The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1883-11-08
THE SCHOQL-NIISTRESS IN sHtETY
yILEE,a 9at NV

Ahh 1f1sTt 4 III 'sflfSfiTf i'ff7Ts ii7l
The astonishment ofmthe men in
Shantyyille when the announcement
was made that q school mistress was
coming to the. place would have been
comic had il not been SO perfectly un--
The movement which sresatted in the
building of the school-house was caused
much BY chance remarlSpfc Shorty
Davis as by anything else. Shorty, on
returning froma visit to the neghbor-
ING camp of Buster Gulch, said to the
assembled crowd in Higgins's saloon.
'.I'll low ez how that place kinder
lays over this we're. The men hez a
respect fo' knowlidje, an tbeYFbez the
finest schulc-hotis6 you ever see..a0
The rivalry between Shantyville and
Buster Gulch was bitter in the extreme,
and men said that when stranger
from Virginia City like Shorty Davis
could make such remarks, it was time
to move .UHf Wff5t&f
1t must be confessed that the raw ma
terial for schools was not abundant in
Shantyville. OF children there were
but three I'M alt, oneg belonging to the
underground boss Of the ''Star Of the
West}-a aigreat quartz mine-and two
were the pride and glory Of the Widow
Black Still, though there were not
many children to be taught. it could
not be denied that they aIeeded teach
ing; and then, too, there was that disa-
Guleh.
II being clearly impossible TO do any
thing in such a matter without.a public
meeting, and it being as clearly move
ment with which it dwas a respectable
thing to be connected, : the meeting in
question was called by no less person
than Squire Hatton~ a gentleman about
whom Icould write at great length,
had he any earthly thing to do withny
story AS he has not, it must suffice
that say, he was in ShantyYille the
representative of espectabilityy Under
such auspices the injecting went off
beautifully, and as there was absolutely
no opposition, it was resolved to build
the school-house and start the school.
The house being built! the committee
-of which Squire Hatton was chairman
sent to Virginia City for teacher
and Miss Mary Kennedy arriyedintime,
duly certified to as being competent
And now you can see the umreason of
the astonishment,. There had been no.
secret about the thing; the very men.
VINO expressed the greatest aInazement
mad been foremost in the movement.
Yet the feeling was there, and it was
thoroughly genuine. Ii gave rise, in
tlme, to another feeling very much
more curious that the school -riistress
Was not 50 much Y school1niistress
as she was public oflieer,nin whose
career all the Taxpayers had personal
interest. f- sliifisxs bal E3 a III
AS haEe.said, Miss Mary Kennedy
arrl'ved4n Shantyvifle sarftl swent to live
a. the Widow Blacks a,iaceu This ar
rangement was felt bV ali to be thor
oughly right for ins9iew of the fact,
sshat the widow was not well,oif, and
ner husband, Sam Black, had been one
q the most popular men in the camp,
parto the money subscribed bE tile.
camp could not be better bestowed than
upon her. 1t suited Miss Mary very
well, because the place was convenient
e'ia; all pseats the food was. good, although
pam, and the widow herself was one
u lne cheerlest incest little bodies any
one ever saw. Miss Mary, having ar
tlNeas toph possession of her school.
mousse, and the opening of the school,
was naturally made the ssnbieeti of d
cele5ration. The house WAS large,
hch lluch larger tbap- was Required, having
oeeh pulltwta an ey'e$t0 0sits future use
% place for public meetings, and was
a., aS the opening comfortably well filed.
lhs contrast between the Three pupils
anu tne crowd of visitors,was somewhat
amusing, bhtn still the ihcongrtrity s6f.
ehe thing did not seem to strike any
une, Inc Committee of Arrangements,
~ PmrouaDiy with the idea of convincing
az az present that there.were some chill
wen toletapght, placed thethfee promi7,
nently 4, upon the platforn1, where they sat
~ ,igh seats, their legs dangling down
m anu exceedingly ! uncomfortable, ssithe
y served OF all Sobsergefs. The OPEN
~ q the new school passed off beautis
auily, and Squire Hatton received the
sUpsi p aeu iattops of every man in camp.
81, out tnls story of mine is not so much
as aSoue the Shantyville 'sehoolaasi it is
euout the Shantyyille school stress.
AS there woultt not have been any
slssll sssSoI n nllsiress "a had rhere -leen no
So,;s nYols y was necessary perlENps to ac-
SUM SUM Tor Miss Mary 5 ptt4ence in
T.lanfy ,a;lI Fllles bAt this haEing7been done,
- - ~ on to the story Itself. And
Msl RMSslals ntis .pnneeessarYCto state that,
ssa ssnssn mary was very pretty. She was
slau' rather dark, WITH large brown
z y and brown hait. and Charming.
~ sns latter all men in the camp were
asreea, andnone were morethorouehly
oollvlnced Of the fact than jake Sioeurn
Solnnonly s.,l ~ called Rhody, and his part
n'a nel, iom Freeman. These two men