Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-11-19
4 COUNTY, SCHOOL.
CofretS feH-shti-iEk Sketch OF smsi,
Connecticut VILLAGE

some two miles from the center stands
an old >chool-houSe. whose weather
| stained boards show the marks of at
least century.
Alone, upon the summit of a high
hill, this Unprctcndinm temple of learn
ING has been the structure used for gen
eratlons IN climbing the hill of science.
| The march Of Improvement has been
carefully kept back from its surround
ln%S, the only adoynment being beds
OF rock and piles of stone, which are
only changed rs the careful farmer or
labor-SaYng road-maSter finds it con-
Venient place to add to its already
ovCrburdcncd stock.
The same old plank on which our
graudfathcrS 50 induStriouslv used
| their jack-knive> is to-day the writing
| desk around the wall. save where a
! place has been Whitfield too much to
he OF further service a new piece has
been inserted, giving the youth of the
| present day enlarged facilities for dec
| Grafton. In front are the same old
| wooden benches over which the chill
! drcn of to-day swing in and out after
| the fashion of their grandmothcrs in
| days OF long ago. The presiding
| genius of the place Is even in keeping
| with the surroundings; Il master in win
ter to manage turbulent boys. and
| while his farm demands his attention
| during the summer months, some
| Schoomarm fills up the interval and
aids oVcrhurdcncd parents in the care
| ?t children who are in the way ut home
As one old master is obliged to lay
| aside the duties of his Office on account
| OF the intirmities of age or TO 90 to his
| last resting-placc, new one is found
SO nearly like the old that the change
is hardly pcrccptibe. Even the very
fcrulc and hickory club are carried and
used Is eilcctualIy rs by the masters of
a century ago.
The children of to-day spell out the
words in the Testament ut the opening
! of school with the same moderation rs
/ did their ancestors in '76. and the same
old blUc-coVercd spelling book is vet in
! tac hands of the pupils, keeping alive
! %:c mOmcntouS questions whether the
! man who made spelling books and the
one who talked politics were one and
! the some, and if SO why should he live
! so much longer than other folks, aEG
! questioning the propriety of changin"
the old catCChiSm so as to read Noaa
| Webster, and not Methuselah, was Ii.
oldest man. But ut length the march
| OF Improvement reaches our rugged
! hills and iuVadQq oUr territory. a
| young lady from the city, n graduate
| from Il prominent high school, appears
| at the door of our district committee ~
4 candidate for the school He starcs
| 4 departure from our custom, but
will 4D,.ilt III, naomi, - Al, Il tut,
and let her know. Unanimously they
say: well try The city lady" 81
| enters upon the duties of her Office.
Leaves all the attractions of one of our
| prominent Connecticut cities to enter
upon her life work as teacher. Ayomg
| lady full of life, energy and deter
mination TO make her first effort sue
! cess.
The old school-housc is made to look
more cheerful by the addition of 4 few
| wards of white cotton cloth at tie win
| doW~, and the blackboard instead OF
being used for drawing caricaturcs of
| the teacher is kept filled with wcll-cN-
ccutcd SchOol-work.
The very schOOl-TOom seems to be
| filled with Il different air. No instru-
mcnt of torment is in view, and two
| dozen pairs of prying eyes have tried in
vain TO discover its hiding place. What
school with no whip! The city is tilIe1
with horrible means of torture and
some dreadful thing must be here in
visible. One sharp pair of eyes dis
covers near the blackboard two oblong
articles. Il have found out" is the
first confidential talk with a compan-
ion. She'll box us side the head
| with those things by the blackboard"
and at the close of the session pupils
scatter homcward to make known
to parents the wonderful discovery.
Catch her using them things on my
children, says one parent, arl his
children return to school to tell what
pa says.
Another session and the queer-loo,.-
inc things are taken in hand. Breath
less silence reigns in the school-raom.
Who is the victim? The teacher quietly
uses them for cleaning the blackboard.
and the great mystery Is still unsolved.
Still wonders do not cease. A spelling
class is called and a pupil spells COW,
ke-Ow. Teacher says pronounce the
word COW. not kc-ow.
Glass dismissed and at close of school
ItdtntE says. 'NUluEtu, "Utn YOU
meet person on the street say, How
do you do?' not .Hellon"
Children look amazed and report to
parents. ''The teacher is oyerstepping
her duties, meddling with outside mat
ters, and besides, is casting reflection
on the manners Of the people" Mem
bers of the board of education az. con
| suited as to the limits of a tcac. cr
power. The SIX members Of the bo.r
| have all presided as teachers in tn
town, and il is against the rules to crit
| icise airy thing out of school-h0ur-
and surely il shows q great lack f +,
miliarity between teacher and pupils
not to say Hello Now, here is OF
chance. We have always succce,'c
/ in keeping city teachers out OF
! place. We have teachers euou
/ our own and need the money curse.
/ and we have quietly revoked city ieac
/ er's certificates on two occasions IA.
/ they have been obliged to leave: so f
we can only manage this one SUCCESS
fully, probably there will be no at
tempt at city teaching for some time to
come. We will not have any new meth
1 DDS introduced here.
The committee of the district is con-