Chapter III: Part 3

At the conclusion of the study of a country, a topic may be assigned to each pupil, or selected by him. With this topic he is to become thoroughly familiar.

In place of the old-time review, invitations may be issued by the pupils, and the results of the month's work be summed up in the form of an entertainment, called--

AFTERNOONS OR EVENINGS ABROAD.

When a class, club, or school has been studying a country, the work may be brought to a close in a way that pupils and their parents and friends will enjoy and remember, by giving _An Afternoon or Evening Abroad_.

This form of geography review would be appreciated more particularly in villages, or in country districts, where entertainments, books, pictures, and opportunities for study and social intercourse are rarer than in cities.

At the conclusion of an afternoon talk or entertainment, any pictures used may be placed on the chalk tray along the blackboard, that visitors may examine them more closely.

If the entertainment is given in the evening, the teacher may be able to use stereopticon views.

These will prove a very great attraction to both pupils and parents, and should be secured if possible. The lantern with oil lamp may be easily operated by the teacher while the pupils give the descriptions of the pictures or give talks about the country.

The lanterns and slides may be rented for the evening or afternoon at reasonable rates, and the cost covered by an admission fee of from ten to twenty-five cents. In sending for catalogue and terms, ask for the paper used to darken windows if the lantern is to be used in the afternoon.

Two of the largest dealers in stereopticon views and lanterns are T. H. McAllister, 49 Nassau St., New York, and the McIntosh Stereopticon Co., 35 Randolph St. Chicago.

SUGGESTIONS.

For the afternoons abroad, given as geography reviews, or as a part of the Friday afternoon exercises, invitations may be written out by the pupils, or mimeographed, or hectographed, and carried to friends and parents.

If given as an evening entertainment and illustrated by stereopticon views, handbills may be printed and circulated, at least a week beforehand. The following form may be used:--

* * * * *

SCHOOL ENTERTAINMENT.

A TRIP TO PUERTO RICO FOR TEN CENTS.

You are invited by the pupils of the _____________ school [or the members of the Travel Class or Club] to spend _an evening_ [_or afternoon_] _in Puerto Rico_.

The party starts promptly at 1.30 P.M. [or 8 P.M.], November 1st. Those desiring to take this trip should secure tickets before the day of sailing, as the party is limited. Guides are furnished free.

The proceeds of this entertainment are to be used in the purchase of a library, and of pictures and stereopticon views for the school.

* * * * *

A PUERTO RICAN MARKET PLACE.

Decorate the room with ferns, potted palms and other tropical plants, or pictures of them. (Exact reproductions in paper or other material can now be procured at small cost.) On one side of the room have one table devoted to Puerto Rican curios; another to fruits and vegetables; and a third to other products from the island. (Or fit up one end or corner as a market place in San Juan or Ponce.)

Explain your plan for the entertainment to your groceryman and other merchants most convenient to your school, and enlist their aid. They will usually be willing to lend products imported from or native to the country.

For a list of the fruits and vegetables to be exhibited in the market place, see the list given when on a visit to the market place at San Juan. (See p. 22).

On the product-tables arrange pieces of sugar cane, samples of raw, loaf, granulated, and powdered sugar, and of molasses. If possible to secure the stalks of sugar cane, have short lengths to be sold for consumption--as in Puerto Rico. Near the table, tack up pictures of sugar plantations and mills. Have the coffee-berry and beans, ground coffee, cups of coffee prepared as a drink, and pictures of the tree, fruit, and coffee plantations; also secure specimens of the fruit of the cacao tree, a cake of solid chocolate, chocolate candy, and a cake containing chocolate layers. Cups of cacao or chocolate may be prepared as a drink. Have near pictures of the cacao tree and fruit.

Secure, if possible, samples of rice, allspice, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, ginger and vanilla; bottles of clove oil and bay rum; packages of the annatto and logwood dyes; sponges, tortoise-shell combs, and articles made of cedar, ebony, or mahogany, or pieces of these woods.

The tables and booths in the market places should be presided over by pupils dressed as Puerto Ricans, and venders should go about the room, after the entertainment is over, with native wares to sell.

Among these venders will be the bread man, the milk man, the fruit and vegetable man, the dulce seller, and the vender of ices.

These venders should, if possible, carry their wares as the Puerto Ricans do.

