IF I WERE A VOICE. If I were a voice, a persuasive voice, That could travel the wide world through, I would fly on the beams of the morning light, And speak to men with a gentle might, And tell them to be true. I'd fly, I'd fly o'er land and sea In praise of the right, in blame of the wrong. I'd fly on the wings of air; To save them from despair. If I were a voice, a pervading voice, I'd find them alone on their beds at night, Rome, banishments, and dissensions. republican Rome, whose eagles glanced in the rising and the setting sun,-where and what is she? The Eternal City yet remains, proud even in her desolation, noble in her decline, venerable in the majesty of religion, and calm as in the composure of death. The malaria has but traveled in the paths worn by her destroyers. More than eighteen centuries have mourned over the loss of her empire. A mortal disease was upon her vitals before Cæsar had crossed the Rubicon; and Brutus did not restore her health by the deep probings of the Senate chamber. The Goths, and Vandals, and Huns, the swarms of the North, completed only what was already begun at home. Romans betrayed Rome. The And whisper words that should guide them right, legions were bought and sold; but the Lessons of priceless worth. I'd fly more swift than the swiftest bird, I'd speak in the people's ear; I'd make their error clear. Charles Mackay, OUR DUTY TO THE REPUBLIC. The Old World has already revealed to us, in its unsealed books, the beginning and end of all its own marvelous struggles in the cause of liberty. Greece, lovely Greece, people offered the tribute-money. We stand the latest, and, if we fail, probably the last experiment of self-government by the people. We have begun it under circumstances of the most auspicious nature. We are in the vigor of youth. Our growth has never been checked by the oppressions of tyranny. Our constitutions have never been enfeebled by the vices or luxuries of the Old World. Such as we are, we have been from the beginning,-simple, hardy, intelligent, accustomed to self-government and to self-respect. The Atlantic rolls between us and any formidable foe. Within our own territory, stretching through many degrees of latitude and longitude, we have the choice of many products, and many means of independ ence. The government is mild. The press is free. Religion is free. Knowledge reaches, or may reach, every home. What fairer prospect of success could be presented? What means more adequate to accomplish the sublime end? What more is necessary than for the people to preserve what they themselves created? Already has the age caught the spirit of our institutions. It has already ascended the Andes, and snuffed the breezes of both oceans. It has infused itself into the life-blood of Europe, and warmed the sunny plains of France and the low lands of Holland. It has touched the philos The land of scholars and the nurse of arms, where sister republics, in fair procession, chanted the praises of liberty and the gods, where and what is she? For two thousand years the oppressor has ground her to the earth. Her arts are no more. The last sad relics of her temples are but the barracks of a ruthless soldiery. The fragments of her columns and her palaces are in the dust, yet beautiful in ruins. She fell not when the mighty were upon her. Her sons were united at Thermopyla and Marathon, and the tide of her triumph rolled back upon the Helles-ophy of Germany and the North; and, pont. She was conquered by ber own factions. She fell by the hands of her own people. The man of Macedonia did not the work of destruction. It was already done, by her own corruptions, moving onward to the South, has opened to Greece the lessons of her better days. Can it be that America, under such circumstances, can betray herself? Can it be that she is to be added to the catalogue of republics, the inscription upon whose ruins is: They were, but they are not? Forbid it, my countrymen! Forbid it, heaven!-Joseph Story. Dec. 12. CHRISTMAS CAROL. There's a song in the air! And the star rains its fire while the Beautiful sing, Ay! the star rains its fire and the Beautiful sing, In the light of that star Has swept over the the world. Every hearth is aflame, and the Beautiful sing In the homes of the natious that Jesus is King. We rejoice in the light, And we echo the song That comes down through the night Ay! we shout to the lovely evangel they bring, And we greet in his cradle our Saviour and King! 7. G. Holland. RING OUT, WILD BELLS! Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, Ring, happy bells, across the snow; And ancient forms of party strife; The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land; Ring in the Christ that is to be. Alfred Tennyson. THE HOLY ONE. Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.-Isaiah. December 19. SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE.