The Clinton News Record, 1926-12-09, Page 7ea
t•? G
CLAQK
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eeeee
SGS -IDOL. CAR ON ONE of rTS SPECIAL SIDINGS IN ME BUSH,
TI -16 CANADIAN NATIONAL PAIL\JPY - MR SOMAN •
GRQtTS HI5 PUPILS;
following story of the'Eduz-
•e have they gone? On to other
cabins; following jobs from tnznber
tamp to, lumber camp, or t'rapper's'
families, snaking their homes in aban-
cloned camps, shifting, moving rest-.
lessly, all the time. Canyouimagine.. _
trying to implant fertile seeds, of ed-
ucation in three days in a ten -year-old
boy you may never see again? There
is a -peculiar urgency about this kind
of teaching. Especially when the boy
is. the child of a Finn father and an
Indian mother, or one of the other
combinations peculiar to this strange-
and
trangeand lonely land." .
Seven little children, from four,
years to twelve, were sitting in the
schoolroom when, we boarded the car.
all turned
noose, two deer, ten foxes, c.4:tdx°d ,evi!�" and twe•little :eagerly m, their desks and cried:.
"Good Moiningl"
1 ' Department and Canadian
.1a1 Car SChool appeared in:a
issue of the Toronto Star
ty and, as it is especially inter-'
to Clinton and vicinity, seeders,
Tit' of the fact'that•' the teach -
the "school is a Clinton boy, Mr.
Siouan and his wife a -Clinton
formerly .Miss 'Cela Beacons, we
use. it, the Star Weekly kindly
g us the est. Mr ,Sloman is
meeting the pupils on the car
and Mrs. Sloman is seen en the
latforn, wifb little Miss Joan
r feet. ,
ram whistle rang weirdly pass
ion of the black, wilds of North•,
ntario. f e 1 As the door opened, they
e
melted their ears sharply. "Good
ornin smiled significantly,
moose, deer; foxes aiid'rab he The first amazing thing about thio
sly went on eating. But the school, from the children's point of
e action.
boys 'They charged intowere galhanized into view,' is that they must ,speak
; boldly unafraid.
of a sagging log shanty: They l c me to the :cal.,"
When they eirst o
s
a couple. eec little bookshoff i- said Mr Biome, "they are completely
theyl. fought
pastas theirwexcite-mother speechless. •Strangers are so rare in.
fought , 'h p • j 1'v>s techanging words with
ried to fuss, snotherlijce, with then.. i c ,
Then theyfled not un- strangers is an unheard of thing,
biia, tote- when they discover that they must
baits, down 'a snowi deep say good morning''—it' is insisted upon
wards the trate whistle, ,e school —it 'seems to open a flood -gate. It
train whistle was thopens a door upon astounding possib-
scliool re wheels a arrived, is a :converted bus -
blackfreight was at nand. In_ The school eat
y mess car of the sort used by officials
w hall where men' and of the railroads. One half of it is a
gowith all theip courage and tiny schoolroom, complete even to
ere h have to on makeh the - hest the kindergarten cutouts along the
ere brain, rolled, little the tail -end d The other Half is the living
fight train, acaravan eon- •:
the magic carpet of. book J their ball Mrs Sloman
eathe freight -,had succeeded in
the lone car on to its spec
g, children were arriving out
bleak spruce •wilderness along
were
children
'Some of
the c
So
]cs
iting in the ' cold, shies the
of . the car, at intervals of
s rumored ahead from seetiort
section gang. And hardly is.
cel car "spotted"before the,
ildren of the wilderness are
eagerly up the steps,
aline the part these' two Ont -
tool 'cars are playing -across
north,
ad, loris lands of the t 1 ,
he Canadian National and one
you must realize that even
tllest villages of.lumbermen,
and railroaders scettered:a-
at countryhave their •schools,
is little "white'' school houses
ident teachers,
these settle -
are
between
are long. and wild. , And in
to ed miles in from
aps; scattered
way tracks, are Tittle hidden
alld ,log, cabins where, a
nomad race of people of all
ionalities.of the world dwell
r` these the school cars' cruise
long_`circuits, and
ulldred=mile
foci
' 11 built
stir sidings specially
the unlikeliest bits of aban-
'lderness wherethe transoon-
rains`whizz through and ev
ed1
xeic;hts go hurriedly, by.
as the iCanadian. National
visited on one of its
car we ,
g places soutll.of Foleyet. It
:laces on its two
esistopping p
S
iCt. ..
