Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1870-01-07
of the Bellows Falls Times.
Michigan Mincemeat.
CHRIsTMAs--sCHooLs
CROPS, &C.

Mr.. EDITOR The time of year has
come when we are wishing one another
a Merry Christmas" Happy New
Year." and lots of fine things are brought
down the chimney on bob-sled" by
old "Santa Claus" and the children are
as rosy and cheerful as a bride in full
attire. We have ring at the door bell
Eve have door bells In Michigan even)
and there stands fellow from Mr.. So
and Sos with a turkey for your dinner,
and Mrs. Never-forget-us" comes qui-
city up to the back door and hands the
maid dish of delicacies, and so it goes
singing sweetly and charming us as to
the eye, the ear and the taste. Then
again people get married nowadays, and
if they have spark of liberality about
them they do not fail to put an X in the
hand of the minister and that makes him
happy and helps to season the mince-
meat and get butter for his bread.
Happy we tonight, friends.
Happy. happy are we.
The hearts that we delight, friends
With us may happy be-.
Well, SO goes the world and let us
keep the ball rolling and, for pity sake"
don't get long face on during the holt
days.
have seen some things in Michigan
that | used to hear talked of in Yer
mont. For instance: It used to be said
of certain persons that if they did not
get done haying till late, "Why he is
going to get his hay cut down and rolled
up into winrows and leave it till winter
and then hitch on to one end and draw
it into the barn as we would log to
mill"
Well, the farmers out here were very
late this fall in harvesting their later
crops, and to-day as l was coming to the
city from the country, | saw man draw
ing in his corn in just this way. He
hitched chain to the shock and drag
ged it through the fields just as describ-
ed. This is a novel idea. There is a
large amount Of corn in the field yet.
Buckwheat also in the stock in the field
in large quantities. Potatoes in abund-
ance to dig in the spring u
Some time ago | told your readers
that | would say a few words about
Michigan schools. The people east have
the most erroneous notions about the
modern improvements of the west. They
seem to think there are no advantages in
these respects only in the east 1t is the
grandest blunder in the world. There is
not state in New England that has SO
good school houses as Michigan take
the state through-Bellows Falls has a
fine house, but every town of any size in
Michigan, almost, has one as good or
better. 1t is not an uncommon thing to
pay treble the cost of that for house
in our large inland towns.
Education in this state las been for
the last thirty years marching along"
In 1887, the superintendent Of Public
Instruction, John d. Pierce, reported a.
297 children of school age. Now we re-
port 354,704. The expense of running
the schools then was S21, 1851. The
aggregate in 1865 was upwards of two
millions. The funds of our University
were then about $4,000. Now the
same are 559,978. The University re-
ports in 1868, /, 300 students. The Nor
NAL School, 262, and the local colleges
nearly 1000. The total expense of
schools for the current year will proba-
bly, reach three millions of dollars. The
school houses of the State are worth to-
day not less than four and half mil
ions of dollars.
A novel feature in the matter of in
lstruction is introduced here of this sort.
A superintendent of Sunday School
missions is appointed for the state, and
his annual report to the superintendent
of Public Instruction appears with the
other reports of the state. You can
Judge of the need of this from the fol-
lowing facts, and you will also judge
that some of the districts in the regions
beyond need the instruction they get:
"A woman had two little boys, ages
6 and 4, when she heard they we're to
have Sunday School in their region.
She took the last -four bag she had and
made each of them a pair of pants,
} and led them to school some three miles
distant. A little girl of seven years old
ran home exclaiming. Mother, mother,
we've got the strangest school ma'am