Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1883-03-06
Breaking I'M q school.

1t was given out in church Sunda,
that school would open on Monday
morning. After the evening service tn,
boys got together and talked it over
and decided to give the new teacher
just week. 1t had been thawing for &
day or two, and the boys were tired OF
skating, so they thought they could
afford to spend week educating them
selves in how to break up a school. II
the evening we were dull y elected a
member of the class of hard citizens
and we were to open the ball and do
something bad, get the teacher to lick us
and then the boys were TO jump in and
help. Monday morning the school com
menccd, and the teacher proved to be q
sickly-looking, slim sort of a fellow, .
timid, nervous man, with head and
face like a girl. Every time he looked
at one of the boys there seemed TO bt
an expression on his face as though he
would say, ~ hope you will be good"
When he had anything to say to schol.
ars he said "please," and gave other
evidences of being pretty soft, we all
thought. That morning the weather
changed and it froze hard, and at recess
the boys got together and said they
would wind up school before noon and
60 ont on the ice. Ii was our turn to be
bad, and it commenced right of. The big
boys had to carry in the wood and lay
it down quiet by the stove. We took in
an arntul and dropped it ON the floor so
that it shook the building and loosened
the stovc-pipe. The pipe came out of the
chimney and filled the room with smoke
but it was put back, and the slim teach
it must not occur again. We just ached
to 60 after some more wood, but there
wasn't an opportunity. Pretty soon the
teacher said we might 20 and get Il pail
of water, and while at the well We de-
cided to stumble Oh entering the school
room and spill the water all over the
floor, and thus give the sickly-looking
teacher chance to show what he was
made of.
The teacher was near the stove, and
we stumbled, and the wafer went all
over everything we1ting his boots, and
making him pretty mad. In sizing him
up we had not noticed before that his
eyes were as black as Goals, and that he
seemed to be about eight feet high, but
us he looked at us we could see 1t
plainly. He seemed to read our thoughts
and knew that it was done on purpose,
and we have always thought he heard
the boys talking it over at recess. Any
way, he jumped clear across the room,
grabbed us by the neck and set us down
in 'hc water, then he lifted us up and
shook MS SO the teeth ratified, then he
seemed to grab us all over and JUST maui
us. We got Il chance, once or twice, to
look around to the back seats, AS he was
revolving lis around on our own axis, to.
see II the other boys were coming to-
help us put him ont Of doors, but they
were the most stndious lot Of big boys
we ever saw.
They had their heads down in their
books, and their lips were moving in
silent prayer. After the teacher had
the floor with lis he took MS by
the back Of the pants, just as a dog
would II duck, and went to his desk and
got n big hickory ruler, and proceeded
/" dry our pants. We'll, it was the
mcanest way to dry pants that ever
was, and while it dried them well
it left great ridges inside of
hem that made II corrugated chair al
most Il necessity. The boys did not full !
Ill their part Of the program, and when
he teacher got through drying our
pants, and said, "PleaSc return 10 your
seat - We felt as though his politcncss
was II perfect sham. We looked at the
Boys as we went to 0ur seats. but they
lev"r looked up. We have witnessed