It
halts
• 001.
lett
h
-ml
e,sC
1
i
at
each. place,
'e
days
at
O'f1V Y
five
to a
dozen
where from fi
ildren come astonishingly out
bush, shy, wild, myster
black h the
lie given the first Hints of
d. to be left with
of letters, an
's' -homework to; take back in -
lonely cabins.
So we have to pass that point by.
I had ' ed, nitres"
the best of cases.
"The others are children of Finns,
Italians,, Russians, Australians, some
of pure race, others mixed with Can-
adian, half-breed br Italittn. Faced
with the starker problems of the grim.
bush, of: the difficulties of even simple
speech• and understanding between
mixed races, they areas wild and un-
tutored as the creatures of the bush.".
Mr. ,Sloman,: who was overseas,
spent a rather odd few minutes in his
school cat not long before Armistice
Day, entertaining some of the- father.'
of his class at one joint along the
line. There was an Italian with, a re-
markable ,war
e-markable,war record in the Italian
'TH1 Y I- AR THS • IttiSTLE AND OrF
OFF TNROUGIa -f -IG TOTE ROADS
-n-v Burt, , -
V
t teaching at home" - The day we visited the cat, a party
of dozen Tndtan sfluaw
seine slight
eau s had visited
TrMYSTERY a e were more interested
OUTSIDE WORLD A a car. They
one o to copyin Mrs..Sloinan's little apartment on
Air„Sloman asked boy wheels than in the school. The beams
thew boy,oy . "sat” on the i,lac cl bee . bed, the figured curtains,' Baby loan's
taThis ten-yearst old, nests b beenquaint little kiddy -coop, homemade,
mother,
in barest lone cabi by hise ith' its baby curtains. The ice box
wilds He some d h cabin in vtery
filledthemwith wonder. ' ..
wilds copied the word'very
neatly, but he started at the wrong ' An Indescribably Lonely World
place to stake the letter "S", each
letter was written differently, and "A feature of the school ear not
while' the result` 'was exeeilent:'the looked for in the beginning, said
w
method was most peculiar. It was a Mrs. Sloman, "is the somal side.
sort of sign -writing, heiroglyphics. Sotne•of these lonely women have not
sign-writing,
ht' have written it backwards. spoken to another woman in mouths.
Hem n For an aeample, up the line is an It -
little
ta h It 1• "OVk get surprises," Two ehildre
quarters n, the and Mrs.y. Sloman e
army, Australian a Russian, ,t nine.and eleven years old, had :.never alien woman lvho,'be£oe she tvas
before azn y, and writing. to Canada to marry herhusband, little o , Y• � ren or. head of reading.Kiri g
her mariage, a kindergar- Pole—all with service in the war- in se tau ht a school mistress, a cultured, odttcat-
ten;cle g,days.
interest in which gives her a special their different set ormien enemy and al- I o -had thinly, and colcl fumble their ed'woman. She had been thrust into-
. the caravels. Their home. ly, and all section men and'Canadians on amazingly, ; siin IC 'littl'e ex- the loneiness-and hardship of this re -
interest t for ever and a day, now. 'ere through theses p e
star lea mg boolce, mote land, keeping house foe her bus -
Then we, elense y g
left them for four weeks. On band,. a pulpwood worker. To visit
life a
'les
of
nenit
mesh at
't
thiscar,with
r
theycould'read the whole
our return,
of the book, had iced it, and to show we have been able to get hoard it.
that 'they had- already mastered the is' to her an adVenturepitiable ,to look
ve diem a new book and at. How they study the arrangement
they 1 gavel -hem of 'things •t1ge hemming of Baby
they spelled it out, neo, r,�,•
„ honks. Joan's cu tEas s, t,lie way the little kid -
One boy was being shelve p.
s pointed out that the' letter D dycoop.is ` Otogether,
kid -
It sounds like `duh'; B sounds like 'huh' "One wolnati-from over the sea we
The boyasped it at asked'if the people of . Canada had
and a d suni gt
once and slammed it up: `Olt, the thin„' been kind to her since site had. conn:
saythe' thingPhe thought for a inateent. Then
you the tyou when you ?
