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001C9608 October 19, 1928. THE WEST VAN NEWS Correspondence Personals TEI ESEHOGTIE I.ESSOXS Editor West Van News, I confess that I feel some ap-pre ension as to some resultswh ch may follow from the twoarticles assailing home lessonsivhich appeared in your issue of~ 12th inst. Whatever truth thereis in them, their immediate ef-fect is likely to be not all for- tunate. Boys will be encourag- ed to shirk their home lessons: and parents with a love for gos- sip ivill refuse to keep the home quiet during the hours of even- ing stucly. The strongest argument that I can see against loading on an excessive amount of home work is the necessity for boys and girls giving assistance with home chores in this servantle« country. But the point has not been thought worth raising. IVe have had instead a strident in- sistance on the effect of home study in impairing the children' health, through its limiting the time available for recreation. I do not propose to discuss the case of girls, for I never at tend- ed a mixe(i school. But I have thought a good deal about boys in this connection. It would be easier to believe in the arImment if one could see the majority of boys engaged in healthy sport in such evening leisure as they pos- sess. It is rather disconcerting hoivever, to find mere loafing go- ing on to such an extent among the youiiger boys, and prema- ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ture flirtation among the older ~ ~ones. I cannot find anything in such authorities on hygiene as I have at hand ivhich recognizes these evening practices as bene- ficial. I have had a chance, hoiv- iver, to hear the views of some parents in the city which ivere rather illuminating. These men considered that a certain amount of home ivork ivas clesirable in order to limit the leisure of boys to a period ivhich they could use to advantage, instead of allow- ing them the whole evening and expecting them to fill it up ivith healthy and innocent activities, --a thing impossible to most boys. The attempt to secure it leads to more horse-play as a refuge from boredom; while a recognized study period, respect- ed by the parents, increases the zest of the boys during their play-hours. I et us be honest ivith our- selves, and recall our oivn school experience. Six hours of concen- trated atetntion ivould undoubt- edly be too much for any boy, as it ivould be for most men. But such concentration is very rare among boys. The great major- ity of my oivn generation gave tivo hours at most; and most of us gav«even less. I can only remember one boy who main- taiiied close at tention for as much as three hours. The rest of the time iv'is spent in talking and in ivork which only called for about 30 per cent. of our mental energy. And this ivas in one of the best schools in a large city, ivhere the results ivere ivell aboi'e the average, as shown by the number of boys who lived to become useful members of the community. I was merely an average boy, handicapped by cleficient physi- cal strength and a poor verbal memory. If home ivork coulcl have injured a boy. I should have been one of the sufferers. Rut it never injured me, although I had a fair share of home chores to do. Thero ivas one thing which would have helped me,-- a clear day on Saturday, instead of school attendance till 12. But ,that concession was ma~le long ago; ancl boys have now the whole of Saturday in ivhich to take long ivalks and engage in ttam games. Once a iveek is surely often enough to get work- «d up over a hard-fought game. Too continuous preoccupation Mrs. Ada W. Kirk, wife of Leslie Kirk, of Vancouver, ivas killed on Sunday near Ladner, when the auto in which she and her husband ivere riding turned over in a ditch. Funeral servic- es ivere held yesterday at the blount Pleasant Undertaking ( o.'s chapel and interment ivas macle in Alountain Vieiv ceme- tery. D. Kirk, one of the teach- ers on the staff of the Pauline Johnson School, is a brother-in- laiv of the deceased. Ernest Smith, 15th and Esqui- malt, has returned home from Swift ( urrent, where he has been for some iveeks assisting in the wheat harvest. He re- ports exc.llent crops in that sec- tion of Saskatcheivan. 