for college. In 1869 he became a student in the Preparatory Department of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, from which institution he afterward graduated. He was compelled to work his way through college and to enable him to do this he devoted considerable time to teaching. In 1871 he was appointed county examiner in his native county. In this county he was also associated with Hon. John M. Amos, now editor of the Cambridge Jeffersonian, in the management of a normal school which proved to be very successful. Perhaps no man in Ohio knows more of the real inward life and character of Mr. Brown than Mr. Amos. In a recent editorial he speaks of him as follows:

"No man who ever lived was more worthy of the closest and most intimate relations or personal friendship. He was true as tempered steel; able, energetic, amiable, shrewd, and forceful, he left the impress of his labor and of his character wherever he lived and worked."

In referring to the normal school to which attention has already been called Mr. Amos says:

"While yet a ver- young man he was sought out and employed as my associate in a normal school in Caldwell, and when thus employed he walked nearly all over the county talking with boys and girls and their parents, and as a result when the school opened over one hundred

young men and women came forward as students. His energy was marvelous. His courage indomitable."

In the fall of 1873 Mr. Brown took charge of the graded school at Newport, Ohio, and in a short time had so thoroughly organized and systematized the work that the office of superintendent was created and he was elected to fill the position. His work here was so successful that he was called in 1874 to the superintendency of the Belpre, Ohio, schools, and in 1875 to the superintendency at Eaton Ohio. It was in this position that the editor, who was then teaching his first country school, formed his acquaintance, and his kindness and helpfulness can never be forgotten. He was not only always ready but also anxious to render assistance to the teachers who were far beneath him in position but who gave evidence of an honest desire to merit success. He never forgot his own early struggles and on this account kept in close touch with the younger members of the teaching profession. In 1879 he was elected to the position of superintendent of public schools at Hamilton, Ohio, and in 1881 was re-elected for a term of two years, this being the first time in the history of the Hamilton schools that this honor was conferred. He held this position until January 1, 1884, when he entered the office of State Commissioner of Common Schools to which he had

been elected in the preceding October. He served in this office until July, 1887, when he moved to Alliance, Ohio, where he was engaged for a short time in the banking business. He then went to Reno, Nevada, to accept the presidency of the State University. He was afterwards superintendent of schools at Los Angeles, California. His declining health made it necessary for him to confine his work to a smaller sphere the last few years of his life, but he never lost any of the intense zeal in the cause of education which had characterized him in his days of better health and strength. He was an active member of educational associations, county, state and national, and served as a school examiner in nearly every county in which he taught. He was appointed by President Harrison, Visitor to West Point, and in many other ways not enumerated in this article he showed that he was not only interested in educational work of all kinds, but was also worthy of the honors conferred upon him.

He was an earnest member of the Methodist Church, and was also a 32nd Degree Mason. In 1878 he was admitted to the practice of law before the District Court in Hamilton.

On November 28, 1878, he was married to Esther E. Gabel of Eaton, Ohio. Mrs. Brown and the five children still reside in San Luis Obispo, California, and the sincerest

sympathy of her Ohio friends goes out to her in this hour of severest affliction.

FIELD NOTES.

The Volume of the Proceed

ings of the last meeting of the N. E. A. is a valuable document, and Secretary Shepard is to be congratulated on the early date of its appearance. In addition to the papers and discussions of the General Association, the National Council. and the fifteen departments, the volume contains the Report of the Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools, which is the third report of national importance recently issued.

-Every person who is interested in the important subject of "Centralization of Schools" should send twenty-five cents to Supt. F. E. Morrison, Kingsville, O., and secure a copy of his twenty-four page pamphlet on that subject.

- Mr. Wm. T. Harris, principal of the 19th District School, Cincinnati, O., has introduced the acetylene stereopticon into his History and Geography classes and he reports perfect satisfaction.

Supt. W. E. Lumley, formerly an Ohio teacher, is succeeding admirably in his work at Pulaskiville, Tenn. He has eighteen teachers, and his schools enroll nine hundred pupils.

-J. O. Beck' has been appointed first assistant in the Whittier

School, Cincinnati; O. P. Voorhis was promoted to the principalship of the Riverside Schools and Charles Porter to the principalship of the Fairmont Schools.

Association held at Eaton, January 15. The attendance was large and all present appreciated the two excellent talks of Prof. Wm. I. Crane of the Dayton High School on "Methods of Teaching English." The appreciation was indicated in a practical manner by the employment of Prof. Crane as one of the

Mind Behaves," "Man's Environment," and "Making a Full Man." The local papers speak in the highest terms of these lectures, and of the good work done by the superintendent. Dr. Lowden will be remembered by many persons in Ohio as a former teacher of this State.

The entertainment fund of the Cincinnati schools for the clothing of indigent pupils amounted to nearly $10,000. Six teachers were retired the first of January 1898 under the Teachers' Annuity, and will receive an annuity of from $400 to $600 the rest of their lives. This fund is created from 1 per cent of each teacher's salary and is not paid by the tax-payers.

-Urbana recently dedicated a new high school building with appropriate exercises.

stitute.

-The Midwinter Meeting of the Northeastern Ohio Teachers' Association will be held in Cleveland, Saturday, February 26. Supt. Beechy of Norwalk, Supt. Treudley of Youngstown, and Miss Julia Cochrane of Akron will present papers, and Miss Lottie Hirsch of Cleveland will give a Class Exercise in Elementary Physics. Prof. N. Coe Stewart will have charge of the musical part of the program. There will be the annual election of officers at this meeting.

