The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-09-29
TO A SCHOOLMA'AM.
Bill Nye Gives a Few Lessons to
a Beginner.
HE INDUCES IN "REMINISCENCES.
Sarcastic Remarks on the Blackboard-The
Big Giggly Girls-Den ThOmpson's
Beautiful Scheme.
ttor THH SUNDAY HERALD. BY special ar
rangeme 1t with the authorI

rangen1e 1t with the author
HON. WILLIAM NYR NEW YORK.
Dear Sir:-Having read with much interest
your instructive letters in THE HERALD anC
other papers, thought it would be beneficial
70 many other readers as well as to myself tc
gain your advice on a question which nearly
concerns many OF US. In few weeks expect
10 take charge Of my first school, a primary
grade in the boys department. Win YOU give
us the benefit OF your observation, il not Of your
experience, in this line? In SO doing YOU will
greatly obhge, Yours respectfully,
MARY BROWN,
100 Church Street, Knoxville, Tenn.
You could hardly have sought out a
source of richer, ripper experience, Mary,
If you had TO hunt the whole broad Union
over. So long did L work in the great
common school vineyard, that now after
years devoted to other and varied pursuits.
can hardly drive past cluster of straight
breech gads without climbing down from
my richly upholstered carriage and cutting
them against the opening of school.
A great many people claim to be fond of
teaching. Probably some of them are
Others say so because they have heard that
II was good thing to say.
taught partly because / heard it was
good route to the presidency, and partly
because needed the money 1t was for
tunate that did not need much.
began by teaching district school con-
tanning all sizes of children, from the little
cherub, who seemed to regard me as a dry
nurse at Sl8 per month, up to the large,
giggly girl who spat on her slate and wiped
itwith her apron.
1t Is tough experience for a boy of
eighteen or nineteen to enter the school
room for the first time and read a chapter
from the Bible, as l was expected to do.
l had not been accustomed to read every
morning aloud from the scriptures, and so
was embarrassed. Besides, 1 did not use
good taste in the selection. l did not know
1T until it was too late. l thought that the
Old Testament would be more interesting
TO the children than the new, and so struck
some matters of history there, told in
terse, rugged, realistic language, which
attracted more attention from the school
than had expected. 1 thought it would
get better as moved on, but it did not, so
tried another selection.
Severa! large girls giggled, and ceased to
a5ltate their gum as l struck into the
second selection. 1t was hardly the thing
for scnoSl reading, and so l omitted the
most of it.
Our curriculum ran all the way from
rash and teething rings up to trignometry,
tatting and bellies lettreS. One thing like
about the district school is its great range
and its broad and liberal scope Some
times while | was demonstrating 4 theory
IN geometry for a large girl just ripening
into glorious womanhOod, a small, black
aRd-tan child four years old would get a
lima bean up his nose and would have to
take button hook and attend to him, thus
delaying the cause of education ia the in
terest of agriculture.
The school teacher in our district was re
quired to be also a social favorite, both at
evening parties and revivals, so it was
really no slnecure, though, of course, the
salary was excellent.
The first year l was my own jauitor, and
had to build my own fires and sweep the
floor. This gave zest to my work and
made me feel that / was earning my money,
so that at the end of the MONTH when
got my $lS, less board and washing, could
look the school board in the face and say
had given an equivalent for this princely
sum.
Sometimes ] would find a chalk portrait
of myself on the blackboard with the frank
admission made by some scholar under
meath it that was ga ID fool without
suffiShent cense to teach the school" and
would feel that possibly such was the case.
Then the doughnuts and cookies lost their
flavor for me, and tasted like the bottom of
the tin dinner pail.
You will have moments like these, Mary,
when your heart will hang very low in
your bosom, and just at that moment your
meanest scholar will be the meanest. He
will be successful in entertaining the
school for an hour or so, and you will not
be able to find out how he does it. Large
girls would proceed to giggle, if you had
any in your school, and all would seem
lost.
We ali like large girls everywhere ex-
cept % a district school There, they and
their ways are past finding out. But
have lived to see all of the naughty big
girls Of my school richly punished in after
years.
They are all married now Same of them
were punished worse than the others.
They married self-made men, who fire.
quently alluded to it.
YoEwill have to encourage determinations,
no doubt, Mary The parents will insist
upon 1t. Every two weeks you should
have pieces spoken in the afternoon and
spell down afterward. You will probably
try to teach the boys elOcution and gestur- |
ing Do not teach them too much of it, !
of speech so much as the gestures gen
orally taught by young teachers at school. |
Do not spoil the natural gait of a bright |
boy by introducing a patent, whole arm |
movement in defamation denoting wrath, |
or the Barrett cultural cutoff style Of sup |
pressed emotion.
Teach them 70 be perfectly natural like |
good, old Denman Thompson, who does not |
even make up when he acts out on the |
stage He makes no pastures even in hiS |
greatest situations. He washes his face |
in real rain water and soft soap on the |
stage before the audience, and his piece |
also contains beautiful moral
Possibly you would like to hear, Mary, |
how the great and good Denman Thompson |
succeeds so well with the ''Old Home !
stead" 1t is due largely to his human |
nature and Lis utter hatred of artifce. |
He used to pray in one of his plays, but |
people laughed heartily through his prayer,
and so he feared that he was not accom- |
pIishing that good which he thought he |
should. He desired, so far as possible, TO |
elevate the stage. In order to do that, he !
must induce those to come and see him who |
had been taught that the play was the
Devils Great Bee Line Scenic Route TO
He'll"
So Mr.. Gilmore his manager, was called
in. He said he knew of retired clergy
man, whose voice had given oht but whose
mind was still active He could help to
bring this matter before the best people,
and the clergy especially. He was en-
pioyed at fair salary-very fair compared
with former Salaries-tO speak to the
clergymen Of New York and vicinity re-
garding the great moral concealed in Uncle
Denman's play. Thereupon the good man
goes TO his friends, Mary, and with white
tie and a suit of solemn black. along the
.nfrr f,,