London News nnd Ski ti Ii
Thi tist rnliiiti dallies, as a rule aio loss
ensntn'n.il than the American newspapers
Hid nre more lively than the Ivngllsh news
papers Nearly nil have good udxertlsliig
patronage, the shipping advert isi-mentB
alone supplying from three to live columns
lnlly, nnd the auction sales in mnnv cases
"i ring a page.
I Willi out the nl In dny to visit tho
S. liny iinlx ersli y. It has about l.'ioo stu-
blild of both sexes. It gives degieoH of
nit, science, laxv and medicine, and lis
studies embrace all branches except theol
oi'v nnd divinity In im.mIii Hi aio ro-
ii i i ul Oxford and Cumbil'lM' n an pqunl
TKOIINOI.OOIOAl, Ml'SKf.M NI) COI.I.Ktil' T SYDNHY
footing with those of the Ktigllsh schools.
It is the same Willi the Mclhiutnc univer
sity, an Institution which has already con
ferred about 3,000 degrees. In addition
there are universities in Queensland ami
South Anstialln. as well as nunii reus col
leges supported by the xnrli us religious
denominations,
ship 1 1 : I-1 l Seliiiiil.
Hero In Sydney the government Ihib a
nautical schoolshlp which It uses ns a re
form bchool. Upon It some 1,10 boys nre
put through n regular course of education
and training. They have the studies of the
common schools ami at the same time are
drilled so Mint they are III to be eniclent
sailors when they leave The ship Is called
the "Sobraon," ami It Is as well equipped
as school training ships anywhere Tho
boys also have land quarters on one of tho
Islands of tho bay, and altogether they are
well treated and as a rule are made Into
gootl men by their training. They have
their cricket grounds, their swimming pools
and all Forts of games. They are taught to
swim nnd aro put through a dally toiirso of
gymnastic exorcises. They wash their own
clothes, keep tho ship In order, bin do no
contract work of nn Industrial character.
After leaving they nro apprenticed to farm
ers or business men In different parts of
Now South Wales, nnd tho reports from
these nro that they do exceedingly well. So
far as I can learn tho school Is n success,
and hns been bo ever Blnco It was organ
ized, now nhout thlrty-flvo years ago.
Dairy Scliooln.
I llko tho way thoso Australians organlzo
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Thehi. pictures are 10x21 Inches and have in ver been sold at the art stores for
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17th and Fnrntitti Sts.
We have provided a lare uuiiilier of frames for The I'.ee pi
lures and are olTeriuu I hem al a special price. Call ami see them
IfOSKS , 1ST HTOIUO, 1 61! I Docile Ht Omaha. N'cb.
new schools when thox have any specialty
they wlBh to develop Within the last few
years Instruction has been given in dairy
ing nnd clu'c-eiiiiiklng, and t lit governments
hnvo been doing all they can to build up
this buslnt ss. The lesult Is that there are
noxv a numbei of large butler and cheese
factories In exery stale, ami the exports of
these articles are rapidly Increasing. Vic
toria Is noxv making something like 30,000,-
000 pounds of butter and 2.000.000 pounds of
cheese annually. New South Wales made
last year over 30.000,000 pounds of butter
and 3,000,000 pounds of cheese. There are
noxv more than lOO.non dairy cows In Nexv
South Wnles, which yield annually some
thing llko 100,000.000 gallons id milk. The
surplus of butler over the local require
ments amounts to about 7! per cent, anil
the most of tb l.i goes to the Kngllsh mat
kets, although some In noxv being exported
to tho Philippines. The Australian butter
brings n higher prlco In London thnn the
Danish butter, and tho people n'-o experi
menting In every xvny to better their prod
uct and tho methods of Hhlpplng It.
iin cillioelil anil Hotter IIiinIiicnn,
Tho beginning of dairying In Victoria Is
Interesting. One of tho buttermakees
tnlked to me about It during my stay in
.Melbourne. Said' ho:
"Five years ago we made no butter to
speak of. Our tolnl shipments along In
1 he '00s did not amount to more than fiO.lion
pounds per annum. Then the government
eamo In and helped the farmers. It ar
ranged n scnle of bounties for butter ox-
(Continuod on Highlit I'nge.)
St. Anthony
A Beautiful Companion
Piece, IN COLORS,
for tli; Madonna and Child.
No oUiur pictures have ever
hecn produced ill this class ol'
work that can com parti with
t iiese subjects.