St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-04-19

..Of course YOU did Now I'm going
to reverse Johns plan. | am going to
concentrate on your shoulders the pun
ishment that the down Last schoolmas
ter distributed over the whole school.
Go to nv room, sir.
80, Mr.. Jones, III never, never do
so again.
ii know you won't. Go to my
room
| believe that fiogging. like every
thing else, if done at all should be well
done don't believe in 4 dress parade.
| scarcely ever had to whip 4 boy twice.
on thu same principle that the lad said
| lightning didn 'tstrike twice in the same
spot because it din need 10. When
| it became necessary for 4 boy to have
| an interview with me in my room, he
rarely forget the circumstances. l
| ALWAYS taught school on 4 somewhat
free and easy manner allowed ample
opportunity for free speech and en-
coura@ed it. and Inever laid any claims
tothat infaliibiiity which many teachers
surround themselves with. Boys are
quick to detect humbug, and a teacher
never loses prestige with them by ad-
mitting that he doesn't know every
thing. Although the incident | have
alluded to consumed the greater part
| of a valuable forenoon. never thraShed
another boy there, and when asked
the pupils afterward who did any par
ticular thing. some one instantly sprang
to his feet and said:
| 81 did. sir"
| A PALPABLE HIT.
| Although boys have MANY noble
qualities if they are rightly brought
out, yet | regret to say that my expert
ence of them convinceS me that most
boys are cruel and tyrannical. Nothing
delights a scholar-a big hoy-so much
as to bully a teacher. 1t is the height OF
a boys ambition. Haven | done it
hundreds of times myself? Next to
that, the domineering over small boys
is a source of deep and lasting delight.
One January l took my place in a
new school, and was panied to notice
that the smaller boys were mercilessly
snow-balled by the big lubbers who
| lorded it over both school-room and
ward. So well established was this
| tvrannical rule that | found the poor
/ little bengars We're afraid to answer my
questions about the matter even when
| privately put. Consequently. although
| | like to encourage manly sports, | was
forced to forbid snow balling entirely.
| As it was early in the session. and as
the big boys had been i'll the habit OF
assisting in the government of the
school. and as their ideas on the subject
| of snow-balling were not i'll accord with
mine, and as it had not yet been settled
who was to run the school that year. l
need hardly state that the order was
not obeycd. Next noon | went into the
ward as soon as school was dismissed
and found large pile of snow-balls
heaped up like cannon-balls at tort.
They were most cruel missiles. having
been dipped i'm water ut the forenoon
interm;ssion and allowed to harden in
the interim. picked one up, intend
ing to bring it in with me and show the
utter barbarity of tiinging such balls.
..Who made these snow-bails? l
asked small boy.
| Casting 4 frightened look around him
he answered under his breath:
''Jim Higgins, sir.
Jim was the biggest and worst boy in
school, and | thought that if it came TO
a trssel between us, rs | felt it inesita-
bly, would. there was every chance that
jim would get the best of me. | make
no bones of the fact that was afraid of
him and L hal endeavored quite unsuc-
cessfuliy to propitiate him during the
week that school had been going on
At this moment Jim entered the yard.
squeezing a SNOWFALL with his hands
betw cen his knees after the manner of
bows who want to make hard one.
He was making for his pile when he
noticed me standing by it, when he
stopped. straightened up and looked at
me moment as ii he hesitated whether
to drop the SNOWFALL or braEen it out.
The silence and the eyes of the whole
school on him braced him up and he
cried:
/ .Master, gimme leaye?'
'Certainlv.n
With a movement like lightning he
flung the SNOWFALL directly at my
head. | ducked like a flash, but the
ball took the rim of my hat and plas-
tered it against the nei-hboring fence.
had been no slouch of 4 snowballer
myself in my youthful days. but never
|
that. l Isprang erect and said:
.Now it's YOUR turn" and sent my
ice bolt at him rs il it had come from a
cannon. He duckcd, of course, but
had calculated on that, and the ball hii
him square on the ear with 4 thud that
made nv heart stand still. He flung
his arms over his head and fell back
AGAINST the gate by which he had just
entered. His face was pale and he
nasped for breath. Although with sci
teeth AMI tears in his eyes, he smiled q
ghastly smile.
o, master" he half sobbed, '.your
arms heavy one. ;"
s.You see, Jim,' said, with a light,
ness / did not feel, .'snow-bails like
chickens, come home to roost."
..They do that" gasped Jim, rs he
poked the crushed ice ont of his ear
with his forefnger. land they roosl
mighty solid. you bet.
He was grit clear through and never
whimperel.
When school was assembled said:
..Boys, the trustees hired me to
teach the Young idea how to shoot.
have given Jim, there, lesson on
shooting that. if it didn't, as is too often
the case, 60 in at one ear and out al
the other, came very near doing so.
In some years at the teaching business
have got into the habit of having nj,
own way. You seem 10 have got into
the same pernicious habit am get
ting old aud it's hard for me to acquire
new habits. You are young and it:
easy Now if I don't have my owr
way there will be trouble. If | do
there viii be peace. The decision rests