New-York tribune. [volume], June 05, 1904, Page 13, Image 39

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Am : was much
curbed about the fine drill, It
. ■■■! to her that :hr system.
■ Unit in theory, was faulty in
t\ Room 5 was on the second floor of a
■ ""• school building, there being four rooms
Hiss Hedges hud an excellent opportu
r serration. The piano, used to play the
n the children left the building, cither
r at the oonduaon of sessions, was on
-'■ too. [t stood in a reoess of the big hall,
■.'. ! . be hoard plainly <m the floor above and
r belov. And Miss Hedges bad made herself
Lai guardian of this piano.
music is of the utmost importance.*" she said.
is rumored that Mi>> Hedges had once been
.■ school lire, and thai it had apart hernerws
- reason the principal and the other teachers
lisposed to
lerant when
• ticszed van
. tags ■:" the
I is very
•v." said Miss
- on one oc
n; "but the
■ dls that would
: it realty cf
ue over-
Wh a t are
asked M:s>
mo n d of
condi
ti thai iroald
\ ■ • in case of a
.• ' replied Hiss
H ■ •■ There
■ do ad
■ .■ • D( itioe then,
:.:. I the ch:l -iren
v.- .iv 1 d not be
ready and vaxt>
■ [
[t was the cu>
■ :r. to inform all
• v teachers when
t. Tv was to be a
!.: ''.nil. md the
te. her.- informed
tb pupils. In
det . there was al
::i. - as much
preparation for it
"* as there would be
fur a Stage spec
tacle. Tommy
* ' 1o s S or Nellie
Booth was sta
tii.'iied at the }>i
anu before the
alarm was struck.
■ BO that, even if the
children had not been warned, the strains of the
r:ar<:h would come to them with the sound of the jiong.
'"That isn't the way it would be in case of lire." Miss
Hedges argued. "No one would In.- ready then."
Tommy and Nellie alternated at the piano, each hav
ing a week when he or she played for the regular dis
mrni of school or for the lire drill, if there happened
to Ik- one, and this was another thins that worried Miss
lk-<is:es. In the excitement of a real alarm she was sure
they would Eorget whose turn it was to go to the piano.
I: Tommy had that duty alone, and if the tire drill
p was propertj conducted, it would litcome almost in
' s*:!utr."e with him to go to the piano at the stroke of
the alarm Furthermore, he would have a pride in the
responsibility placed upon him that was lacking when
he shared it with a girl. There was no honor in In-ing
selected as the alternate of a girl — that is. there was
none from a boy's point of view. He ought to be
made to feel that there was some glory, some real dis
tinction, in the task assigned to him. Then he would
be canal to any emergency.
take this view of The mat
ter, and Miss Hedges noted triat when one of them
Epectedly absent tbere was usually a delay in
the march started for the ordinary dismissal of
tpatot of this to the principal,
.all matter." said the principal. "There's no
why the children shouldn't go out without
■nally. Anyhow, the delay is trilling.
circumstances you mention are of infrequent
•invnce "
M Hedgef subsided temj>orarilv. as she knew she
. ruling to Ik.- regarded as "the fire nuisance "
SUNDAY MAGAZINE for JUNE 5, 1904
By ElHotltt Flower
■ be heard Miss Belly of Room 6 talk
■ . • the children in her room of the fire drill
■'' ursi ." said Miss Kelly, "this is only practice.
In '■'-' you would not march down the
stair- so deliberately, but hurry a> fasi as you could."
much for Miss Hedges She knew
lly lacking in i ■ mmi in
'• m sh< .. ■ • ■ ted a teacher to calmly advise
the very thing thai the drill was intended to prevent.
ature reflection she decided thai she wo
ity it she did not make one in. 're ear
nest attempt to improve conditions So she went to
the principal again.
