Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-06-08
PEF&.

Peter advised me to apply for the
position of District School master
at jamestown. Peter and myself
had long been co-miners on the riv
er. But, one day, Peter was made 8
Member of the Legislature; and so
when, in the fall, he left Swett's Bal
for Sacramento, he gave away his
claim, his cabin, his blankets, and
his mining tools, to his poorer con-
stituency; and in the spring, when
he returned, he bad in his pocket
$40 in cash, and on his back blue
coat with brass buttons; which was
all he did bring back from that win
ter's Legislative campaign at Sacra-
mento. Yet he maintained that it
was the star-winter of his California
career. Peter was too good a 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 i'm
bued him with a taste for official
life. He wandered off to James
town, and there became a News
agent. Only one thing was lacking
to him: that was myself. Separated,
we pined for each other. We had
been the David and Jonathan of the
Tuolumne wherever Peter went,
there | was sure to go; Peter rested
in me, and 1 in Peter. Finally, he
wrote me thus:
'.You had better Quit the claim. Come up
here. l can get you a situation as teacher of
the district school. There's not much to do
except to teach the children their letters and
the maltiplication-table. OF course, you must
be 4 little more decOrous than at Swett's Bar.
There's very clever set of boys here.
! went. The rust of ten years
had accumulated on my learning;
so hunted up grammars, geogra-
phies, and arithmetics, and crammed
for the coming examination by the
jamestown Board of School Trus-
trees. The terrible day came, and
in an upper room l was ushered in
to their presence. The Board was
composed of K, saloonkeeper,
the camp blacksmith, and Doctor
D.. l felt strong in geography,
but weak in arithmetic, especially
fractions.
The saloon-keeper and the black
smith delegated the entire work Of
examination to Doctor D.. He
was an imposing man, and he glared
at me through fiercely scientific
pair of spectacles. l felt that my
time had come. The trio sat around
a table, and on it there lay one book
"a blue-covered, thin, shabby sort of
book. 1t looked like primer. 1t
was one. Doctor D. took up this
volume, opened it, peered into it
through those scientific spectacles
with an air of fierce profundity,
glared over its top at me as if, al
ready, he had mentally stewed me
down to a cipher, and exclaimed. in
a monotonous voice, "Spell Cat "
1 obeyed: Cat" "Spell Dog"
1 spelled: Dog" "Spell Rat"
Rat" 81 beg your pardon, Doc
tor D. SAID I; "but 1 believe 1
am competent to spell words of, one
syllable" "Spell Man." said the
Doctor, in the same dreary mono
tone. "M-a-n." "Spell Cam"
"C-a-n." And in this way he exer-
cised 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. l pity you from the bottom
of my heart. For my part, l would
not teach district-school for S.. 900
per month. Come, take drink
The truth was, the three Trustees
were a part and parcel of the ''clev-
er boys" spoken of by Pete. Doc
tor D. was the predominant, in
carnate spirit of mischief, resident
in the camp. Life with him was q
huge and continual practical joke.
The chief end of man was to ex
tract all the fun possible ont of
everything. There seemed nothing
serious in jamestown. Even the
funerals terminated in a general
scuttling, racing, scrambling, and
upsetting of buggies on the return
trip from the graveyard.
The school-house was the church.
My scholars sat in the pews; l gov
erned from the pulpit. Sixty chill
dren daily rendezvoused at that
church, half of them being under
six years of age. l found myself in
reality sort of pedagogical dry
nurse for jamestown. The little
church was very hot in summer. l
realized for the first time the trials
of mothers with large families of
children. The youngest of my flock
were sometimes taken sick, be-
ing overcome by the heat and the
confinement. l found it necessary
to keep small stock of medicine on
hand for their use. Indeed, there
came to me great and novel trials
and experiences. This occupation
not only brushed up anew my arith-
metical, grammatical, and geograph-
ical knowledge, but forribly inducted
me into perception of all the COM
plants incident to childhood. Some
times, l sent sick children home in
charge of the larger scholars. But
they were generally returned ere the
close ofthe day. The parents washed
their hands of all mentalor physical
responsibility in the matter until af-
ter four o'clock p. NJ.
This was before the days of sys-
tematized school-teaching. The
children came to nv University.