St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-12-14

! never knew what was dono beio,
got to the meeting. Or what led to tn
controversy OF which will tell you.
When entered the house tho worth
treasurer had the floor. and with fash
ing eyes made . last assertion some
what like this:
'And child who has lived all hi
life in district where there is fr~..
six to ten months school eves year
and at ten years OF age d-1s not know
his letters. is not wc<th considering
never can or win be any thing. no diff
ference wb-s favor is shown him."
THE remark. seemingly. was pointed
n the little widow, who, contrary Il
his expectations. and-I hope to bt
forgivcn-wishes. had been able to pa,
up all interest, and fulfill all obliga.
lions. and hold the owner OF her mort.
gage in abeyance-but all this at the
expense Of her boys time in school.
The widows face was flushed. then
pale. the color coming and going.
which. with a visible trembling OF her
toil-hardencd hands. were the only
signs Of her agitation.
One after another took Up the theme
and talked either for or against .Quar.
ter for the dull scholar" a. one re-
marked.
The chairman. . good man. Father
Bright. who stood nervously clasping
and unclasping his hands. meanwhile
forgetting TO call to order the disput-
ants and thus put a stop to this dis
graceful affair.
The remarks had grown to be quite
personal. the treasurer just had IAN
other word" anu the tide seemed to be
going against the widow. who had
maintained perfect silence. There was
new wrathy stiffness "A slight rustic
was heard in tho rear of the room.
where the mechanic with his workmen
had gathered. quitting their hammers
90 az not to disturb the meeting.
l had heard that = nephew OF our
neighbOr SeeliR. who was an architect.
was visiting him; that he was just re-
covering from a wound received some
time before. and that he had consented
TO superintend the new school build
ing. but / had not seen the man. We
now saw a man Of medium stature.
clear complexion. brown-gray eyes,
auburn hair and closely cropped red
whiskers.
He stepped away from the door.
against which he had been leaning.
and addressed the chair. prefaced his
remarks with saying that he knew he
had no claim on their time only in the
cause Of humanity. He was afraid the
remarks had grown to be personal.
but as he was perfect stranger 10 all
present he had only the welfare of the
dull scholar at heart He spoke feel
ingly. and every eye was turned upon
him.
Il may be pardoncd for this inter-
ruption after give you bit Of my
experience. am the second child in
a family Of five children. am only
a little over year older than my
brother.
My father had . very limited edu-
cation. but was able TO read, write end
sufficiently acquainted with arithmetic
to transact his own business.
Mother had been a teacher in her
Connecticut home before her marriaee.
When l was five years old she began
to try to teach me my letters. In less
than a months time brother Phil had
learned the whole alphabet in hearing
my drill. while had made no progress
whatever. When l attained the age OF
eight years did not know one letter.
l know mother tried several plans
using what is now called the word sys-
tem-and all seemed to be beyond my
darkened comprehension. Phil was
reading in the third reader. with our
sister. four years my senior, for his
teacher.
Mother was q very busy woman.
but she gave me all the time she could.
She always spoke OF my final
triumph. and this inspired me to
press on. tried hard. but 1 /
could not fix or retain the name
Of letters. but had learned the forms
and could make them in regular order.
l some way started wrong. I could
not understand that those characters
could represent sounds. I saw they
were composed Of straight and curved
lines. and angles. etc, but believe
now thought that in some mysterious
way they sCcrc sounds to others. Some
times grew discouraged beyond
measure, and mothers faith in my pos
sibilities was the only thing to which
I could cling at such times.
Our house was a good-sized log
cabin with two rooms below and one
large one above. ceiled overhead with
rough boards nailed to log raftcrs
faced on the lower side. This roo m
was the sleeping apartment for the
whole family.
Il went to bed early on the seventh
of October, the eighth was my birth
day. but l could mot sleep. The chill
dren were al in bed. and now / heard
father and mother coming up stairs
Father said:
".Dru. did I tell you that school b.
gins next week?' Mother said he had
not, and then all was still till ] heard |
mother sigh. and thought, that's be-
cause I can't learn like other folks.
and pulled the quilt up around my
lace and cried.
Then father said: How many Of |