"The Heart Of O Sono San" And Other Hearts The use of the word novel as applied to a form of literature began in that wonderful century which saw Queen Elizabeth in her power and produced the plays of Shakespeare, the philosophy of Bacon and the poems of Spenser. John Lyly was the first to have the term "novelist" applied to him. His Euphues was called "a cunning courtship of fair words." Elizabeth Cooper's "The Heart of O Sono San" a novel of Japanese life may be said to be a "cunning courtship of fair words" but the courtship does not end with words. The book is all a blossom with lofty ideals, beautiful sentiment and pretty scenes. The book fully sustains the publisher's claim that this story of a Japanese woman is full of the poetry of lovely thoughts and deeds. How O Sono San was compelled to sacrifice the thing upon which she had centered her heart's affections -her precious doll in childhood, her manly lover in maidenhood, her noble son in motherhood is a story so spontaneously and so realistically told that it will leave its impress upon the hearts of readers young and old. Mrs. Cooper's stories are all characterized by this subtle heart quality which finds its way to the depths of one's emotional nature and which fulfills one of the highest functions of the novel. She does not lack in "fair words," neither do the fair words lack in warmth and meaning. This is one reason at least why she has been able to make her way to the front rank of fiction writers. Many hearts will throb with sympathy under the spell of the "Heart of O Sono San." The One Best Book on Brazil The following extract is from a review of Clayton Sedgwick Cooper's "The Brazilins and their Country" in the New York Sun. If a North American reader were compelled to restrict himself to one book to place in his library on Brazil and its people, past, present and future, we believe he could not do better than to select "The Brazilians and Their Country" (Frederick A. Stokes Company), by CLAYTON SEDGWICK COOPER. Brazil's recent entry into the great war makes the publication of such a work peculiarly seasonable at this time. It is not a mere compendium of history, geography and statistics, clothed in an atmosphere of dryness and accuracy, but it is a clearly drawn sketch of the land and people, with here and there a light or humorous touch, just such as a well informed gentleman might give to a group of friends. MR. COOPER did not live in Brazil so long as to lose the sense of what would be interesting to outsiders concerning the country and its inhabitants. long residence in a foreign land often deprives an alien of all appreciation of many of its essential characteristics. On the other hand, MR. COOPER lived there long enough to gain something more than mere surface impressions. The result is that he has told us in this volume precisely what an educated resiIdent of the United States of America wants to know about the United States of Brazil; and he has told it in a very interesting and entertaining way. A The Macmillan Company, New York Immensee. By Theodor Storm. Edited by Alma S. Fick, A. M. Madisonville High School, Cincinnati. Price $.40. Junior High School Mathematics, First Course. By William Ledley Vosburgh, Head of Department of Mathematics. The Boston Normal School, and Frederick William Gentleman, Junior Master, Department of Mathematics. The Mechanic Arts High School, Boston. Price $.75. EDITH CAVELL, war victim of Prussian barbarism whose last days are described by Hugh Gibson in his just published, "A Journal From Our Legation In Belgium" (Courtesy Doubleday Page & Company) DEPARTMENT OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS ASSOCIATION, INC. Patriotism. Cooperation. Progress. Economy Advisory Board-Thomas W. Churchill, Former President New York City Board of Education-W. C. Durand, President State Federation of District Boards of Education of New Jersey-Frank H. Sommer, Dean of New York University Law School, President Newark, N. J. Board of Education. Executive Secretary, Henry Sterling Chapin. Counsel, George W. Harper, Jr. Official Publication, Educational Foundations. Education is undoubtedly the most important single task which the government has assumed. More than one-fifth of all the revenues of our states and cities are used for education-Thomas Harrison Reed in Form and Function of American Government. School Board membership-an honor, a privilege, a responsibility. NEW JERSEY FEDERATION The editor of Educational Founda- THE QUESTIONNAIRE OF THE tions forwarded to DR. P. P. CLAXTON, the United States Commissioner of Education, the printed announcements of the S. B. M. A. The following letter assures us of the hearty cooperation of the Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTER- November, 19, 1917. MR. W. C. O'DONNELL, JR., The School Board Members Association, Inc., Dear Sir: I wish to thank you for information in regard to the School Board Members Association. I am in hearty sympathy with any movement that will give to members of school boards a better opportunity to understand their work, and to members of boards of education of one community an opportunity to know what is being done elsewhere. I shall be glad to assist you in any way I can at any time. Yours sincerely, It is the policy of the S. B. M. A. to encourage and to urge the organization of state federations of school board members. New Jersey seems to be the most progressive state in the union on this line. Possibly the impression is due to the proximity of that fair land just across the