0 0 0 3lrs. Frank Johnstone, 20th ancl Inglewoocl, who is seriously ill, was taken to the North Van- couver General Hospital on KVed- nesday. with athletics can be as tiresome and will cripple the mental pow- ers as surely qs continuous drudgery, if less rapidly. Written home work is likely to be the storm-centre of discus- sion. Indolent teachers will grasp eagerly at any pretext for evading ivhat is admittecl to be about the most tiresome of a teachers'ork,-- the careful cor- rection of ivrit ten exercises. There are many pupils who can- not learn a thing thoroughly in the noise and distraction of a class-room. Such pupils never ivork at anything approaching full pressure in school. They neecl to have quiet and to take their own time in order to close the gaps in their knoivledge. Their homes ought to provide them ivith the opportunity for quiet ivork ivhich it is impossible to fi»d in a day-school. As long as the pupils in a class number from tiventy to forty, home ivork will be necessary. No true teacher will be willing to lose the opportunities for help- ing the merely average boys ancl the dull boys ivhich are afforded by the exercises ivrit ten in a home ivhere the children get half a chaiice to clo them. Yours truly, J. PORTF.R. '.xc usIve ..'ea:ures are embodied in Every New Rogers-Batteryless Model. I -- I Yeari of I'l(OVFN I'Elt- FOlt il AN('E -- in thous- ands of homes throughout Canada -- under widely vari~ operating co~i I ' t iona. 2--The ltogera A C TUBE-- the Grat ~ucceiaaful type of the A (: Tl:IIE placed on the market -- Fully guaranteed. 3--AUTr&IA1IC VOI.TAr.E C()NTIIOL--~ hich main taina uniform vultage on the tubes, no matter «hat fluctuations may occcur in the e'.ectrie power line roltage. I--I'I{ON O(i II A I'Il "I'L UC-IN" JACK--in conjunc- tion with etectrical pick- up unit gives proper re- production on any phono- graph uf new type reeorcL» 5--Ito('El(S OI.'T-I'UT FI I.- TRIt--provid~ greater ciarity and fidelity of ton- al reproduction 6--AI)I)EI) VAI.UE-- I.OiV- ER COST -- ilore dollar for dollar a alue in high quality eleetrie radio than has been thought poaIible heretofore I'riced from You are assured of conscientious deal --all the benefits that come from tation of'he J. lV. KEI.I.Y I'IANO ( i' i ~ ~ The High School pupils have formed an orchestra under the clirection of J. R. i~fitchell, and are noiv practising assiduously. ~ 0 0 Alr. Beaman, 12th and Duch- ess, moved yesterday to South Vancouver. 0 The girls of Grade 9, Domestic Science class gave a tea on Wecl- nesclay afternoon at Ingleivood School to their parents an.l friends. .00 on easy terms. expert service, a square with a House of the repu- I). advice, dealing O., LT The Eclitoi As n parent and an ex-teacher of considerable experience I should like to reply to your lead- er and correspondent in last is- sue on "Home Work for School Children." It seems to me large- ly "much ado about nothing" ariel certainly the term cruel se:ms quite ridiculous--unnec- essary it might be under an en- tirely different school syllabus. But surely the average child is not undermined in health by oneor tivo hours'tudy in the early evening FOUR times a iveek, even if he has been to school five or six hours during the day. A great part of these school hours is not occupiecl by poring over books, but by learning from the teacher and taking part in such exercises as drawing, painting, manual ivork, drill and singing, ivhich form part of every school curriculum. The children who dream at night of school studies, are eith- er suffering from indigestion, or are in such a poor state of health that they probably should be do- ing NO school work at all. To put it briefly, given the normal child, sensible parents and reasonable teachers, home ivork is beneficial rather than harmful, at least that is the op- inion of NICK WILLI/iMSON N orth Shore Representative J. M. KELLY PIANO CO. LTD.Ted Kennett of the West Van.Garage, has returned from a hunting trip in the country a- round Yale and the Emory Riv- er. He had no luck, as the mild iveather is keeping the deer up in the mountains. 0 4 0 K. Sogoff of Whytecliff, is en- gaged in building a cut-out on hlarine Drive at Eagle Harbour. Chris. Alstrum, 17th and Bel- levue, has left for a trip to the northern part of Vancouver Is- land. He does not expect to be back until Christmas. &Irs. G. E. Hamilton and Mrs. J. L. Dunbar, both of Canso, Nova Ccotia, were the guests on Sunday of AIrs. George Pineo, 13th and Keith Road. ~AIrs. Waugh, 13th and i~larine Drive, ivho underivent an opera- tion at the end of last iveek at the North Vancouver General Hospital, is making good pro- gress. I'hone: IVest .'350-R. IIollyburn Pavilion, AVest Vancouver, B. C. centages for month in which reg- ular examinations occur. i.e., October, January, Easter and June, and that symbol letters be used in the intervening months. After discussion it was decid- ed that the Principals'eport be accepted and that they be asked to adopt this arrangement with a vieiv to having a uniform method of marking cards in all public schools. School Trustees