corporated as a third-class city on December 18, 1889, and since that time,-because of its great and steadily increasing steel interests it has had an amazing growth, 21,805 in 1890; 35,936 in 1900; 55,482 in 1910; and the present population is estimated at 82,000.

There are 25 public school buildings, with 320 teachers and 9,703 pupils enrolled, and nine parochial schools, with 79 teachers and 3,795 pupils. In addition, the city has two business colleges, free night schools, and the first real Junior High School to be established in the State. A new Junior High School to accommodate 2,400 pupils is now being erected. The building will contain an auditorium seating 1,900 persons, two gymnasiums, a large recitation building, a vocational building for boys, and a household arts building for girls. Supt. Adee in his address of welcome to the Association tells a wonderful story of Johnstown to which the reader is referred.

To return to the Johnstown meeting. The officers of the Association were Charles S. Davis, Steelton, President; E. M. Rapp, Reading, 1st Vice-President; Miss Rebecca M. Orth, Harrisburg, 2d Vice-President; J. P. McCaskey, Lancaster, Secretary; and J. C. Wagner, Carlisle, Treasurer. The Executive Committee: Charles S. Davis, Chairman, Steelton; E. M. Rapp, Reading; George Wheeler, Philadelphia; Miss Mattie M. Collins, Lock Haven; C. B. Connelley, Pittsburgh; Geo. M. Philips, West Chester; Nathan C. Schaeffer, Harrisburg. The Department Presidents: J. Kelso Green, Carlisle, County Superintendence; Chas. F. Hoban, Dunmore, City and Borough Superintendence; E. L. Kemp, Stroudsburg, College and Normal School; S. R. McClure, Braddock, School Directors; Ronald P. Gleason, Scranton, High School; J. J. Brehm, Harrisburg, Graded School; L. Ray Appleman, Benton, Township School; Mrs. Anna G. Green, Williamsport, Manual Arts; A. L. Fillmore, Pittsburgh, Music; Miss Clara E. Howard, Pittsburgh, Library; Mrs. Charles Long, Wilkes-Barre, School Patrons; Ira S. Wolcott, Altoona, Chairman, Child Study Round Table; D. S. Hartline, Bloomsburg, Chairman Nature Study Round Table; H. G. Parkinson, State Colledge, Chairman Pennsylvania Association for Promotion of Agricultural Education and Rural Life (Affiliated Body); C. B. Connelly, Pittsburgh, Chairman Branch of American School Peace League (Affiliated Body).

The opening meetings were held by the High School Department in the auditorium of the High School on Wednesday afternoon and evening, the general subject be

ing Physical Education in the afternoon, and in the evening an address on "Modern Organization for War Organization for War" by Dr. Ira N. Hollis, of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The Departments and Round Tables, whose sessions were held on Thursday and Friday mornings, presented programmes that had been very carefully considered, and their proceedings will be given in the general report in form as full and complete as they are received by us.

The General Sessions opened on Thursday at 2 o'clock with devotional exercises and music. The various meetings of the week, both of the General Sessions and of the departments, were well attended. The enrollment at this writing has gone beyond ten thousand. Many towns have done better than last year, and some of the counties not so well. The program arranged by Prof. Charles S. Davis, Principal of the Steelton High School, which came in for high praise on all hands, was admirably carried through to the end, despite two or three necessary shifts of speaker and subject owing to slow trains or other cause. President Davis was especially happy in introducing the different speakers, and tells us that he enjoyed the meeting as much as "going through the chairs some years ago of the Masonic Lodge of which he is a member. The music was unusually good, the novel feature of Community Singing on Thursday evening attracting a crowded house. Everything possible was done by Superintendent Adee, the school authorities and the business organizations of the City for the convenience and comfort of the Association.

The reports of proceedings from day to day by the newspapers of Johnstown,-the Democrat, the Tribune and the Leader,were more full and satisfactory than at any previous meeting in the history of the Association. The writer has attended these meetings for more than fifty years and knows whereof he speaks.

