Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-10-07
The School Mistress Return.

ueSS. She vanished from among us Just
as the turnips were Towering and the
first wrens We're balancing themselves
upon the catalpa twigs BY the south win
dow. We remember how weary she
looked as she passed along the street that
last day Of school few steps behind the
prim little calicocd misses and the hilari-
Gus young brats in button ups She steps
more lightly now as she goes smiling to
the work and worry Of new term. The
/ pale cheeks that she took away when she
! went out to Kansas to spend her vacation
have gained color from the pink and rus
set tinting OF. the rich plains sunshine,
and the new light In those eyes which
seemed SO dull and sad three months ago
looks like surprise of the blue sky
double purpose Of concealing her freckles
nered stares Of street loafers She still
dresses in material that can be washed
and done up" and wears that inevitable
white apron, and the brown kids frayed
at the tinger.ends; but not the Helen of
I the Had, "clad in the beauty Of thou.
sand stars" was 10 At to be enshrined in
immortal song. tg 40
l We owe her right royal welcome, the
returning September sch0olmistress. She
is emphatically one of our things. We
might better spare tho whole race of poll.
fticians than this modest, earnest, even.
tempered step mother OF. every body's chill.
Z dren. She II IL who, in her quiet and pa
tient way, sways and fashions the Grant
forces upon which depend, not merely the
rise. and'fall OF rudimcntary knowledge,
but the security and growth Of all that
preserves and exalts society and gives to
popular government its progress and its
glory. Ninetenths Of our children get
the most of their education in the public
schools, and there can be no higher mis-.
sion in such country than that Of the
meek-faced woman who, with no crueler
weapon than bunch of belated mari
COLDS or copy of the last st. Nicholas,
brings the boys and girls, who are to be
our future men and women, safely and
and clearly through the decisive expert.
ences which, more than all else Of life, fix
the bent Of mind, Of manner and Of NOR
ais. According TO the sincerity and skill
Of her labors must be the character of the
schools; and as the shoots are so will be
the citizens-which is but saying that so
will be the nation, for honor or for shame.
The returning schoolmistress will find
things much the same as she left them.
She will see some new Countenances
among her pupils, to be sure, and perhaps
a new series of text books, also, but there
is no alteration in the general outlook,
and her work is ready to be resumed Just
where she dropped 1t. A week hence
she will have the business of her
school reduced to system that
no civil-service reformer' could improve.
She will know, not simply the name, age
and scholarly standing of every child un-
der her charge, but also all their Individual
tastes, habits and prejudices. 1t IL this
admirable faculty Of discovering and
utilizing the peculiar characteristics Of
each mind with which she has To deal that
makes the schOolmisiress of the period
such pronounced success. With her, to
impart instruction Is not to turn the crank
of a machine. Instead of adapting her
pupils to her teaching she adapts her
teaching to her pupils. She sometimes
has a dozen methods Of presenting and
enforcing the same thing, not one of
which is to be found in any book. II
johnny stumbles in his syntax she does
not refer him to printed rules that are ten
years ahead of him, but explains his error
to him in the languageo Of the play ground;
and if little Susie gets mixed Ia her mul.
tiplication table she is set straight again
by some homely illustration which is
worth whole days study to her. 1t took
us a long time to learn that teaching is the
special sphere Of woman. The school,
mistress has won her place in spite of u.s.
And, having won it, she is entitled to
our grateful recognition as she appears
again after her vacation (Which, let US
hope, was pleasant and protitable1 to re.
mind US that September has come and
schools called"
Our September school mistress will be
making wife Of herself one of these days.
She always gets married. There is u
place for her in matrimony, just as there
is in education. A widower, with FIVE or
six children, is somewhere constantly
waiting for her. She could not evade him
if she would perhaps she would not ifshe
could. He is not an educated man, and
there is smell Of the soil on his garments;
but he has comfortable home and good
income, and he will worship her in his
clumsy way as If she were a second
Minerva When he gains her we lose her
forever Once wife, not even Septem.
Der can bring her back again and the in
cination to be a wife il the one tempta-
ton that she cannot resist The trail of
the serpent is here as everywhere. Good
and useful and necessary as she Is, the be-
setting ambition Of her sex will creep in
to lure her away from us. Being a woman,
she cannot or will not, escape her destiny.
Like all the rest, she is looking and loiter-
ing for the expected husband. Long may
the good Lord delay his coming!--St.
Louis Globe Democrat.