Hudson and as our knowledge is extended we may be compelled to acknowledge a change of opinion. We trust that our friends in other states will not be slow in claiming priority-if they can make good the claim. At any rate we want all the information possible and can make good use of it. This is where the principle of cooperation applies. But as to New Jersey, and because of the significance of the document we publish herewith a questionnaire sent out by the officers of the State Federation. Even the letter head is something of an inspiration and we, therefore, publish the communication just as it appears in the copy sent to us. We have also secured an interesting account of the New Jersey Federation from its worthy president, W. C. W. DURAND, which will be published in our next issue. The next meeting of the Federation is expected to be of exceptional importance, and in order that the widest range of subjects may be covered expeditiously, we are submitting a list of questions to all local boards, with a view of presenting those of most importance to the meeting for immediate attention, and ask that you favor the State School System, through the Federation, with your opinions and experience in these matters, as well as any other suggestions which you may have to offer: One: Do you favor a change in the State School Law reducing the number of members in local Boards Two: Do you favor the establishment of the office of State Supervisor of Attendance to aid, direct and sup- Three: Do you favor the policy of the consolidation of rural schools, including both Elementary and High Four: Five: Six: Do you favor a course in agriculture, as a required part of industrial training? What has been your experience with the present system of medical inspection, and what suggestions What method, in your opinion, can Boards of Education use to induce teachers to take advantage Seven: What is the attitude of teachers in your district toward the present compulsory membership in the Eight: What, in your opinion, is the most important work for the Federation, in its effort to improve the Please send reply at your earliest convenience to the Secretary in return envelope enclosed, in order that it may be classified and ready for consideration at the meeting. May we not urge that every local Board of Education be represented at the meeting of the Federation, which will be held on Saturday, December 1st, at the State House, Trenton, N. J., at 10.30 A. M. The Executive Board will meet on the evening of November 30th. We feel sure that everyone who attends this meeting will be greatly benefited and will appreciate more fully the impor tance of the Federation and its work. Boards who have not heretofore attended the meetings are urged to send their Representatives and enroll at this tine, and thereby aid in carrying out the objects of the Federation by raising the standards of our Educational System, our Citizenship and the more effective expenditure cf public money. THE WAR SAVING ON METHOD OF ORDERING TEXT BOOKS Earlier ordering of school text books by boards of education offers a fruitful field for saving in war time, according to HENRY P. KENDALL, of the Plimpton Press, whose statement on the subject has been transmitted to the Bureau of Education of the Department of the Interior. If the school boards can arrange to adopt school texts before January first, asserts MR. KENDALL, instead of waiting until the end of the school year in June, a large saving in the bookbinding trade will result. Ordering school textbooks earlier in the year will, it is declared, help to regularize employment in the school book trade, making uniform hours of work and rates of pay possible thruout the year. In one plant at the present time the hours of labor so vary between winter and summer, that on a basis of 100 per cent as the flat weekly wage, operators during the summer months, because of overtime, earn about 130 per cent, and during the winter months about 60 per cent. The workers are obliged to work very long hours in the summer time and go without vacations. Earlier ordering of school books will also conserve human energy, because it will make it possible to run a factory with a minimum number of employees; it will save machinery, because less will be required to produce; and it will save coal in conserving the beat, light, and power. Furthermore, the efficiency of the plant can be greatly increased where work is unifom in quantity, and the cost of production is much less in a plant where the product is produced more uniformly. As a result of MR. Kendall's suggestion, the Commissioner of Education has written to every city school board in the country asking whether it will not be possible hereafter to order schools books before the first of January. BOOK MENTION Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York and Chicago Riverside Educational Monographs. Edit- Iriquois Publishing Company, Syracuse, New York Bugle Calls of Liberty. Our National Reader of Patriotism by Gertrude Van Duyn Southworth, Author of "Great Cities of the United States," "Builders of Our Country," "A First Book in American History with European Beginnings," etc., etc. and Paul Mayo Paine, M. A., Librarian, Syracuse Public Library. Syracuse, New York. Princeton University Press Value of the Classics. Edited by Andrew F. West, Dean of the Graduate College, Princeton University. Price $1.50 cloth. Beckley-Cardy Company, Chicago Nixie Bunny in Faraway Lands. By Joseph C. Sindelar, Illustrations by Helen Geraldine Hodge. Price $.45. |