Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 119, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 May 1916 — Page 3

OUR NATION'S BIGGEST "MELTING POT"

A/fAKING. good American citizens of the vast number of immigrants who’ve come to the United States, and. of their children, is a big problem, especially in our cities. This article tells how Chicago—where there is a foreign population of nearly a million—is using a great public school in solving the problem.

by Thyra Samter Winslow

fHAT is the United States going to do with its great immigrant \ population? How are we going to make loyal, useful American citizens of the horde of foreigners that have come to us in the last few years ? Are we going to shut the gates against the entry of more of them until we can “digest” into our national body those now here? These questions are very important. They are making many intelligent Americans do some hard thinking 4 these days. The problem didn’t amount to much as long as the bulk of immigration came from western Europe —from Germany, England, Ireland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark. In fact, America sorely needed these sturdy folk, who came here to be one with us under the Stars and Stripes. But of late years most of the immigration has been from Russia, Italy, eastern Austria, European and Asiatic Turkey—and the Lord only knows where else. In this country they generally herd in city settlements, for the most part a dirty, ignorant burden to city communities. They don’t “mix” with us. They dQn’t become a part of our citizenship. Their traditions and ideals and conceptions of the American social order are not ours. They’re a sort of indigestible lump in our gizzard. Cities Tackle Job. Almost with the bravery of despair the larger cities —New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Rochester, where low-class immigrants are especially heavy in numbers —have set out to perform the task of making citizens of this unpromising material. The public schools are the most useful Instruments for the purpose at hand. Our city schools are becoming great “melting pots” for all races and creeds. Our small cities, our towns and our rural stretches do not have to face this great problem’s solution directly, but the general welfare of the nation depends on how well the cities meet the task. We are, and we should be, interested, encouraging onlookers. This is really a story about the work being done in one big high school in Chicago, a city with a very large foreign population. In one grade school room there are children ofseventeendistinct nationalities. Just consider the task of making good, patriotic Americans of all of them —* Japanese, Chinese, Turks and the rest. It’s being done, though. And there’s a hint in this story of what we can do to make our local schools more useful to us than they are. Real Melting Pot.

The real melting pot of Chicago is situated less than a mile from the city’s business center. It is a melting pot that takes boys and girls, old men and graying women representing twenty nationalities and turns them from lonesome, bewildered strangers into useful, ambitious citizens. It teaches them everything from trades to dancing, from wood-turning to wireless telegraphy. The melting pot is Lane Technical school, thb most remarkable of all Chicago’s public schools and one of the most wonderful schools in the world. It has a teaching staff of more than a hundred and fifty, more than eighty classrooms and about eight thousand pupils, with the largest nightschool in the world. Lane teaches almost every subject imaginable, from the sixth grade of grammar school to the second year of college. It teaches steam and electrical engineering, carpentry and agriculture. It teaches salesmanship and advertising. It teaches stenography, bookkeeping and designing. It teaches hundreds of other useful subjects. And, of course, every subject at Lane is free. Lane teach**, too, the love of work, how to make friends and how to find a place in the world. Instead of opening at nine and closing at four, as the majority of schools dd, Lane is open all day and all evening. It opens at eight in the morning. At 3:30 it starts special training for trades apprentices. ■ Night Student Classes. Prom 6:30 until 9:30, the night students take possession. Nearly all of the night students are employed at hundreds of different occupations during the day, but, though they are tired after their day’s work, they seize the opportunities at Lane to learn new languages, new trades or to fit themselves for higher wages in the trades at which they work during the day. < There is a class in metallurgy for foundry foremen, courses in automobile engineering and reenforced concrete. There is a valuable class, too, to which young men may go if they are in doubt as to which trade dr profession they would be best suited. The vocational claps prevents square pegs in round holes. Expert psychologists question the members of the class and advise .them as to their future. YJ "If you don’t see what you want, ask for it,” is Lane’s advice to seekers for knowledge! If several men or women want to study some subject that is not included in the regular courses they sign a petition and a new class, under expert instruction, is started. Some of the new classes are journal- ~ ism, copper work and automobile construction. Last year, advertising and Spanish were new subjects, but this year they take their places as regular classes. Opportunities for Girls. For the girl who works during the day, Lane proves especially inviting and valuable. It is hard to get acquainted in a city. A-young man can go out alone at nigl t A girl, busy all day, haß little tiine to make friends. It is pretty lonesome to spend evening after evening alone in a little room. It isn’t necessary in Chicago, tor Lane is ready to take care of lonesome girls, to give them a pleasant time and valuable instruction. Thred evenings each week the big gymnasium

