The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-02-28
greater than that Of swing.
Ing a pick In the surface gold "diggings.h
/ lnye tried both, md infinitelv nrafar

nOfu up their HatfdB Tor another drfn
Of water. l could not let them out {
doors to plny Ia the sand, where the
should have been, because the Mort
American parent would have considere
himself as defrauded Of a part Of bis In
fant,s schooling were they not imprit
oned the whole six hours.
Neither can you got q child To study
ing A or NJ or any other letter. Their
Is net an Idea In A or u. During til,
two years OF my administration
wrought with ono child who neve
could get successfully beyond f. lie
parents questioned my ability as
teacher. Some days she would repea
the whole alphabet correctly. I woul,
20 homo with n load of my mind. I'll,
next day her mind would relapse into a,
alphabetical blank alter r. She grew Il
be an eyesore TO nc. Tho sight OF he
at last made me sick.
l held public examinations every 81,
months, and was careful to do all Ia,
examining myself. An interloper amont
the audience | invited did me great dam
age on one Of these memorized perform
anccs by asking a simple arfthmctica
question Of the show of geographical
boy. The. urchin was brilliant in dealing
with boundary lines, capes and islands,
but his head was n that mathematics
could not readily DO injected into. On
the other hand, my specimen grammar.
ian was Us likely 10 describe m island
Us a body Of land surrounded-by land
rs by water. I Ind no heart to find fault
with this poor, barefooted urchin who,
when in class, was always trying to
stand on one leg, like Il crane, aud rsnd.
ing hlsright big too on exploring scratch.
ing expeditions up his left trouser. He
had been born and brought up in M
inland country, where no body OF water
vas 10 be Been save an occasional fleeing
mud puddle; and what earthly concep.
ton could he form Of the ocean and It's
But tho Parents who attended these
exhibitions Of stuffed memories were
at the proficiency OF the progeny,
and retired with the impression that
their children knew a great deal be.
cause they had parroted oil 30 much that
was all Greek to them and after | had
been in this occupation a year l would
Sit iii my empty theological school house
when they had gone and try and convict
myself IS a profound humbug, and one
too, compelled, in order to get a living,
TO encourage and foster a system which
had 80 much humbug in it.
The California schools we're not then
graded" They were conducted on the
go as you please" plan, sometimes 20.
ing as the teachers pleased, sometimes
the parents pleased, sometimes as the
pupils pleased. The parents Of The
youthful brains l was trying to develop
into future statesmen and presidents
wanted me to teach many things. One
father wished his son taught Latin, It
is bringing extremes pretty near each
other to teach Latin and A B C,s, But
[ taught" the young man Latin IA l
was taught" many things at school. ]
him committing to memory the
Latin declensions and conjugations, and
then heard him "say his lesson" II he
got anything out OF it I d~on'sknow what
It was, except tough work. He never
reached any tsansla,ions OF the classics,
'or several reasons.
Another father was annoyed because
| exercised his son mathematically in
what, IN those days, were called vulgar
Iractions.' II don't want" said he, inv
son to have anything to do with frac.
ions, anyway. They're no use in liz.
less. En~nything over half AGENT we
call acent on the books, and ennythinp
lnder It We don't call nothin'. But I
'tare and tret."
So l grounded Thomas in "tare and
He grew up, took to evil ways,
md was hung by q vigilance COMMITTEES
somewhere in Southern California. A.
10Y who stammercd very badly was sent
ne. l was expected to cure him. Five
six OF my pupils were Mexicans, and
spoke very little English.
One OF my hardest trials was a great,
stout boy, 80 full Of vitality that he could
aot remain quiet at his desk. could
lot blame him. He bad force enough
inside OF him to run a steam engine. Il
would have vent in some direction, But
t would not expend itself in "learninp
essons." BE would work his books into
| mass OF dogs ears. His writing book
ever in mourning with ink stains.
face was generally inky. His ink
stand was generally upset. He would
iold q pen rs lie would a pitchfork. He
seemed also to give out his vitality when
le came to school and infect all the
others with it. He was not a regular
He was sent only when it was
IN "oti day" on his fathers "ranch." In
he scholastic sense he learned nothing.
But that boy at the age of 10 would
lrlve his fathers two-horse wagon load
with fruit and vegetables l5O miles
from California to Navada over the
rough mountain roads OF the Sierras, sell
the produce to the silver miners OF Au-
rora and adjacent camps, and return
safely home. He was obliged in places
to camp out at night, cook for himself.
look out for his stock, repair harnees or
wagon and keep an eye ont for skulkine
Indians, who, il not 'hostile," were not
saints. When itcame 10 using the band
and the head together he had in him
go" sumption" and executive ability,
and none OF my teaching put it where
il was in him either. He may have
grown up unpublished, but he is one Of
kind who are at this moment hiring
polished and scholarly men to do work
Tor them on very small wages.
I do not despise polish" and "cul-
but is there not an education now
necessary which shall give the child
some clearer idea Of the manner in
which it must cope with tho world in a
few years? The land to-day is full OF
culture" at ten dollars a week. Culture
gives polish to the blade. But it is not
the process which makes the hard, well
tempered steel.
The ''smartest" boy,in my school gave
me even more trouble than the son OF
the rancher. He could commit to mem.
Dry as much in ten minutes rs the others
could in an hour, and the balance OF the
time he was working off the Satanism
which he was filled. His memory
was an omniVorous nav. 1t would take
IN anything and everything with the
smallest amount Of duplication. It would
have required two.thirds OF my tine to
Iced this voraclous and mischievous lit.
tie monster With books Tor his memory
10 deyour.
- pt1t 1.n xtrr -xl IL - d. 80.