Meet The Hoard of School Trustees held the regular meeting on Thursday the 11th instant, in Ingleivood School, there being present Chairman Elgar and Trustees i~lessrs. Edington, Fid- d.s, Leyland and ~ilrs. Robinson. The sessions continued from 7.30 to 11 p. m. Considerable routine matters were dealt ivith amongst ivhich were several requests for the use of the auditorium of the school. The policy of the Board in re- stricting this privilege as far as possible to purely school activi- ties ivas hoivever maintained ancl some requests had necessarily to be refused. CHILDREN'S DANCING CLASS ~IEETS EACH lVEDX ESDAY The children's dancing class conducted by bliss Kathleen Ellis at the Clachan started the sea- son's ivork last wednesday aft- ernoon. bliss Ellis teaches all kinds of fancy dancing and also physical culture training. The need for this special training for children is ivell realized by par- ents, and it is expected that quite a large class will be form- ed. i~liss Ellis is a thoroughly experienced teacher, having for some years been specially suc- cessful in this training in Eng- land, and those sending their children can be assured of their receiving the very best training. The class meets each wednesday at 0 p. m. Further information can be obtained by phoning bliss Ellis at 9 est 147R3. Teachers Ask Holiday for Con- vention. The North Shore Teachers's- sociation ivrote the Board ask- ing that a school holiday be al- loived on Friday, November 23rd in order to release teachers to attend the Annual Convention to be helcl on that elate. The Boar~i advised the association that they could not consider closing of schools on any school day for this purpose. 3lrss. C. O'. Stevenson, 19th and Bellevue, ivho has been sick for many iveeks, is now a little better and able to be up occas- ionally. Her many friends hope that her recovery ivill noiv be rapicl. i41rs. Stevenson is clerk of the Baptist Church. i41rs. Chet Shields will be leav- ing at the end of next week for a visit to relatives in Seattle and Portland and will probably be aivay for a couple of iveeks. &bliss Villa IlcLean, 19th and Wilarine Drive, has returned from Nanaimo, ivhere she attendecl the semi-annual provincial meet- ing of the I.O.D.E. as delegate of the Duncan Laivson Chapter. 0 0 0 The municipal board of ivorks has built a goo(i ivooden sideivalk in front of the neiv premises of the IVest Vancouver Lumber Co. «t the corner of 15th ancl i~larine Yours truly, GRACE W. GLEED, LL.A. LITERARY SOCIETY 'The operiing meeting of this so- ciety was held on Thursday eve- ning, 11t h inst .. ivhen the inaug- ural address ivas given by the presiclent, Rev. A. ~I. O'Don»ell. He took as his subject 'The Fac- tors in Social Progress," ancl treated it in an unusual ivay,the acldress being a review of the once famous book of Buckle,"History of Civilization in Eng-land." Ile gave a careful ac- count of Buckle's rather rigicl conception of the relatioris be- tiveen man aiid his surroundings and the methods, mainly statis- tical, by ivhich that author sought to establish his coriclu- sions. The lecturer then com- parecl Buckle's method and con- clusions ivith those which arecurrent to(lay after the lapse of 70 years, iioiv that psycholopyhas changecl the outlook and thelimitations of statistical meth- ods are being realizecl. Both sub- j ee t a ncl t re atment ivere t hor- oughly appreciated by the socii- ty, and a cordial vote of tli'inks was passed to the lecturer «t the close. &glarking of Report Cards. Principal Dailclhon of the Ho]]iburn School and Principal Brealey ivaited on the board in reference to pupils monthly re- port cards. They stated that it ivas impracticable to shoiv per- centages on report cards each month as certain subjects clicl not carry marks ancl percentages coulcl only be given ivheii exam- inations are held, aiid to hold monthly examinations ivould in- terfere too much ivith school ivork. They recommended that report cards be filled in by per- XEiV ilE KT STORE OPEN 1XDIORROiV The Ambleside ~leat ~larket 's the name of the neiv butcher store to be opened tomorroiv mo."n.ng by James Jefferies. Tl'.e "ter. is located in the IVharton H!oek oii Alarine Drive and ivill be in charge of Joe ~!urch. A full 1:ne of all the things usual- ly found in a butcher store ivill 4 kept in stock. ~lr. Jefferies ii'il! still look after the Holly- b; .'.". store.Play a game of 3 tables for yoLI I plca80 I'0 The colored janitor waa listening to an cto tu~nt prayer by the new pastor. "Do you think he's as good as our former pastor'." asked one of the dea- cons after the service. had.- 14th Street "Ah certainly does, boss. itchy, dat