The thought of the nation for to-morrow was tangibly represented only by
that hut twenty feet square, with its few nourishing acres, most
primitively furnished, a teacher of no training in the art of teaching, a
few tons of coal in a shed, a box of crayons, and perhaps a map. The
master made his own fires and swept unaided, or with the aid of his
pupils, the floor. When, years later, in a larger building on the same
site I came to be master of the same school, and gathered for work at
night the farmers' sons who could not leave the fields by day, except in
winter, I even paid the expense of the light. Now, if not on that site,
certainly on thousands of others, in schools springing from such
beginnings, the community provides not only chalk and electric light, but
pencils, paper, books, lenses, compasses, lathes, libraries, gymnastic
apparatus, pianos, and even food, if not free, at any rate at cost, in
addition to trained teachers, trained in public normal schools, and
janitors, and automatic ventilators to insure pure air, and thermostats to
preserve an even temperature.
Pages:
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519