Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1890-03-14
SCHOOL OVER A GROCERY.
Amusing Episodes Told bya Pioneer
School Teacher of Leadville.

Amusing Episodes Told by Pioneer
School Teacher of Leadville.
I taught one of the first schools
ever taught in the great mining
camp of Leadville. Colo, and natu-
rally enough l had many unusual
and amusing experiences. The
schoolroom was the second floor of
atwo story log building, the lower
floor being used for grocery store.
Every thing in the schoolroom was
of the most primitive kind. The
seats were long pine benches. There
were no desks, no blackboards
and not an inch of plastering in the
whole building. There was nothing
between the grocery store and the
schoolroom but loosely laid floor
OF unseasoned pine that became
looser as it seasoned. 1t was, I'M
fortunately, full of knot holes, and
whenever customer came into the
store for a bar of SOAP or a pound of
sugar. the school heard the entire
transaction, and as the merchant
was very loquacious man we often
heard some funny things.
The schoolroom water phil was
kept on pine box at one end of the
room and accidentally overturned a
good many times that winter, and,
strangely enough, the boys sitting
near it could never tell Just how these
accidents happened, but they always
occurred when there were more than
the usual number of customers in the
store below, and they never failed to
throw the school into paroxysms of
Joy. The effect was different on the
groceryman
"Here you, Mister Teacher!'' he
would roar up to me.
/ "Well, what is it?" | would ask in
as calm and dignlied manner as |
could assume when talking through
knot holes at my feet.
"Them boys if pourin' water down
here ag'in and victim my goods and
my customers, and l uin't goin' to
stand it?"
"Boysr' l would say sternly, "did
any OF you upset that pail?"
''No, sir" would come from a doz-
en- of the innocent ones.
"And they did" the groceryman
would shrek out, "you Just come
down here and seel If YOU can't
make EN- behave kin now and I'll
do it too!'
One day he carried his threat into
execution. There were several Gus
toners in the store and | was busy
with class in geography when an
omlnous splash and the giggling of
two boys told me that the newly
filled water pail had gone over again.
There were lite feminine shrieks be-
low, and the next minute the grocer
sugar scoop in hand, appeared in the
school room.
Without Geigning to notice
me he ran back to where the
overturned pail was and began
laying about him with the SUI
gar scoop, and before | could re-
cover from any amazement nearly
every pupil had gone shrieking and
laughing down the stairs, with the
irate grocer in mad pursuit, ham,
mering away with the scoop on the
heads and backs of the guilty and
innocent alike
A few minutes later he roared ND
through the knot holes
"Now, il you can't make them
youngsters behave themselves and
have some manners, | kin!"
This singular lesson in courtesy
had such a salutary effect upon the
school that the pail was not over
turned again for two whole days.
The next week we moved into a new
and better room on the ground
floor, greatly to the delight of the
grocer.-J. l.. Harbour in Wide
Awake.