TOMMY TRADDLES

The Good-Natured, Easy-Going Type

TOMMY TRADDLES was one of the

most lovable children in literature. His greatest gifts were his cheerful, contented nature and his sense of loyalty. He was neither handsome nor rich, but the boys loved him for his good nature and felt sorry for him because of the many canings he received at the hands of Mr. Creakle. Let me quote a passage which will throw a great deal of light on his character.

"Poor Traddles! In a tight sky-blue suit that made his arms and legs like German sausages, or roly-poly puddings, he was the merriest and most miserable of all the boys. He was always being caned-I think he was caned very day that half-year, except one holiday Monday when he was only ruler'd on both hands-and was always going to write to his uncle about it and never did. After laying his head on the desk for a little while, he would cheer up somehow, begin to laugh again, and draw skeletons all over his slate before his eyes were dry. I used at first to wonder what comfort Traddles found in drawing skeletons, and for some time looked upon him as a sort of hermit, who reminded himself by those symbols of mortality that caning wouldn't last forever. But I believe he only did it because they were easy, and didn't want any features."

What does Dickens mean by saying that Traddles was one of the "merriest and most miserable of all the boys"? Tommy was one of those youngsters whose feelings go from one extreme to the other. His childish troubles, when fresh, seemed too heavy and

*All rights reserved. Dorothy Boillotat. Continued from the September number.

almost more than he could bear, but with the passing of a few minutes, this last burden was forgotten and happiness once more "reigned supreme." Tears came easily, but were always showers and passed away in a short time.

One little incident shows Traddles' loyalty. "He was very honourable, Traddles was, and held it as a solemn duty in the boys to stand by one another. He suffered for this on several occasions; and particularly once, when Steerforth laughed in church and the Beadle thought it was Traddles and took him out. I see him now, going away in custody, despised by the congregation. He never said who was the offender, though he smarted for it next day, and was imprisoned so many hours that he came forth with a whole church-yard full of skeletons all over his Latin dictionary. But he had his reward. Steerforth said there was nothing of the sneak in Traddles, and we all felt that to be the highest praise."

He was an extremely innocent young fellow, never suspecting anyone of any but the best intentions. His good nature never left him and he was always ready to do a good turn for the boys. His great good nature was continually getting him into mischief, but, fortunately, even the canings didn't take it out of him. If Traddles had been guided by a skilful hand his latent abilities would have been developed to a high degree. Blessed with a happy temperament and a "never give up" will it is hard to say where his success would have ended.

I do not know whether native leadership is dormant in this type of boy to any great extent. It would not have been hard to develop the spirit of co-operation in Trad

dles. The growth of initiative, self-direction, and self-control would have added much to his resources, to his power in the world in future life.

To me there is much to admire in this type of personality. Such a child could easily be drawn out by letting him work on problems of interest to him. The teacher could, in this way, discover the trend of his interests and with this in mind could set before him problems which would serve as aids in determining his vocation.

TOM SAWYER

The Romantic Type

A teacher, if she takes time to read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," will undoubtedly laugh over Tom's many pranks and games, but when she meets this type of pupil in her schoolroom she is apt to forget her amusement and become angry. When his youthful spirits bubble over and he devises some new trick, she thoroughly believes he is there merely to bother her. She does not try to grasp his viewpoint, and so she does not understand him. She probably forgets that he has a viewpoint or else she thinks it too unimportant to be taken into consideration.

The secret of Tom Sawyer's character was his love of the romantic. He was extremely imaginative and the everyday experiences which he had served as a nucleus around which he wove a colorful fringe of fancy. Everything had to have its proper setting in order to create the desired atmosphere. Every plan had to be executed in the most elaborate manner, because every detail had to correspond exactly to one in fiction.

All children have a period when their imaginations conjure up many fanciful and impossible procedures which they would like to perform in order to overawe some object of their affections. Tom was in this mood after a quarrel with his first love. Let me quote: "But the elastic heart of youth

cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time. Tom presently began to drift insensibly back into the concerns of this life again. What if he turned his back now, and disappeared mysteriously? What if he went away-ever so far away, into unknown countries beyond the seasand never came back any more! How she would feel then! The idea of being a clown recurred to him now, only to fill him with disgust. For frivolity and jokes and spotted tights were an offense, when they intruded. themselves upon a spirit that was exalted into the vague, august realm of the romantic. No, he would be a soldier, and return after long years, all war-worn and illustrious. No better still, he would join the Indians, and hunt buffaloes, and go on the warpath in the mountain ranges and the trackless great plains of the Far West, and away in the future come back a great chief, bristling with feathers, hideous with paint, and prance into Sunday school, some drowsy summer morning, with a blood-curdling war whoop, and sear the eyeballs of his companions with unappeasable envy. But no, there was something gaudier even than this. He would be a pirate," etc., etc. It is very obvious what an important place imagination plays in the boy's life. By remembering this and using it to advantage it becomes of vast importance to the teacher.

I believe that the teacher should know something of the home life and environment of each child. These conditions make such a great deal of difference in the character of the child that they must be taken into consideration. Tom Sawyer was reared in a community in which old superstitions held a prominent place. Are not many of our children handicapped by various phases in their environment? The little immigrants especially need the teacher's attention from this social point of view. If we are ever to make American citizens of them, we must not be content to assign pages and hear lesWe must continually reach back and

sons.

Tom Sawyer proves himself a typical boy in this little incident: "Mary gave him a tin basin of water and a piece of soap, and he went outside the door and set the basin on the little bench there; then he dipped the soap in the water and laid it down; turned up his sleeves; poured out the water on the ground gently, and then entered the kitchen and began to wipe his face diligently on the towel behind the door."

