Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1884-04-15
A RExISiscENcE


Isee that not only the pENocH,I, bat
other paper. also. are bflaglns Mf. biok'
asll o ihc froui a. venerable hero OF The
school room. aud N "Sio;um' hai SAID
that his scholars colli st.l 'e counted by
thc hundred Instead % by the score,
should 40, have doabled 10 Now ! claim
the honor of being one of Mr. B. scholars
haslag attended hls school nearly three
term. aui although 10 was forty years
aso. mauy 0f The Incidents which took
place in those days. both ln and oai - the
.chool.room. are yct fresh in my mfmofy.
And here propose o relate tso 10 three
Of them. thluking ,he, may not be wholly
unintcrc.ilug % the reader Geography
was my rivor.tc stniy In my boihooi, and
A. the time of which speak. l ani my
classmats. Euish Bray, were .taiylog
Peter Parley's Daring The rccitaiion,ono
day. the question Occurred How large
Arc some whales" aui the answer was
"As large as The steeple % meeting
house" The master stopped a moment.
then askei in = rising tone Of voice "Why
didn't Peter say a.. large a. a piece of
chalk he then told us something of the
.rtual sire % these crettaree bat u Wa
not until years Afterwards. ~hcu "a"
them moving ab1li ln their oSn elcmeni,
ia, was erfb "a n ly % compr bend the
,.t bulk OF these monsters of che deep.
Bray rcmemberci that illustration for
years. aui woai frequeuiy ask me " !
h,i found oui how large q whale was.
Twas customary 10 those days for The
teacher 20 ''boari round % save money
80 a. 70 make ,he school A. long A. posi-
Die. the teacher silppins In each family &C..
cordlug % the number " scholars sent %
school. n was down BIN most of the way
nom the school.house % my home. The
distance being shout one.fourih mile, aud
part OF TIE Nay li was pretty steep.
While Mr. II. was holriing with o., The
roads became very shpPcy,in couseq qienee
of a cold wave passing over dlrc,t'y af.er
araln storm 20 took my big hand sled
q school with me. f1r The purpose OF
eoasting At recess, aud also 20 take the
teacher home on u. a. he bal TO travel
with eru,ch AMI cane.
Daring the day Z, 20 happened, that for
some reason the teacher thought It neccs'
sary % take some of the dust oui of my
iaeket. And he dld This exercise caused
me 20 change the handsled programme
somewhat; 20 the moment school wa.
done put Tor home a. fast A. nimoie
pair Of legs and lied would carry me gen
eronsly leaving the whole road Tor the ac'
comoda,lon OF the master. Having a Gu
riosliy 70 see how he got down the hlll,
took ap a position where could see hin
without being seen. Amer a while hs
came In sight. and saw At once that hs
was having hard time 10 get along this
caused me 10 releni, somewhat, 80 hard
" knew whether 10 be glad or sorry foi
what had done. lie got into the house
af.er some time. aud heard hlm say u
the folks, III Is awful slippery going
fell down coming home aud hurt me aw
fully" That was too much. saw had
got good deal more than even with him
aud have been sorry for the trick 10 thi'
day especially As the discipline was moth
ing NOR. than I probably deserved, and
administered for my special benefit.
| have sometimes thought that Mr.. Blck
n.lls ooIoqual faculties resembled some
what those OF Bepj ,min Franklin. whai
With a good edaeation, retentive memory
a peculiar gin OF conveying ideas. anC
foil OF humor AMI wit, he was good com
pany for people Of all ages.
Among the many interesting anc
humorous stories which he relatsC
while boarding In our family, was the fol
lowing which will reproduced IL being too
good 10 pass into oblivion.
"When was boy" he said. Just big
enough 10 be fond OF shows, happened u
nnd an old wig up stairs, one day. and u
being winter, aud school In session,
thought would carry IL % school, and >,
get 10 a small show on my own hook. Sc
putt into my pocket, and the next day
watching my opportunity, when the mas
ter's hack was turned toward the school.
pot on my Wig and the show commenced
Pretty soon the school began 10 litter but
before the master turned around 10 see
what was going on. the wig wss Ia m,
pocket, aud was studying away with al
the soberness OF a judge. The scholars
being asked what they were laughing A.
said they were laughing 10 see williams
head look so funny bat the master kindly
replied that he guessed Williams head
was all right; then tnrned his back 10 the
school, % the sum.
SO far the show was q succese; hut
had not learned 10 let well enough alone
thinking that two would be better thar
one, I undertook 10 put my wig on th'
second time, keeping my eye, OF course, OF
the master. But this time he proved toe