school room on the lawn for Miss Field and the game that she had promised to teach them at her next visit. The next ten minutes on the well-kept lawn cemented more closely the friendships of the school room and left each child richer in social possibilities.

On the way back to Clarinda, Miss Field stated briefly her educational principles and her methods of work as county superintendent.

When she entered the office, the schools of Page County were little better or worse than the ordinary country system in lowa. The teachers were, for the most part, without special training and there was little professional enthusiasm. It was no unusual thing to change positions at the end of each school term of two or three months. Most of the country pupils dropped out of school at the end of the period of compulsory attendance, and only about fifty per year completed the eighth

MISS JESSIE FIELD

AND ONE OF THE BOYS WHO WON A TROPHY FOR PRIZE CORN

Babcock milk tester." A grammar lesson was in progress. Even in this formal subject there appeared many applications of Miss Field's motto: "We must teach a country child in terms of country life." The boy who was called on to illustrate a compound sentence did not struggle vainly to remember some sentence which he had seen in the book or had read in ancient history, but, looking quite naturally out of the school window on a neighboring orchard, said, "It is the 9th of October, and the farmers are gathering apples."

At the close of the school I was honored with a special introduction to the girl who took the prize for the best cookies at the last industrial fair, to the boy who had taken the prize for the best ear of corn, and to the school representative in the industrial fair organization, with whom Miss Field held a brief consultation about the next school exhibit.

In the meantime the children who had been dismissed were waiting outside the

THE CHAMPION BREAD MAKER FROM MISS FIELD'S SCHOOLS. LOIS EDMONDS, WHO WON THE PRIZE IN A STATEWIDE COMPETITION FOR THE BEST LOAF OF BREAD IN IOWA

grade. The teachers taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and the other elementary subjects in the ordinary, conventional way. Hence they believed that, if you developed a boy's general intelligence by means of parsing, he would instinctively know how to select a milch cow or how to organize a coöperative fruit grower's association; or if he learned about the German Empire thoroughly, he would in some way develop later into a good corn grower or an enthusiastic poultry breeder; or if he learned to solve problems in cube root, he would of course know how to estimate the capacity of a corn crib or test a sample of milk for the percentage of butter-fat. They assumed that if a pupil worked hard enough on the ideas and ideals connected with the history of Egypt, he would thereby eventually develop a patriotic devotion to Page County.

Miss Field adopted a very simple philosophy. It was this: "If mental discipline acquired in one field of study spreads over the border and enables the student to work better in another, why shouldn't we begin with the actual life of Page County and spread out from there? Instead of trying to teach a love for the whole United States in general and trusting that in some mysterious way this will eventually percolate down to the school district, why not aim to develop an intense love for the school and a loyalty to Page County and let this gradually expand into a larger patriotism?”

Miss Field's philosophy has worked. Her first task was to inspire and train her teaching force. As she visited the schools of the county she picked out from the 130 teachers a dozen who were willing to meet regularly and led them to organize themselves into a Progressive Teachers' Club. These began a systematic study of the specific rural school problems of the county and made a steady effort to relate their schools vitally to the life of the community. Certain definite things to be done by the teachers were fixed as prerequisites to admission to the organization, and one by one the other teachers applied for membership and were received until now every teacher in the county

is a member of the Progressive Club. Few of these teachers are college or normal school graduates. Most have received their professional training as the result of their experience under Miss Field's supervision, in the discussions of the Progressive Club, in the county institute, or in the summer session of the state normal school. Thirty-five teachers from the county attended the state summer school during the past summer. The county institute is held for ten days during the summer. I asked Miss Field if attendance at the institute were compulsory. She replied that it was purely voluntary. "How many of your teachers attend?" I asked. "They were all there," she answered, as if it were a matter of course.

Miss Field is a sincere friend to all her teachers, and they are loyal to her accordingly. The salary schedule in Page County is higher than the average in Iowa. Miss Field's own example is a continuous lesson in appreciation, and the school patrons have not been slow to learn to express their appreciation in those ways which mean quite as much as money to the conscientious worker.

