Presidents; Prof. T. H. Crawford, Sublimity, Corresponding Secretary; A. C. Daniels, Salem, Recording Secretary; Prof. E. P. Henderson, Harrisburg, Treasurer; A. C. Daniels, C. T. Finlayson, and F. Stilson, Executive Committee.

The following preamble and resolution were unanimously adopted by the Association :

Whereas, civil war is now raging in our glorious Union, threatening to dismember the best Government ever established by man, and causing lamentation in every part of our country;

Therefore, be it resolved by the members of the "Oregon State Educational Association and Teachers' Institute," That they are unqualifiedly devoted to the preservation of the Union of all the States and the Constitution as it was bequeathed to us by our forefathers—that they will ever yield a cheerful obedience to the lawfully constituted authorities, and that as teachers they are under obligations to instill into the minds of their pupils love of country and obedience to the laws."

The Association decided to hold their next annual meeting at Albany, commencing on the first Wednesday in August, 1864. The semi-annual meeting will be held at Corvalis the third week in February, 1864.

During the session there was a fair attendance of Teachers and others interested in the cause of education. On the last evening of the session we had an interesting discussion on the duty of the State to establish and support common schools. Quite a large audience was present to hear the discussion. Nearly all of those who were present appeared to be in favor of the State maintaining a system of common schools.

A. C. DANIELS, Rec. Sec'y Teachers' Association.

I did intend to present hefore our Association a resolution recommending the TEACHER to the people of Oregon, but from a press of business it was neglected. I will repeat the expression in my last letter: I hope the time is not far distant when the TEACHER will find its way into the hands of every educator and school officer, if not to the fireside of every family in the State of Oregon. A. C. DANIELS.

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE, SAN FRANCISCO.-The Teachers' Institute held a meeting on the 14th instant, Mr. J. C. Pelton presiding.

Mr. T. C. Leonard, Principal of Grammar School No. 5, read an essay, entitled "Little Thoughts on Great Subjects."

Next followed an essay by Dr. C. C. Knowles, late President of the Board of Education. Subject: "The Separate Education of the Sexes."

Both essays were well written, and were listened to with marked attention. At the conclusion of the essay last named, a spirited discussion had but fairly begun when the President announced that the hour of adjournment had arrived, at which the session of the Institute closed.

The separation of the sexes in the Public Schools has been a mooted question, in the School Department, for several months, the arguments and

authorities advanced on either side of the controversy being so weighty that it is difficult for a dispassionate person to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

Superintendent Tait reported in behalf of the Board of Education, that the Committee on the Institute had decided on a programme of exercises for the Institute which would be presented at its next meeting.

From the remarks of the Superintendent, we learned that the future meetings of the Institute would be held on the first Monday of every month at 7 o'clock, P. M., and that each session would be divided into two parts, the first portion to be devoted to general exercises, such as essays, lectures. select reading, discussion, etc., and the remainder of the session to be given to class exercises. For this purpose, the members of the Institute are to be arranged as nearly as practicable in divisions according to the positions they occupy in the schools. The male members are to be employed as instructors and are to receive compensation from the Board for their services. The class exercises will be conducted with special reference to the course of study prescribed for the use of the schools, the Institute instructors being expected to furnish such information regarding that course as will better enable the teachers to discharge their school-room duties.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF SAN FRANCISCO.-We learn from the Report of City Superintendent of Public Schools, made to the Board of Supervisors at their last meeting, that the School Fund of the fiscal year just closed, amounted to $204,919 60 and that the Board of Education expended last year, $86,282 for salaries of teachers, $3,414 for school furniture, $3,047 for books and apparatus for the use of schools, and $42,134 in the purchase and improvement of the school estates. The whole amount expended by the Board was $178,929, and the balance remaining in the fund, after payment of all the floating indebtedness of the Department, was about $26,000.

