The union Democrat. [volume] (Sonora, Calif.) 1854-1946, 1871-04-08
PETE.
BIZ PRENTICE MILFORD.

| Peter advised me to apply tor the position
of District School-master at jamestown. Pc
ter and myself had long been cominers on
the river. But. one day. Peter Was made a
Member of the Legislature and so, when, IN
the fall, he left Swett's Bar for Sacramento,
he gave away bic claim, his cabin, bis blank
cts, and his mining tools, to his poorer con-
stifuency and in the spring, when he re-
turned, be had in bis pocket $40 in cash, and
on his back blue coat with brass buttons;
which was all be did bring back from that
| winters legislative campaign at Sacramento.
T Ell he maintained that it was the star>winter
of his California career. Peter was too good
man for our little society at the Bar to lose;
and so, merely to keep him there, he was
hired on the Menken Claim, at 81 per day.
But Peters experience at Sacramento had
mbued him With taste for official lite. He
wandered off to Jamestown, and there hecame
q news-agent. Only one thing was lacking
to him: that was myself. Separated, We
mined for each other. We had been the
David and Jonathan of the Tuolunne !:
wherever Peter went, there Twas SIRE to go;
Peter rested in me, and in Peter. Finally,
he wrote me thus:
.sYou had better quit the claim. Come ur
here. I can get you situation as teacher of
the district-school. There's not much to do.
except to teach the children their letters and
the multiplication-table. Of course, you
must be q little more drcorous than al Swett's
Bar. There's very clever set Of boys here.
81 "PErE.
/ went The rust of ten years had accu-
mulated on my learning: so / hunted up
gramuiars, Biographies, and arithmetics, and
crammed for the coming examination BY the
jamestown Board Of School Trustees. The
terrible day came, and in an upper room
was ushered into their presence. The Board
was composed of x. a saloon-kecper, the
camp blacksmith and Doctor D.. | felt
strong in geography, but weak in arithmetic,
especially fractions.
The saloon-keeper and the blacksmith dele
gated the entire work OF examination to Doc
tor D.. He wss an imposing man, and
he glared at me through a fiercely scientific
pair of snectacles. felt that nv time had
come The trio sat around table, and on it
there lay one book--a blue-covere1, thin,
shabby SORT of hook. It looked like primer.
Il was one. Doctor D. took up this vol
ume, opened it, aeered into il through those
scientific spectacles with an air of fierce pro-
fnndity, glared over its top at me as if, al
ready, he had mentally stewed me down to q
cipher. and exclaimed, in monotonous voice,
s.Spell Cat" obeved: "C-s-t" sSpell
Dog spelled ''D-o-g." "Spell Rat. ~
"Rra-t." II beg your pardon, Doctor D
-" said 1; "but believe am competent
to spell words of one syllable" .Spell
Man," said the Doctor. in the same drearv
monotone. "M-a-n. "Spell Can. '''sC-a-n.' ~
And in this way he exercised me for fifteen
minutes in words of one syllable, then shut
the book, threw it on the table, and said :
"Young man, you'll do to teach our school.
pity you from the bottom of nv heart. For
my part. l wouldn't teach district-school
for SIS. 900 per month. Come, take drink. !"
The truth was. the three Trustees were a
part and parcel Of the s'clever boys" spoken
Of by Pete. Doctor D. was the predomin-
ant, incarnate spirit of mischief, resident in
the camp. Life with him was huge and
continual practical joke. The chief end of
man was to extract all the fun possible out of
every thing. There seemed nothing serious
in jamestown. Even the funerals terminal
ed in general scuttling, racing, scrambling,
and upsetting of huggies on the return-trip
from the graveyard. so
The school-house was TIE church. NV
| scholars sat in the pews | governed from the
pulpit. Sixty children daily reudezvoused at
that church. half of them being under six
years of age. | found myself in reality q
sort of pedagogical dry-nurse for jamestown
The little church was very hot in summer.
realized for the first time the trials of mnth-
ers with large families of Children. The
youngest of my flock we're sometimes taken
sick. heing overcome by the heat and the con-
finement | found it necessary to keep a
email stock Of medicine on hand for their use
T. - IL -
trials and experiences. This occupation not
only brushed up anew my arithmetical, gram
NAUTICAL, and geographical knowledge, but
forcibly indicted me into perception of all
the complaints incident to childhood. Some
times, sent sick children home in charge of
larger scholars. But they we're generally re-
washed their hands of all mental or physical
responsibility in the matter until after four
0 'clock p. N.
This was before the DAYS of systenatized
scbool-teaching. The children came to my
University. bringing all sorts of textbooks
There were Pixies Arithmetics. with the in
troductory pages gone. Pixies Arithmetics,
commencing at vulgar fractions, Pixies Aritt-
metics, which for forty years had with the
American immigrant been steadily moving
WeStWeru, uuttt AZ idSt over tH6 Ttaibs, tneV
had entered California. There were mans
and biographies. which bad apparently sail
ed around Cane Horn. AMI bearing marks Of
usage on hip-board. Every pupil brought a
different grammar. In this matter of text
hooks, especially grammars, nv school be-
came an educational Tower of Bebel. At
last, | rose equal to the emergency. cap
tured all the grammars, stacked them in a
pile. hid them away, and taught the science
orally. q
Several parents in jamestown were amir
tious, and particular as to the education of
their sons. One wished his boy taught
Latin another, in the mathematical educa-
ton Of his oldest olive branch, wished vulgar
fractions ignored entirely: ssCos we don't
make any use of 'cm in business, now. you
know, said be-; sswhen We make change,
| any thing that's over half cent goes for
cent, and any thing under we don't make
aay account OF Il at all. But / want him
grounded well in tare-aud-tret. -
/ said nothing in reply to the paternal re-
quest, although | opined that Mechanically
the father was grounded" and stranded
long before arriving at etare~and>tret How
ever. the con was nortured automatically
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