Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-01-30
Old Times.

of good schools were better than We
had at the old third district, which was
the number of our district. Such
schools as we had at that time, would
be the by-word and laughing stock of
the country at this time. They hired
women teachers in the summer to
take care of the little children, so they
would not be in the way of their moth
ers at theiraawork. All the little bits
of. tots that could toddle around were
sent, and the school marin would
nurse them, and, when the little tots
would get sleepy, make up cots on the
benches and desks, and put them to
sleep. Some times you could see a
half dozen asleep at a time. In the
winter they would hire a man. If he
could lick the boys, read, write, make
and mend pens, and do sums in arith-
metic. that was about all that was re-
quired. When we left the farm, my
father rented it to neighbor and left
part of the stock on the farm, but
the larger part he sold. One day, a
man who lived about three miles from
US came over to buy some ofthe cattle.
This man had no, or not much, educa-
ton, and was one of the kind that
thought it was wrong to spend good
money in educating boys. AS father
was not at home hen this man ca me,
we boys showed him the cattle, and
told him what the price was. After
looking at the stock a while, he turn
ed to us boys and began to express his
opinion of fathers leaving the farm.
He said, Its shame for your father
to leaye the farm now, just as you boys
are getting big enough to make hand
on the farm; he had better take you
out iii the woods and knock every one
of you in the head! You go to school
for few years and you WON'T be worth
your salt; you will he too lazy TO make
your board. | wouldn't give four
pence dozen for you.'
Well, as ] was choppiDg cord-wood
for the last two weeks, | often thought
how near the truth that old man came!
Fer, although at this time, and for
years, there was no work that l enjoy
cd better than, with good, keen,
sharp ak, cutting cord-wood, or cut.
ting and splitting rails. But, when we
left school for the west, father bought
each of US boys good ak and handle,
and packed one in the bottom of each
of our trunks; for be said to US boys:
Now, you are going to country
where there are trees to cut down, and
rails to make for fercing the land we
clear, and you will fiud there is hard
work to do" Ct should have said at
the start that, when we left the farm,
it was with the intention of making
professional men Of US; but, when he
found we all wanted to go work. he
gave up the professional part.) After
We reached Arcadia Valley we did not
find very much to do the first summer,
only to get things fixed up so as to live,
after awhile.
But, right here. | want to tell the
boys about the first time [ used that
new ak of mine that had lain in the
bottom of my trunk all this time.
About the third or fourth day after we
came, father said to me. "You get out
your ak and hitch old Bright and
Larry Chose were the names of yoke
of oxen my uncle owned) to the cart,
and go and get good load Of wood"
And, right here, | will say l knew
just about as much about preaching as
did about chopping, for had never
chopped any wood in my life. After
had yoked up the oxen and got them
hitched to the cart, started for the
bottom field, for had seen a lot Of old
dead trees standing, and others fallen
lying on the ground. [ drove up to
one of those fallen trees and stopped
the team. | looked all around for fall
en- limbs, but l could find none and
somebody had already picked up all
the broken pieces. So | took my ak,
and got up Oh the body of one of the
fallen trees. I thought 1 would chop
some of the limbs off that had not
broken off by the fall. AT the first
stroke-O, my. o, how it did jar aud
hurt my bones! Oh; l gave it another
cut with the ak. "Oh, my goodness!
that's too hard. I can't chop such aw-
ful hard stuff as that is. I'll look
awhile ahead; maybe I'll find some
that amt so hard.n So mounted the
cart and went on to another old dead
tree, and that was worse than the 9TH
er. So drove from tree to tree, but
they were all as hard as PharaOh's
heart. | then drove all around the
field; thought / might fad some old
broken fence rails, but somebody had
got all the old rails. AS there was no
wood to be had in the field, drove
out into the road leading to Farming
ton. Every now and then | would
stop and examine some old fa lien tree
but they were all too lard so l drove on
aud on until I hal got clear to the
head of Long Hollow" on the Farm
ington road, three miles away, and
had stopped and hacked on about a
hundred trees. A last / said To N.Y.
self, This won't do; / must find some
wood some where, if die in the at
tenlptn So / turned the oxen and
cart around, and started back towards
nd f. 8, I