Vocational Efficiency was given a large place on the program, Supt. L. E. McGinnis presented "The Home School, a Phase of Modern Education for Girls," in a way to attract wide and earnest attention. Mr. L. H. Dennis, of the Department of Public Instruction, Director of Agricultural Education, spoke suggestively of the growth and status of Agricultural Education in Pennsylvania. Dr. Herrick, President of Girard College, made a very clear showing of the genesis and development of Business Education in America.

State Supt. Schaeffer spoke in his practical way of "Some Pressing Problems' and Dr. Becht of the State Board, presented the report of the committee on the

place of Physical Education in the Schools. Governor Brumbaugh discussed Taxation and the Schools, and advised a larger percentage of State revenues for the schools, revision of local taxation to a more equitable basis, and the careful building up of the permanent school fund from proper directions, such as money left on deposit in banks in cases where the owner cannot be found, and which does not belong to the bank.

Dr. Cornman of Philadelphia, whose good work for the Teachers' Retirement Fund in Pennsylvania will long be remembered, made report of the Legislative Committee with special reference to this important bill. Prof. C. R. Dooley, from the Educational Department of the Westinghouse Company, knows Corporation Schools, and other schools. He discussed their work and spoke sanely of their cooperation with public schools. Rev. John McDowell, of Baltimore, thrilled his audience with the high thought of the responsibility of the schools for the development of Christian character for world leadership. He is a man of influence in the army camps. Dean Andrew F. West, of Princeton, read one of the very best papers of the sessions. Earnest souls are awake when such men as he talk. Read his address-there's the mighty power of truth in it. Dr. William McAndrew, Associate Superintendent of schools of New York and founder of the Washington Irving High School, does things, and is always heard with interest and attention. He can teach, and it is little wonder that a teacher or school official of his quality is a brilliant success. He told a little story in his graphic fashion that gave him, nearly fifty years ago, a true grip of the real thingheroism-honesty in work. Turn to the address of Mr. McAndrew, read the story, learn to tell it, and you will be a better teacher and his debtor for the rest of your life. He is one of those versatile school men who can play a piano or other musical instrument. When there was call on the stage for a pianist, and no one happened to be near, he sat down, struck the opening chords and played the accompaniment.

The growing interest in what is known as Community Music-which Supt. Hoban, of Dunmore, has been urging to good purpose was emphasized on Thursday evening.

It was all Music-solo, chorus, orchestra, address-Music with a capital letter. The Association never before saw such a night. There were present live men and women who should date their awakening, as teachers, to a consciousness of what they can do for Music in their communities and for their communities in Music from December 27, 1917, at the Cam

bria theater in Johnstown. Mrs. Cobb sang her solos well, Miss Mary R. Lowman led her well-trained high-school orchestra delightfully, as well as the ladies' chorus of the Fortnightly Club and her great audience on the old songs. And the large Civic Chorus from the balcony called up the Long Ago as only the songs we love can do this. Mr. John C. Freund, editor of Musical America, New York, was the speaker of the evening. He fitted into the setting, and was there for his love of Music. He talked with enthusiasm for an hour, showed the need of music everywhere, and urged the imperative demand that Americans acquire their knowledge of music in America, to encourage American talent which can be fairly matched with the talent of any other people in the world.

A chance was given to see what the schools of Johnstown are doing for deficient pupils in an exhibition at the high school where some of the pupils were at work. In the high-school library there was an interesting display of penmanship. The dental clinic quarters also were open for inspection, with their $1,000 equipment. In the dental parlor a qualified specialist gives half of each school day to free treatment of the teeth of pupils who cannot afford to pay for the work.

An interesting feature of the convention was the nature study display in one of the halls of the high school. Many pictures of birds were hung on the wall. These were outlined by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and the coloring was done by grade children of the schools of Ithaca, N. Y. Mrs. Anna Comstock is editor of the Nature Study Review, a magazine devoted to scientific studies of nature in elementary schools. About 75 per cent. of all nature study in this country and in Canada is said to be based on Mrs. Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. Is it true that "Nature Study is the alphabet of Agriculture?"

