Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 18 text:

IO PHYSICAL CULTURE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. morning. Disquieted by his prolonged absence, I made a thorough search for him. I called, but there was no response. Near my house was a dense forest which had been penetrated by a railroad. Had William strayed to the woods and lost his way amid the underbrush? I walked along the only path through the forest, halting at intervals to search among the bushes that skirted it. Suddenly I heard the loud, clear whistle of an approaching train. Another minute and I came into the clear- ing divided by the track. As I did so, a loud “ ba-a-ah sounded a short distance behind me. I turned and saw William emerge from the bushes. He walked to the middle of the track, halted, and gazed curiously about. The train was moving swiftly toward him, and he appeared to be astonished at the audacity of the thing that dared approach. His pugilistic instinct» were aroused; with a loud ba-a-ah, m gave a spring forward to annihilate lq opponent. The train was not wrecked by the collision. Finding a piece of meg near the place of encounter, I buried i and erected a small monument upon whiq was carved the following I EPITAPH. O shed a pil'ying lear Upon this earthly mound; William, the billy-goat. Sleeps in the cold, cold ground, In warlike mood he stood Upon a railroad track; He sought to wreck a train. He sought-----alack, alack. And when the train had passed, A piece of meat was found, ’Twas all that’s left of him— He's in the cold, cold ground. PHYSICAL CULTURE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ARTHUR M. BARNES, '$2. AMONG the various branches of edu- cation pursued in our public schools, there is none so important and yet none so neglected as the training and building up of our bodies. This glorious country of ours spends one hundred mil- lion dollars annually for mental training and an equal sum for moral instruction, but the amount spent for physical culture is shamefully small. I do not mean to underestimate the other branches, but I claim that physical culture is at least important enough for thoughtful consid- eration. In the country Mother Nature converts the fields and forests into perpetual gym- nasia, but in the city, where the space is limited and the air impure, the need of exercise is greatest. It is true that there are places in the city where children may gain muscular strength and agility, be these places are not for the public, b within the means of all. There are pari also, but in order to have a frolic on velvety turf, children must shut their eyd to the sign, “Keep off the grass! ” and: the same time be very watchful to dod£ the brass buttons. In the ancient days it was consider just as important for a boy to develop! strong, shapely body as it was for hr to master all the knotty problems in mat emathics. But that idea has lost fav until now the general belief is, that if boy goes to school five hours a day, k plenty to eat and drink with eight hour sleep, he will grow up strong and inteE gent. There is no doubt that he will grr up if he lives, and doubtless he will '• well educated if he attends properly to I

Page 17 text:

