The weekly union record., 1865-04-01
A Wall from the District School House.

One of those much abused individuals
the village pedagogue, furnished the following
to the Colusa Sun, recently. 1t contains 81
much truth and reality that we consider it vel
worth the space il occupies:
! To day is the last day of February, and
think agrees with the usual appellation Of LAS
but not least" Yes, il is the last, and think
the meanesr Of q mean mouth. February ha:
behaved itself 10 very shabby manner thi:
year, and DOW, as if in very spiie it seems to
have enlisted old -Boreas' chats what you
call him, ain't it?) and all the fends Of The
elements in bis service, and determined ou this
last day, to have regular blow out Showing,
Yes, Of course it Is what else could be ex
pected? 1t hailed before sun up, aud ha:
blowed great guns all day, and DOW it is snow
ing. | think the mercury has gone down tc
have a chat with zero" l haven't got q
what you call him." and perhaps that's the
reason it feels so cold. Ughl The cold wind
whistles through the cracks 10 the house, and
the snow sitting through the roof spripkes the
paper under my pen. And where, you ask, am
writing? At no ones residence, you may be
sure. Certainly not. No man that had energy
enough to blow bis nose, or pride enough 10
such house. No man with drop of blood
in his veins would offer such a shelter to sick
sheep. My dear sir, this rs the school house
The public school house. The old sheet iron
stove stands in one corner, (the pipe is too
short 10 run out at the middle of the roof,) and
dozen ruddy-faced youngsters sit shivering
around it. The sides of this specimen of school
architecture bend and creak, the roof rattles,
the door is kept shut with stone, while the
floor would make splendid springboard for
an amateur somersault tumbler. Just wait
until warm my hands.
Well, TO proceed. ln describing this house,
| believe am describing nine-tenths of the
country school houses in this great, this glori-
ous, this wealthy State of California. The
drearest most uninviing spots for the situation,
the fiimsiest material for construction, aud The
veriest makeshift arrangements in desks and
seats. This is the way too many of the enter
prising parents of our State prepare for the
education of their children. Men that will
cheerfully give four cents per pound for barley
to feed, and twelve dollars ton for straw to
bed decent horse-men that would feel their
conscience sting them If their chickens hadn't
a good place to roost or their hogs a pleasant
place to sleep-men that will pay three to FIVE
hundred dollars for blooded buck 10 improve
their breed OF sheep, will send their children to
house but one remove from out of doors, not
fit for the residence Of Digger lndian-
perhaps to teacher employed for thirty dollars
a month and expect tbem-no, they don't
they can't expect them to learn, but satisfy
their consciences-itth they have any-by sending
to school while the school money" lasts "Oh
yes we've got two hundred dollars school
fund, and that certainly ought TO employ
teacher for live o. six months, especially if we
board him round The school house will do !;
there amt school money enough to build
better one" etc, etc. Bah! 1t is simply
disgusting. have known men to spend 6fty
dollars in year for "iaugle leg Of the viest
kind, that would growl like sore headed bear
if they had to pay FIVE dollars towards building
q decent school house, or paying a cent towards
aiding the school fund in paying good teacher
Chinamans wages.
The first grand qualification of teacher in
a majority of country districts is that of cheap
ness. Then he must conduct his school accord
ing to the potious of every one of his patrons.
He may punish every child in school but ma
child my child don't need it, He must enter.
tain no religions or political views of his own
must embody within himself the whole code of
morality and all the christian graces, including
the concentrated essence OF the patience of
forty Jobs. Then, if he knows little "readin'
" 'rtin'," and " 'rithmetc," it does no injury,
but those are secondary considerations
Don't think, my dear sir, that the writer of
this is disappointed demagogue. Nothing
of the kind. | have taught school in eight
counties in this State, and have always received
good pay. But know the ropes and know
what | am talking about And say that it
is shame and o disgrace TO the country, the
manner in which matters are conducted in
majority of the school districts in this State.
There is district not hundred miles above
Colusa in which liberia, progressive, beneficial
spirit is maniiested-n horn
We trust that every School Trustee in the
county will read the foregoing Last year. the
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
required every County Superintendent to report
how many school houses in his county were a
disgrace to the State" 1t is time that proper
attention was given to the public school house
and its surroundings A little army of children
is growing up within the county boundaries,
and the time is not far distant when these will
have voice in our councils and public affairs.
A proper example should be set them, by
which to be guided when they have arrived at
years of maturity. Parents and guardians
should give this matter their attention