COSTUMES.

The girls may be costumed in very simply made white dresses. Handkerchiefs may be tied about the head, for head coverings.

The boys may be dressed in loose white trousers, girdled at the waist by a belt of leather, a white shirt, and a silk or cotton handkerchief around the neck.

A broad brimmed hat may be worn.

The dulce seller carries guava, pieces of pineapple, preserved fruits, chocolate candy, fresh cocoanut meat, grated cocoanut, etc.

The bread vender carries small rolls on his tray. The milk man carries his can upon his head, ready to serve milk from tin cups which are tied to the sides of the can.

REFRESHMENTS.

These may be served during an intermission or at the close of the entertainment, and may consist of the national drinks, orangeade, lemonade, chocolate, coffee, cocoanut milk, and of rolls, cheese, native fruits and confectionery.

The pupils who serve these refreshments should be prepared to tell something of the way in which these refreshments are prepared and served in Puerto Rico.

One of the favorite drinks of the people of Puerto Rico is orangeade. This is made as we make lemonade, except that the juice of the orange is used in place of that of the lemon. In making lemonade they use limes more frequently than lemons.

Coffee and chocolate are drinks also very much in use. The chocolate is made about the consistency of thick gruel and served with a light, thin cake.

The coffee is made very strong and only a small amount placed in the cup. The cup is then filled with boiling milk.

Among the favorite sweetmeats are the guava jelly and marmalade. The jelly looks much like our currant jelly; the marmalade resembles quince marmalade. It is usually served with cheese.

Secure some of these sweetmeats for the booth or shop, and serve bits to those who wish to buy. The small, flat boxes are the best for this purpose.

Fresh cocoanut meat should be removed from the shell and divided into penny squares, that the pupils may be able to buy a bit for a penny.

AN AFTERNOON IN PUERTO RICO.

PROGRAMME.

1. Introductory remarks by the guide, who explains our plan of celebrating the anniversary of the discovery of Puerto Rico by Columbus, Nov. 17, 1493, by a journey to that island, Nov. 17, 1900, to be spent at Aguadilla, the first landing place of Columbus on Puerto Rico.

2. Another pupil gives a short talk on the location, size and surface of Puerto Rico, using a large map.

3. History of Puerto Rico by the class historian.

4. Climate of Puerto Rico, with description of a West Indies hurricane.

5. Preparation for the trip.

6. Recitation--"Southern Seas" (given on the following pages).

7. Song,--"Life on the Ocean Wave."

8. Description of our voyage, by a pupil who has made an ocean voyage.

9. Harbor and city of San Juan.

10. Points of interest in the city.

11. Homes and home life of the people of the island.

12. Characteristics of the people of Puerto Rico.

13. Child life and education.

14. Amusements.

15. Burden-Bearing.

16. Travel.

17. The farmer.

18. The laborer.

19. Glimpses of cities in Puerto Rico.

20. A country home.

21. Animal life.

22. Plant life.

23. Recitation, "Puerto Rico," poem.

24. Conclusion.

25. Announcements.

26. Song--"America."

Before the concluding song, announcement may be made of the plan for a series of afternoons or evenings abroad. Speak of the purpose of these entertainments and express a hope that all those present will attend the next entertainment--"An Afternoon [or Evening] in Hawaii."

SOUTHERN SEAS.

Yes! let us mount this gallant ship,
Spread canvas to the wind;--
Up! we will seek the glowing South,--
Leave care and cold behind.

Let the shark pursue, through the waters blue,
Our flying vessel's track;
Let the strong winds blow, and rocks below
Threaten,--we turn not back.

See, where those shoals of dolphins go!
A glad and glorious band,
Sporting amongst the roseate woods
Of a coral fairy land.

See on the violet sands beneath
How the gorgeous shells do glide!
O sea! old sea! who yet knows half
Of thy wonders and thy pride?

Look how the sea-plants trembling float,
As it were like a mermaid's locks,
Waving in thread of ruby red
Over those nether rocks,--

Heaving and sinking, soft and fair,
Here hyacinth, there green,
With many a stem of golden growth,
And starry flowers between.

But oh, the South! the balmy South!
How warm the breezes float!
How warm the amber waters stream
From off our basking boat!

