The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-12-02

PORTLAND.
SATURDAY MORNING, DEC. 2, 1871
The Bible In the Schools.

Inc new L 1Ork tunes gives Une I0uOWlIlS
account of the commencement of the trouble
in the school at Hunters Point, Long Island
city, caused by reading the Bible in the pub
lie school at that place:
At the time that the villages of Hunters
FONT, Dutch Kills, Blissville, Astoria and
6avenswood were Incorporated into Long
Island city, Department of Education was
formed, comprising the following gentlemen:
Jonn Fahnestock, George Petry, Willy Wal
laich, LOUIS j. White and Hermann Pirz,
commissioners; I,liSlI The two latter gentlemen
are Catholics, the others Protestants. They
adopted unanimously the bylaws of the New
York Department of Education, including arr
ticle II, which provides that at the opening
exercises of each school a portion of the Bible
shall be read, and secular airs shall be sung
BY the incorporation Hunters Point became
the First Ward, and the district school that
had been there for some years became the
First Ward School, with the following Board
of Trustees: Thomas MacMahon, Joseph
Frisel and Michael Carr, all Catholics, and
two of them utterly uneducated men. For
some time previous to the change in the mu-
nicipal administration the reading OF the BIZ
BILE had dropped into desuetude in the school
through causes not ascertained very precisely,
but generally believed in Hunters Point as
emanatipg from Catholic influences. When
the school was opened on the 4th of Septem-
| Der by Mr.. Sieberg, who had been appointed
principal, he commenced reading portion of
the Bible, according to article IL, every morn
ing. On the 26th of that month the Commits
sioners, accompanied by Father Marcott, of
Dutch Kill, Rev. Mr.. Smith, a Baptist clergy
man of Hunters Point, Mr.. Joseph Frisel,
one of the School Trustees, Mr.. Alanson
Palmer, the School Superintendent, Mr. Jo-
siah Whitney, his father-in-law, and Mr..
Francis Lantry, friend of Mr.. Frisel and
liquor-saloon keeper, visited the school, and
were present at the opening exercises. Both
cergymen made pleasing and kind addresses
to the children, without word of dissent or
disapproval of the Bible-reading, and the
scholastic exercises were about to commence
when Mr.. Frisel commenced most intem-
perate attack, evidently desiring to inhame
the minds of the children and arouse their IA
naticism, by the coarsest oppression and the
widest exaggerations.
After he got through he entered a formal
protest against the reading of the Bible, or
any other rule of faith in the public school.
He brought this protest before the Board of
Education, and succeeded, through the alb
sence of Protestant Commissioner, in hav-
ing the reading suspended for the month, the
order being faithfully obeyed by Mr.. Sieberg.
At the expiration of that time when the
Board met again, in the end of October, it
was decided that either the Ten Command
ments or the Lords Prayer, or both, accord
ing to the discretion of the teacher should be
read. Mr.. Frisel who was present as an au-
ditor, protested against the concession, and
again urged the thorough elimination OF all
religious exercises.
On the following Thursday, Miss Katie
I1ennan, as soon as Mr. Sieberg commenced
to read the Lord Prayer, stood up and shout
ed, ssDon't believe in that" for which she
was suspended. Next day she made her ap-
pearance and made the same interruption,
and was ordered to leave, which she refused
to do. Mr.. Sieberg took her by the arm and
led her to the door, when three young fellows
who had come on that morning to lnscrlDe
themselves as scholars, mterfered, and one
named John Dennan dragged the girl by the
wrist away from the door, declaring that she
should not leave. His two companions,
James Clarke and John Cotton, menaced the
principal with violence if he attempted to
turn her out declaring that they would get
him kicked out instead. He sent the classes
| to their rooms, and went off TO Astoria for
warrant by virtue of which the three youths
| were arrested, and lodged in jail, from wnich
| however, they were quickly bailed. Whei
! the case came up, the day before yesterday
| in Astoria, it was adjourned until this da,
| week, at the request of the assistant. Mean
\ while the excitement after the arrests, whlcl
took place last Friday, was very great, an
the school-master, Mr.. Sieberg, was hoote
at in the eets, and on several occasion
| was pelted with stones. Boys congregate
| around the school-house and greeted his ou
| comings and incomings with shouts OF insult
/ and cries of .sDon't believe in that"
On Monday morning the attempt to reaC
the Lords Prayer was interrupted by yells G
Don't believe in that from thirty-two chill
dren, who were at once suspended. Durin
the day, however, seven were brought bacl
by their parents, who averred that the behav
| ior of the children was unauthorized by them
| and that they were led into it by others, who
being removed by the suspension, could NJ
longer influence them, Among the sever
was Miss Katie Dennan, whose mother prom
ised in the most explicit fashion that Kati
would be good girl, and would give no fur
ther trouble. Seventeen more returned o
their own accord, under the fullest pledges o
good behavior. Yet, in spite of this, yester
day morning the uproar was renewed at the at
| tempt to read the Lords Prayer, and as Mis-
Katie led off she was Immediately expelled
| Thirteen out of the seYnteen who returned OF
| Monday were sent away yesterday suspended
| and throughout the entire day battle raget
| between parents determined to carr
| out the instructions of their violen
| priest, Father Crimmins, and the principal
Mr.. Sieberg, equally determined to stand by
the regulations of the Department MeTr
/ came and cursed him, telling him he was
4 not fit TO govern school; women came and
| shrieked at him, abusing the lady teachers
| and threatening dire but indefinite vengeance
| One woman was removed by main force. Sc
the matter stands at present. Mr.. Sebere
| receives every kind of anonymous abuse, i
threatened with death, is jeered at and insult
4 ed in the public streets, is slandered in the
1 yilest manner and is made absolutely and
I completely miserable because he persists in
l reading the Lords Prayer as ordered by the
Board of Education. Thanks to the police
force, the building has not yet been wrecked
but as Father Crimmins is preaching destruc,
ton to the Bible, but, "peaceabIy, mind
A peaceably, boys" it is doubtful how long il
/ will be permitted to stand. 1t does seem in
credible in the nineteenth century that the
! Catholics cannot try this question calmly ant
disPassionately in the courts of law. LOgl
1 cally and legally there is something to say
from their side of the matter. This, how
eyer, can be said without infaming the minds
! of children with fanaticism, filling peaceful
/ public school with uproar, and subjecting
schoolmaster to every species of annoyance
/ and indgnity