Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-03-20
The DEEsTRloI SkuLE".

That the people of this town and its
vicinity know good thing when they
see It, and even before they see it, was
plainly shown by the size of the audiences
which gathered at the town hall on the
evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday to
witness the performance of the "Deestrict
Skule". Almost every town in the west
part of the county was represented in the
house.
AS to the play, 1t can only be said that
1t was pronounced success in every
particular. Everything went smoothly
from start to finish each evening, the
house was crowded the first night and
well filled the second and over 10 couples
attended the dance with which the festivi-
ties closed. The Ladies' library, for
whose benefit the entertainment was
given, get 5000 net out of it, possible
few dollars over 5000.
c. M. Wilds, Esq, who took the part
of Hezekiah Thrasher, teacher, was fully
up to the requirements of the situation.
He wore "a claw-hammer coat, knee
breeches and ruflled shirt, had his hair
powdered, carried a ruler trife smaller
than fence rail, had hat of the early
part of the century and sat in chair
quite century old. II. G. Royce, Esq,
as Squire Slowcome and Prof. Wright as
Deacon Wayback, committeeman, did
credit to the wisdom of the constituency
who chose them to office. The A, b, C
class was made up of Mrs. w. w. Eaton
as Perseverance IIilda Peabody; Miss f.
Brainerd, Peggy Price; Miss May Tldeny
Polly Ann Pettengill; DR.. w. II. SheI-
don, Ishmael Squceler; Mr.. VIM. jackson,
Benz Franklin Squeers; Patrick O'IIool-
igan, Mr.. DIG. Reilly; Julius Scraggs,
Mr.. w. H. Button; Bill Scraggs, Mr..
Fred Button. The other "skolars" were
Abraham Lincoln Snodgrass, Mr. II.
Wells; Seth Crane (truant), Mr.. V. c.
Harrington; Bobby Stubbefield, Mr.. Al
bee Smith; Samantha Drake, Mrs. w. II.
Sheldon; Martin Luther Pidge, Mr.. A. l..
James; Daniel Webster Tomkins, Mr. II.
c. Royce; Bartholomew Toodles, Beln-
da Toodles (twns), Mr.. Z. c. Bryant,
Miss NJ. Bond; Mehitable Buttermilk,
Miss a. Slade; Julia Ann Shickerdancer,
Miss A. Wainwright; Nancy Jane Fogg,
Miss NJ. Steele; Elizabeth Eliza jerks,
Miss f. Bond; Becky Jane Perkins, Miss
V. Brainerd; Nathaniel Periwinkle Podg-
er, Mr.. F. B. Seeley; Dorothy Jane Lamb,
Miss b. Branerd: Patience Ann He'd
dins, Miss M. Wainwright Zenoba Smell
ings, Miss B. E. Ranslow; Jerusha Aman-
da Jones, Miss n. Bedell Jehoikim Squee-
unks, Mr.. +. X. Sturtevant; Christopher
Columbus Fits, Mr.. 7. ii. Noonan; Peri
Wrinkle Pease Blossom, Miss S. B. Palm
er, and last but not least, Hennie La
Grippe Eye dunce), Hank White.
In the first act the pupils were seen
on their way to school. They were
playing leap-frog, jumping the rope,
playing with knives, and, of course,
fighting. Then the teacher appeared on
the scene and the school opened; there
was singing of old-fashioned geography
In the last act the committeeman visited
the school and examined the pupils, the
exercises closing with singing, declama-
tons, rectations, etc. The plot, it will
be observed, is not intricate and was
easily followed; but the simplicity of
the thing made the burden upon the ac-
tors all the heavier. They were, how
ever, equal to it. Hank White PLAYED
the part OF the Ounce to perfection, and
the rest of the scholars were up to their
work. But it is universally acknow-
lodged that Mr.. Jackson was, after all,
the star performer of the concern. He
was the bad boy; he played tricks on
the teacher, on his fellow pupils and
even on the dignified committeeman; he
drew caricatures on the blackboard of
the woman who came in with her truant
son, OF the committeeman and others
he played on one harmonica and on two,
one with his nose and the other with his
mouth he found formidable looking
snake in the water pail and scared teach
" "H' PhPiiS "ith ~ iic uIolDcu Il SDlu-
er as big as ones hat and as ugly as it
was big on the head of the Ounce; he ate
enough meantime to kill any ordinary
man-in short he was good show all
by himself. There were many local
"grinds" in the answers of the pupils to
questions. Almost every one in the
community Suffered.
The music, by the Howard Opera
House orchestra of Burlington, was as
fine as could have been wished. The
general management of the show was in
the hands of Mrs. Eaton and Mrs.
Royce, who put much hard work into it.
and they were ably seconded by many
others.