' � thing say, k so.` Bttt,inuned�--
ls ain't It . said: "Slice, I' thin
° h have nothing creative to plag- lately she started -to cry, ,.
T ey "Itisan- indescribably lonely; world
with, in their hornes, nothing to di- he 'ere
err r employ the mind. ''.Even these these Pioneers live in. They help -
little of
11 o P Y
tie 1
ro
el
0 1
lie
faro f 1
'g'int
such a
s les.
loped st
icics
ere kindergarten res o:E co
1.1s ailcl which we giving their children a start in rudi-
gtvey ho has education. The school ear
give to then to take Ferric to metre iientary e gift amongst
s with are prized beyond mea. comes as a sort of
design
is like a ship's cabin; compact with an
l
n
air of permanence a ptlhna sleeper
11eVe t
as,
1
t l
The schoolroom it was on show at
the• Cdnadiau National' Feehibition—
"We spoke of the war. We
asked
whatit was all ahaat. Some shrug-
ged
hru -ged
their shuldees and looked about
this Scheolraom. Well, we• were all
has been most cleverly conceived. The'Canadian now.
two rows of settee] desks along the) When the car'ft001 came up the line,
aisle, grade from big to smalleste size-` as they approached one of their stop -
made. A blackboard covers one' whole ping places, Mr. and Mrs. Sloman,'
side. Pictures
and kindergarten -;fig -`from the back platform, -saw two Re-
tires in bright -colors fill all available tie children standing on the edge of
scs contain stacks of lithe right of way, hand in hand, die..
_
spaces. Book case
schoolbooks to be given away not sold.. sed iu what goes for the. Sunday best
1
librar + ler the patents, and in. the North country, azid-staraiig
A lending
' to gramophone, a largo ter- • with wide, pitiful eyes at the car,pas-
r partab gr l
and sets of kindergarten -sing. The teachers. -waved ' to the
i, restrfal globe
blocks and tweeting- bweeting- devices are the 'chiidren.::They shrank in the Shy,
equipment.
;
`
b.
lackino
rth co
untr
y
way.
"I -wire ahead to the section Whenthev were spotted
tt
ed on
the
nearest -MY -next stopping place," said siding, Nr. Slonlanasked the other
andhe 'asses the word children assembled why the tete- child -
to the nearest
P
the scaliest chflcli•en.. The children 1•en standing afar off did not come up,,
..the news of our impending ar- "They are not railroad children,"
carry often long
awav into the bush. said a -child bolder than the rest The
rival, usually idea et first was' that only the rail-
When we arrive" they are t ids a children -could come to
waiting at the sitting., road employees'a1
standing of
fifteen, of school. When the two;g
• ,'sQf all ages frmn five to ,
some who have were sent': 1013 they came running and
be -mixed nationalities, sot
little by their: when they cane aboard just stared in 1
mother taught to r, o a these little 'folks than ten bales
not gratitude
e seho°1-. joy to
_less
dospeechless who7e
s
• ,
othersgBetty
the
. r oi, would,B Y
acher.
fnd
Or1 <
mother ,and b e
In
clothing .
0
e
read -master. t15 ..
about n1,
tact
' rile .hidden
�m
are
i est sat .
Ithat, thef ptl
s: .1 ,,
knowI
>3h1
] ot
•o
+st d gs
u dei. n
Mr. n
c1i M .
writin they swarm in; with ar � "It takes a little whit.,
ing or e' thein. •7, to rise'them up, Many of from. the wise
. • • •written all aver. Slo.n<1 ,gift from the
What
whenr phonograph Is a g
•Ou
Few of
a lctival.cL .
rt
Uc
job,seatede
caare alls<. v
are them Y
t
they1
Club,pu
Home 1
Ho
auI
ati
h1 a
School c
,.l
and. with an there, ierha s -none oC them, are 11om Brown S
and 'facing me sileaitly 1 Pell , oc I 'ecetve certun
1 i a
Th v
children
fuel
en a
describe!"_. mal cru c a
:cu c na
expectancy hard t
0
-des
sure A little Termite girl, Betty them" '
•
(Wee TYPE OF.L1TnLE CIILURI=iy%-\�1`♦<
.To TNG \\141EELLDC41®.
hildren have gone," A nomad race,
Trappers Lell Mr, cSloman of cabins
they stumble on back in ,the remote
wilds where the' children flee like
frightened deer from their. approach.
