The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1890-01-25

y" my ability TO teach
- even a "com m n
school" when the situation was offered
me in little Tuolumne county mining
camp. said 30 to my old friend, Pete
H., who had secured me the position.
"Well," said he, after reflective pause,
"do you retain o clear recollection Of the
twenty-six letters of the alphabet For,
II you do, you are equal to any educa-
tional demand this camp will make on
you"
It was q reckless scamp" No phase
Of life was viewed or treated seriously.
They did walk their horses to the grave
slowly at Q funeral, but how they did
race back!
1t was legally necessary, however, that
should be examined as to my ability by
the school trustees. These were DR.. d.,
Bill X, saloon keeper, and Tom j., q
miner. Imet them in the Justices office.
The doctor was al important appearing
man, proud, pompOus, well dressed and
specialized. He glared at me with an ex.
preston betwixt sadness and severity. /
saw he was to be the chief inquisitor. /
expected from him searching examina-
ton, and trembled; it was years since l
had seen school book. l knew that in
geography was rusty and in MAJ he
mates musty.
Before the doctor lay one thin book.
It turned out to be spelling book. The
doctor opened it, glared on me leisurely,
and finally said: spell cat" / did so.
"Spell hat" Ispelled. "Rat," said the
doctor, with look of explosive fierce
ness. and in tone an octave higher. |
spelled, and then remarked: "But, doc
tor, you surely must know that l can
spell words of one syllable?' 81 don't"
he shouted and propounded mat for
me to spell, with an increase Of energy
In his voice, and so went on until had
80 spelled long enough to amuse him and
the other two trustee triflers. Then he
shut the book. saying: young man,
you'll do for our camp. wouldn't teach
that school for $1,000 a year; and there
are two boys you'll have for scholars
that advise you to kill, il possible, the
first week. Let's all go over and take
drink"
My school house was the church, built
and paid for partly by the gamblers and
partly by the good people of Jimtown-
'for the use of all sects" on Sundays,
for educational purposes on week days.
was shut up in that little church six
hours day with sixty children and
youths, ranging from to 10 years Of
age. In summer it was fiercely hot
little church. The mercury was always
near 80 by noon, and sometimes over
100, and you could ut times hear the
shingles split and crack on the roof OF
the cathedral. A few years of interior
California summers suns will turn un
painted boards and shingles almost as
black as charcoal.
The majority Of my pupils parents
being from New England and North
America, they brought and carried into
effect all their North American ideas Of
education. The California summer heat
is, think, unit for educational pur-
poses. 1t is too hot to herd sixty rest
less children together six hours n day.
They proved this in several cases. Some
fell sick suddenly. Some tainted. But
this made no difference. The school
went on in all its misery. | sent faint
ing child home one day, and the father
returned with it an hour afterward. He
was fierce, and said he wanted his child
kept In school when he sent it to school.
This was in California's early days.
Ny scholars were the children of the
Argonauts, and in some cases had come
out with them. There was then no regW
lar system of text books. Publishers
had not commenced making fortunes by
getting out new school book system
every three years.
My scholars came, bringing grea.
variety of school books. They brought
pixies Arithmetic" which had come
over the plains, and Smiths Geogra.
ply" which had sailed around Cape
Horn. Seldom were two alike. But the
greatest variety lay in grammars.
There was a regular museum Of English
grammars, whose authors fought each
other with different rules and called the
various parts Of speech by different
names. accounted for the great vari-
ETY. of grammars on the supposition that
It is or was the ambition Of large pro-
portion of schoolmasters to write a work
on grammar before they died and say:
81 have left another grammar to bless
and confuse posterity."
Besides bringing grammars, most Of
he boys brought dogs. Dogs OF many
yreeds and sizes lowered around the
school house. They wanted frequently