Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-05-27
The Old.FashiOned Spelling-Sch0Ol i.

The modern spelllng-SChOOl is not as
it should be. There is an absence of
youth hardly to be accounted for on your
part and on most of the other counte-
nances. Occasionally there are virtue
and beauty of that nature, but they are
by no means as enjoyable as they used
to be. 1t was winter night, for in
stance, we hardly care to say how many
many years ago The snow was fence
deep, but the roads were fairly broken
Each particular star was like diamond
in the sky. The frosty snow glistened
in the slight light and was brittle as
glass. The sky was blue and without
speck, saving the stars, and seemed to
shut down all around at no great dis
lance, making little world for slight
party Of boys and girls. The horses
danced as the party crept into the straw
at the bottom of the sleigh, and then
sped away to the music of better arti-
Gle of bells than they have nowadays.
There were various upsets, accom-
panied by girlish shrieks and merry
laughter. There were songs, occasional
ly all together and sometimes each indi-
vidual person going it alone There were
quiet conversations under the warm
robes, and if sometimes hands and lips
came together it was quite by accident,
of course. There was country school
house, gorgeously lighted with tallow
candles, in the center of its single room
a stove filled with wood and the stove
Jolly red with heat. There were merry
greetings without number, and there
was talking without limit. There was
a choosing of sides, and every person
felt that his sacred honor depended upon
his being the last one up, One by one,
however, the sides lessened in strength
and number and the champions fought
inch Ivy inch for the final victory. That
came at last, and then there was the
going home. The peculiar beauty Of
the arrangement, after all, was the
going home. Now we inspect it closely,
the "spell" didn't differ essentially from
that of today. There was the usual
blockhead. There were the usual laugh
able blunders. There was the un&void-
able success of the party which ought
by no means to have succeeded. There
was difference, an immense difference,
however, we insist upon it. Was it the
brunette young lady whose laugh was
the merriest of all? Was it the blonde
whose voice was quiet as the ripping
water? Was it that other girl who sang
in such way in the going home that 1t
hasn't altogether died away yet, or the
gentle creature who did the alto TO her
soprano? Was it in the presence OF
George, who went to Mexico and died!
of Jack, who persisted on one of the
fields Of the late great disaster? OF Joe,
who is doing business at present some
where in California? of Sam, who was
buried in very small churchyard be-
fore he was old enough to 60 away
from home? The minutie OF that
spelling-school, we could swear, was
precisely that of the spelling.school
OF the later period; and where the
difference? One grows in years whether
in wisdom or Rot There is an absence
of youth which can scarcely 60 unno-
ticed occasionally. Is it shat: BRING
back the girls and boys of mat better
period of spelling chool-includlns the
one with freckles and a spit-Curl and the
one with precociously hoarse voice
bring back the dear "old fellows OF
that day and let's think about it. Al
present there is a mystery involved ~
spelling-schools which it is very difncu..
to unravel Probably the old days "ele
the good days after all; but Whetne1
youth, or the girls or the spelhng-scloVi
itself were the cause of il, 1t IS hatu ~
tell 1t is metaphysics. It is an 9.a
dream. 1t is a song IN the starilgnt;
with the sleigh bells ringin. in front ana
the frost nipping at the unprotecte;ur
nose 1t is ripple of laughter that Is IN "a
itself song. it is q vision of gray
haired schoolmaster who counts the en-,
tire population his children, married
ones ana all. 1t is goodnight nol a.
all conventional II is a last LOOK al
round. merry face with laughing eye
uuffled in hood and furs 1t is the pre-
sare of hand; and finally it IS a so.'m'
,by not directly connected with the spetL,
irg-school. and yet one which VIII po' re
forgotten. Altogether, it cannot PC a.
alvzed. 1t may not be spelled c9rIgC..!
Let US give it up and go down.-I','-1''S''