There are now ninety-six teachers employed in the schools, of whom eighty are female and sixteen male. The salaries paid to male teachers range from $2,700 to $1,250 per annum, the Principal of the High School receiving the larger sum, and the male Principals of Primary Schools the smaller amount. TramvaiuMo stars noseive $1,900 :- famale. Princivelauraf Pria Schools of Butte; Mr. Sparrow Smith, of Sacramento, and Mr. Spencer, of Monterey County. In almost every county in the State, in fact, public school teachers have been nominated for the office of Superintendent of Public Schools. These offices should be filled exclusively by teachers, and no man except a teacher should be considered eligible to be even a candidate before a convention. Occasionally, we believe, a teacher's name is on the Copperhead ticket; but, as a general rule, the schoolmasters are too cute and too loyal to be caught, like dog Tray, in bad company. Mr. J. W. Nye, holder of State diploma, has been gobbled up" out of the profession and nominated for the office of District Attorney of Alameda County. If Mr. Nye makes half as good an Attorney as schoolmaster, he will fill the office to the satisfaction of everybody.

High, Grammar, and Primary, and that the Grammar School consisted of four grades and the Primary of six grades. Promotions are to be made in the Grammar grades annually in the Primary, semi-annually.

This system of classification and of promotion is carried out in the schools of Boston and Chicago.

The Course of Study recently adopted by the San Francisco Board of Education corresponds mainly with that of the Chicago Public Schools.

SCHOOL CENSUS, SAN FRANCISCO.-The returns just made by the census marshals contain the following items:

No. of children between 6 and 18 years of age.

Attending Public Schools..

Attending Private Schools..

Not attending School......

Total No. of persons under 21 years of age...

.13,036

5,155

4,552

2,571

26,902

There are 82 private schools in this city, of which 11 are supported by the Catholic Church. The attendance in the Catholic schools is 3,424.

The complaint of the scanty accommodations afforded by the public schools is prevalent throughout the city; nor are the murmurs of the public unreasonable, seeing that the schools can seat only 5,146 of the 13,036 children who, according to the census, are due at school.

It is gratifying, however, to know that the Board of Education contemplate erecting, during the present season, an elegant brick school house, capable of seating about 600 scholars. The building, when completed, will be almost a duplicate of the Everett and the Bowditch school houses, which are the latest erected in the city of Boston. The size of the recitation rooms will be 28 by 34 feet, and the ceilings of the principal stories, 15 feet high. The attic, which is lighted by Lutheran windows, is arranged for the accommodation of the entire school, when assembled for general exercises, such as singing and calisthenic drills. The basement is above ground, and is intended as a sheltered playground during rainy or hot weather. The cost of the building will be about $45,000 or $50,000.

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE, SAN FRANCISCO.-The Teachers' Institute held a meeting on the 14th instant, Mr. J. C. Pelton presiding.

Mr. T. C. Leonard, Principal of Grammar School No. 5, read an essay, entitled “Little Thoughts on Great Subjects.”

Next followed an essay by Dr. C. C. Knowles, late President of the Board of Education. Subject: "The Separate Education of the Sexes."

Both essays were well written, and were listened to with marked attention. At the conclusion of the essay last named, a spirited discussion had but fairly begun when the President announced that the hour of adjournment had arrived, at which the session of the Institute closed.

The separation of the sexes in the Public Schools has been a mooted question, in the School Department, for several months, the arguments and

preparation for the duties of teacher, are most excellent. The graduates of the school are already in demand by school trustees.

GO AND DO LIKEWISE.-The Trustees of Santa Clara have enlarged and repaired their two school houses, furnished them with Holt's Patent Desks, and adopted the entire State series of text books. They have also employed an excellent corps of teachers, and their schools bid fair to rank among the best in the State.

NEED OF A SCHOOL HOUSE. The public school at Oakland is crowded to overflowing. With a college school and several fine private seminaries, the city of oaks ought to be able to build a respectable public school house.

CHEAP. The lowest estimated value of any school house in Wisconsin, according to the last school report, was three cents. We know of several in this State meaner than that.

COUNTY INSTITUTES.—The Sonoma County Teachers' Institute will be held at Santa Rosa, in September. The Sacramento County Institute, in Sacramento, in Novem ber.