* OPINIONS OF AN EXPERT. OME one has said that a child may be regarded as a very sensitive hygienic to instrument, responding quickly changes and environment. Following this line of thought, I have made a study of school construction from the standpoint of hygiene, as well as architecture. Sixteen years ago school buildings were erected with the idea that all that was required was the housing of so many pupils, protection from the weather, and so much floor space, all at the least possible cost. At about the time mentioned, I began an investigation of this subject, being assisted by a bright man who was principal of a school. Much has been written on this topic, but my observations are based on actual experience in this line. Given a committee of fairly intelligent men, the first business instead of the last, which is the usual method, should be the selection of the architect. This should be done before any site for the proposed structure is purchased. The location at a suitable point within the school district for convenience and accessibility is acknowledged. The exposure of the school building is of the utmost importance, and preferably the lot should face either to the north or to the south; the class-rooms can then be located on the southerly side of the structure without too long corridors. Let in the Sun.-I am an advocate of *From a paper read before the New Jersey State Sanitary Association by George F. Loring, Architect, Boston, Massachusetts. sunny buildings for class-rooms; I do not agree with those who advocate northwest or northerly exposure, when you consider the number of days in the year when the sun is obscured; that the sun is nearly vertical over us at its highest point in the summer time; that for spring, fall and winter days the sun is necessary for health; that east and west exposures in the morning and afternoon are as bad, in the opinion of those with whom I differ, as the southerly, and that the amount of fuel necessary for warming fresh air for northerly rooms is more by at least four tons per room than for southerly ones. Sunlight is the only disinfectant which sustains man, while it kills the microbe. We all know the agreeable sensation of direct sunlight, and you cannot but agree, from the standpoint of health and economy, that my conclusion is correct. I believe that the body is of as much importance as the eye; with the windows properly screened against intense sunlight, by use of curtains to each window in two parts, with the rolls at the meeting rail, the top running up and the bottom one down, the light can be controlled. Proper Kind of Windows.-All windows in class-rooms should be square headed, without transom tops, which cannot be properly curtained, and without the bar across the transoms, as they throw strong shadows over the desks. The light from the upper part of the window is most valuable, and it should not be made circular or in the Gothic style. Double windows, or four runs of sash, should be built in on the cold sides of the class rooms; they have the advantage of preventing the frosting of the glass surfaces, and chilled air will not flow downward on the bodies of pupils that happen to be seated in the outer aisles. double windows the wind pressure on the walls of the exterior does not affect the movement of the air in the heating and ventilating ducts. With The interior lighting of corridors and location of stairways can be disposed to best advantage with the style of the building mentioned. The space surrounding a building, and within the bounds of the property lines, should be at least twenty feet. A lot where the grade of the land falls, or is so graded as to fall to the rear, is much better for the basement and for access to the same. Number and Height of Stories.-Except for high schools, no building should have more than two stories of class rooms; by spreading the building over the ground, instead of vertically, we gain in breadth, architectural effect, lessen the danger to health of young persons by loss of energy climbing stairways and lessen the danger from panics; the additional cost of a building two stories high as to one of the same capacity three stories high is so small that it is not worth considering. In fixing the heights of stories we are governed some by the amount to be expended; the proper height of basement should be 9 feet 6 inches to 10 feet; of first story, 13 feet; and second story, 12 feet. The light in rooms on the second story is always superior to that of the first, and we therefore increase the height of the story and of the glass surface of the first story to equalize same; in any event, the window heads should be finished to the top so no shadows can be thrown on the ceilings; the sill of windows should be 3 feet 4 inches from the floor. The proportion of light to floor area of classrooms should never be less than one square foot of glass surface to six square feet of floor surface, and from experience I can say that this holds good for rooms thirty-eight feet wide, lighted from one side only. Within the limits of a city where adjoining buildings are about twenty feet from exterior walls, we should increase our glass in proportion of 1 to 5. The Question of Light.-Every room should receive the direct rays of the sun for some part of the day. The special arrangement of curtains before mentioned I consider better than dusty and rattling shutters; the direct rays can be wholly or in part excluded, if desired; in direct sunlight the rooms up to the limit mentioned are sufficiently bright to allow the reading of extremely fine print without exertion; at other times the shades are not required. The worst light is from the front; the best light is from the left side or left side and back; as the teacher suffers from the light as well as the pupil, and is placed necessarily in the opposite position, I believe that the desk should be placed on the floor, in such position as may suit the individual taste, supplemented by swivel chair. The ceiling plays an important part in the distribution of light, and should be white. I have used stamped metal ceilings painted