corrwGHT «y westun nutswu-ei UNION

A DRESSMAKING CLASS

turned over to the girls. Clad in neat middy blouses and comfortable bloomers, several hundred girls and older women,' too, are taught graceful folk dances, games and drills. But that isn’t all —the girls are taught modern dances as well. To the accompaniment of music and under the directions of a skilled teacher of dancing, the girls are taught the one-step, the fox-trot and other modern ballroom dances. The' girls have a chance to practice the dances, for one night each week there is a big dance at Lane, which hundreds of students attend. The dances are under the supervision of principal and teachers, and these social evenings do much toward strengthening Lane’s school spirit. Lahe is a real social center. They Learn to Sew. Dancing is not the only thing offered to girls at the nightschool. There are classes in hand and machine sewing, in the use of patterns and in fitting and designing. Young women make dresses, suits and party frocks, both for themselves and others. They learn to make hats, too, designing the hat, making the frame, covering it and trimming the hat. The Lane publications are things of which both students and faculty are proud, for the Lane Tech Daily is the only daily newspaper in the United States that is both published and printed by students of a high school. Members of the journalism class write the news for the others edit it, still others set type, make up the paper and run the presses. The Daily keeps, the pupils posted on all school news. The pupils of the evening school Issue an eight-page weekly paper, the Lane Tech News. Any pupil at Lane may write for the News or the Daily. For pupils with literary ambitions, there is the Lane Tech Prep, a monthly magazine, full of short stories, essays and even playlets. For the Backward Boys. Lane’s pre-vocational department is one of its most successful features. In every city, there are boys of fifteen, sixteen or seventeen, who, because of sickness, financial conditions or change of residence, have been backward in their classes. Usually these boys drop out of school and go to work, poorly prepared to enter into competition with other boys. The pre-vocational department is especially for the boys who are delinquent in the grade schools. It gives theV’motor type” of boy an opportunity to make up his work. Instead of being in a grade school among the little fellows, among whom he feels ashamed, he is part of a big high school with boys his own age. His interest is awakened by being allowed to do things —he is taught technical shop work and usually leaves school capable of earning an honorable livelihood. The laboratories at Lane are well equipped. There are three, the biological, physical and chemical. Aquariums, with large collections of fish, frogs, snails and turtles interest some students. There is $ wireless telegraph outfit, electric light taating an X-ray outfit, a modal dynamo and motors. Boys who come to Lane without definite ambitions, soon find just the things to interest and develop them. Interesting Shop Work, „ The shops at Lane have proved interesting to educators all over the world. In the wood shops there are examples of the work of the student*;

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INP. *

THE LANE SCHOOL

PATTERN MAKING

WILLIAM J. BOGAN PRINCIPAL

Mahogany and mission furniture, lamp stands and shades, desks, bookcases and library tables. Carpentry students make portablo cottages and garages. In the electric shop are toasters, flatirons, fans and wireless instrm ments, all the work of boys. Although primarily a technical school, art is not neglected. From free-hand drawing and drawing from live models, the student may take up architecture and designing. Later, he may do metal work and construct buckles, fobs, rings and bracelets. Because, for years, high-school students were in the habit of bringing indigestible lunches to school, or, worse still, spending their money on pickles and ice cream. Lane has installed a model cafeteria, where, at cost, the boys can get hot, appetizing lunches.

