The height of the room, occupying the whole one story of the building, the size of the windows, hung with curtains of matting, and the contrast of coolness and neatness within to the heat and dirt of the street without, combined to make the school one of the most attractive I ever saw. The little girls in one room seemed to be having a recess as we entered, and crowded fearlessly about us, eager to know from what country we came and in what steamer, being too well acquainted with such visitors to wonder at our presence. We were a party of a dozen gentlemen, Spaniards all except myself, and all a good deal older than I. Doubtless the teacher thought the party was all of Spaniards. I am sure the lesson that followed would not have been given had she known that a North American was present. It turned on the character and disposition of the English people, apparently part of a Geography lesson. It came out that the English were cruel and bloodthirsty. As evidence was cited the habit of English boys who differed in opinion of going off behind the school, as like as not under the escort and advice of some of the older boys, to beat each other about the face with their bare hands until their eyes were blackened and their noses bled. So too the grown up people paid large sums of money to see savage, half naked men fight with their fists for a prize. And the Americans had much the same habits. Prize-fights there attracted great numbers of wealthy and influential people, the governors of many states never failing to attend! (Ten years later I was visiting a school in the town of Concord, Massachusetts and chanced into the geography class where the teacher was bringing out the inherent savageness and brutality of the Spaniards. She cited the bullfights as evidence; how the people enjoyed seeing the angry bull tearing open with his sharp horns poor old horses that had not spirit enough to escape, only to be slain in his turn by a highly trained and well armed man, who gave him equally little chance for his life! How the occasion was a holiday one, the day being Sunday or some other festival and the world of society turning out in its gayest attire to see the event, even the queen of Spain herself. Both teachers ladies of dignity and charm and both instilling into children's minds the poison of an elementary contempt and hatred of the foreigner.) A nod to the teacher, an Adios to the children, and we are off to the bay, where the Aquila lies darkly silhouetted against the pale blue outline of distant San Antonio. The area of California, 158,297 square miles, is approximately equal to the combined area of Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia, Albania, Montenegro, Belgium, and Turkey in Europe. The population of California, according to the latest census, was 2,377,000, as against 28,532,000 for the European countries named. Of California's total area, it is of interest to note that 70 per cent has already been topographically mapped by the United States Geological Survey. MATERIAL FOR USE IN SCHOOLS Supplied by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Farmers' Bulletins FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION 173-A Primer of Forestry, Part I 358-A Primer of Forestry, Part II 423-Forest Nurseries for Schools 134 Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds. Forest Service Pamphlets The Country's Forests Our Timber Supply Maps Natural Forest Regions of North America (16′′x20′′, paper). Traveling Exhibit of Commercially Important Woods of the United States. The Forest Service has prepared sets of sixty-four samples of commercially important woods of the United States, together with maps showing the region in which each species grows and a short statement of its principal uses and physical characteristics, for loan to schools, libraries, and other educational institutions. Four wood samples are arranged on a photographic mount measuring 1612x10 inches, and these mounts are affixed four on each of four strips of green denim, with eyelets in upper corners for hanging. The whole exhibit covers a wall space about four feet high by six feet long. This exhibit is loaned for short periods under agreement with the borrower that he pay transportation charges and forward it promptly to the next place of exhibition at the direction of the Forest Service. The exhibit, wrapped for shipment, weighs about nine pounds. Application for the loan of this exhibit should be made directly to the Forester, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPH EXHIBIT A special collection of 44 large mounted photographs on "The Forests of the United States, Their Use and Preservation," has been prepared as a traveling exhibit to be loaned to schools, libraries, and other educational institutions. These photographs are arranged in 11 series of 4 pictures each. These series, with their descriptions, form illustrated "stories" on special features of forest work and forest conditions. Each series is mounted on a strip of green denim cloth, with eyelets in the upper corners, for hanging. The whole exhibit covers a wall space 42 feet high and about 14 feet long. This exhibit is loaned for short periods on condition that the borrower agrees to pay express charges and to forward the pictures promptly to the next place of exhibition at the direction of the Forest Service. The exhibit wrapped for shipment weighs about 18 pounds. Applicants for the pictures should write directly to The Forester, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., and ask that a reservation be made. SPECIAL LANTERN SLIDE SETS Several special sets of colored lantern slides have been prepared for educational use, some of general interest, some of special interest to teachers. Each set is accompanied by a syllabus for a lecture. These slides will be loaned for short periods, on condition that the borrower agrees to pay transportation charges from Washington and return, and to be responsible for slides lost or broken. The subjects upon which special sets are available