The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-08-25

burlington HdTEeye'
Time flies, and the boy is learning to talk
so that other people can understand him.
."It you would let me have him for about
one month";" said pleasant.yoiced and
pleasant.faced school.mistress who came
down here from up the river last week, II
could break him Of that careless habit Of
speaking"
Just because the boy had asked his stern,
dark-browed father: "Poppuls, whurs is
mine fiffin-pole you peakip' mama UNI
day?" Which, by Interpretation is, as the
pleasant voiced school-mistrees would have
taught him TO say: Father, where is my
fishing rod Of which you were speaking to
my mother with reference to purchasing 1t
for me at some time in the immediate fu-
ture?"a
And her little serene highness shook
her head and said no; he was losing his
baby.ialk and learning to speak English,
too rapidly as II was. The pleasant face oil
The school.mistress wrinkled up into an
interrogation point.
School. mistress" the jester said, ION
all matters OF education your shapely head
is not billy; it is as level as a new.mown
lawn, but you don't want TO teach the
baby grammar, and you don't want him
to speak good English. You want him to
be a baby and you want to encourage
him to indulge in baby talk. In the years
10 come, when the pudgy little fists will
dig great tears out Of the blue eyes because
the boy cam remember in Just what points
there should and must be exact harmony
between the verb and subject; when he
ia confident that he will die before he
can remember how many fellows besides
'ad, ante, con, in or inter are followed by
the accusative; when he knows the world
will stand still for Just two hours after
school Il he cannot recall that all termina-
items In something or other take the what
you may call 1t alter some kind OF things;
when be is go trusting and has so much
conf ience in Mr.. Davis that he is not only
willing but anxious to accept bis statement
that the sum OF the three angles OF trian-
gle Is equal to two right angles, without
going to the board to prove the truthful
ness Of his demonstration; along III those
DAYS the memory OF his baby talk will come
back to US like sweet music. He will have
trouble enough with the English language
and all the appurtenances thereunto ap-
pertaining by and by.
mo" he responded, in answer to the
silent inquiry oil the pleasant.iaced school
mistress, .he does not know his alphabet,
thank heaven, and he shall not be bother:
ed with it. Yes, he has alphabet blocks
and knows all the letter on themaud many
preposterous stories about the pictures.
oh. yes, he can count Hear him now,
counting the pebbles he has brought home
from the beach-'0ne, free, seven, free,
seven ten, free, five, seven, certainly he
csn CONT. BY system Of bis own, too,
which is more than most people have"
"Don't make prig Of the baby school.
mistress. From the day they are six years:
old they must, under the school system Of
the States, begin TO study, and Sit up
straight and behave properly, and speak
correctly, and from that time until the
grave hides them they live, and speak and
act, verbally speaking, they be, and do,
and suffer, under social and educational
surveillance. And claim that Ut least six
wears Of the life OF man or woman should
be free; free as the air, free 10 talk as the
brook runs, with untrammelled musical
prsttle and babble. Why, here few weeks
ago, came a melancholy looking child,
about four years old, and in presence and
hearing pointed TO me, and said to bis
mother: .,
sp sPoor little prigl My heart bled for
him. That afternoon took the boy down
by the target and taught him to say, Nam:
ma, what 10 dot man speakin TO you aboutY
and reconstructed his general grammar on
me same easy basis, and-look me in the
eye-iI that boy didn't tan uplike young
Indian In two days, and he gained seven
mounds In three weeks"
.You see." the jester concluded, IN Q
apoloretic tone, iorhe had done an unusual
smonnt Of preaching that dey-"You see,we
hayne't q very broad experience In train
Ing children, we have only one chich TO
chuck over and scratch ior, but we're bound
he shan't 20 to school until he's through
being baby, and we know, schoo lmistress,
that he's the happiest baby that ever man
Glad cram mari ia. r' .....