THE I jLIj V ST 1 1 A TE D BEE.
5
Flashlight Glimpses of
Omaha Night School
Mnroh 3, 1001.
SV
X
!
i
1
Illiteracy is iloouied In Omuha. Tho pub-
llu sehuol system la throwing light atuutig
people whom benighted Europe uud Asia
condemned to Ignorance. Night schools uro
reaching out for people who cannot attend
day suasions. Any man, woman or elillil
in Umalia may aucuro an education al public
expense.
A visit to tho night sessions al tho Cusa
school la all that la necessary to convince
one that night schools nro appreciated. More
than 100 persons of high and low degree,
old and youug, black and white, gather in
that building nightly and spend their evm
lngs In securing learning, of which they
liavo hitherto been deprived.
Tho tales of how Lincoln educated him
self by- the Dickering light of a pinekuot
and of Uarlleld's persistent study while fol
lowing canal horses along Ohio towpatha
pale into lusigulllcauco when compared with
the heroic utforts unfortunate Omniums are
making to secure an education.
Imagine a woman US years old, who sup
ports herself by washing and duvotes her
evenings to mastering tho "A 11 C's."
Picture a woman whose hands are palsied
from work struggling to fashion the lot-U-rs
which spell her name. Such Is Mm.
Jcuuio McCorkcl, a colored woman who has
almost reached her three scoro years and
ton, but Is unwilling to remain In the
darkness with which slavery surrounded
her.
"I novah went to school. When 1 was
young It was a crime for people of my
colnh to bo educated, and since tho wall I
nevah had n chanco to go to school till
now." Tho old woman's eyes lllled w th
tears as sho spoke. "It seems that I'm
pretty old to start, hut I'll be so happy If
I can learn enough so I can read my bible."
Although Mrs. McCorkcl could not read a
lino and knew nothing about writing when
she started to night school In October, sho
can now write ber nauio and many simple
words and has been advanced to the second
reader. Her hair Is white and age has
made it necessary for her to wear oye
glasscs, but her mental faculties nro as
used with such caro In Instructing young
children. If nn old man finds that he can
not study quietly ho Is put In a remote
section of tho room and allowed to study
out loud. When a reading lesson Is In'
preparation there Is n hum of accent),
which rivals tho confusion of tho tower of
llnbcl.
Mlus Emily Dorn is in cf.argo cf the nimu
resslous at Cass school and Is assisted by
Mla Mary Held ond Mrs. Elizabeth Park
At the Comenlus school the Instructors
are Miss Jennie Ross, Miss Nora Carrlgan
and Mrs Josephine Cat roll. Tho attend
ance at Comenlus school Is Irss than at
Cass and most of the pupils are young per
sons who work In South Omaha.
A more cosmopolitan nnny of names
tlmn Is found on the teachers' reports nt
Cuss school cannot lie Imagined. Ireland
Oernmny. Italy. Turkey. Hnhemla, RiifsIu
and Syria arc represented In the list
Cnss school linn frequently boon called the
school of all nations. Tho night sessions In
that building nro attended by even n greater
variety of people than tho day sessions.
This is a very small world nfter nil. Peo
ple from nil cornors of tho enrlh aro gath
ered Into every American city of any size
nnd American institutions nro moulding men
of nil nationalities into representative citi
zens of tho United States. Mohnmmondans,
Jews nnd Christians nllko adjust thom
solvos to American Institutions. The ns
soclntlons nnd Influcnco of American schools
break down barriers that might otherwise
stand between representatives of different
nations.
Men nnd women of nil ages liecomo
Amorlcnns when they select tho United
Stntes ns their home. Ono will no longer
question tho ability of tho United States
to assimilate Immigrants from all pnrts of
tho world nfter listening to ono of tho
first render clnsses In tho Omaha night
schools.
Ono of tho favorite lessons In tho reader
which Is used by the beginners tells of a
wonderful storo conducted by n boy named
Frank. "Frank used round pieces of paper
HHAm i uHH sH
MRS. JENNIE M'CORKEL--COLORED W
AQE, AT NIOHT SCHOOL.
tnerelal world, of which their classmate la
master. Tho man llrat learned to count
In a achool where tho dollar sign was the
teacher and he la now taking his number
work according to the method proscribed
by Fisher.
"My pupils Imagine that they will bo
perfectly contented when they learn to
read." ono of tho teachers In night school
remarked. "Hut they do not realize that
their munition Is Just kindling their lovo
of learning. After they have mastered
rending they will bo dissatisfied because
thoy cannot find time to rend nil tho good
things thnt hnvo been written. Education
will not bring to them the complete hap
piness thoy Imagine."
About Noted People
Hooker T. Washington's recent visit to
Hlshmond, Va., to address a notable gath
ering of white and colored pcoplo in the
Academy of Music was In dramatic con
trast with tho llrBt trip to that city, thirty
yenrs ago, when ns a penniless boy he was
making his wny from his homo in West
Virginia to Hampton to get nn education,
and when ho slept under a bridge.