"Mr Black.' she said, "the tire drill in this school
Thi Sole-- of if.«- M..rth Cmc to the Frontic PupiK From tlw Lip- of Axel Stromm
i> absolutely no test at all; it is no more than the ordi
nary dismissal for recess. Teachers and pupils know
bo well when it i.-, coming that in some rooms they put
their books away a few minutes beforehand and wait
for the alarm. In addition tv this, so much ha- : «■'■','.
left to tile individual judgment of the teachers that
different ideas prevail in different rooms, and the re
sult would be confusion." Then she told what she had
heard Miss Kelly say: for it seemed to h r that there
was real danger in this.
"A wrong idea, of course." said the principal. "I'll
speak to her about it this afternoon."
"Why not turn in an alarm unexpectedly, and find
out just what the drill is worth"'" asked Miss ll'
"I wouldn't care to n~k it." returned the cautious
principal "It would frighten some of the teachers
if their wil
"If they're going to lose their wits." retorted Miss
i : "it's better they should do >o when there is
no 6re than when there i^ one."
'Really. Miss Hedges, you impress me as being fire
crazy." said the principal
"I've been through one tire," asserted Miss Hedges,
"and I know what it menns. A drill, to be effective,
should l>e as nearly as possible under real tire condi
tions. Then, when the real alarm sounds, the chances
are the school will 1*- emptied or nearly emptied be
fore they know that it is a real alarm. To avoi 1 a
panic the first time, tell them there will l>e no advance
notice of tire drills hereafter, and then give none. Let
the engineer turn in an alarm once without even giving
notice to you Then you'll see how your system works."
"You're a monomaniac," returned the principal
"The hre drill is excellent Even the
Superintendent commended it the day
he visited us."
"But everyone know it was coming."
"<M course. If I tried your experiment and any
harm came of it, I would be the one censored. You
Ivise this, because you have no responsibility;
but it's a serious thing for me. There is hound to U
a little confusion in a lire; but we reduce it to a mini
mum when we teach the children what to ,1,, and how
to do it. Ho\\e\er. lam j^lad you spoke to me about
Miss Kelly. I shall warn her."
""Let us at least have a distinct lire-drill march."
urged Miss Hedges, seeing that there was no chance ol
gaining the more imp .riant point.
Suit yourself .1- I that," said the principal
"The piano is on youi
Miss Hedges could not play herself; but she be
lieved firmly in the
power of musi<
Previously, there
had been no dis
tinctive tire-ilrill
march. Now >he
decided to nave
one that sh< mid ':■<•
much a part i ■:'
the drill as the
urm • >r any i ither
Th<
•
were
I
i ider
■ lajed
■
-
trong i i r in
■ m -
■
■
•
m a i
: ■ 1 < >ne pa..
■
■
wh- • \ v hear an
• it hi >lds viu
■
■
•. time, or if
j ■: lag it forces
\ ato it
Such a march
Was the one M:s^
Hedges Selected,
and she gave a copy each to Tommy Closs and Nellie
" Prai tise it at home " she said; "but never play it
here except for the tire drill."
The march made a hit. Tommy was the first one
to play it for a drill, and as the notes rose kntd and
strong there came the stamp, stamp, stamp of children
marking time while awaiting their turn to move; but
ry popularity <.f it proved a menace. The chil
dren wanted it played on other occasions, and some of
tlu-m got copies of it and learned it at home. That
did no harm; but Miss Hedges guarded it jealously at
school. It was a part of the drill, she held, and the
children must learn to recognize it exclusively as such.
Once, when school was about to be dismissed, she
heard Miss Kelly say: "Hay the tire-drill march.
Tommy."
"No," interposed Miss Hedges, firmly.
"Why not?" asked Miss Kelly.
"Mr. Black left that matter to me, and I don't want
it confused with anything else," said Miss Hedges. "It
has given the children a greater interest in the dnll
than they ever had before. When the alarm sounds
their minds are instantly centered on the march."
"Their minds ought to be on the tire, if there should
be one," asserted Miss Kelly.
"Quite the contrary," retorted Miss Hedges. "The
nearer they come to identifying the drill with some
thing aside from a tire the better it is.. Let them listen
for the march."
On another occasion Miss Hedges heard tlu famliar
strums coming up from the playground, and from a
window she saw Axel Stromm marching at the head
13