WILLIAM, A CHARACTER SKETCH. 9 hurret yer feelin’s, but yez can’t dcnoy thet William raly ain’t ez beautiful as Vanus.” I acknowledge that Patrick was, to a certain extent, correct in his estimate of William’s personal appearance. Although I never had the pleasure of forming the young lady’s acquaintance, still I believe that I may with impunity assert, and my assertion is based on the charms attributed to the aforesaid lady, that he was not specially endowed with that fatal gift— beauty. In this respect an affinity existed between us. In spite of William’s gentleness, he cherished some germs of original sin which caused him to be disliked and disowned by his family. But I loved William and brought him to my home and made him the sharer of my joys and sorrows. Time sped ; the days came and went, and in the quietude of my home William thrived. Gradually he learned to appreciate my society; my advances were no longer re- buffed ; but his conduct was at times very' improper. I sometimes gently stroked his head and endeavored in a kind tone of voice to expostulate with him on his ill- behavior. But he also expostulated, and in such a manner as to quite vanquish me by his forcible arguments. So the matter dropped—and I generally yielded. I do not claim that William possessed any abnormal intelligence, and yet a cir- cumstance once occured which greatly impressed me. I was sitting in my cabin, and having, like many other isolated indi- viduals, acquired the habit of soliloquiz- ing» I gave utterance to my thoughts. “William,” I said, “it appears to me that you are about the homeliest specimen that I ever saw.” William walked to the door and gazed thoughtfully at the distant hills. “It seems to me you are totally de- praved, William.” He said nothing, but continued to gaze at the hills. “ I have endeavored to civilize you, but my efforts have signally failed.” Not a word from William. “ I am aware that you are an----” Reader, you may not believe me; you may call me a prevaricator, but it is the plain truth that, before I completed the sentence, William turned his head toward me, and in a contemptuous voice cried, “ Bah !” I was wide awake and distinctly heard that one contemptuous exclamation. Though William was usually docile, he was easily irritated. On hot summer days I loved to stroll along the banks of a broad pond near my dwelling, and let the cool breeze fan my noble brow. One day I seated myself upon a mossy rock beside the placid water, and as I gazed into its depths, my thoughts reverted to former days. I thought of childhood, of the parents who nurtured me. As I sat there lost in revery, a picture of the old school house rose before me. I saw the irate teacher brandishing his rattan as he strove to preserve order. I heard the loud whisper, “ Ba-a-ah.” The prosaic voice of William dispelled my dreams. Would he never allow me to enjoy a moment of calm recreation? I turned with an angry exclamation and gave him a rebuke in the side. William did not utter a sound, either of pain or anger—he simply arose. By a strange co- incidence I arose at the same time-----!! Do not question me further in regard to that occurence. It is always painful to have certain recollections inadvertently aroused, especially is this the case when said recollections tend to produce mental pictures which are not at all conducive to pleasant associations. One autumn afternoon it flashed upon me that I had not seen William since early

Page 19 text:

THE LABORATORY. ii studies, but the question is, Will he be strong? I think he will not. Youth is the time to be preparing for the trials of life, and if boys and girls do not take regular and systematic exercise, they will not be able to endure the hard- ships of mature life. They may be men- tally prepared, but their minds, however well developed, will be useless to them without strong constitutions. The youth of our day are too apt to patronize the cars instead of walking to and from school, and are too fond of eating candy as a substitute for wholesome food. While reading is excellent in its way, it seems to me wrong to study all day and then come home and read instead of re- freshing the body with exercise. We are inclined to think that the ath- letics of ancient days was something im- possible for us to duplicate. Fhillipides, when sent on an important errand involv- ing life or death, ran one hundred and forty-eight miles in forty-eight hours. This was considered a remarkable record, and so it was, but Chas. Rowell eclipsed it recently when he completed one hundred and fifty miles in only twenty-four hours with no greater object at stake than money. So the halcyon days of Greece and Rome were necessarily no better for athletics than these which we enjoy. Mr. Gladstone, now a man of eighty years, beside walking several miles each day, takes an axe and going into the woods, fells a tree. On the anniversary of his seventy-fifth birthday before an audience of friends, he cut down a large oak tree unassisted; and oak is not poplar either. Who knows but that his axe may yet free Ireland? Boston, often called the 4‘Athens of America,” because of her learning and literature, has recently shown that she is broad-minded enough to do something out of her immediate line. In the beautiful park on the shores of the noble Charles River an out-door gymnasium has been established with play ground, running track and numerous improved apparatus. All is under the supervision of a com- petent instructor. To this gymnasium all the boys of Boston may go; young or old, rich or poor, regardless of state or con- dition. In the High Schools of Boston the boys are taught military drill every day; be- sides the discipline which this gives, it is a grand gymnastic exercise. The whole school forms a regiment called the High School Cadets, and on public occasions this regiment parades, doing great credit to the training of the school. Boston has set us a grand example, and these things will be well to remember when we build our new High School. THE LABORATORY. I OR two years the science students have been formed into societies, with weekly meetings, for the study of topics kindred to the course pursued in class. The seniors studying geology are known as the Weston Chapter; the second year boys in physics have an Edison Chapter, while the first year classes are divided into the Cwk and the Dana sections. Considerable interest has been developed in science studies through the instrumentality of these socie- ties. It is to be hoped that a new chapter will soon be formed from those members of the school who are not engaged daily in the study of science. Quite recently these chapters have formed themselves into a general organization, which has taken the