are as follows: Of General Interest General Forestry Conservation of the Forest The Work of the Forest Service The Care and Protection of Shade Trees For Special Use in Schools Nature Study and Forestry Botany and Forestry Manual Training and Forestry Geography and Forestry Agriculture and Forestry Persons wishing to borrow any of these sets should make application for them as long as possible before the date on which they are needed, so that reservations can be made. Material which may be purchased Publications-Any of the publications of the Forest Service in print may be secured by purchase, in any quantities desired, from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. He will furnish a price list on request. Among the publications recommended for school use, of which the supply available for free distribution is exhausted, are the following: Forest Service Circulars No. 96-Arbor Day No. 130-Forestry in the Public Schools.. No. 171-The Forests of the United States, Their Use. Office of Experiment Station Circular No. 117-A Working Erosion Model for Schools.... .05 PRICE LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL Under Act of Congress, approved June 30, 1906, the Forest Service is authorized to sell photographic prints, lantern slides, bromide enlargements and transparencies. The prices at which this material can be sold are given below. Payment for all material made for sale is required in advance. Remittances should be made by Postal money order or bank draft drawn in favor of "The Treasurer of the United States," but mailed to the Forest Service. Requisitions should be placed as far in advance as possible, since material for sale can be made only as the regular work of the Photographer of the Forest Service will permit. Prospective purchasers of photographic material should submit a list of subjects to be illustrated, giving the number of prints desired on each subject, and stating as fully as possible the character of the pictures wanted. If prints are to be ordered, the size preferred should also be stated. A careful selection of the negatives will then be made and a list submitted to the purchaser with a statement of the cost of furnishing the material. can CURRENT GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES THE YUKON RIVER The Yukon River in Alaska is one of the great rivers of the North Americontinent. A brief report on the discharge of this river at Eagle, Alaska, by E. A. Porter and R. W. Davenport, has been issued by the United States Geological Survey as Water-Supply Paper 345-F. Probably few people have an adequate conception of the size of this river and characteristics of its flow. A. H. Brooks, of the Geological Survey, gives the Yukon fifth place among the large rivers in North America and estimates its drainage area at about 330,000 square miles. Its length, including the Lewes and Teslin rivers, is given in the report as 3,200 miles. The discharge of the Yukon varies from a maximum of 254,000 to a minimum of 10,100 cubic feet a second, or an esti mated average flow of 73,200 cubic feet. This is a relatively small discharge, the average flow of the Mississippi being 695,000, that of the Ohio 300,000, and that of the Colorado 23,300 second-feet. The Nile, with a drainage area of 1,262,000 square miles, has an average flow of 116,000 cubic feet a second. The flow of the Yukon is therefore relatively small as related to its drainage area. ENORMOUS RAINFALL IN HAWAII The rainfall on the island of Hawaii varies greatly, ranging from the enormous downpour of 353 inches a year in the upper Waipio Valley to 20 inches on some of the slopes of Hualalai. The only surface streams on the island are found along the northeast coast between Hilo and Kohala. Waipio River, according to the United States Geological Survey, is the largest stream on the island and has been partly developed for irrigation. At Kapoho, on the east point of the island, warm water flows from seams in the rocks. These "warm springs" flow into a pool about 100 feet long, 25 feet wide, and 20 feet deep. The pool is entirely surrounded by rocks and its color varies in shade from a beautiful blue to violet. Waiapele, or Green Lake, is a body of fresh water in the pit of an old crater near Kapoho. This lake covers an area of about 5 acres and is fed by springs below the surface. A pumping plant takes water from this lake for domestic use and for irrigations. NEW MAP OF MONTANA ISSUED BY U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY By international agreement the United States and nearly all the other principal countries of the world in 1909 planned for the preparation of maps of the entire surface of the earth, to be published on a scale one-millionth of actual size, or about 1 inch to every 16 miles, the United States Geological Survey undertaking to prepare the United States portion. All the maps are to be uniform in shape and general appearance and are to have the same conventional signs. As the majority of the people in this country have more or less use for State maps than for maps of any other kind the Geological Survey decided to utilize the data collected by publishing also maps of each State on a larger scale-about 1 inch to every 8 miles. A map of the entire United States on this scale would cover a sheet 20 by 31 feet. The Survey has already issued 25 such State maps, the latest one being that of Montana, and this is the largest one of the series so far published. In compiling the map every available source of information has been ransacked for material, and many data never before available to the public in any form have been procured, so that the map far exceeds in accuracy any heretofore published. The map is in two sheets, each 40 by 46 inches, and is sold and delivered free by the Geological Survey for the nominal price of 45 cents. HAWAIIAN VOLCANOES The lofty volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands, rising above the ocean from 5,000 to nearly 14,000 feet, are only the summits of gigantic mountain |