Wichita daily eagle., 1885-03-21
LIKE CLOCK WORK.
EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN THE PLAY.
GROUND or A COLORED SCHOOL
A Single Tap a Bell and Fifteen
Hundred Children Become Instantly
Motionie.s Oti.er Example,
of Marvellous Discipline.
ATLANTA GA Cor. Inter Ocean.


"Wheu strike this bell, said Superintend.
ent Doiy, OF the Morri, Street colored school,
when was inspecting his branch Of the
public school system of Charleston the other
day, the noon recess is over, and every one
of our /, ioO boys and girls is in duty bound
to become moiionless, preserving whatever
attitude he may happen TO be in at the time
Of the hell stroke. You may De- interested to
watch the effect"
So saving. he struck button The loud,
sharp note Of an alarm-bell responded to the
pressure, and i stepped quickly to the win
dow
The assortment of grotesque positions to
be witnessed below beggars description
Here boy had ball raised in midair, while
over yonder stood another lad with hands
extended ready To catch the lall In one
place some youngsters were PLAYING at leap
frog. There a couple Of lads were locked in
a seeming death grip, having been caught by
the signal in the act Of wrestling. In one
place an automatic game of tag was illustra-
ted In another a girl had her arms ex-
tended III the process Of rope-skipping.
'POmpeii without the debris, | remarked
This IS of course only q feature of the
discipline which We try to preserve" ex-
planned Mr.. Doty. "Once rang this pre-
liminary signal and then walked leisurely
from window to window TO see how il had
been obeyel From the last window dis
covered lad literally standing on his head
with his feet resting against the fence,
where he had been for two or three minutes.
/ rang the second bell III haste. and from
that day prohibited the fine art OF poi-ins Oh
the head But that incident illustrates the
prompt and iron-clad adherence to the very
/. t,.,l
This second stroke of the bells forms the en-
tire school into PROFESSIONS.
third stroke, and as il by magic or by
machinery doors few open in every part Of
the large room Still another stroke, and
in marched the files, class at time,
through each opening Every 10y and girl
was exactly in linz, the distances between
pupils was invariably uniform and there
was graduation of heads in each class ac-
cordins to the height Of the pupils. During
the exercise of a whole hour that followed
there was not the slightest deviation from
rigid military order. Never a head turned
once never a hand stirred TO rub 4 tickling
ear or nose, and never a suggestion of a mis-
take occurred III the complicated evo!utions
Of the hour.
After all the classes had in some inexpli-
cable way found their respective quarters,
twenty monitors marched up ten on one
side Of the principals desk and ten on the
other These class monitors submitted their
reports. Only two had failures to chronicle,
and those failures were of the smallest posi-
ble Importance amounting to lack OF suiti-
cient UrUmptness in obeying the first bell.
Are these children really alive!' l said
under my breath. 1t all seems like some
ingeniou-ly contrived mechanical puppet-
show on vast scale
And yet there was no bored, automatic
expression On the bright faces betore ne
Evidently the pupils reveled in the very
rigidity oi The discipline to which they We're
subjected. | think Ierhaps the personal
magnetism OF Superintendent Doty had
something TO do with securing such superb
system Certainly | never saw anything IN
the north which even approximated the
matchless discipline of these Morris street
colored children The effect was beautiful
beyond nv power to express.
Il will order special exercise in singing"
said Mr.. Doty But he didn't say anything.
More beIl-taps, and more doors flew open,
more child en- filel into the hall from the
al Looming recitation rooms, and the room
was full \ single verse followed from each
of half dozen selections, embracing t
chief styles Of classic music. Here again
everything went like ciock-work There was
10 announcement. of the piece TO be sung save
that involved in the opening bars as played
on piano; and every darky lads voice WAS
heard, as also every girls. while all eyes
were fixed irrevocably straight ahead. and
all han Is were claspod and motionless ON
the edge Of the desk in front
In company with Mr. Doty then took a
cruise through the building.
The ame unalterable system was evident
everywhere. Sometimes l would think,
surely VIII AXE this room unawares
and discover some impropriety." But We
never did. Every c,asi preserved strict mil
itary order in passing 20 and from recta-
iion-roOmS, while ii L was n writing class,
the pen was invariably between tie thumb
and index finger II the right hand, which
hung at the side, ani the copy-book and ink
wiper were carried in regulation fashion by
the left han!, and let arm being bent.
Even the primary rooms, with THAR so
tiny inmstes, were noiels OF order. the
little ones be.n- IN anpAitheatres and gal
leries. IHIeei Nr. D,ty says the secret Of
MS discipline C n-.Sr in lightning with the
primary depart..le 4