The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-03-12
Vol. 20.
o@isrrnanfnns.
SPELLING SCHOOL.

Have you forgotten theml When
from all the region round about they
gathered into the old log school house,
with its huge fire place that yawned like
the main entrance to AverDus. How
the sleigh beTIs-the old fashioned sleigh
bells. big ia the middle of the string
and growing 'sInall by degrees and
beautifully less toward the broad bras
buckle-chiIned, in every direction, long
before night-the gathering of the clans.
There came one school, ''the Master
give him a capital N, for he is entitled to
it-Master and al, bundle into one huge,
red double sleigh, strown with an abun.
dance of straw, and tucked up like a
Christmas pie, with a half score OF
buffalo robes. There half dozen cat
ters," each with it, young man and
maiden, they two and no more. And
there again, pair of jumpers, mounting
a great outlandish looking bin, heaped
ND. pressed down, and running over,
scripture measure, with small collections
of humanity, picked up en- route from a
great many homes, and all as merry as
kittens In n basket of wool. And :he
bright eyes, and ripe, red lips, that one
caught a glimpse of, beneath those
pinked-lined. quilted hoods, and the
silvery laughs that escaped from the
wooden Inufiiers and the fur tippets they
wore then-who does not remember!-
who can ever forget themY
The school house, destined to be the
arena for the conflict, has been swept and
garnished; boughs of evergreen adorn
the smoke-stained and battered walls.
The little pellets of chewed paper have
all been swept down from the ceiling,
and two pals of water have been brought
from the spring and set on the bench in
the entry, with the immemorial lineup
"a wise provision indeed, for warm
work is that spelling!
The ''big boys" have famed and re-
plenished the fire, till the old chimney
fairly jars with the roaring flames, and
the sparks fly out of the top, like a
furnaee-the orifanIne of the battle.
The two ''Masters" are there; the two
schools are there; and such a hum, and
such a moving to and fro! Will they
swarm?
The oaken ferule comes down upon
the desk with emphasis. What the role
of the drum is to armies, that the ruler
is to this whispering, laughing young
troop.
The challenged are ranged on one side
of the house; the challengers on the
other. Back seats, low front seats all
filed. Some of the fathers and grand
fathers, who could, no doubt, upon oc-
casion,
shoulder the cru;ch and show how fields
were won,"
occupy the bench near the desk.
Now for the preliminaries; the reputed
best speller Oh each side chooses "
Susan Brown" Out comes a round
eyed little creature, bIushing like a
peony. Who'd have thought itl Such
a little thing, and chosen first.
'Moses Jonesi" Out comes Moses, an
awkward fellow, with a shock of red
hair, sIsocSiRgly harvested, surmounting
his broad brow. The girls laugh at him,
but what he doesn't know in the "Eie-
mentary" isn't worth knowing
"Jane Murray" Out trips Jane nut-
teriAg as bride, and takes her place
next to the GalIrr. Don't you hear the
whispers round the house?- ''Why, that's
Johns sweetheart" John is the leader,
aud n battle lost with Jane 10y his side,
would be sweeter than "A victory wOr
without her.
Aud so they go on, calling names, "
until five or six champions stand forth
ready TO do battle. and tine contest fairly
begun.
DDA u oilF tilAfi sthONlANi1 a. hcAho
of three sylIables ARE followed by those
of four, end these again, by words Of
simpler pronunciation and diverse sig
nificatious, until only Moses and Susan
reinuin
The spelling book has been exhausted,
yet there they stand. Dictionaries are
turned over-memories are ransacked
for
''Words of learned length and laundering
sound,
until by-and-by, Moses comes down like
IA tree, and Stisln fiutters there still, like
a little leaf aloft, that the frost and the
fall have forgotten.
PoIy.yllables follows pol.syIlable, and
10y and by Susan nesitat,s just a breath
or two, and twenty tongues are working
their way through the labyrinth of let
tiers in twinkling. Little Susan sinks
into the chink left for her on the crowd
ed seat, and there is lull ia the battle.
Then they all stand in solid phalanx
by scIIo ,ls and the struggle is to spell
each other down. And down they go
like leaves in winter weather, and the
victory is declared for our District, and
the school is dismissed
Til, II comes the hurrying and bu d.
ling, the whispering and glancing. the
III
are hearts that flutter and hearts that
ache; ''mittens' that are not worn, Sc
cret hopes that are not realized, and
fond looks thai age not returned. There
is iingling among the bells at the door;
one after another the sleighs dash up,
receive their nesting freight and are
gone.
Our master covers the fire, and snuffs
out the candles-don't you remember
how dainty he used to pinch the sInok
ing wicks. with fore-fiuger and thumb,
and then thrust each hapless luminary,
head first, into the tin socketl-and we
wait for him.
The bells ring family in the woods,
over the hill, in the valley. They are
going. The school=house is dark and
tensntless, and we are alone with the
night.
Merry, care-free company! Some of
them are sorrowing, some are dead, and
all | fear, are changed. SPILL! Ahl
the ''Spell' that has come over that
crowd of young dreamers-Over you,
over me will it ever, ever be dissolved
In ''the white radiance of Eternityr'
A BILL for the redivision of Illinois
and Indiana, by uniting the northern
and southern parts of the two States,
ic m 10 s,.S- ..4