"Atthe close of his first. -ecstatic
week at school," relates Mr. Simian,
"a British son of British parents re,
marked: Gee, I bet if Dr. McDougall
knowed that only us dagoes and
things was going to be in this ear,
they wouldn't have painted it up so
nice and smooth."
+
.
As is swell known, there is a Bol-
shevik'or what is ;called a Bolshevik
spied amongst many of the Finns and
Russians Who are settling the north
country. At least it is a spirit of
suspicion- of strangers. They come
from a land where the gentry ruled.
One Finn father came in to see the
schoolmaster about his boys.; The
schoolmaster offered to shake hands.
The Finn •was astounded and prom-
ptly snatched off his hat. lir, Sloma?1
promptly removed his hat, The Finn'a
face was a study. He went away from
the ear sneewhat educated himself,
'and his children are the first on the
track when the school car is coming.
Two boys returned to the car,. on its
second visit to their part of the coun-
try, with money enough to buy the
little school books that had been given.
them. .
• "We want to be sure," said the eld-
er, "we kin keep them."
Probably if these children had the
advantages of schools that city child-
ren
enjoy, they would be as casual
about appreciating them. The lim-
ited time they have to be instructed
and the long time• between that they
have to think about' it is a sort of el-
utatiosi to wonder about,
As we stood beside the school car,
watching -some older boys chasing a
little boy like a 'rabbit up the tracks
half a mile away, a shy, frightened
little boy who .had lost his nerve when
he got within a few yards of the car
and then had run we chatted with the
pupils,
"What are you going to do when
you learn to read?"
"I'll read books," said a boy of ten.
Ile said books as a •eityr boy would
say—"I ant going to be a'ge'er al."
"Wihat good will that do you .
"I -will know about everything."
"And what.good will that,be?"
"Well, said the little fellow, whose
last name ends with the letters "sezk,"
P
built for fifteen to twenty "Pre a• Canadian, I gotta know
big iritio the new gold -fields and stalce.
ed a claim for a little log school house
while they' were staking for gold. And
soinehew he persuaded the "boys" to
lay off long enough to help.him build
his log schoiiL house. There are few
trailsi.in the slack north persuaded unknown
the north
him. He has p
country in spite of their great trials
and. tribulations on the. frontier of the
Dominion to remember the 'needs of.
the children. •
Now the - school car idea seems. to
roach a new vast field• And a most
curious aspect of the idea is the tre-
mendous .disproportion, between in-
struction and -home work. What will
be the result? Already there have
been . some startling results of what
•children will do when given something
to develop and left alone to develop it.
They are given three to five days in-
struction and three to five weeks to
profit by the instruction. One of the
complex quest -Wei of modern educa-
tion in cities its: is'it really education
or is it schooling? Can there be such
a thing as too much machine school-
ing?
Children Like Frightened Deer -
Education means leading out. Lead-
ing out of darkness to light, leading
out of themselves to self-expression.
The school ear presents the perfect
experiment in the matter of leading
, -
pith There is no other way,for educ-
ation to be' got into the nomad child-
ren
h l -
ren of the spruce 'country. At
oints within the school ear's district
are schools
.
children that are now abandoned. The things:'
,e
.Q Column Prepared -Especially' for Women --
But Not Forbidden to Men
given to appearance, how .,would you like,
to
: n vIost of us: are somewhat io 1 described in the
inhigh positions and be stared.: at .and
thinkin people gi • p daily a efs? "But," ,you say, mem••
thinking how rosy. life is for them 3t p p
"happy" • must be in : hers _of the Royal family always stay
having
how happy they:
when they have a cold" '`Per
Favre • Ql}arYtiltng ;they'-want,'Ueing� in bed , them. it is
g do the things they.soually, I dont blame
Pani to go ,:and describe about; •the only place they are free
.