What Johnstown is contributing to the physical physical preparedness movement now sweeping the country was put in concrete form before the city and borough school superintendents by Physical Director Hugo Thomas in the High-School auditorium. He had a class of a dozen boys and about two dozen girls on the stage for an hour, showing the various exercises which the average Johnstown school boy and girl are given every day. It was an innovation for the State Teachers' Convention and one that met with instant approval. The physical director, in a brief introductory talk, emphasized the need of strong men and women. It was his purpose to show that the Johnstown men and women of tomorrow will be a stronger and a healthier people than those of today. He then called

his class. It had been picked almost at random and did remarkably well. Every form of physical culture work was exhibited by the two groups. During the exercises he explained the why and wherefore of each movement, told what muscles were brought into play and the benefits from the exercise.

Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, made a startling address Saturday morning at the high school. He told how every American boy returning from Europe is saddened by the German cruelty and the French agony, which have cut so deep that the wound must leave its life-long scar. He related the ways and means of the Germans for encouraging their men to forget all humanism and to make use of horrible devices for torturing old men, women and children in order to inspire fear and dread in the hearts of the fighting men. He told how the Kaiser has put cruelty into the hearts of his men, his reasons for doing so, and his excuses for doing so. Dr. Hillis said: "What the individual, or nation, thinks in heart, that is what is done in life. The God of the Kaiser is my Devil." He told that the country in and about France has been de

vastated. The country has not been stripped

of all vegetation, but chlorine and other poisons have been dumped into the wells, so that the land has been ruined for a long time to come. The homes and all the villages have been burned or at least so ruined that no buildings are inhabitable. All the food has been carried away from the invaded towns, and the people who escaped the German guns are left to starve. It was a frightful story of the atrocities of Ger

many.

We have thought for many years, from long and varied experience in the school room, that good memory work in literature -and plenty of it, by teacher and pupilis the best work done in any school. We have urged it in season and out of season upon the attention of teachers and superintendents and school officials. It was interesting to be told at Johnstown by each of the two eminent teachers, William McAndrew and Cheesman A. Herrick, that they also are of decided opinion and resolute practice in this direction. The former would not permit a girl to graduate from his Washington Irving High School unless she knew by heart a definite list of choice things in prose and poetry, and the latter requires that each of the grades in Girard College shall commit to memory, as the boys move on through the years, not a few of the best things in literature which they can appreciate and enjoy and never lose out of their lives. These are, in part, printed in pamphlet form for greater con

venience. "And we all like it," says Dr. Herrick with enthusiasm. God bless the men and women of vision, who are doing such great work as this!

The In Memoriam to everybody's friend, Henry Houck, on Friday evening was a memorable occasion. A year ago at Harrisburg he spoke words of welcome to the Association, taking the place of Governor Brumbaugh who had gone to Huntingdon to the burial of his father. Let a worthy monument rise over his grave. Let the spring and fall Arbor days of 1918 plant hundreds and thousands of long-lived trees everywhere in Pennsylvania, in beautiful memorial, to keep his memory green.

Henry Houck and David S. Keck-both gone within the year-one known far and wide among men, the other a no less faithful toiler in the quiet ways of life. We bid you greeting, comrades on the march and by the camp fire, and-Farewell. Farewell! a word that hath been and must be, A sound that makes us linger, yet-Farewell!

GENERAL SESSIONS.

THE sixty-eighth meeting of the Penn

sylvania State Educational AssociaThursday and Friday, adjourning at noon tion was held at Johnstown on Wednesday, on Saturday, December 29th.

The general sessions were called to order in the Cambria Theater on Thursday at 2 o'clock by President Charles S. Davis, Principal of the Steelton High School. Rev. C. C. Hays, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Johnstown, read a selection from the Scriptures and made the opening prayer in which he asked divine help and guidance for our country in the world war for democracy and the lasting peace of the nations.

After a stirring song and encore by Mrs. William Cavanaugh, Prof. J. N. Adee, Superintendent of Schools of the city of Johnstown, made the address of welcome as follows:

ADDRESS OF WELCOME.

