The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-02-14

The most astonished man in the whole
country was that teacher when landed
square on his shoulders. How easily the
four of US could have borne him to the
ground was shown by the fact that my
own Jump nearly accomplished this de-
sired contamination. The teacher was
forced down on his knees and had to
spread his hands to prevent himself
from lying prone on the floor. When
saw that the other boys did not take the
Jump | thought it most prudent not to
assault the teacher alone. l therefore
did not strike at him as had been ar
ranged. | picked myself up while he
rose in the full dignity of outraged man
hood.
''What do you mean by that?'' he
shouted to me.
/ replied with the ready prevarication
of a school-boy: 81 fell from the bench,
sir IL am very sorry, SIR
'I'll teach you to fall from bench, "
he cried, and then looking at his switch
and finding that he had worn it to
pieces on us little time previously, he
were near by, and cut switch to whip
myself with. This was a refinement
of cruelty that the teachers of that
day loved to indulge in. | went out to
the woods and in the fence corner cut a
long, slender alder branch, which
trim med neatly and brought in to him.
l fingered until it was nearly noon time
-, -4OI lo al, An oil
switch is about one of the most in
noXious things in nature. | often won
der why a teacher who was raised in the
country and among the weeds anyhow
did not know the utter uSeleSSneSS of
such an instrument of punishment. But
this teacher took it in his hand and
took nee by the collar and dealt a
fearful blow, whereupon the alder
switch, being full of pith, went at once
to pieces without inficting any injury.
This was always considered very
great stroke of humor on my part, al
though | suffered for it from a genuine
blue beech CAD early that afternoon.
one in my career, because the heroic
leap upon the teachers back, which the
pupils knew the true inwardness of.
whatever the teacher might have
thought, gave me a sort of recognized
rank as being the very worst boy in the
village, and upon this reputation I
plumed myself for many day.
Before bidding farewell to this
teacher | may say that retribution over
took him in the shape of his own
brother. He had younger brother who
went to his school, and the teacher was
harder on him than on any of the rest
of us. | always looked on that brother
as sort of heroic fellow from the way
he took his terrible thrashings. Inever
saw him whimper or cry, but he simply
grit his teeth and stood it grimly. The
teacher. however, overlooked the fact,
although he was the elder, that while
he was attending school the brother
was working bard on the farm, and that
the physical condition of the younger
was superior to that of the elder One
day after a particularly atrocious whip
ping the brother said nothing until
they were going home together, where
upon the younger one, making some re-
marks about being outside of the pre-
cincts of the school-room, sailed into
the teacher aud thrashed him within an
inch of his life.
After this episode the teacher re-
signed, and there were few mourners in
that school when he left.-Luke Sharp,
in Detroit Free Press.