' wish to
When
we w l
lenity, were
falltuk
y'we from curious eyes. I think, sayo"h who is .happyularla happyi,• en I would• stay: in bed three
"he •is as happy as a king," or- I a queen, say a week to ens li esonle wive
"she is as happy:r.o a qt i n," days .. And I yonder if sometimes; a
ever stop to think wises it acy. '
Did Vou P nurse doctor or attendant isn't an. --
preached
poached Zrp"news" of a sick merne
b + : ? .
her of roytolty .
lteb` for me the "fierce err ght
ato, ;i
that beats abottt'a throne."I'cermet.
anything mere-,eomfortablb.
think of Y
e little eloalelde:bawl: e,
fhan `a me an weal'
Can
go,one
001110 and
CA]1
-ex .The teachers baby had a bad cold. •o be in a position
Robinson, who saw the cal at the ea vend- would be like t
isi n sent a gift to these children. A kindly ll offr arrived with red where you,would be always in theptuje-
hib o ,With bits of silk la bottle :full whiskey. -She how irksome -it would be -to
It was a box filled W t
• and sea and the. teacher that this would cure .the. 1tG eye, .smallest action watched
and samples of powder a p cause' it to sleep at have your
from the last five e- baby's Gold and commented.. upon?' . h was lin-.
odds and ends f 0 . eachees were very thank- and
Perin brought snore night: The •t sed with the thought that a ling
libitfons• Ilei• offering S i mother who brought ploy of
loin free
The d t
T
v •leas
• Ful. -the
s about 's ab
0
sl
• queen • her
• of
1
two n
lost v
had o he
l l t
v lx�l>evread z
the l l
when.I
l
babies, so no doubt. the renewy is a
safe .one,
only m Incpro-
11VIr Sloman,, who is on y 1
cess -'of collecting ;facts and exlierien-
cos to ,be able to ,work out a .formula
or
'ARAVAN SCII00LM.ASTI?R
problem," says Fred
Whole pyo
the caravan •schoolmaster of
adieu National car, "lies in
• that the people in these reg-
,
dif-
l o
f many nomad
people p.
rap
At
aces and of mixed races.
where our first survey taken
iter showed cighteee children
ithin'Teach, we find only. two
Wholes is too young for school,
abulary, in the first place, is ex raor-,
GI'
D RAre
AIAare OF Their ideas
N OI limited,
IZI'1< 117 It C
IILD cheerily cl an v
1 Fist.
this ' es of
loneliness el The
Some
less c
11 p
en la
ess t Y
Nomad ]
lee
m'
the
"Aunfolded are the children of unmixed English bush seems to haveOn° Might expect
Their fathers and muffled them.
and into
nb thiscountr them to be little 'alert 00eattifes of
me int<] this country in the acorn t °. re and site -
da of owning the wild,'eilled•with woodlo
days, withnhigh sixty i, wisdom, Literature would have
acres; They p °
were hundred and slsty
the -ears -us think rials. But it is not so. They
were populpwood
d tiering y the world
happy was coming off, know very little about the spruce athtt'ound thein, and much of what they
But underneath oc they were finding know is superstition. reales, ,petits
rocks. The pulp t 10 1
only l e . , t to work
't Suddenly they The smallest we se play -
were
lit. _-.And � uI e Y de-
wod o q s Bleared ing with colored blocks,' making
Bhopeless. Theland was
die- -si ns and counting. We -have from
de-
but there was their <lyea. Weal? g days s to plant 1» each of
years of clearing three to five cY p
theyesi aplyr ,yea seed to grow into some -
odd
peat. They work at them enough.
