The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-05-09
AMUSING ANSWERS.
A Collection of Odd Things from
Children.
Which illustrates What Queer Notions
They Sometimes Form of Simple
Things About Which They
Should Be Better Informed.

An examiner in elementary schools
often hears many amusing answers in
reply to his questions. The following
are examples of written composition
from children in the upper standards.
1t must nor be assumed, however, that
in giving these quaint specimens, any
slur is being cast upon the general
character of the work in elementary
schools; these are taken from many
thousands of papers, a great number of
which are of undoubted excellence,
and it often happens that where the
majority of the pupils in a class acquit
themselves satisfactorily, one child
will be found who is quite sat sea"
Here is description of plum-pud-
ding by a boy whose knowledge is evil
IDENTIFY theoretical, and, like his pud-
ding, somewhat mixed: when they
have put all these in, they make it into
batter and then mix it up; and when
they have finished battering it, they
put it on the fire for about an hour and
a hall, to get it to be enough, so that it
will be better to eat and softer to chew. !"
From cooking we come to natural
history, and have the following:
'Guinea-pigs are very pretty little
creatures, and people generally have
them as a ajointfor dinner" The guinea
pig and the sucking-pig were evidently
one and the same in the mind of this
ingenious youth.
Here is another in the same depart
ment of learning: bees live chiefly
on worms and snakes, and are search
ing for them nearly every hour of the
day. Besides this they also live on
little insects, which when they are not
so very busy, they go down into the
ground and have avery nice feast. 1t
is very pleasant indeed in the summer
time to watch them making their hive
and weaving their honey"
A pupil was asked to name and de-
scribe four kinds of fruit, with this re-
suit: 'sThe four kinds is apples. pears.
rubuD and carrots and many others. "
He was town boy, whose garden Of
nature was evidently greengrocer' s
cart.
Here is some light on another branch
Of knowledge: "Whale ships are large,
and have an hold in which lubber is
stored Seamen will agree that the
hold is the best place for the lubber.
The following on feathers was
very difficult to interpret, but at last ii
proved that the writer had mistaken
features for feathers: '.The feathers
OF anv thing is the looking of you; some
people have diseases and cause them to
have an unpleasant look. Sometimes
when people go to apply for situation
they don't get it owing to their feathers
and bad faces; the master who they ask
generally says that he takes beer and
won't do for a job of that kind. People
who is not i'll SO much generally has
good feathers, they are obtained from
keeping yourself clean. y
DIR. Charles Wilson, in his general
Report on the Scottish Training Col
leges, gives several curious answers
which have been received from candi-
dates and pupil-teaehers. A young
lady answering question on insurance,
wrote; 'eFhe money is provided by the
Company to defray the expenses of the
birth of members in peeuniary dis
tress. a second demoiselle in COM
menting upon the proverb. penny
wise and pound foolish wrote in a
mathematical sort of way, and it is
feared with some degree of misan-
thropy: 'slhis proverb clearly shows
that for every wise and good action a
man does, he will commit two hundred
and forty foolish bad ones"
One pupil brought Julius Caesar be-
iore the public in the light of won
aesful inventor: Julius Caesar in
vented Great Britain, 55 B. C."-by
writing that, suspicion exists that
copying is still in vogue. What dis
aseer a single mistaken letter occasions
e the young plagiarist! ''Ethelred
we onready was called that because he
vas never ready for the Danes. He
sseo to entiee them away from England
y Oridelng thhm. but they used to
eone again and demand q larger
Fo0r William Rufus end was sadder