After disposing of nil hlB other property
In hU will Verdi directed thnt "two Inrge
wooden boxes of great antiquity," which
would bo found in tho dining-room of his
villa, St. Agata, should be burned (with
out having been opened) Immediately after
his obsequies. It Is supposed that the two
mysterious boxes contained manuscripts of
unpublished operas which Verdi did mil
wish to see the light.
Colonel Plummer, who won fame In his
efforts to rellove Mafcklng, Invariably
woars an oycglnss and gives his orders
In tho form of requests in the sympathetic
tono a dontist uses toward a patient In tho
chair. Tho following Is given ns nn Illus
tration of his manner when undor llro
"Sergeant! You seo that cloud of dust on
OMAN, GS YEARS OF ITALIAN LEARNlNtl
TRY
members who had knowm him a diuen years
to rub their eyes and look a second time.
Nobody In this generation remembers hav
ing seen in this diBguUe tho man whom
Horace Creeley trained. Cummlngs has
been prostrate six weeks with a bad leg,
broken In n blcyelo fall on sllppory ground.
"I couldn't stand It to havo a barber mak
ing a mess of tho bed whllo I was In It; 1
Just let them grow," Is Cutnintngs explana
tion. Androw Cnrncgle, In hot speech with tho
driver of an automobile, entertained u
group of people In front of a principal
hotel In Washington recently. Tho man of
millions hnd been to a dinner on Massa
chusetts nvenue. Ho had ordered an au
tomobile to convey him to his hotel. Tho
THE LA NCI ACE OF HIS NEW COl N
asphalt lake the Uw of Pitch Its depth
Is not possible of estimate, for every
attempt to sound it by digging Mis up
from tho edgos. So far not the slightest
Impression has been inado upon the mir
faco of the lake by all the asphalt which
has gone from It Into street paving, ami
tho supply nppears practically Inexhausti
ble. Tho area of the lake Is live miles
In length and three In width. Lying on
tho Island of Trinidad, as It does. It is
accessible to vessels of a draft of eighteen
or twenty feet by the t! ill r of Pnvlu anil
tho San Juan river, to which a railroad
about six miles long runs from tho bed
Two American and one Venezuelan com
pany havo laid claim to the entire lake
nt present nnd ono of these contesting
syndtcntes plans now to reach the (lulf of
for money" Is ono of
the sentences in tho
lesson which betrayed
clearly tho national
ity of the different
members of thu Cass
school reading
clnsses. The pupils
all understood tho
sentence and read It,
but tho simple words
took on amusing pro
nunciations In tho
keen as those of many of tho pupils who
aro less than half her ago.
i:.ireiu-N In Akv -Meet.
Sitting beside this gray-haired grand
mother Is a little girl scarcely more than 8
years old. Tho woman who has learned
tho btttor lessons of life is now exploring
thu mysteries of llgures and loiters, to
gether with the child 00 years hor Junior.
Mrs. Liuulo Copelund and D. Jones uro
two other colored people who havo passed
tho half-century mark, but uro not too olu
to begin tho education which was denied
them In their Missouri home. Mauy year, mouths of tho dlffor-
ugo Mr. Jones learned to wrlto his uaaioont readers,
uud ho has always cherished tho hope thau Frank's paper monoy
some day ho might bo ublo to read aud!jW!la 0m 0f in ti10
write. Slnco October ho has mastered tho' guttural tones of tho
sounds of tho alphabet and uow readfa slui-' German, tho musical
plo English quite well. volco f'tlio negro, tho
The members of thu higher classes in tho soft accent of tho uu
nlght school aro less Interesting than tho - tlvo of southern Italy
beginners. Tho inoro udvaueod work is
taken by comparatively youug boys and
girls who havo hud day school advautuges in
ihelr earlier years and aro finishing tbolr
education in the tlmo which they can spare
from work. Tho work in these classes is
not uullko that in uuy well graded school.
Only teachers of wldo uxperiouco aro em
ployed lu tho night schools. Tho work is
dltferent from that In an ordluary school.
Tho solo purposo of tho pupils is work, and
tho question of dlsclplluo Is eliminated.
From 7:30 until 0:30 each ovemlng tho
teachers devote their entire energy to giv
ing Instruction in such a manner that pu
pils may acquire in tlvo months what is or
dinarily learned in several terms of nluo
months each.
Teachers in night schools aro encroach-
and tho drawl of tho
Scandinavian. Tho
younger members of
tho class read tho
sentence In much thu
samo manner any
American class would
read it, but the
mothor language can
not easily bo rubbed from the tongues of
grown-ups and will forco itsolf Into English
In tho most unexpected places.
Michaol Angelo was novor prouder of
ono of his masterpieces than tho adult
pupils of tho simple sentences written In
oxerclso books, Ono worann In thu lowest
grndo of tho Cnss school brings a llttlu
daughter G years old to school with her.
CLASS ROOM SCENES AT CASS STREET SCHOOL,
tho right? Try a llttlu pompom, please.
