The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1891-12-04
.A POOH TEACHER.
An incident 10 Common Thn Its teal
ism VIII; Delight You.

ism VIII; Delight You.
Jonathan Briggs is the father of a
bright little boy, Eve years of age, and
he naturally takes a great deal Of
pride In the child and has a deep affec-
ton for the little fellow. About a
week ago the idea got into Briggs
head that it was time for the child to
commence on the foundation for an ed
ucation.
Maria" said Briggs to his wife,
.Does little Henri know his lettersp"
What letters do you meanp'' asked
his wife i~nnocently.
stThe alphabet-does he know the
alphabet Can he say the letters a, b,
g, d., and SO on, like l could when I was
his ageP"
mo, of course he doesn't know the
alphabet; he's never been taught it.
the little DEAR"
II am surprised my dear, that his
education has been neglected. ] shall
commence at once this evening, when
I come home, to teach him the alpha
bet"
That evening, after tea, Briggs
called the child to him.
''Now, Henri, papa's going to teach
you the alphabet, so that you can learn
to read pretty stories. Here is a pretty
book, and all these are the letters Of
the alphabet This is A." pointing to
eacn one, land this is B, and this is G.,
and this is D. Now, remember them
as I tell them to you" He named over
the balance of the letters and returned
to A.
Now what is that?"
Henri looked at it a moment du-
biously. Il don't know"
"What! Don't known
..N-o-o-o."
"Well, | declare! It isn't five min
utes since told you that was A. Now,
what is the next one?"
Don't know"
.'What! forgotten that, too? Don't
you know what this is, nor that's"
"N-o-o-o."
eff that don't beat all! Here I've
just told the child what these letters
are, and he doesn't know one of them. ;
my dear, did you expect him tc
learn the alphabet in five minutes"
Well, no, not exactly; but l expect
him to remember what l tell him. ]
begin to fear that the child has ne
memory. Now, sir, | shall tell yol
what each of these letters are, and
expect you to remember their names
Briggs repeated the alphabet owe
and again pointed to A.. "Now, sir
what letter is that?"
II don't know. B~oo-hoo-oo."
"See here, Jonathan Briggs" criet
his wife, you've made the child cry
and you stop tormenting him thi
minute and let him come to mel"
s'Mrs. Briggs, I propose to teacl
this child the alphabet, it he is capabl,
of learning it, and I do not want yo,
to Interfere
Henri wept.
''You shall do nothing of the kind
you big brute! Let me have tina
child"
Mrs. Briggs"
':Mr. Briggs!"
Henri wept.
'You give mo that child this in
slant, jonathan Briggs! and I shall a
once go home to my mother, and per
haps my father will have something t
say to you, sir, about treating hi
daughter sol"
Hang your father! Take th
youngun. he's just like your folks
anyhow" and Mr.. Briggs relinquishe
the now screaming child. put on hi
hat and went out, slamning the doc
so hard that it woke up q policeman
In about half an hour Briggs coole
off sufficiently to see that he had mad
a fool Of himself, 50 he sneaked bac
home. His wife and child both Dor
traces of weeping, and his wife refuse
to notice him. A very humble apolog
and a promise Of a cloak settled
with her, and some candy o bac
the child.
Henri now attends a select schoo
where tort five dollars per term &; sac
eyed girl is teaching him the alphabe'