STRENGTH OF YELLOW PINE.
It is reported that a comparison of the relative strength of yellow and Norway pine was made at Dayton, O., with the following results: The specimens were dressed exactly one inch square, and these were broken in a testing machine by placing them on bearings, one foot apart, with the weight in the center. The southern pine had been air seasoned for two years and upward, the Norway from a year to fifteen months. The weakest yellow pine broke at 763 pounds, the strongest at 1,102; average of eight specimens, 904 pounds. The weakest Norway broke at 501 pounds, the strongest at 790 pounds; average of ten specimens, 702 pounds, showing the yellow pine to be 28.7 per cent. stronger than Norway, and that a yellow pine sill 4x8 inches dimensions is equivalent to a Norway sill of 5½x8 inches, with the further advantage in favor of the yellow pine that it can be got much freer of knots and consequently stronger in comparison than these figures show, which are based on clear timber. Another test was made at a meeting of the Master Car Builders' Association, with the following results: Five pieces of each variety, one inch square and eleven inches between bearing points, were experimented upon, the pressure being applied in the center. The outcome showed strength of yellow pine at 500, 510, 500, 490, and 530 pounds breakage strain, or an average of 506; while Norway stood a strain of 620, 645, 730, 650, and 630 pounds or an average of 625 pounds. These experiments do not appear to throw much light on the question of relative strength.
THE EDUCATION OF GERMAN WOMEN.
"Our women in Germany," said the professor of a German university to me, a few days ago, "must by all means be acquainted with the different departments of housekeeping, and must interest themselves therein. Those who stand highest as well as those who stand lowest, from the wives and daughters of a Minister of State to the wives and daughters of the meanest peasant. The Princess-Royal attends to the skimming of the milk in her dairy." "I beg your pardon for interrupting you," I said, "but an American lady would think that quite out of her sphere; and if I were not convinced of your seriousness, I should imagine you were amusing me by a piece of fiction." "I do assure you," replied the professor, "that it is a well known fact that the Princess-Royal keeps cows and superintends personally the management of her dairy, and I have heard that the Queen of England does the same." "Please to instruct me further regarding the education of women in Germany," I said. "I am very much interested in that subject, as, from my own observations, I have seen that as a general thing the German ladies are well read, not only in the literature of their own country, but also in that of France and England." "Our women," he replied, "also speak French and English, especially French, and many of them are able to read the authors of those countries in the original." "This is the more surprising to me," I remarked, "as they seem to be much occupied with the cares of housekeeping, and I would like to know how they find time to learn foreign languages, and to read all the principal works of the poets and romance writers of three countries." "That," said the professor, "is a part of their education, and in order that you may understand in what manner German girls must utilize their time at school, I will give you a brief explanation of the system of education employed and of that knowledge which it is incumbent upon every German girl to possess, whatever be her position in life, and afterward of the different grades of education from that of the peasant girl to that of the lady of the highest position in the State. Every girl in Germany must learn to read and to write, to sew and to knit, to cook and to do general housework, and to acquire besides some general knowledge of grammar, geography, mathematics, and history. Beginning at the daughter of the Bauer, or, as you say in America, farmer, the above mentioned knowledge, which is the starting point for the education of the other classes, is the limit of her education; and as it may be interesting to you, I will mention that when the daughters of the Bauer have learned thus much they quit school and labor in the field until they are married, when they leave aside the field work and enter upon the duties of the household and its immediate attachments, such as the dairy, the chicken yard, the gardens, etc.; and while the products of the field belong to their husbands, the garden stuffs, and the milk, eggs, butter, etc., become their own property, and from the profits of these, which they carry to the markets and sell, they provide their pantries with the necessary teas, sugar, coffee, etc., and themselves and their children with clothes.
"Between the peasant class and nobility there are many grades and classes varying more or less in the refinement of their manners as well as in the extent of their education, but as it would not be possible and is also unnecessary for our purpose to describe them all in particular, I prefer to include them all under the head of gentry, and for these a more ample education is provided. The daughters of the gentry must, in addition to the aforesaid rudiments of knowledge, have a very thorough education in history as well as in grammar, mathematics, and natural and physical geography. They must know French and English, and have an intelligent understanding of the literature of those countries, as well as of that of Germany. They must learn fine needle-work and the art of governing a house and of educating young children. They must also acquire a knowledge of good manners and an understanding of society. They must be able to receive company and do the honors of the house. In addition to this they will have an intelligent understanding of music and art. For all of these branches of knowledge there are schools provided, and according to the position or wealth of the parents, or the intelligence and application of the daughters, will vary the refinement and education of each. As, for instance, the education of a country squire's daughter will be superior to that of a wholesale merchant's daughter, and that of the wholesale merchant's daughter will be superior to that of the retail merchant's daughter. The daughter of a very wealthy banker will be educated above the daughters of the merchants; the daughter of a professor of the University above that of the daughters of a professor of the Gymnasium, and so on; and each will fill a position in life differing from that of the others, according to the respect in which the position of the parents is held.
"The same system of education which we have described for the daughters of the gentry will be incumbent on the daughters of the nobility, with the addition of a more finished and thorough education in regard to the manners and formalities which attach to their station of life, and these will also vary in kind and extent, according to the position of the persons concerned. A Duke's daughter, for instance, will be more accomplished than a Count's. But the difference will be more apparent than real; the actual knowledge of both will, as far as their education provides, be the same. In the society of the Court, the ladies will naturally acquire some knowledge of the affairs of State, which those in private life and a more retired existence will not care to learn. But in matters of art, in literature, in the general business of life, all German ladies are expected to be well informed and to be able to converse intelligently regarding them, while the special faculties of law, of medicine, of theology, of chemistry, etc., etc., are left to the higher ambition of their fathers and brothers, and they do not meddle with them. But, above all, as I remarked in the beginning, a German girl of whatever rank or condition must understand fully all the matters concerning a household."
When the Professor had finished, I thanked him and expressed so much admiration at the system of education provided for the women of Germany, that he promised me at some future time a brief explanation of morals and manners in Germany, which I shall be most happy to present before the reader at the proper time. K.G.D.