Thank you, thnt is very nice; Jusi a llttlo
inoro, please n llttlo to tho right. Thank ruphors
yotil"
diiver had asked for
1. Mr. Carneglu was
very certain hu ought
not to be charged
more than F0 cunts.
Such was thu basis of
the controversy. Mr.
Carneglu upheld his
sldu of It with such
vigor lu language us
to draw a group of
Into passers. "You
wouldn't havu thought
that of such a rich
uiiiii," one suld whun
the war of words was
ovur. "Yes, I would,"
said another. "Ho
made his millions by
that principle of
sticking out for what
was right, oven If It
didn't Involve more
than half a dollar."
Within tho present
week tho Washington
n o w sp a p o r corre
spondents followed to
thu train the body of
ono of their number,
who sat sldu by side
with Andrew Carnegie lu an operating room
at Altooua when both woro railroad toleg-
mlwtops ar n Z 'ly Anting tho exercises When tho prince visited Roston In 1801 n
n-t which are given to her mother. When tho ' In h s honor, .nd Mrs
Thn child nttends day school and Is not
Ing upon tho hours which their pupils should taking the night work, but amuses herself
nave tor recreation or sleep, no
must bo taken. Every short cut
taken advantage of and approved methods
must bo sacrificed to any system which
will enablo pupils to grasp quickly tho
amount of learning necessary to opon to
them the world which may bo known
through books and nowspnpors.
Suit MftllUllN to PlIllllH.
Llttlo attention is paid in tho beginning
Tho widow of Oenornl Nathaniel P.
Hanks, who died a fow days ago at Wal
thnm, MatB., ngod 81 years, was long known
as "tho fnctory girl who danced with the
prlnco of Wales." Sho and her famous
husband both began llfo in a cotton mill
Somo thirty or forty yenrs ago two pop
ular songs wero "Homo Again" nnd n scr
onido, "Tho Lono Stnrry Hours Olvo Mo,
Love." Their author, Marshall S. Pike,
has Just died, nged about 84 years, In Up
ton, Mass. Ho wroto both tho words and
tho music of his songs nnd wna himself
also a lino singer, with n tenor volco of
romnrkoblo range. At tho beginning of the
writing It is difficult to toll whothor tho
mothor or little daughter Is moro pleased
with tho complimentary remarks mado con
cerning tho writing.
A mlddlenged man who has been a suc
cessful merchant in Omaha for many years
is studying arithmetic with children who
classes to any of the methods which aro havo yet to learn of tho strife In tho com-
Rector imra'roundto'-lnspeX Urn - ,' ciR waV ho' "inhcd a bad and wem to
his partner In n number of dances. Her
husband roso to distinction in tho civil war,
was governor of Massachusetts and speaker
uf tho house of representatives in Washing
ton. Amos J. Cummlngs In n full beard, lib
erally streaked with gray, coming Into tho
houso of representatives on crutches caused
tho front. At Onlnos Mill ho was raptured
nnd sent to Llbby prison.
A Lake of Pitch
Venezuela's asphalt wealth la an Interest
ing subject Just now and its sourco still
moro bo. Tho Venezuelans call tholr
Pavla by another railway. A peculiar
feature of tho lake Is that, at curtain
seasons, n tall grass with which It Is
covered lakes llro and burns over thu
tiqi of thu lake, leaving no damage ex
cept an Inch or so of crust for a time.
No More Heads
Cleveland Plain Dealer; it appears that
tho Imperial directors of affairs lu China
uru unwilling to glvo up any moro heads.
They uro tired of this allied game of "heads
and taels." There Is too much uf tho
schoolboy's "heads 1 will, taels you lose"
system about It. Thoy aro willing to give
up ono head, and possibly two, and a third
man will bo invited to commit suicide. And
theru tho matter rests.
Tho exact text of thu Imperial reply to
thu allies la not at hand, but it may be
expocted to read llko this:
"How do? Protty well alio sameo me.
How gottee long? Alt llteu?
"Wo speakuo you. Wo tayeo something.
What you thlnkeo wo sayeo?
"No gucsscu? Wo sayeo no eutteo olf no
mo' headeo.
"How you llkeu? No llkee? Much too
badeo. Feel so solly. What do?
"Too mucheo head cut olfeu. No llkee.
No llkeo Chlnueman got no henileo. No
look welleo. Savoo?
"No can cutteu off no mo' headeu.
Cu tehee? Cutteu off one; may bo cuttco
two. One huloo-kulco slulcldu, alio sameo.
No mo. Saveo?
"(Jloot bye. Come againeo. Wo llkee you
volly nice. How?"
Some Modern Proverbs
Philadelphia Inquirer: It Is a wlso father
who knows his own son after a return from
college.
Sometimes you hear of a perfect woman.
Shu Is tho woman your husband could havo
married.
Thoso who would saerllleo their last drop
of blood are mostly very sparing with the
first.
It Is easy to do right when sin ceases to
bo a pleasure