-Prof. B. C. Welgamood, who had charge of the music in the Piqua schools for several years and who was compelled to resign. his position a short time since on account of declining health, writes. from San Antonio, Texas, that the climate there has already done wonders for him, that he has gained ten pounds in weight, and feels like another man. His friends in Ohio most sincerely hope that he may soon recover perfect health, so that he can take up again the work for which he is

so well fitted and in which he was So successful.

-J. C. Seeman, formerly a teacher in Seneca county, Ohio, now has charge of the public schools in Athens, Michigan, where he is meeting with great success. His high school now enrolls forty, with ten in the Senior class.

-We are under obligations to March Brothers, of Lebanon, Ohio, for samples of their fine pictures of Lincoln and Washington which they have on sale at a very reasonable price.

-Last November the teacher of one of the sub-districts in Coventry township, Summit county, found it necessary to suspend a young woman for insubordination. Action against the teacher for $300 damages was brought by the father, the petition setting up the claim that his daughter had been prevented by the suspension from completing her studies as she could otherwise have done, and as a result her salary as a teacher would be lost. The court held that all such damages were prospective and speculative, and could not be allowed. In fifteen minutes after the case went to the jury a unanimous verdict in favor of the teacher was returned.

-The last meeting of the Pickaway County Teachers' Association was a very interesting one. At the forenoon session Principal E. W. Phillips, of the Circleville High School, gave a very interesting illustrated lecture on "Some Effects and Applications of Electricity." Two excellent exercises were given at the afternoon session, one being an excellent paper on

"Clay Work" by Laura Mader, and the other a helpful and inspiring address on "Whither Are We

Tending?" by Principal Geo. B. Bolenbaugh, of the Chillicothe. High School.

-Our thanks are due Supt. John S. Royer, of Versailles, Ohio, for a copy of Royer's Higher Mental Arithmetic containing a large number of well graded practical problems, and valuable suggestions to teachers. The price is only two dimes.

-The teachers of Fairfield county met at Lancaster, January 22 and carried out the following program:

MORNING SESSION.

Song. Invocation... .Prof. C. C. Webb "The Relation of the Home to the School" Wm. Walter, Prin. Sugar Grove Schools Question Box-Conducted by E. C. Hedrick, Sup't Baltimore Schools.

Music.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

Music.

"Advanced Reading"..

H. C. Bailey

Supt. Lithopolis Schools.
Music.

Special Lecture-"The American Trinity" . Rev. Dr. J. W. Wright, Tarlton, O Music.

The attendance was good and much interest was manifested. The teachers by a unanimous vote passed the following resolution: "Resolved, That we, the teachers of Fairfield county assembled in convention, at Lancaster, Ohio, this twenty-second day of January, do stoutly oppose the three director system in our schools, but we favor the amendment of the Workman Law in such a way as to make it divide each county into districts, including twenty-five or thirty schools, and placing each under proper supervision."

-Notwithstanding the very bad weather and almost impassable condition of the roads, the attendance at the Mercer County Teachers' Association, held at Celina, January 22, was large. Supt. John S. Royer, of Versailles, made two excellent and very helpful talks on the Teaching of Arithmetic, and Mr. Behymer, one of the young teachers of the county, discussed "Current Literature" in a manner

which showed unusual knowledge and appreciation of the best literature of the day. The school commissioner was present, and made a short talk on School Government.

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES.

American Book Co., Cincinnati, O.: A New Astronomy for Beginners. By David P. Todd, M. A., Ph. D., Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Observatory, Amherst College.

The book is thoroughly up to date in every particular. Special attention has been accorded to the recommendations of the "Committee of Ten" on secondary school studies. The arrangement and subject matter are such as to encourage thinking rather than memorizing.

Ginn & Co., Chicago, Ill.:

The Children's Fourth Reader. By Ellen M. Cyr. The book contains many excellent selections from the best authors, carefully chosen with reference to the capacity of the children.

Silver, Burdett & Co., Boston, Mass.:

Stepping Stones to Literature. By Sarah Louise Arnold, Boston, and Charles B. Gilbert, Newark. This is the third book in the new series of eight graded readers.

Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.:

England and the Reformation. By G. W. Powers, M. A. 50c Net.

A History of the United States. By Wilbur F. Gordy. Principal of the North School, Hartford, Conn. $1.00 Net.

The February Atlantic contains contributions by John J. Chapman, John S. Durham, Col. T. W. Hig

ginson, Professor Hugo Munsterberg, Gilbert Parker, F. Hopkinson Smith, Russell Sturgis, Kate Douglas Wiggin, and others. Teachers will be especially interested in the article by Prof. Munsterberg on "Psychology No Aid to Teachers."

The third of Rudyard Kipling's "Just-So Stories" appears in the February St. Nicholas. It tells "How the Rhinoceros Got His Wrinkly Skin," and is very interesting. The number is full of interest as usual.

The Frontispiece of Harper's Magazine for February is "Mr. and Mrs. Caudle" from the original drawing by John Leech, now in the possession of John Kendrick Bangs, Esq. George Du Maurier begins his "Social Pictorial Satire," Mary Hartwell Catherwood gives a story entitled "A British Islander," and George P. Upton writes on "Recent Development of Musical Culture in Chicago.'

"A Portrait of Hon. George W. Julian" furnishes the Frontispiece for the February Arena. The number contains articles by Hon. George W. Julian, Hon. Walter Clark, John Clark Ridpath, and B. O. Flower.