Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-06-04
a COUNTRY SCHOOL


A COUNTRY SCHOOL
Conneeticat Village.
In q prominent but quiet village
some two miles from the center stands
an old schoolhouse, whose weather.
stained boards show the marks Of It
least century.
Alone, upon the summit Of high
hill. this unpretending temple OF learn
ing has been the structure used for gen.
erations in climbing the hill Of science.
The march of improvement has been
carefully kept back from its surround
ings, the only adornment being beds
of rock and piles of stone. which are
only changed as the careful farmer or
labor-saving road-master finds it con-
yenient place to add to its already
overburdened stock.
The same old plank on which our
grandfathers SO industriously used
their jack-knives is to-day the writing
desk around the wall, save where
place has been whitfield too much to
be of further service 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
dren of to-day swing in and out after
the fashion OF their grandmothers in
days of long ago. The presiding
genius of the place is even in keeping
with the surroundings; master in win
ter to manage turbulent boys, and
while his farm demands his attention
during the summer months, some
schoolmarm fills up the interval and
aids overburdened parents in the care
of children who are in the way at home.
As one old master is obliged to lay
aside the duties of his Office on account
of the infirmities of age or to 60 to his
last resting-place, a new one is found
SO nearly like the old that the change
is hardly perceptible. Even the very
ferule and hickory club are carried and
used as effectually as by the masters OF
a century ago.
The children of to-day spell out the
words in the Testament at the opening
of school with the same moderation as
did their ancestors in &c, and the same
old blue-covered spelling book is yet in
the hands of the pupils, keeping alive
the momentous questions whether the
man who made speliing-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, and
questioning the propriety of changing
the old catechism SO as to read Noah
| Webster, and not Methuselah, was the
Oldest man. But at length the march
| of improvement reaches our rugged
| hills and invades our territory. A
| young lady from the city, graduate
| from q prominent high school, appears
at the door of our district committee as
| candidate for the school. He stares-
departure from our custom, but
will consult the people of the district
and let her know. Unanimously they
say: We'll try the city lady," She
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. Ayoung
lady full of life, energy and deter
mination to make her first effort sue
cess.
The old school-house is made to look
more cheerful by the addition of few
wards of white cotton cloth at the win
dows, and the blackboard instead OF
being used for drawing caricatures OF
the teacher, is kept filled with well-ex-
ecuted schOol-work.
The very school-room seems to be
filled with different air. No instru-
ment 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 filled
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 compan-
ion. She'll box us side the head
with those things by the blackboard"
and at the close of the session pupils
scatter homeward to make known
to parents the wonderful discovery.
Catch her using them things on my
children" says one parent, and his
children return to school to tell what
pa says.
Another session and the queer-look-
1 lily IulU0S are t1hCu III DhChth-
less silence reigns in the school-room.
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 pupil spells COW,
ke-ow. Teacher says pronounce the
word COW, not ke-ow.
Glass dismissed and at close of school
teacher says: Children, when you
meet a person on the street say. How
do YOU do?' not 'Hellon"
Children look amazed and report tc
parents. "Thc teacher is oversteppins
her duties, meddling with outside mat
tiers, and besides, is casting reflection
on the manners of the people" Mem
bers of the board of education are con
suited as to the limits of teacher:
power. The six members of the boart
have all presided as teachers in the
town, and it is against the rules to crit
icise any thing out of school-hours
and surely it shows great lack OF ia
miliarity between teacher and pupil!
not to say "Hellow Now, here is oul
chance. We have always succeeded
in keeping city teachers out of thu
place. We have teachers enough O
our own and need the money ourselves
and we have quietly revoked city teach
er's certificates on two occasions ant
they have been obliged to leave; so il
we can only manage this one success
fully, probably there will be no at
tempt at city teaching for some time t.
come. We will not have any new meth
DDS introduced here.
The committee of the district is con
suited, but says: Mot complaint ha'
reached his ears from person whom