NATURAL QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TRUE TEACHER.

BY PHILO.

In this age of rapid progress, the opinions of people with regard to the many improvements in science and art are as various as are the faces of the people themselves, and in no respect do they differ more than in their views with regard to what constitutes a "good teacher." This arises, no doubt, from the fact that each one looks

POLITICAL NOMINATIONS.-Mr. Graham, of Columbia, is the nominee of the Union party for Superintendent of Schools, Tuolumne County. Mr. Cottle, of Stockton, carried off that nomination in San Joaquin County. Mr. Babcock is nominated in Sonoma County, where he is one of the pioneer teachers. Mr. Penwell, of Placerville, is the nominee of El Dorado County. Mr. Simonton is the nominee of Solano County; Mr. Woodruff, of Contra Costa; Mr. Upham, of Butte; Mr. Sparrow Smith, of Sacramento, and Mr. Spencer, of Monterey County. In almost every county in the State, in fact, public school teachers have been nominated for the office of Superintendent of Public Schools. These offices should be filled exclusively by teachers, and no man except a teacher should be considered eligible to be even a candidate before a convention. Occasionally, we believe, a teacher's name is on the Copperhead ticket; but, as a general rule, the schoolmasters are too cute and too loyal to be caught, like dog Tray, in bad company. Mr. J. W. Nye, holder of State diploma, has been gobbled up" out of the profession and nominated for the office of District Attorney of Alameda County. If Mr. Nye makes half as good an Attorney as schoolmaster, he will fill the office to the satisfaction of everybody.

66

BLACK BOARD PAINT.—To make one gallon of the paint, take ten ounces pulverized pumice stone, six ounces pulverized rotten stone, three-fourths of a pound of lampblack, and mix them with alcohol enough to make a thick paste. Grind the mixture very thoroughly in a paint mill. Then dissolve about fourteen ounces of shellac in the remainder of the gallon of alcohol. Now stir the whole together, and the paint is ready for use. In mixing the paint, a sufficient quantity of shellac should be employed to prevent the lampblack from rubbing off when the boards are used. If the quality is good, fourteen ounces will be found sufficient. When using the paint, it should be stirred often enough to prevent the pumice stone from settling. In putting on the second coat, special care should be taken not to rub up the first coat. In painting for the first time, two or three coats are required; in re-painting, only one or two coats. One gallon of the paint will furnish two coats for sixty or seventy square yards of black board, on walls not previously painted. The paint will answer as well for boards as for walls; if used for the latter, the paint ingredients may be mixed in the hard finish of the walls, although it may be applied externally with nearly the same advantage.

is prevalent throughout the city; nor are the murmurs of the public unreasonable, seeing that the schools can seat only 5,146 of the 13,036 children who, according to the census, are due at school.

It is gratifying, however, to know that the Board of Education contemplate erecting, during the present season, an elegant brick school house, capable of seating about 600 scholars. The building, when completed, will be almost a duplicate of the Everett and the Bowditch school houses, which are the latest erected in the city of Boston. The size of the recitation rooms will be 28 by freewery

speak for himself by extracting from his preface:

"There is no doubt that pupils, by a great amount of drill exercise in oral spelling, may learn to spell, by mere repetition, almost any quantity of words of whose meaning they are totally ignorant. This was the old system of teaching spelling; and, with the prominence given to it in the exercises of the school room, it did make good spellers; and, where it has been wholly abandoned-where spelling has been taught only in connection with reading, or definitions, or dictation exercises-good spelling in our schools has diminished in an alarming degree. It has been our aim, in the present work, not only to retain the advantages of the old system, but also to remedy, as far as possible, its great defect, as exhibited in what have been very appropriately called the 6 nonsense columns' of the old books. To this end we have adopted, in a majority of the spelling lessons, such a natural grouping of the words in columns as shall express their meaning by their appropriate use; and we think this end has been attained as effectually as though the words had been selected from regular reading lessons."

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