Although it is a most businesslike school, there is time for play, too. A coach directs football, track and baseball teams. Each year, too, there are two amateur plays. Four performances of each are given and several thousand dollars added to the school fund. There are orchestras and bands, too, composed of the musical students at Lane. On Sunday there are amateur and professional band concerts, attended not only by students and people who live near by; but by people who come miles to listen to good music. - Thirty Helpful Clubs. Over thirty clubs help the social side of the school. Nearly all of them are open to any student who is interested, for Lane is absolutely democratic in spirit Some of the clubs are the Wireless club, the Mathematics club, the Debating club, the Camera club, the Dramatic club, the Sketch club, the German club, the Economics club, the Skating club and the Civics Industrial club. Lane is not just for poor people. Some of the students arrive in their automobiles. A famous interior decorator is taking a course at Lane which will teach him about enameling woods, something he could not learn anywhere else in Chicago. A sculptor is taking a course in forging, because it will help him in the molding and casting of statues. Artistic women are learning how to make hand-wrought silver. But, in spite of this, the most popular students are those who are working their way through school. The majority of Lane boys, in fact, are working their way. Students Who Work. Under the direction of William J. Bogan, principal of Lane and noted educator, a man who understands youths, hundreds of positions are obtained for boys who must work for their board and clothing. These positions range from ushers in movie shows to workers in electric shops. All of them teach the boys to be self-reliant and independent and most of them are along the line of work that the boy wishes to take up when he has left school. To young and old Lano higli school offers hundreds of opportunities. Servians, Germans, Russians, Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos in Chicago are gaining there a real national spirit and a real education. Hundreds of Americans ate obtaining knowledge that will lead them to better positions and higher earnings. The school motto is "There is no royal road to learning, but there is an open Lane ” and the thousands who attend prove that they are anxious to take advantage of the “open Lane."

FROM OUR NEW DICTIONARY.

Patriot A man who bleeds for the benefit of his country. ** . Politician —A man who/ bleeds, his-.country for his own benefit. Widow —A female .of the species who usually believes 'she is am example of the survival of the fittest.— Indianapolis SISK

HARKING AWAY BACK.

“Know much about ancient history?" j "Not a great deal,” answered the man who lives by the day; “but I can remember when Anna Held was an ingenue.” '■ ■

Common American Birds

Russet-Backed Thrush (Hyloclchla ustulata) Length, seven and one-fourth inches. Among thrushes having the top of, head and tall nearly the same color as the back, this one is distinguished by its tawny eye-ring and cheeks. The Pacific coast subspecies is russet brown above, while the other subspecies is the olive-backed thrush. The remarks below apply to the species as a whole. Range: Breeds in the forested parts of Alaska and Canada and south to California, Colorado, Michigan, New York, West Virginia (mountains), and Maine; winters from Mexico to South America. Habits and economic status: This is one of a small group of thrushes the members of which are by many ranked first among American songbirds. The several members resemble one another in size, plumage, and habits. While this thrush is very fond of fruit, its partiality for the neighborhood streams keeps it from frequenting orchards far from water. It is most troublesome during the cherry season, when the young are in the nest. From this it might be inferred that the young are fed on fruit, but

such is not the case. The adults eat fruit, but the nestlings, as usual, are fed mostly upon insects. Beetles constitute the largest item of animal food, and ants come next. Many caterpillars also are eaten. The great bulk of vegetable food consists of fruit, of which two-fifths is of cultivated varieties. Where these birds live in or near gardens or orchards, they may do considerable damage, but they are too valuable as Insect destroyers to be killed if the fruit can be protected in any other way.

