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

g ing to nay flock much shadow in
e stead of substance.
!. 1t was even so, if not more so, il
!, grammar. After months of drilling
4 | produced a grammar class able t,
define nouns, verbs, adjectives, an,
1 all other parts of speech; able to re
peat all the required rules; able t.
parse fiuently. This grammatical
: battalion was exhibited before pa
!, rental visitors, who retired awe
l struck at their children's learning
and ashamed of their own ignorance
l This was another sham. The whole
exercise was mainly due to a par
4 rot-like proficiency of memory
When the drill was neglected for
2 week, the whole battalion showed
: signs of retrograding into grammat
ical darkness. 1t was my patienc'
, and perseverance that kept then
bolstered up in the upper regions o
grammatical light. l was to then
what, in civilization, the superior
race is to the inferior. One origin
ates, the other copies; one leads
the other follows. Snuff out tht
Caucasian, and in a generation those
who borrow from him, those who
shine by his reflected light, will &C
back to their native. barbarism
When my pedagogical candle was
snuffed out at jamestown, all the
lesser grammatical lights went out
with it.
My young lady scholars proved
great trials. They entered society
early in jamestown. At fifteen, they
were acknowledged feminine pow
ers in the community, attending
balls and parties, being whirled
about on the dusty roads of Tuol-
ume in dusty buggies, and having
received more or less offers of mar
riage from miners, old and young.
These were difficult subjects to dis
cipline. They were disposed to laugh
to scorn the control of any single
man-even a school-master. | was
then young man, q single man, and
school-master. There were differ
ent methods for reducing to subjec-
tion refractory boy of fifteen or six
teen, but all such doors were closed
with a mischievous girl of that age,
already perhaps a reigning belle,
with half a score of pistoled and
bowie knitted admirers ready and
glad to resent any fancied indigni-
nifty put upon her. | did not like
to have these elderly young women
come to my school. The chivalry of
jamestown were always scongrega
ted about the nearest saloon-door
when the University was dismissed,
to see the bevy of beauty pass on
their. way home. The feminine ele
ment was still scarce in the mines,
and the growth of the native stock
was watched with eager interest.
Most of my young ladies were
snapped up in the jaws of matri-
mony at sixteen. l saw them so de-
part without a murmur. Indeed, l
was rather glad than otherwise,
knowing that at last they had a
master.
AS Peter had said, there was a
very clever set of boys in James
town. They were from all portions
of the Union. They owned quartz
lodges which were laying for buyers;
they had held office or intended to.
Just then, they had nothing in par
ticular to do, and they did it. That
was twelve years ago, before the gold
en- dreams of California had settled
into the stern realities of the pres
ent. These clever fellows soon found
me out. l was congenial; teaching
school was an exhausting, devitali-
zing occupation; after four O'Clock,
/ felt withered in nerve and muscle.
The school teachers brain does
double duty it must, at the same
time, govern and teach; it must
keep one eye open to check dozen
small mutinies, liable at any time
to break out. The moment your
back is turned, you feel that the
juvenile chiefs of rebellion are fer
menting mischief. This strain, for
six hours daily, frets and tires, and
the teacher needs rest. The clever
BOYS welcomed me, and gave me
rest.
The "Owls" were a midnight So
ciety of jamestown, composed of
these clever fellows. They dressed
in black gowns, cowls, and hoods
with white crosses on the back.
Doctor D. was at their head. /
became an active member. The
"Owls" turned night into day; and
indeed the soft, balmy air of mid
night, in the foothills, is far prefer
able to the hot breath of high-noon.
Too often 1 sought my pedagogical
couch, warned by the morning
streaks of dawn; and heavy settled
the somniferous weights on my eye
lids during the long afternoon school
session, while Billy Smith halted,
suffered, and stammered through
his reading lesson. His voice, to
my sleepy ears, at times merged in
to the buzz and rustic of the school
room, and then l would pinch my
self, and walk about the hot Univer-
sity to keep awake. In the dead of
night, the "Owls''-every grocery
and saloon being closed in TOWN.
would enter my room, and seat
themselves silently and impressively
in the centre of the apartment. In
one corner were two bushel baskets
full of old books and papers per-
tanning to the Sheriff's office, during
its occupancy by Jim S. Jim
s. was an "Owl." These baskets
would be solemnly dragged into the
centre of the circle, their contents
poured on the floor, and the ''Owls,"
as they informed me "a spectator
to these proceedings, lying on my
bed in the corner), would commence
examining the accounts of the
county for the fiscal year; and then
deliberate among themselves as TO
the propriety of removing me, bed
and all, to the piazza, while they
should confer concerning some in
tensely private and important coun-
ty matters. 1t was funny, and
pleasant. / liked it. But among
the more quiet and sober people of
it became at length ru-