white, but they are objectionable on account of the many shadows they throw; the paint soon becomes dull, and is not the equal of a perfect plaster ceiling for reflecting light; the walls are better for the eye if tinted. Nothing can be better for blackboards than natural slate, but the joints should be cemented together after being planed; the chalk receivers should be placed at a height of 2 feet 2 inches from the floor for small children, and not over 3 feet 4 inches high for high school pupils; blackboards should not be placed between windows, and from 30 to 40 feet in length is sufficient for any class-room; dustless crayons should be used; if common ones are used they should be wiped off with a damp cloth, and not with a dry brush. Slots in the top moulding of the boards should be left for cards. Picture mouldings should be placed everywhere. -N. Y. School Journal. ON DUTY AT CALAMBA: II. IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. HE notes of army life at Calamba, with THE dates here given, are from the private letters of Capt. Edw. W. McCaskey, Quartermaster of the Twenty-first U. S. Infantry, and are continued from the December number of The Journal: Calamba, October 17.-Plenty of work on the bay this a. m. More contraband stuff. Had to go aboard and sort it, inspect the whole lot. Some people without pass. Very mixed cargo. Stuck on bar, wouldn't go in or out. Bad surf to get little boats alongside. But we're getting it in, rice, rations, sugar, potatoes, beans, onions and canned stuff. Must hustle wood and more Chinos. Some trouble on front of E company this morning. The rebels are getting too bold; need another warming up. New rebel trenches and gun places. They are getting in closer daily. Our two new Gatlings due here Friday. We need them, for we must give them a "go" very soon. Sent up all the Santa Rosa prisoners under guard. Capt. Hall went with them. Plenty of people at landing who would be glad to "pull" them. Oct. 18.-Some pot shots, no hits reported. Everybody has wants, lots of them. Got up a few loads of wood that I hustled for the outer companies that have frequent firing and must be on the alert, with no time or place to hunt wood very far. Using deserted houses and old frames. Sent the contraband beer and booze for auction in customhouse at Manila. A good deal of firing this afternoon. They seem to have sharpshooters trying to get officers. Nearly got Conley of E company twice lately. Oct. 19.-Some firing. Plenty of rain Long night, awake and fever. Had wire late in afternoon to seize two tugs and four cascoes, smugglers. Went through surf, got Napidan, and corralled them all. Have a gang at work scrubbing floor and walls of Spanish hospital, where there were infectious diseases. We are going to move our offices there next week. Want to get it clean enough up-stairs by to-morrow evening to burn sulphur for a day or two. Then the lower floors, stores, booths, yards. Chinos, Filipinos, a whole block of them, must go. Very filthy place. Filthy is hardly the word for this stinking hole. Some of these places haven't been cleaned for ages, and there is no limit to their vile abominations. Hope we'll get through the job without losing any valuable lives. Raining again, and the laborers chill and shake so that work goes slowly. One or two companies entirely out of wood to-day. Must find some, even if I take down a stray house to get it dry for them. Oct. 20.-They report 1000 rebels and six guns to reinforce their lines. FilipinoŠpaniard claims hospital as his property, wants us to get out and stop making it fit to live in, and pay him for trespass, etc.; wants galore, but we can't listen to him. Must go through it to-day with soap and lime and sulphur and carbolic acid, after getting off the worst of it yesterday. Another load of sick men to go to the city in the morning. Rebels seem to be massing near sugar house. We can shell them there. Waiting for the Gatlings the better to hold our hill and the bridge. Boat in the night. They couldn't get ashore for the surf. Rebels made attack at 10 p. m., hot time till 11, not so warm at midnight, and quiet again an hour later. The attack was made by a party slipping around Cristobel, and working in near the village across the lower ferry. Drove in the outposts there and fired hard into hospital, provost-prison and plaza. M and F formed up and gave them 10,000 rounds Krags. Artillery hurried down from upper ferry and shelled everything around. Napidan ran in close and warmed up. C was in it on right, and E on left, rest of line firing volleys now and then. Rebels got a number of shells and solid shot well placed here in town. A big one burst over Major Wittich's house, and several near the Commissary, just back of headquarters which was their target. Oct. 21.-Hard cargo to unload, bar in bad shape and lower end of tram broke down. Getting big box and heavy barrel packages up but slowly. Late when we got through. Hard job to get the sick aboard and away. Rebels had all the bancas but one to-day. Sun very hot, no breeze. Finishing up the cleaning of the Spanish hospital, burn sulphur in it to-night and to-morrow. Got new store-room, heavy stone walls for ammunition and clothing and valuable quartermaster supplies. Caught a spy last night signaling the rebels during the fight. Capt. Parke is still out with M company getting the wounded. Let the rebels have their dead. In store-room now there are several tons of artillery ammunition and a good stock of rifle cartridges, with more to come. We have 1,000 rifles, and, if hard pressed, the band, the hospital men, all orderlies, trumpeters, clerks, drivers, cooks, and even the sick in quarters, can do good service. Oct. 22.