Tom was at that age when the gang spirit begins to manifest itself in a boy. Teachers must learn that they cannot eliminate this spirit by force or any other method. What they can do is to substitute something better, more worth while, and more interesting. This will be rather difficult to accomplish, but it can be done, and the results. I am sure, will be well worth any amount of work put into it.

NAUGHTY NAN

The Action Type

We often find, in the schoolroom, a certain type of child whose actions seem inexplicable. She seems to be in a continual turmoil of restlessness, and after a few unsuccessful trials to "reform" her, we give up in despair. This kind of child I choose to call the action type. Naughty Nan, one of the two girls whom Mother Bhaer had at her school for boys belongs in this class. Since her mother had died Nan had run wild, falling into all kinds of mischief and getting into numberless scrapes.

Nan had a passion for doing things, for flitting from one thing to another just as her fancy suited. Her abounding health gave her an overflow of energy which she had to consume in some way. She used it in violent physical exercise, running races, jumping, climbing, and so on. She was used to playing with boys and accustomed to getting hurt and bearing the pain without a whimper. When Nan first came to Plum

Nan might also be called the experimenting type. She was not interested in playing with her doll as Daisy did, but merely liked it for the different things she could do with it. Her love of discovering "what would happen" led her to bury her doll, and then forget about it for two weeks. Finally she dug it up and found it mildewed. She felt perplexed for awhile, but her native ingenuity saved the day, and she had the painter paint it brick red to look like an "Indian chief." The first day she was at Plumfield the box containing her treasures did not arrive, so without letting anyone know she walked a mile to the station and dragged it home in the dust. The excuse she offered was that her father always told her not to put off doing things, so she didn't. That night she proved her lovable and generous spirit by giving away her treasures right and left.

When a teacher comes in contact with such a child, there is liable to be serious difficulty. The child must run about and play, for she is instinctively active. She cannot come from a free and happy life in the open to a restrained atmosphere in the schoolroom without difficulty. The child does not understand the teacher, and a feeling of revolt rises within her. The teacher does not understand the child, and she experiences a spirit of chagrin and bewilderment when she cannot manage the child. Misunderstanding is Misunderstanding is the cause of the trouble. The teacher in many cases is not able to judge of the situation, for she has not a sufficient background on which to base her observations, but she sees only the

What should be done with such a child? The "taming down" process must be slow and gradual. In order to accomplish anything the teacher must be in sympathy with the child; she must learn to see with a

situations. With the project method there is a great chance for Nan to adapt herself. If skilfully guided she will become interested in school, and will work off most of her surplus energy in "wholehearted, purposeful activity."

"The deficient sense of civic duty, though most frequently noted in the form of a neglect to vote, is really more general and serious in the neglect to think. Were it possible to have statistics to show what percentage of those who vote reflect upon the vote they have to give, there would in no country be found a large percentage. Yet what is the worth of a vote except as the expression of a considered opinion? The act of marking a ballot is nothing unless the mark carries with it a

judgment, the preference of a good candidate to a bad one, the approval of one policy offered the people, the rejection of another. The citizen owes it to the community to inform himself about the questions submitted for his decision, and weigh the arguments on each side; or if the issue be one rather of persons than of policies, to learn all he can regarding the merits of the candidates offered to his choice."-Promoting Good Citizenship, James Bryce, Houghton Mifflin.

MAN or woman is simply the result of

other noticeable usefulness of the school

for morally and physically. This premise invests us with the responsibility of providing for the physical well-being of the pupils in school and entails a consideration of proper nourishment as one of the necessary factors in maintaining and building up the wonderful machinery nature has installed in the human body.

The first thing to be considered is the fuel best suited for use in the different types of engines installed in these bodies, and the only way to solve this problem in the lunchroom is to supply a sufficient variety of foods, so that all conditions will be taken care of. We cannot handle fifteen hundred boys and girls in a school cafeteria and give them a menu of meat, potatoes, one or possibly two vegetables, pudding, and milk or cocoa. What we must do is to give them a large enough assortment of different dishes, so that every one of the fifteen hundred will be able to choose what he or she desires. When we pin them down to a limited menu, it is too much like institutional feeding.

A school lunchroom is not simply a place where a boy or girl may eat his noon lunch; it is the one period during the day when all are on the same level. The smart boy and the dull boy, the selfconscious boy and the good mixer are brought together at a common table, and the dull boy profits more than anyone knows, while the self-conscious boy begins to realize that the world has not stopped to gaze upon him while he is passing down one of life's byways. An

All rights reserved. Mrs. George L. Dawson.

a greater degree of confidence in themselves while mingling with people. The big mingling place is proverbially the festive board. Boys and girls who, for one reason or another, have not had the advantage of good home training have, in the school cafeteria, an opportunity to learn by observation what they would not otherwise be able to pick up; and there is nothing more pitiful in company than a man eating peas with a knife.

Another way in which the lunchroom manager may minister to the welfare of the pupils lies in the fact that she is enabled, by careful watching, to find out those who are not able to buy as much food as they should. By a little diplomacy, these may be handled in such a way that they do not have to accept charity, for that is what a real boy or girl despises. There are little jobs in the cafeteria which fit into the vacant hours of these pupils, and in this way they are enabled to buy their lunches the same as the others; and furthermore it need not mean that he or she does not have the money to expend; but it shows ambition to earn and to be less of a burden on the father or mother.

On account of the absence of the necessary classroom discipline in the lunchroom, pupils are more inclined to display their personal idiosyncrasies, and an observant cafeteria manager has an opportunity to suggest corrective measures

This is the first of a series of three articles dealing with the problems of the school lunchroom. The second and third articles in this series will consider respectively the question of dietetics in relation to the planning of menus, and the social phase of the work made possible through the manager's personal interest and obs tion of pupils while in the cafeteria.