University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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structure, but when it was finished the Indians enjo3-ed this holy place more than any other. It was here that they were g-iven Christian names; names of saints whose wonderful stor- ies, they were told. They became so extremely interested in the lives of these great men and women, that they even wished to name the bells after them. Two of the bells were g-iven particularly beautiful ones. One, which still hang-s above all, was to be rung in the morning, as its sweet tones suggested the delicate pleasures and delights of the opening of the da} ' . This was Ave Maria, after Virgin Mary. The other, in memor} ' of the angels, was the angelus bell, which called all tog ether, to thank God for the day ' s blessing ' s. Among the many church celebrations, that of H0I3 ' Week seemed to be the most interesting. This festivity occupied three days, and represented the sufferings and glory of Christ. During this celebration, on the evening of the third day, while the congregation knelt in pra -er, just as the evening bell was tolling, Valle su ddenly saw away in a corner, a dim light. He rose quietly towards it. The light still shone. Ah, some- thing is here. Can it be the fathers ' riches that are buried here? This curious feeling at once set him to work. He dug and dug. Midnight was fast approaching. At the toll of this lonely hour, when all is still, and ghost forms seem to dance about, Valle discovered something. Oh a bunch of beads. What can they mean, he cried. Putting his hand in his pocket, he found that wonderful bead. He looked at it. It was precisely like these. We are saved, he thought. My master ' s wish is fulfilled. Still stands the quaint old church, with the lofty pillars, gray with age ; yet, it firmly stands commanding that pic- turesque valley of San Gabriel. LuPE Lopez.

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The priests formed their camp not far from the tribe. They often met the Indians and spoke to them kindly, 3-et a cong-enial spirit could not just then grow in the savag-e heart. A few morning s after their arrival, the fathers celebrated mass, for the first time, in the camp. Their altar was placed in the shade of a great oak, and consisted of a larg-e g-reen tree trunk upon which stood a crucifix and several bunches of passion flowers. The Indians had risen very early that morning , in the hope of overcoming- their enemies. The fathers were cele- brating- the holy sacrifice. Pachi and his men had encircled the camp, but their hearts which an hour before had burned with a threatening- spirit, were now calm, subdued by the heavenly song- and elaborate worship of these white men. At the close of the service, as they were sing-ing- Ave Maria one of the fathers rose, drew a curtain aside, and a picture of the Virg-in Mary appeared before the g-azers ' eyes. She was so compassionately beautiful, so full of love and purity, and the song- offered to her was so divinel}- sweet, that even the savag-e hearts were overcome b ' this heavenly- incense. Pachi was truly overcome, both physically and mentally. He rose, and fell, for he could no long-er stand. Holding- out the bead which he deemed so precious, he said to Valle, a dear companion, Match the bead, and obe -. I will, my chief, answered Valle. Pachi ' s head fell forward on his breast. His e3 ' es were closed. He had passed on unto the land of rest. Their chief had been a faithful master throug-hout his life, and now, his men, left under Valle, obeyed his word. The fathers were amazed at this scene. Now they saw an oppor- tunity for winning- these men. By means of g-ifts, such as g-org-eous heads, and weapons, tog-ether with kind words and acts, this Indian tribe at once became the father ' s consolation. It was not long- before the Indians were eng-ag-ed in build- ing- the g-reat church which now stands in place of the old sacred altar. Many of the subjects were seen day after day, g-oing- and coming-, to and from the mountains hauling- g-reat pine log-s. In the open carts, they broug-ht down hug-e rocks. A long- time passed before the completion of the picturesque

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c y Forrest Whittaker, Department Editor. The Value of Nature Study in the Primary Grades. XE of the very iirst educational leaders who advo- cated the stud} ' of nature as opposed to the formal studies of Latin and Greek was Comenius. Since his time — nearly three centuries — much has been said and written in favor of nature studies in the schools, but progress in that line of work has been slow. However, its g-rowth has been steady and great advancement has been made in that direction, especially in the last century, until at the present time the importance of nature stud} ' is recog-nized by teachers and educators of nearly all classes. Comenius sought to give interest and life to the formal drills in Latin by associating objects in nature with the Latin names, and by using pictures to make thing-s real to the pupils. From this narrow beginning, nature study has passed through several stages of development and has been influenced by dif- ferent ideas. At first the idea seemed to be to search out the wonderful and curious in nature, the things remote from the child and of which he could onh learn by reading or having it told to him. The second idea was that of utility ' . It was thought sufficient to teach the child the useful and harmful things in nature. Thus, he would study poisonous plants and such as possessed medicinal qualities. A much broader aim than this was the third one, which was mental discipline. This is one of the aims today, and by means emphasized to such a degree that it degenerates into a test of the power of description. The only advantage in this is language train- ing-. A fourth idea and one that has been especially empha- sized is that of anah ' sis and S3 stematic classification. But this is liable to make nature study tend toward formalism and take out the real life of the subject. Nature study should