Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1878-11-30

10 Much.
Il !. no ...c1,r.ss7L 70 ~ ~
lothian March Gss TIE wont boy IN
Old Man Poater's school. IL vas Q
tovn school. and the school Commits
of the selectmen were often st THAR
wits end 10 provide says and means
for the government u the unruly sons
Of ishernen-boys Who hal no pates.
nal discipline At home. a. their fathers
were usually at sea nins months in the
year. There vas Bob Weeks. for e.
ample, whose mother was such termi-
eant that her husband usesl 10 ssy that
fishing ON the Grand Bszks vss "con-
fortabler than ssayin' 10 home" But
even Mrs. Weeks could not wholly
beat the spirit Of mischief out Of Bob,
who put red pepper On the school stove.
nailed down the lid Of the masters
desk. interposed With his lists when
ever Old Man Potter attempted 10
ferule particularly small boy, smoked
q tobacco pipe under his desk, and did
many other perverse and mischiesous
things. Then there Was Bill Bridges,
Who set fire to the school house; and
Sam Snowman Who stole the masters
Thermometer, and whose mother re-
stored it with the fearful remark that
she didn't see "what possessed Sam TO
run off with that air pesky monument"
II is not necessary that I should tell Of
Joe Triford, who made squirt guns OF
the hollow metal pen handles which
were in vogue in those days, and who
Was Q mysterious squirter Of ink for
four days before he was found out and
handsomely represented" on his bare
legs by the enraged master. Most Of
these boys, and others like them, had
been to sea at least one voyage, or had
had one seasons experience in fishing
off st. Georges. Chaleur Bay. or on the
Grand Banks. II is said TINT the msr-
chant marine and the United States
navy draw, or used to draw, their best
men from the ranks Of these hardy New
England fishermen. Perhaps SO. But
in my youth, ut least, no more rough,
quarrelsome and thoroughly heathen-
ish young fellows ever invested o
Christian community than were the
majority of the fshermen's sons around
Penobscot Bay.
Still, I will say that lothian Murch
was the worst boy in the masters school
of Fairport. He was fighter. He
"sarsed" the big boys and then kept
out of their way; but the little boys
and he were constantly fighting. He
and we're Of the same age and never
came to blows but once, and that was
when had interiered in behalf of his
younger brother Abe, whom lothian
was pounding to . jelly. Even at this
remote period, record with mortifica.
ton the fact that I got one Of the worst
"lickings" which boy ever had; but
am also proud to soy that 10 emerged
from the conflict in state of ragged
ness and ruin which was startling. The
remnants Of his shirt, I remember,
consisted of ct ut unbleached cotton
binding buttoned about his neck, and
one sleeve, which his forgiving brother
had picked up and saved for him. But
not for this, not even for being obliged
to shake hands with him before the
whole school, do I bear 10 Murch any
malice. '-~-'-.''
Before he was fifteen, he stole seven
shillings and sixpence, New England
currency, from his grandmother's
light-stand drawer-a circumstance
which gave him the nickname Of "Sev.
en-and-six." During that period ct
adolescence, too, he fixed big Goldfish
hook on the backstay OF ship lying at
the wharf, in such manner that when
poor little chap, whom he had Sc
duced into climbing into the main'top,
attempted to escape by the usual way,
he was cruelty caught by the leg. He
blocked up the mouth of Fred Tilden's
rabbit-warren and then deliberately
stoned to death four of his white rab-
bits. As for tying kettles to dogs tails,
bringing cats surreptitiously into the
school-room, loading sticks of wood for
the school stove with powder, telling
on" scholars who played ,truant, mu.
tilating the books Of his enemies, and
borrowing books which he never re-
turned-Joe stood at the head Of delin-
quents charged with such offenses. He
organized and commanded expeditions
to plumber the scanty apple orchards Of
Fairport; and once he and three other
kindred spirits subsisted four days and
three nights, in the depths Of the spruce
thickets of the Blockhouse pasture on
green corn, turnips. and chickens raw
ished from the Lighthouse farm. 1t
should be added that as liar he was
fertile, picturesque and unconsciable.
NOAH Brooks, in Scribner.
Incident ut an Orphan Asylum.
The fact that all mothers who desert
their Children are not heRrtleSS WIS