simply tooks thing during the several weeks we aro
odd jobs, in the pulpwood camp., g
the or -
and' i
• on section gangs away up the line,. 1 exphun n
trapping; working
ofthe railways. • dreary school fashion the mystery of
extra ganga
Their children have the rudiments— reading and writing and dive thrill
only the rudiments—of education, in. the phonetiemetIsod. A few have had
we need records, ,e r this sort of educational wort., ]las
dressed
to. -the -school ear for
as's
presents, 11. t
e. that rand d
1
ti01
P ViC
1
C x
one o
t
0
•• `1 •ed
a ,
-'a
111
atCa e such
but the things most need- into the
send 11
P Id
4 S U
he h
1 lc 4
the Cl u
that 'a children' t
5
31C things'
site
• uch- of
1 arf, s 1missionaries ed1037. 1
In
155
ne young
t
„ 5
boot
ed n1
ice at e
interested P
n go
can would c r won
1
1 d
t e
who
trinkets of the kindergarten sort,
r than valuable things: Postcards
rathe
Pictures views of the great world. T
Pictures,.
showed one little fellow Mr. Eaton's'
catalogue. ,Mr. Eaton is a mnysterious
and powerful' figure all through these
parts.' The catalogue filled with won-
ders of the world is the reason He
examined the picture of the big store
on the front. ;<Wltat's thein?' he as -
veil . diffidently, pointing to the Togs
as-
ked,
011101 rows of windows..
"Theyare of the great
are dimly aware g
the1 banks they
q
ne
person alive w O
of
that most c n
any
public press Canada the
era1 husband inger day hat which one's frugality will not
"em raQueen Marie and 1 one to discard; and all the time
meet- .allow o
1 e 1
n
++ t on
their
aQd
we
p
n rat
IUparticle-
American
e eds an
ilig on the Queen's return from heti be sure that nolpody pay Y
us o .es lar attention to `one,
linvisit Fancy curio Y be argued that.
flippant leagues report 0& course .it assay g
1 •and p et'
watching p
fli aril -and. unsym- those who - are brought . up to it g
ing a curious,pp --to receiving the attention of
' hus� used
how
one
just
world
publicity..
ub11C t .
patheticofp Y
- ,. laze
the b1
d o
crowd, t
e the Gx
i.non s ,
7 SQ0
nilstation
CDle$
Yat tl
one o';
netrev
band 15U
hardly could hA
Cot
e Y
1 they
an enlightened type Probably, aifrom cabin Le: cabin return from a journey
about it otherwise, ant methinks they would
With p not British royalty
wilds 'carrying' need a very high, opinion • of them
the' •more n
through w � : nt�st the common people , . he time.
Bich the gospel :clone 'but thevisitor
amongst other royal selves to really enjoy:•it all t
n a'sitar freely perhaps than any ial warmth of a vI ' ca The inembets 'of the British leo!:ltl
cheer •and secfalnil and no member of It n They have
1 also teach the , 'children, to Y greported family are Naturally shy
who courtdo,,,lueh -without hatlse it repo y.
and write and gender, in two 61 ti a world. had :to overcome that to a large ex -
read by cable all around the
sexviceo : g t: Can" Anyone suppose that the'
1 ten
ales and his. brothers and
Prince. of W
sister ,did not suffer while they were
becoming used 'to the gaze of the
throng? in that way lies duty, how -
e as they see ' it; and they have
eve ,
a uared up to it, like good Britons.
q
as for its let its be thankful our
Put
duty callsus to another sort of hardi-
hood, treed, , i)em
three clay -visits, a i goo
that a 61111'ch,430n never this is-
olated land.'
steps
The school cars' are the .first.. 1
T
towards the realization of a life long
deans of Dr. J. B.`MoDougoll who
p might be called the chief prospector
world: prom igh way Ontario Department of Edue-
dering
he mighty trains then- of the O l l
can wash t g y
7011.
through, the. lords and ladle; at mai viho,fol-
Do. McDougall .is time s
sitting at ease, the gleaming dining : prospectors 3`usli-
" I lowed the gang's of p 1
car' •
If one was sure that :one was a -'
Icing one :s very
•
aging something
spoke one might
ich publicity.
nce, that 1
your e
ads that Yet
".led
en bei
< .heen had .
d been d'ztipedi
and year toniper
ways 100 ' best, or was
always s worth while
when one t not so much
suppose,
mind 54 But supe ,
for •insta had a ' cold in
r 110 yes' Looked as
your your nose as
' they Y
i • had n the:red ink
Lt t
bottle, a hatched your