The College Echo. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 1, Ed. 1, July 1891 Page: 2 of 18
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2
THE COLLEGE ECHO.
“Texas has always had plenty of money, but has never
been troubled with borrowers, bad book-keepers, defaulters,
or poker players. Texas is a singularly fortunate State,
which keeps a million as surplus and. does not pay its school-
teachers.” If a defaulting treasurer be found here some
day—of which there is no likelihood at present, we are glad
to say,—the State legislature will wish it had paid its
school-teachers better salaries, fixed up the Capitol grounds
a little, and helped to make a decent approach to the Capi-
tol from the depot. The Texas legislature seems to be
economical to penuriousness. It did not contribute a dollar
towards defraying expenses at the dedication of the Capitol
—the erection of which Capitol did not cost the State a
cent—and the last legislature penuriously refused money
to put the Capitol grounds in order.
—Of the many able addresses delivered at the meetings
of the State Teachers in Austin, that of Prof. Pritchett, our
genial and zealous State Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion, deserved special consideration. Following the lines
of ex-Superintendent Cooper, Prof. Pritchett dealt exhaust-
ively with the various matters of importance affecting the
welfare of the public schools, and especially the country
schools, which under existing circumstances are in many
places open only four months in the year. Most of the
other addresses were conservative and practical. It is re-
grettable, however, that a few, probably owing to a want of
a proper understanding of the subject, attempted to ridicule
the study of Greek in the higher courses of study. Greece
was the foster-mother of the Intellectual Sciences ; to her
the Romans went for their knowledge, and as long as his-
tory repeats itself to her must we go for ours. Even our
scientific terminology is Greek—a misfortune, perhaps, but
one that makes the study of Greek the more useful.
—The advertising pages of the Coixege Echo furnish
strong evidence of the energy and tact of the business men
of Austin, and the hearty good will with which they co-op-
erate with and patronize anything that is worthy of their
support. A college paper like ours, so liberally supplied
with advertisements, would speak well for any city, and the
merchants and business men cf Austin are worthy of special
commendation. They are the life of the city. To them is
mainly due the inception of the great dam that has made
Austin the cynosure of all eyes,—no less a centre of attrac-
tion than Galveston, the Brazos, Aransas and Sabine Pass
—the future great seaports of our great State. To them is
chiefly due the introduction of electric railroads, the erec-
tion of the handsome buildings and business blocks that
adorn our city. While the State Eegislature, with abun-
dance of money in the Treasury, shamefully neglects the
Capitol grounds, setting in a hog-wallow even a part of the
handsome railing that encompasses those grounds, our mer-
chants and business men erect fine public buildings and pri-
vate residences, set off with beautiful grounds, as if to
shame the neglect of those who should take an honest pride
in the Capitol and its surroundings.
—And now a pointer to our esteemed friends and public
benefactors, the railway companies. Besides encouraging
education, there is money and business in it. Anent the
crowds that thronged Austin on the 17th of June, to attend
the closing exercises at the State University, St. Edward’s
College, and St. Mary’s Academy, we have noticed that the
railway companies of Texas give special rates for political
conventions and the meetings of various societies, such as
the Knights of Pythias, etc. Would it not be a good thing
for the railways of Texas to give special rates and run ex-
cursion trains next year at the close of the school session in
Austin, when a greater concourse is assembled here from
various parts of the State than can be found at the assem-
blies above named? And would it not justify them to give
special rates to students and parents returning in September
to the State University, St. Edward’s College, St. Mary’s
Academy, the Tillotson Institute, the Deaf Mute Institute,
and the Institute for the Blind ? It is safe to say that the
various educational institutions of Austin draw at least
1,000 people to this city in September, and that excursion
rates would induce many more to come. There would be
three or four times that number in June, if all the institu-
tions closed at the same time ; and if excursion rates were
given, the concourse would be much larger. We commend
this matter to the consideration of the railway companies
and the managers of the various educational institutions
above named.
—“Greek is a dead language.’’—No : Greek is not
dead ; it is still used in all lands and in all climes—from
North to South, from East to West. Greek has a vitality
that has baffled all efforts of modern killers to crush it;
and the more exertions that are made to extinguish Greek,
the more it rises in the estimation of reasonable people, the
more it spreads, the more firmly it stands ; it towers higher,
and, giant-like, looks down with pitiful contempt on the
squabbling of some people, whilst it pushes its roots deeper
and takes a stronger hold on the human mind. No inven-
tions are made: Greek has something to do with them. All
that the wise men nowadays speak of state, of government,
of national economy, of social relations, is stored away in
the treasury of Greek literature. All philosophy comes
from the Greek ; historiography and correct form of poetry
has its origin there. Greek is better known, and is studied
by more men in our own days, than in its golden age.
Greek literature fosters great minds, moulds strong charac-
ters, frames wise laws, gives rise to social and political in-
stitutions, rules the world. Greek is not dead ; it
shall never die. Not to study Greek literature is to remain
outside the great plan of universal history ; to belittle it
shows a narrow mind and shallow brain, evinces great lack
of character, entails woful ignorance, and is a sure sign of
superficiality. Knowing all this, is it not surprising to see
educators striving to eliminate Greek from the curriculum of
colleges and universities that claim to give a classical edu-
cation ?—Felices cerebi'i !
—Some people imagine that nothing good can be had in
Texas,—that our schools are inferior to those of the North
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The College Echo. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 1, Ed. 1, July 1891, newspaper, July 1891; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1004929/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting St. Edward’s University.