Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-02-12

rules with great promposity, for the guidance of
the rest of mankind. He loved also to descant
on the depravity of schoolboys, and to warn the
public against what he called the "pernicious
influence of what g leow fellar" Dickens, who
WAS just then fast rising to the zenith of his
fame. To all Of these epistles the "gaffer' woul !
sign his name in large capitals, 81 M. A. Wysa-
ker, while Mr.. Poodle (who in earlier life had
been kind of a printers boy) followed loyalty
in his masters footsteps and deluged the county
journals with his insane productions, invariably
signing himself" a Schoolmaster." 1t was rare
fun to us youngsters to cut these pieces ont of
the papers, and stick them up about the school
room with our own private little opinions at
tached, and it was also our good fortune never
to get found out. Sometimes after school hours
in the winter time and when Mr.. Poodle
would be left IN charge OF us two or three boys
would go to neighboring store kept by one
"Dickey Leach " in the village, and buy dozen
so OF rotten eggs, and creeping back into the
schoolroom unobseryed, would engage MIR.
Poodle in conversation while the gas turned
of, when to our uprorious delight the unhappy
"junior would be bombarded from all points
of the compass.
shortly before finally left the establishment,
party of ladies and gentlemen from the neigh
borhood, who were well acquainted both with
the pharisee like character of our 'gaiier,' and
the tricks We boys used to play upon him, paid IFS
u visit and while Mr. Poodle and his senior
were accompanying them over the premises, and
relating to them the circumstance of the pla-
cards, we got two crooked pins, to each of which
we attached papers, AMI passing quietly in the
rear of the two worthless gently stuck one
both their coat tails. The papers were written
in very large letters, Mr.. Poodle's bearing the
beautiful parody =
"Poor Poodle, what different dog,
This brute was in his early years
When that placard business gets agog-
How great an ass this tyke appears :.
While on Mr.. l. NJ A. Wysakers coat tail ap-
peared the words =
''This boast is 'gyudc socycty,'
And 'peyurity OF diction
He hates with iervid 'pyety'
The 'liyalect OF tictiou.'
Never shall / forget the loud laughter
which rang through the schoolhouse
AZ these two verses We're read,
enjoy the Joke even more than We youngsters
ourselves One of the gentlemen. however,
fearing that some of us might feel the weight
of the "gaifers dspleasure unlocked the
two papers, and with quiet smile put them in
his pocket, and learned years afterwards that
they were made the laugh of many dinner
table for miles around, although Mr. Wysaker
never discovered that it was he and Poodle who
were the subjects of merriment that day, till
long after had left the school.
Such was my scioomaster five and twenty
years ago, and as l have already said the type
was very common then. l have not selected
him as an uncommon one for the purpose Of rid
icule, but fair specimen of the article in
days gone by, and to show how much better oil
are our children with the Intelligent, scholarly
and liberal minded schoomaster of the present
day, and although now and again one still comes
living example OF the old style, yet ii is
infinitely more now than it was when | was
a bov.