And what is that?
"'Tis land! 'Tis land!
'Tis land!" the sailors cry.
Nay! 'tis a long and narrow cloud
Betwixt the sea and sky.

And now I mark the rising shores!
The purple hills! the trees!
O what a glorious land is here,
What happy scenes are these!

See how the tall palms lift their locks
From mountain clefts,--what vales,
Basking beneath the noontide sun,
That high and hotly sails.

Yet all about the breezy shore,
Unheedful of the glow,
Look how the children of the South
Are passing to and fro!

What noble forms! what fairy place!
Cast anchor in this cove,
Push out the boat, for in this land
A little we must rove!

We'll wander on through wood and field,
We'll sit beneath the vine;
We'll drink the limpid cocoa-milk,
And pluck the native pine.

The bread-fruit and cassava-root
And many a glowing berry,
Shall be our feast; for here, at least,
Why should we not be merry?

WILLIAM HOWITT.

* * * * *

NOTE.--The following poem may be given as a recitation by changing the title to "Puerto Rico." The words apply to this island as well as to the island which is described.

SANTA CRUZ.

Betwixt old Cancer and the midway line,
In happiest climate lies this envied isle:
Trees bloom throughout the year, soft breezes blow,
And fragrant Flora wears a lasting smile.

Cool, woodland streams from shaded cliffs descend,
The dripping rock no want of moisture knows,
Supplied by springs that on the skies depend,
That fountain feeding as the current flows.

Sweet, verdant isle! through thy dark woods I rove
And learn the nature of each native tree,
The fustic hard; the poisonous manchineel,
Which for its fragrant apple pleaseth thee;

The lowly mangrove, fond of watery soil;
The white-barked palm tree, rising high in air;
The mastic in the woods you may descry;
Tamarind and lofty bay-trees flourish there;

Sweet orange groves in lonely valleys rise,
And drop their fruits unnoticed and unknown;
The cooling acid limes in hedges grow,
The juicy lemons swell in shades their own.

Soft, spongy plums on trees wide-spreading hang;
Bell apples here, suspended, shade the ground;
Plump granadillas and guavas gray,
With melons, in each plain and vale abound.

* * * * *

But chief the glory of these Indian isles
Springs from the sweet, uncloying sugar-cane;
Hence comes the planter's wealth, hence commerce sends
Such floating piles, to traverse half the main.

Whoe'er thou art that leaves thy native shore,
And shall to fair West India climates come;
Taste not the enchanting plant,--to taste forbear,
If ever thou wouldst reach thy much-loved home.

--PHILIP FREEMAN.

HELPFUL BOOKS

* * * * *

SONGS IN SEASON

Special songs for each season, and special songs for each noted day in each season. There are twenty Songs of Springtime, eight Flower Songs, thirteen Bird Songs, twenty-six Songs of Autumn, thirty Winter Songs, and twenty Miscellaneous Songs. The general arrangement is by Miss George. Words by Lydia Avery Coonley and others. Music by Mary E. Conrade, Jessie L. Gaynor, Frank Atkinson, and others. It is a charming song book, and will be used in all seasons. Contains 160 pages. Paper, 50c.; cloth, 75c.

STORIES IN SEASON.

Contains stories suitable for reading by the teachers: eighteen about Autumn, sixteen on Winter, twenty-one on Spring. Several poems on each season of the year, etc. They have been selected from a variety of sources and put in usable form by Miss George, and will be welcomed by all teachers. Suitable for Primary and Intermediate Grades. 160 pages. Paper; price, 50c.

CHRISTMAS IN OTHER LANDS.

First-class entertainments for Primary and Intermediate Grades. Contains full-page pictures, Boyhood of Christ, Christ Blessing the Little Children, Three Madonnas, thirteen full-page pictures showing costumes of the children of as many different nations, such as Russia, Italy, Germany, etc. Sixteen pages of music, besides a large amount of original recitations, suggestions, accounts, and descriptions of how Christmas is observed in other countries. Price, 25c.

WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN.

By Miss George and Mrs. Avery Coonley. Wholly original. Mrs. Coonley has written in rhyme descriptions of the early homes of these patriots, their mothers, their school days, the particular work of each, their particularly good qualities, etc., etc. These are excellent for readings and recitations. Miss George has given, in several pages of particularly good matter, plans for observing the birthdays of each. Songs and pictures complete the book. Price, 25c.