The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1894-09-29
THE BOYS RELENTED.
Why THE SCHOLARS DID NOT PUT
THE MASTER IN A sNoWoAlFr.

4 Story % Row Ken Butler. when q
Young Man. Though FsAil anA Puny,
Oversvsd Rsenfsi Of Mig Ov.rsrew,
Faznsrs' Boys About to Duck" Min.
There are many people who remember
Benjamin I. Butler - . soldier, - law.
yer, As . politician. - yachtsman. and
there are few who remember him a. u
schoolmaster. The writer u not prepared
to say how many times or In how many
places Ben Butler taught school, but he
certainly did teach school once In u little
town in Maine, and he made an impression
On the minds Of some Of his pupils.
| 1t was one Of the good old fashioned coun-
try schools which gathered together for a
few weeks In the winter the half grown
men who worked on the farms In the sum
mer. the little children and the big girls,
and tried to drive into their heads and rivet
there some scraps Of intelligence such as
might seem adapted to the Individuals,
without any thought Of classification Of in
tellects. The place Of master in such u
/ school was one not likely to be sought ex-
eept by man who had genuine need Of the
little profit that was to be gained by it, es-
pecially since the big boys had the habit,
| common in many New England school Of
the time, Of standing the master on his
head in a snowdrift about the second or
third day Of his incumbency.
In this particular school and in this par,
ticular winter three or four masters had
been served in this way, and the place was
vacant for the fourth or fifth time. Then
one Of the trustees bethought him Of a
young kinsman Of his own who was in a
college few miles away at Waterville, and
who, he thought, would do for the place.
The reason why he thought he would do
was that he was u small, slight, frail look
ing boy, and he believed that the rufiians
Of the school would be ashamed to offer
violence to one Of his stature. The young
man was sent for, the place was offered to
him, he was warned Of the dangers. he dis
regarded them, and he took it. His name
was Benjamin Butler
On the first morning when he entered the
schoolhouse he made a little speech in re
gard to the discipline he proposed to main
tain, and he accompanied the speech by a
terrible look cast in some direction or 9th
er, but in what direction nobody could ever
with certainty lind out. As soon as the
boys had chance to compare notes on the
subject every boy declared that the master
was looking straight at him. This dis,s-
greement was caused by well known
visual defect in the master himself. Butler
was good teacher Of everything but arith
metic, and Of that he seemed to know moth
ing whatever. 1t was the custom for each
pupil to cipher through the book" for
himself, doing every problem and troubling
the schoolmaster only when he needed help
on peculiarly hard one.
When problem was brought to Butler
for an explanation he was perfectly help
less, but the trustee who was SO happily
related to him was most expert in mathe-
mates, 50 Butler would put off the pupil
who questioned him, saying: Il am busy.
can attend to il now. Come to me in the
morning, and | will explain it To YOU"
and then in the evening he would call on
the trustee and ask for solution of the
problem. He would get most extensive
and elaborate one, and at the end he would
know just as much about the problem H.
be did before, but he had marvellous mem.
cry, and he would commit to it every word
and every figure OF the explanation, and
the next morning he would deal it out like
clockwork to the puzzled pupil and get the
credit of most lucid unfolding OF the
problem.
For few days Buffers stature protected
him against the ruffianly tendencies Of the
oig boys, but they became impatient and
decided at last that the new master would
have to go into snowdrift like the others
They formed their conspiracy and set "A
certain morning for the execution Of their
purposes. But the big girls were on the
masters side, and one of them overheard
the plan as it was discussed by her brother
and hers and sh.. dor.
the master. She dared not be seen talking
with him lest she should be charged with
treason by her brother, but she passed Mr.
Butler on the road as both were going home
from school, and without turning her head
she said: Il wouldn't come to school ,omor
row II were you, Mr.. Butler; the boys are
going to put you in a snowdrift.' To this
Butler replied, also without turning his
head, Don't be afraid; they won't put m.
in a snosdrift"
The next morning the whole school wa,
eager to see what was to be done and what
show OF resistance the master would make.
IL indeed he should dare to make any He |
entered in the midst Of a dead silence He |
tooS of his oveccoat and hung ii on the beg |
behind the desk. Then he seemed about Ia |
SIT down at his desk as usual but suddenly |
went back to where his overcoat hung. rs IL |
ne had forgotten something He reached |
up to the righthand breast pocket Of the |
overcoat, took out huge pistol and put 1t
into the inside breast pocket OF his under
coat; then be reached up to the left hand |
breast pocket Of the overcoat and took out |
another huge pistol and put it into the in
side breast pocket Of his undercoat. The
silence deepened yet more, the master sar
down at his desk, and the exercises Of tn,
school went on "a usual. There was not
another murmur OF rebellion that winter
Butler said afterward that he could
scarcely keep from laughing while he
handled the pistols, because they were a
pair which he had played with when he
visited his uncle in the town a. a boy-he
had loaded them with ashes then and they
had never been unlOaded since. When he
heard Of his danger he went and borrowed
hem, trusting that they would protect
him as we'll as a battery.-New York Trib-
me.
Game In the Northwest.
There Is plenty and a wide variety of