Mr. President and Fellow Teachers of Pennsylvania.

This is the first time that this association has met in Johnstown. I sincerely assure you a most hearty welcome on the part of our city officials, the board of education, the Chamber of Commerce, the teachers, and the citizens of our city. We consider it a great honor and privilege to entertain you, not because we can be of any particular assistance to you, but because of the real educational inspiration you will be to us and this entire populous section of the

state.

A committee of the business men of the city and the directors of the Chamber of Commerce asked me to tell you that they are especially delighted to have this convention meet here. It is due to the financial support of these men that we are able to hold our general sessions in this beautiful theater. They want you to distinctly understand that they think the teachers of this state are at all times entitled to the best consideration of the citizens of their respective communities.

Indeed, we have been dreaming and planning a long time for this great day in our history. Knowing that we would have to attain to a certain size and importance as a municipality to attract you, we have been making unusually rapid progress during the last few years in increasing our population and in developing our industries and public institutions.

To-day the government draft gives us a population of 82,000 with 30,000 in the neighboring boroughs, which we hope to have annexed before 1920 in the big "Greater Johnstown" drive that is now in full swing. We have 105 manufacturing establishments, and rank third in Pennsylvania in the value of manufactured products. We are the greatest bituminous mining district in the United States. We have II banks with total resources of $28,000,000; a new Pennsylvania Railroad station that cost $250,000, a new $300,000 Y. M. C. A. building, $140,000 raised for the expansion of one of our hospitals, a new $750,000 hotel, a bond vote of $750,000 for the improvement of streets and the sewerage system; during the last seven years we have expended over $600,000 for new churches and additions to old ones, and recently the school board has purchased nearly $200,000 worth of land on which to build school houses.

However, we are not as beautiful a city as we would like to be, so our planning commission, under the guidance of a noted architect, has just completed a very comprehensive plan for the beautification of the city with boulevards, bridges, parks, athletic fields, and playgrounds. We will show you these improvements the next time you meet here.

We are especially proud of the Lorain and Cambria Steel companies, recognized as among the most efficient steel plants in the world. The beautiful badges, which you wear, are presented to this association, free of charge, by the Cambria Steel company. Ludwig Henning, of the Valley Engraving Company, Johnstown, designed the pin. A cut of a steel converter, used by this company and the first of its kind in the United States, is placed in the center of the design to represent Johnstown and the

We hope this

Cambria Steel industry. souvenir will please you and be a real memento of Johnstown.

From the Johnstown School News, published weekly by the pupils of the elementary schools and which will be for sale during the week, you can read descriptions of the achievements of our schools during the past few years.

I want especially to call your attention to the educational and building programme worked out by 23 supervisors, principals, teachers, and the superintendent of schools and adopted by the Board last June. It specifies

1. That we retain our present school organization-elementary, junior high, and senior high schools.

2. That we rather completely Garyize the senior high school, the junior high school, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade programmes and curriculums.

3. That the organization for the first three grades remain as at present, except that more physical and hand work activities be introduced and that special teachers be provided for drawing and physical training.

4. That the school day and school year be made longer.

5. That the building programme involves: The Cochran Junior high school in the eighth ward, a shop or industrial building in the central part of the city, a new central senior high school building, Garfield Junior high school building, shops for the present Garfield Junior high school building, Walnut Grove elementary building, completion of Chestnut street school building, auditorium, gymnasium, and swimming pool for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade units, shower baths for primary buildings, eventually senior high schools in connection with the Cochran, Garfield, Westmont, Franklin and Conemaugh and Geistown Junior high schools, administration buildings.

The present high school building will eventually be used as a central junior high school and across the creek from this building will be erected a new senior high school and a separate vocational building for both junior and senior high school purposes.

In the office of the high school you can see the plans of our second junior high school, which has already been started on an eight-acre tract of land; it will accommodate 2,400 pupils and cost about $800,000. It contains six units-an auditorium, recitation building, two industrial buildings for boys and girls, two gymnasiums and a heating plant.

There is also on exhibition there plans for a twelve-room vocational building for our present junior high school; the boys in