The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-03-14

EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY READ BEFORE
THE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, ON
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9th,
BY MIR. WATTS.
Twenty eight years ago in what is now
known as the Eighth Election District,
there were but two schools, the Rowands-
Vile school and the old Z" Log Cabin. -
The house at Rowlandsville was 22x24 and
about = feet to the jo'ce. The Log
Cabin " was lGx22 and about feet to the
joice. Right good houses We're they at that
time and held fabulous number of pupils.
The old clog Cabin was the first school
l attended. During the four years went
to that school there were from thirty to
sixty pupils in attendance each term
quarter.
The desks were nailed to the walls all
around except where the door opened. On
each side of the stove near the middle of
the floor, were two benches for the little
folks. All the benches were made of
round oak slabs, flat side up, with legs like
trestles; they were about p feet high and
kept the urchin's feet clear of the floor
nicely. The branches taught were the
three Rs-Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic.
The books used were Bonsal's Edition of
Comly's Spelling Book, the Introduction
to the English Reader, the English Reader,
the Sequel to the English Reader Pike S
and Roca'S A rithmet ics-nu an avara rn IN q
book of each kind to three pupils. \
reading class extended nearly around the
room and was composed of pupils ranging
from twelve years of age to twenty, flom
four feet high to six. A fec of them stood
remarkably erect, some propped themselves
against the desks, some sat on top of the
desks, some stood on one foot with the
other foot on the bench, few held the
to the elbow in the pantaloon's pocket.
Others held the book .frm'y, with both
hands clampng the tops of the pages from
the under side as though that book weigh
ed forty pounds and was liable to break
loose and run away at any moment. Many
read through their noses, and some of
them read way down in their throat some
read loud enough to be heard a quarter of
a mile, none could be understood 4 qual ter
of yard. While this splendidly organized
class was reCiting, the teacher-with one
foot upon the floor, the other planted on
the top of three legged stool, three feet
in height,-was solving and explaining
problems in arithmetic; with from three to
six pupils, in as many different attitudes,
grouped around him, apparently absorbed
in his demonstrations. OF the remainder
of the school a .fe'o were studying lessons,
some were crawling about on the floor
under the desks, eight or ten were ont in
the woods playing soctee up against big
white oak tree, and two had gone for 1rater.
"The Paddle" hung suspended to 4 nail
on the door. On one side of "The Pad
die" was the word GIN in large letters,
on the other side was the word GOVT"
The boy who sat nearest to the door hav-
ing charge of that particular department,
50 The Paddle " mostly said en-
The popular amusements at that time
were " Corner ball, >" Towns ball, -" Shin
ney on your own side" and Antny over"
The little boys hunted "Boozy bugs " and
Black lizards. We found the bugs in the
woods, by the sides of rotten logs, among
the fine mold, in their funnel shaped traps,
made to catch ants. We had implicit faith
in the efficacy of the magical couplet:
" Booty bug, Booty bug, come out your
If you don't we will burn you as black as a
coal.
This we invariably repeated, with due
solemnity, over each " Booty bugs hole, :"
but the bugs came not out till we got down,
5Iem the dirt all off of them and HfIed them
out, then they ran Jach'cdrd to the next
hole. The Lizards we found in the run
and pinched off their tails accordingly.-
Why we thought it necessary to curtail
those lizards l never knew; do know that
there were more "bob tail" lizards and
fewer long tail lizards in that run than in
any other run in America.
The first blackboard in the Eighth Dis
trict was made for the Log Cabin ;"
school by Mr.. VIM. j. Gillespie about
seventeen years ago. 1t was about 3x5
feet; no room in that house for larger
blackboard.
There are at the present time six school
houses in the Eighth District, -four for
black children, capable of accommodating
three hundred white children and one hun
bred black children, four of these houses
are well supplied with outbuildings, all
but one are good houses and well furnished
as to desks, stoves, ETC., but still deficient
in school apparatus.
have not had an opportunity of visiting
know how they are furnished. The four
alluded to contain about $50 square feet of
blackboard surface-about thirty times as
much as the whole District could boast Of
fifteen years ago. Education, society, and
affairs in general, have advanced in the
same ratio, in that Triangular District
An ever advancing moral standard renders
this progress less perceptible, but does
not otherwise, unfavorably, affect tile fact
Another and still more primative school
house in the Eight District, was located
about mile east of the Lancaster and
Port Deposit road, on the northern edge of
George Gillespie's farm, and near the spot
where the three farms Gillespies, Rawling' s
and at present Ways farms, meet. This
old school house which is still standing,
was built of logs, one story, about IA 10y 1G
feet, chinlled with billets of logs, stones,
etc, and daubed with mud. At the ap
proach of Winter, the "master' with the
larger boys, cemented the chnks, which
got opened through the Summer by the
boys picking out the plaster. The plaster
or daubing for this work was prepared in a
clay hole near the building by working up
a quantity of clay and straw till tough
mortar was compounded, which was laid
on with paddles till the chinks were closed,
and the house made comparatively tight
and warm. The patrons of the school who