The ideals for the year are set before the teachers in a list of questions on school progress that is sent out early and that is returned at the close of the school term. The blank contains such questions as these:

Has your school year been lengthened? Are the teachers' wages higher than last year? Have the number of classes on the programme been lessened? How many attendance certificates have you issued? How many diplomas and pins? Have the older pupils remained through the school year? Can your school sing "lowa"? Did your school take any part in the county essay contest? In the county boys and girls' industrial exposition and corn show? Are there boys and girls in your district enrolled in the state junior agricultural work? Have you taught the farm arithmetic work? What have you done in manual training and hand work? State anything else that you have done to connect your school more closely with the farms and homes in your district and to serve their interests.

Have you a school garden? State all that has been done to make the school house and grounds more beautiful and useful. Are your pupils thoughtful and courteous? Is Is there improvement in habits of study? Has your school done Has your school done anything for your district in the way of literary societies and social recreations? We may easily imagine the effect of such definite and concrete ideals set before the teachers.

Early next morning I found Miss Field in her office with her secretary, opening the day's mail. Many of the letters were from members of her student coöperative committee, which has a representative in every school. They were in response to inquiries from Miss Field concerning the pupils of the district who had not yet started to school. She finds the student committee one of her strongest helpers in the county organization. On display in the office were the state trophies that had been won by the schools of the county.

We were soon in the car again and on our way to the Olive Branch school. Although the morning was inclement most of the pupils were on hand. We arrived for the opening exercise. Among the songs were "lowa" and "The Whistling Farmer Boy."

The morning nature lesson was a recognition and discussion of weeds that had been gathered on the way to school, and a drill on the recognition of the varieties of apples that were being harvested in the community. It was October 10th, the day on which seed corn is selected in Iowa. A pupil gave the reasons for picking seed corn at that time, and two boys with a string exemplified the best way to hang up the corn after it has been selected. The primary reading lesson that followed was based on a chart that had been made by the teacher in which she had used the pictures of birds common in the community, with sentences about the appearance and habits of each.

The arithmetic class was studying mensuration. The pupils had each been told to measure a corn crib at home, and the problems that were given them to work at the board had to do with the

capacity of the crib, the amount of corn that it would hold, and the value of the corn. For the guidance of her teachers and pupils along practical lines, Miss Field has written a farm arithmetic, that she calls "a book of real problems for farm boys and girls," and which she says "contains nothing about longitude or time, cube root, English money, or the binomial theorem, but is devoted to the sort of work that the farm boys and girls will use every day in actual life."

The manual training work for the boys displayed in the school room was related to the practical work of the farm, and included such pieces as kitchen tables, milk stools, and models for farm devices that had been made during the year.

This same common-sense adaptation of the conventional course of study to the needs of every day life characterized all the schools we visited. Not that the knowledge of the pupils is confined to local material, but in their contemplation of the distant Italy beyond the Alps they habitually recognize the solid earth of Page County beneath their feet.

Miss Field has not found it desirable to develop extensive school gardens. The school grounds are covered with bluegrass, are well-kept, and are usually ornamented with beds of tulips and other simple flowers. The dominant motive in Page County is to centre in the home the larger part of the pupil's activity. The summer holiday prevents a full development of the school garden, and the work at home under the inspiration of the school enlists a more active interest on the part of the parents.

The motive for the manual and industrial work is furnished by the county industrial fair that is held every December. At this fair prizes are offered by the business men of the county for all kinds of handiwork, and the boys and girls of the county are busy months in advance preparing for it. The county superintendent of education and the teachers furnish the suggestions, directions, and the inspiration for this work, and the pupils do it mostly at home. As we rode over the county Miss Field pointed out the home where the boy lived who had taken first prize

on his acre yield, or where the girl lived who had been a member of the cooking team that had won the state trophy at Ames.

Occasionally we came to a section of the road that was very much better than other sections over which we had passed. Miss Miss Field explained that one prize at the industrial fair was given for the best model of the King road drag, and that the automobile association had offered a prize to the Page County boy who, with a road drag, would keep a half mile of road in the best condition. She pointed out the home of a boy who had been thought incorrigible, but who had been changed into one of the most reliable boys in the county through the activity and interest that had been aroused by participation in a corn raising and corn judging contest. She told how handy farm devices, model kitchens, and devices for lightening the labor in the home are becoming universal in the county through the influence of the models exhibited in the school contests at the industrial fair; how prizes offered for miniature model farms, showing the placing of house, barns, orchard, pasture, and giving a crop rotation plan for five years, had resulted not only in a creditable exhibit but also in a universal knowledge of the best crop rotations for the county.

