The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-08-31
ANACosTIA's SCHOOLS.
Another Lively Letter on the Question of
the Trusteeship.

Another Lively Letter on the Question of
the Trusteeship.
To the Editor of The Sunday Herald:
ANACosTIA, Aug. 29-Your issue of August
"a contains communication signed s'Ipse' that
was evidently written by some one who parts
his hair in the middle to keep his mind from
stopping over, though even such precaution is
unavailing. The avowed object of the article
was to defend Dr. Wilmer against the move
ment recently made here to secure another in
cumbent for the Office of county school trustee
and the writer seems to have been completely
hypnotized by the Doctor. "Ipse" sets at the
feet of the st. Elizabeth assistant like blind
Hindoo beneath his god on wheels, wearing out
the butt-end of the English language and all
the debris left over from high school graduating
exercises in the losing cause of his idolatry.
Against DR.. Wilmer as scholar and a gentle
man have nothing to say. But we want
trustee who is hampered and hemmed
in by neither stone walls nor government
tai employment-a full-blooded American
citizen, free, white, and twentyone One
who is accessible to the public who is
personally interested in the schools, and who
uses the office for something besides an entree
to society. Upper crust is not essential, and
man who is willing to eat open-faced pie will do
for us. The incumbent, it is true, never slept
at his post for he was never there long enough:
and, as 'Ipse" says, he may fit the place with
out wrinkle, but with score of our children
forced to go out of town for a common-school
education it is high time to have a few new
wrinkles in our public-school management
"lpse" sweats out formidable array of hypo-
dermically injected adjectives without striking
the intellectual flint or throwing a single ray of
light on our serious school problem. His foren-
sic howitzer wasn't loaded, and he merely
wasted the wad in the air. His squash-vine elo-
quence climbs high, but it grows nothing but
gourds after all. AT first he roosts high, but is
soon attacked by the nightmare and falls off his
perch.
"Ipse" says the request for another trustee
is flank movement to GUST the local superin-
tendent, Mr.. Petty, adding that ''Mr. Petty was
soldier under Pickett, and needs no other
Endorsement than this; let him rest" 'Ipsen
is quite mistaken. There is no 'fank" move
ment. A number of our publc-school patrons
think change of local principals would be
helpful to our schools, have said so openly, and
acted on that line. The implication that any
one wants to be rid of Mr.. Petty because he was
Confederate soldier is disingenuous All
honor to those who fought on either side But
man who served with Pickett is old enough
to be quarter-stretch behind the times and SO
join with "Ipse" and emphasize the request
to ''let him rest' Pickett's men got SO in the
habit of being at the front that they don't know
when they have been there long enough. 1t is
time to give young America chance. One of
the first movers in the opposition was a follower
of Ewell in the Confederate Army, but we are
looking to future achievements, not to past
glories now. 1t is the interest of our children
frst last, and all the time no matter who 1t
hurts CITIZEN