vvv FOUNDED 1848. WITH WHICH IS INCORP ORAT E D HARPER'S WEEKLY International Fil CHARLES E.HUGHES SPEAKS FORTHE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THIS NUMBER PRICE 1O CENTS Two Poems by ROBERT FROST THE TELEPHONE " T ~T HEN I was just as far as I could walk I l\ / From here today, f f There was an hour All still When leaning with my head against a flower I heard you talk. Don't say I didn't, for I heard you say You spoke from that flower on the window sill Do you remember what it was you said? First tell me what it was you thought you heard. , Having found the flower and driven a bee away I leaned my head, And holding by the stalk, I listened and I thought I caught the word What was it? Did you call me by my name? Or did you say Some one said "Come" I heard it as I bowed. I may have thought as much, but not aloud. Well, so I came. THE GUM-GATHERER rFIERE overtook me and drew me in To his down-hill, early-morning stride, And he set me five miles on my road Better than if he had had me ride, A man with a swinging bag for load And half the bag wound round his hand. We talked like barking above the din Of water we walked along beside. And for my telling him where I'd been And where I lived in mountain land To be coming home the way I was, He told me a little about himself. He came from higher up in the pass Where the grist of the new-beginning brooks Is blocks split off the mountain mass And hopeless grist enough it looks Ever to grind to soil for grass. ( The way it is will do for moss.) There he had built his stolen shack. It had to be a stolen shack Because of the fears of fire and loss That trouble the sleep of lumber folk Visions of half the world burned black And the sun shrunken yellow in smoke. We know who when they come to town Bring berries under the wagon seat, Or a basket of eggs between their feet; What this man brought in a cotton sack Was gum, the gum of the mountain spruce. He showed me lumps of the scented stuff Like uncut jewels, dull and rough, It comes to market golden brown; But turns to pink between the teeth. I told him this is a pleasant life To set your breast to the bark of trees, That all your days are dim beneath, And reaching up with a little knife, To loose the resin and take it down And bring it to market when you please. SCHOOLMASTER TO HALF A MILLION WHAT SUPERINTENDENT MAXWELL, OF NEW YORK, THINKS OF AMERICAN SCHOOLS BY CHARLES PHILLIPS COOPER FOR the first time in nearly thirty-five years the Old Lion of the great public school sys- tem of New York City is forced to take rest. It was in 1882 that Will- iam Henry Maxwell became assist- ant superintendent of the schools of Brooklyn, and from that day he has been a force in the educational af- fairs first of the city and later of the nation. In due course he became the head of the schools of Brooklyn, and in 1898, when after consolidation Greater New York wished to revise its cumbersome old system and join the modern educational movement, it selected Doctor Maxwell as its first superintendent of schools. He has held the office ever since. Recently the Board of Education granted Doctor Maxwell a leave of absence at full pay of $10,000 a year. 70 This leave of absence was voted after the board, by a vote of 31 out of a possible 40, had reflected Doctor Maxwell to the superintendency for a full term of six years. It is a big job. On every school day of this year of 1916 more than 600,000 children of all ages storm the schoolhouses that Father Knicker- bocker supplies. This school army would make six cities of the size of Albany; would almost duplicate Bos- ton; would make four cities of the size of Omaha, and two of the popu- lation of Minneapolis. In it lies the future of the greatest city of Amer- ica. A glance at the material side for a moment will show something of the magnitude of the problem that the school authorities of New York City puzzle over. The budget appropria- tion of the department of education for 1915 was $39,840,349, of which $32,609,695 constituted the general school fund for teachers' salaries. For 1916 the appropriation is $36,- 865,981. I asked Doctor Maxwell what in his long career made him most proud. "I believe I can claim the credit," he said, "of taking the appointment of teachers out of the hands of poli- ticians. I believe that is the best thing I have ever done, and I am prouder of it than of any other one achievement. You remember how it was in the old days, when every grade teacher had a politician behind her. It was bad for the teacher and very bad for the schools. I originated the legislation which demanded cer- tain training in the case of all the Be Sure of the Lath! and the Stucco Will Take Care of Itself OTUCCO construction is just as per- ^ manent as the base on which it is laid no more so. That is why it is eco nomical and sensible to use lath of metal. Xno-fturn Expanded Metal Lath is the ideal metal lath for interior plastering and stucco work, because it is made with a mesh that clinches every inch of plaster uniformly and permanently. Ask your architect. This is only one of the reasons why you should specify "Kno-Burn" in your new house. You will find a dozen others as well as a world of vital building information in "Practical Homebuilding," a manual for home builders that we will gladly send you on request. 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