-Gatlings due at 5 p. m. Must get them into position this evening. Three companies of the 37th just in, have fixed them up comfortably. They take matters very well, and look like fighting men, in part from the 1st Tennessee regiment. Oct. 23. Quite a fight this morning. We got up at 3:30. Breakfast 4 a. m. Load out 4:30. The scrap lasted from 5 to 10:30 a. m. I hauled out ammunition three times, trot and gallop. Awful hot. Had two pony carts and light wagon, Gatling and team, and four-line team. Kept all well filled up with ammunition. Close in it too. Mitchell, of I company, was killed. Several men wounded. One of my wheel mules was killed, and fell on Hawley, rider and driver of the Gatling, hurting him somewhat. We drove the rebels three miles, returned at noon. The Gatling eats ammunition very fast, also the mountain gun. The big 3-inch gun has heavy stuff. The ground was rough and there were natural positions everywhere for the rebels. We took their last trench and barricades, and then came back. They are there now. The fight put back our regular work, but we will get through with it to-night. When the ammunition is to go, you strain every nerve and muscle to get it up in time where it is needed. It must not get there too soon, for they can't carry any extra freight. Too hot. But when they run short and need it the case is very desperate, and it must get there no matter what breaks. To-day we smashed a wagon and two carts, and lost a mule and two ponies. Oct. 24.-No fight this afternoon. Some long-range firing. Rebels hard at work on their old trenches, and making another line in their rear. They expected us to come at them in force to-day. We were going to, but the plan was changed. Expect boat in by dark. Eighteen sacks U. S. mail. Bueno! Also 20.000 Gatling and 80,000 rifle ammunition. More rain now. New rebel gun put on ridge above G, I and D. Fighting to day was slow. Our artillery and the rebel rifles. Hauled a load of ammunition late last evening to hill (E) on a sudden call, and another at dawn. Rode the line before noon, and picked up wants. Looking over the rebel positions from the church tower this afternoon. Oct. 25.-Boat in at II p. m. Inspector General Crane has been here for three days, good man. Mail in and very welcome, including twenty books and stacks of papers. They will be of interest to many people. Thanks for all. Pot shots all the time, but no heavy firing. Many wants every where, but I'm getting them filled. The sun has been quite hot to-day, and has dried up the mud. ́It's just the sort of time the rebels play ball. Saw Walter this morning. He had important work to do on the 20th and 23d, and did it well. Oct. 26.-Rather quiet night. Some rain, and black as ink. Want to get a road through from this hostile village by lower ferry to C company's Gatling gun. We may have to help them over there very suddenly and soon. Can run cart or ponies out that way with sacks of ammunition. Time important, a mile less distance, but can't use it in wet weather. Wood question getting serious. Scarce, and our cooks burn it by the cord on open fires and in stoves; must shave them down some. Want to get a couple of cords out to advance companies, if these sly hustlers in town don't get it before we can carry it out. Have to sit on a thing here now to hold it. Casco crew just up for chow, hungry. Got them a lot of rice. Attack expected on Banos and here to-night. The 37th will be ready to help out, and, if it comes, the artillery will be in it. Want to get ammunition up as soon as I can before it opens. Sent two Filipino laborers in a canoe to Banos with message to Capt. Parmenter. Have not reported back. Rebels may have got them or they may have changed to rebels. Long range shooting when I was out on the line to-day, our men replying about one to three shots. Hot day, not much air, just the sort they like to open up on us because we get so exhausted when we drive them hard. Fifty-four recruits in boat coming up to-day. General Wheaton got in unexpectedly this afternoon, and a campaign is being worked up. They Oct. 27.-Just paid off the hands, some thirty odd, and some bulls and bancas and other small items. Pay by the day. fear we will be killed, or they, or that we may pull out suddenly. Pay in Mexican silver, half value of ours, thirty cents a day and chow. Bosses, banqueros and good men in particular lines get a peseta (10 cents) or media (5 cts.) extra. Rental of a large house is $20 to $30 per month; big banca same, smaller 50 cents per day; bulls 50 cents to $1.00 or more per day. It's too hot now for men to work, even these fellows, does them up. They get chills and fever and headache, same as we do, call it calentura y mucho malo en Cabeza." When they shake they say, "Paubré (poor) Filipino, mucho paubré y frio, mucho frio (very cold), mucho malo" (bad), etc. When the bullets sing they get down in a ditch and will not work, and when the big guns are at it, they shake and say, "Mucho bombom!" But they like the noise. Just fixed up some reading matter for Walter. Will try to get it out to him this evening before the pop party begins. They generally try it about dusk and dawn, and often in the night if warm and dry. Won't fight in the wet unless cornered. When in a tight place they fight |