Entry in the industrial fair may be made by the individual boys and girls or by the school. A silver trophy is awarded to the school making the best exhibit. The child who does not win in these contests is not forgotten, and every exhibitor is presented with the clover leaf pin of Page County.

selected and sent to take the agricultural short course offered at the state college of agriculture in January. The Page County team has won the state trophy in corn judging for two years in succession, and hopes next January to win it for the third time and thus to keep it permanently. The boys who go to Ames come back to the county and help teach the younger boys who will later hold up the banner of Page County.

The boys' camp was such a success that the people thought they must have a camp for the girls also. They called it "The Camp of the Golden Maids." The girls at the camp study cooking and sewing under Mrs. Knowles and Miss Campbell of the state college. The county cooking team was selected and sent to the state college for the short course, and, as you may easily guess, brought home the state cooking trophy which now keeps company with the other trophies in the county superintendent's office.

All this work has resulted in a Page county school spirit that is almost invincible. One noteworthy result of the new educational spirit is the almost total elimination of the school discipline problem. The boys and girls are too busy for mischief, and the teachers are too busy and interested to indulge in those morbid mental states that make school management difficult.

At the close of the school session every spring, graduating exercises are held at convenient points in the county, and those who have finished the course in the elementary schools meet and, in the presence of parents and friends, are awarded the county certificate.

Two years ago the Omaha Exposition. offered an automobile as a prize to the county whose schools would send the best agricultural and industrial exhibit. Page county won. What should be done with the automobile? "Why, give it to Miss Field, of course, so that she can come to see us oftener," was the answer in one voice. Miss Field has the automobile yet, and almost every day in Page County you may meet her out among the county schools, an inspiration to all who come in

(MANAGING EDITOR OF

"

N THE winter of 1910 and the following spring, I made an extensive trip through a large portion of China, from southern Manchuria to Canton and from Shanghai to Han-kow, studying the condition of the Empire. I was amazed to find the revolutionary spirit so great among the people in all the large centres that I visited. Revolutionary topics were openly discussed in the commercial guilds, in the literary clubs, in the schools, in the inns, and in official circles. Among the well informed officials, the breaking out of the revolution was confidently expected at any time, as they knew that it could not be delayed much longer, and they accordingly had taken measures to safeguard their interests. Such men as Dr. Wu Ting-fang, the former Chinese minister at Washington; Lord Li Ching Fong, the adopted son of Li Hung Chang and former Chinese ambassador at the court of St. James's; Viceroy Sen Chun Shun, Marquis Tseng, and others made feverish haste to convert into cash whatever property they had that was within the jurisdiction of the Chinese Government and to invest only in the foreign concessions under the protection of foreign governments! One of these men told me that he was afraid that at any time a revolution might come and leave him penniless if he did not invest his wealth in foreign concessions.

Was the Manchu Government blind to this state of affairs? It had eyes to see but it had no strength to cope with the situation. What could it do? There were no able men in the Government's service, for the few really able men had

been dismissed through personal grudge. It simply resigned to the inevitable, and adopted an "after me the deluge" policy, hoping that those then in the service might be permitted to live, in peace and grow rich in graft, and that the storm of popular wrath might break on others' heads.

The Chinese revolution is the realization of the long centuries of dreams of the Chinese race. The alien Manchus had firmly established themselves on the Chinese throne and soil in 1644, and the first revolutionary society was organized in 1646 under the title of "Heaven and Earth League," by Chiang Ching Kung, a great Chinese scholar and patriot. Since 1644 fifty-three rebellions and attempts at rebellions have taken place, and each one was crushed by the Manchu Government with more or less bloodshed. All the former rebellions sought only to place a Chinese in place of a Manchu on the throne

to substitute a native monarchy for a foreign monarchy. But the present revolution was animated by a more lofty and modern policy, namely: to expel the Manchus from political power and to establish a republic.

The change of political faith among the revolutionists from monarchism to republicanism was definitely decided upon in 1897 at a conference of revolutionary leaders at Tokio, among whom, Dr. Sun Yat Sen, China's first provisional president, was the moving spirit. After thorough discussion, the idea of establishing a Chinese dynasty in the event of a successful revolution was found to be impracticable and hence was abandoned. To these enlightened leaders the establish