Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-04-30

| A silver on board is much more easily
dealt with than in boys toe; and a
cinder in the air is much more COM
Portable than in mans eye. But Har-
rison has voluntarily stuck this silver
in his own flesh so that he may know
| where it is; of his own free will he has
| tucked away this cinder in his own eye,
! in order that he may keep it in safety.
| He is welcome to the comforting con-
seriousness that the cinder is in his
eye and scrapes over his retina in
safety; that the silver is in his toe and
| cannot escape.
In the New Hampshire country
| school districts there frequently used to
| be two applicants for the position of
school-teacher. And it frequently hap
pened that the unsuccessful candidate
| would turn pupil and attend, as a
scholar, the school of his successful
rival The case of Blaine and Harrison
| is analogous to the case of the rival
school applicants. The president and
his cabinet are coming more and more
to be like teacher with his scholars.
| In 1888 both Blaine and Harrison were
| candidates for the teachers position,
and although Blaine was considered
about the cutest and smartest applicant
who had ever presented himself. and
Harrison was practically unknown to
the national school committee, yet Har-
rison was chosen and Blaine was set
aside. Since then Blaine has become
the biggest pupil in pedagogue Harri-
sons school, and naturally there have
| been lively times in the school-room.
Of course the big pupil knows that
he is better fitted to teach the school
than the teacher, and the teacher
knows that he knows it, and the school
committee know it, and so does the
whole district. Frequently when the
teacher is engaged in working out some
difficult ''sum" on the national black
board, he fancies he hears his biggest
pupil whispering to the other scholars:
He's doing that wrong. He can't do
it, but l can" He fancies the big pupil
is watching for all the slips he makes
in his grammar and for all his mispro-
nunciations. He imagines his big pupil
scans every line of his writing for mis-
spelled words. for uncrossed It's and I'M
dotted is. Whenever the teacher hest
tates at any troublesome question
which may be propounded to him, he
UIllnkS he nearS, while ne scratches his
own head in uncertain dubitation, the
big pupil whispering triumphantly: Il
know, | know"
The teacher is very jealous of his big
pupil. but he tries to maintain his
authority over him by excessive disci-
pline. He makes him toe the track in
the floor, go to his seat on chalk line,
sit up straight and fold his arms. For
the slightest infraction of discipline he
makes the pupil sit on very peaked
stick. He frequently sends the biggest
pupil out to cut a switch with which to
punish himself. Recently, when Mr..
Upper and a few other visitors from a
neighboring district called at the school,
right before all the other pupils and the
company he made his big pupil go and
sit on the Ounce stdSl. The big pupil
sat on the stool like a little man, but
some of the smaller pupils heard him
mutter great horrid ''swear words I'M
der his breath.
The whole school is waiting for the
big pupil to get mad. Some day when
the teacher sends him out for switch
to whip himself with, it is confidently
expected that he will return with big
club and thrash the Standardization
III