Pageant of Pedagogs

The great vault of Atlantic City's "world's largest" Convention Hall, national trysting place of bigwig and bruiser, was filled, last week, with fine dust raised by the heels of 10,000 school teachers. For six days they peered and poked at florid displays of stickers, building material, motorbuses, soap. They were harangued with the eloquence of over 300 orators. When the pedagogs decamped they took from the 60th anniversary convention of the National Education Association's Department of Superintendence impressions that will more or less affect each one of their charges, some 20,000,000 U. S. school children. At the daily sessions they heard about:

Vice. James William Crabtree, secretary of the N. E. A., read a report on the moral vicissitudes of Detroit high school pupils. Although there were fewer toss-pots discovered among young Detroiters than in 1917, there was an increase in stealing, parental disrespect, sexual delinquency. To blame: dance halls, magazines, automobiles, liquor, broken homes.

Town &. Country. Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior, President in absentia of Stanford University, opined: "We have gathered great numbers of our children into concrete and brick cities. ... It is very difficult to bring up children with the sense of responsibility which is so important, with the electric or gas stove, chemical refrigeration and milk coming in a sterilized bottle. . . ."

Food Fads. Dr. Harry Everett Barnard, director of the President's Conference on Child Health Protection, warned school teachers against propaganda issued by food-products manufacturers. "Every idea in the field of nutrition has promptly found its way into the school room and carried with it fads and foolishness to command the attention of the teacher and her children until the next new thought supplanted it."

New President. Norman Robert Crozier, Superintendent of Dallas, Tex., public schools, was elected to succeed Frank Cody, who directs Detroit public schools, as president of the organization.

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