Catbird (Dumetella carolinersis) Length, about nine inches. The slaty gray plumage and black cap and tail are distinctive. Range: Breeds throughout the United States west to New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, and Washington, and in southern Canada; winters from the gulf states to Panama. Habits and economic status: In many localities the catbird is one of the commonest birds. Tangled growths are its favorite nesting places and retreats, but berry patches and ornamental shrubbery are not disdained. Hence the bird is a familiar dooryard visitor. The bird has a fine song, unfortunately marred by occasional cat calls. With habits similar to those of the mocking bird and a song almost as varied, the catbird has never secured a similar place in pop-

ular favor. Half of its food consists of fruit, and the cultivated crops most often injured are cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Beetles, ants, crickets, and grasshoppers are the most important element of its animal food. The bird is known to attack a few pests, as cutworms, leaf beetles, clover-root curculio, and the periodical cicada, but the good it does in this way. probably does not pay for the fruit it steals. The extent to which it should be protected •nay perhaps be left to. the individual cultivator; that is, it Should be made lawful to destroy catbirds that are doing manifest damage to’crops.

Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) Length, about nine inches. A gray, black, and white bird, distinguished from the somewhat similarly colored mocking bird by the black stripe on side of head. - Range;, Breeds throughout the United States, Mexico, and. southern Canada; winters in the southern half sf the United States and in Mexico.

Interesting mation about them supplied by the Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States of.

Habits and economic status: The loggerhead shrike, or southern butcher i bird, is common throughout its range and is sometimes called “French mocking bird” from a superficial resemblance and not from its notes, which are harsh and unmusical. The shrike is naturally an insectivorous bird which has extended its bill of fare to include small mammals, birds, and reptiles. Its hooked beak is well adapted to tearing its prey, while to make amends for the lack of talons it has hit upon the plan of forcing its victim, if too large to swallow, into the fork of a bush or tree, where it can tear it asunder. Insects, especially grase-

hoppers, Constitute the larger part of its food, though beetles, moths, caterpillars, ants, wasps, and a few spiders are also taken. While the butcher bird occasionally catches small birds, its principal vertebrate food is small mammals, as field mice, shrews, and moles, and when possible it obtains lizards. It habitually impales its surplus prey on a thorn, sharp twig, or barb of a wire fence.

California Jay (Aphelocoma californlca) Length 12 inches. Distinguished from other jays within its range by its decidedly whitish underpart* and brown patch on the back. Range: Resident in California, north to southern Washington, and south.to southern Lower California. Habits and economic status: This Jay has the same general traits of character as the eastern blue Jay. He is the same noisy, rollicking fellow and occupies a corresponding position in bird society. Robbing the nests of smaller birds is a favorite pastime, and he is a persistent spy upon domestic fowls and well knows the meaning of the cackle of a hen. Not only does he steal eggs but he kills young chicks. The insect food of this jay constitutes about one-tenth of its annual sustenance. The inclusion of grasshoppers and caterpillars makes this part of

the bird’s food id its favor. But the remainder cf Its animal diet includes altogether too large a proportion of beneficial birds and their eggs, and In this respect it appears to be worse than its eastern relative, the blue jay. While its vegetable food is composed largely of mast, at times Its liking for cultivated fruit and grain makes it a most unwelcome visitor to the orchard and farm. In conclusion it may be said that over much of its range this Jay is too abundant for the best interests of agriculture and horticulture.

As She Remembered It.

Miss Blanche Johnson, Sunday school teacher of a primary class at Hope Chapel, Nineteenth street and Washington avenue N, Minneapolis, is wondering whether her efforts toward uplifting humanity are worth while.' In a recent lesson she told the children how Moses had led the Israelites to the land of Canaan, guided through the wilderness at night by a pillar of fire. The next Sunday she sated the chil* dren what the previous lesson was about. An intelligent-appearing little girl raised her band and answered,: "The Israelites were led Into the land of Canaan by a caterpillar.’’—Waahj tngton Post. -