People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1895-05-09


AAeI%1 of Chris Page. In
<SS& the fifties he was q
famous schoolmas-
ter In Maine, where l have no DOUBT
his exploits are still often recounted,
as in many another part of the country
to which Maine men have wandered,
His speciality was the teaching OF nard
schools in rural districts, vocation
at that period calling for muen the
zane qualities required in wild beast
tanning or the breaking Of wild horses.
The boys that attended these SCOOPS IN
winter were many of them grown men
in size, and, taken altogether, were as
unruly a set Of wrestling, hghtlng,
hard-fsted youngsters as the world
could produce 1t took pluck and
muscle to run a district school, and,
lacking these, a master would better
resign his Office in time than await the
indignity of being thrashed by his own
pupils, or the humorous attention OF
being carried bodily out of doors and
deposited in a snOwbank.
ITO undertake the hardest school
that could be found was pleasant rec
reatiOn to Chris Page, and his services
in. this direction were much in de-
mand. Tall, thin, and wiry, rollick-
ing daredevil by nature, he had vein
OF quaint humor that took sometimes
grim and startling turn. Catching
an offending small boy by the collar
and pantalOOns, he would throw him
through the open scuttle in the cell
ing, calling after him as he disap-
peaTed: Take him, Gabriel"
He delighted to open a school cam
paign with surprise. Being called to
a certain school, notorious for its gang
Of tough boys, the terror of their
teachers in the past, he agreed to come
under the condition that his name
should not be revealed by the school
committee On the opening day of
school he let the scholars behave about
as they liked and, in the enjoyment
of the pandemOnium they created, the
big boys thought they had a teacher
whom it would be picnic to walk over
after their usual fashion. On the sec
Ond morning, after he had called the
school to order, the master gave the
pupils short address on their misbe-
haviOr of the day before and wound up
by saying:
Yesterday, boys, you ruled the
school. To-day Chris Page rules it by
help of the Almighty
AT that the big boys waited for no
more, but jumped from their seats and
made a rush for him. Chris Page, who
was quicker than chain lightning.
pulled from his pocket a short cowhide
whip and met them on the open floor
before his desk, cutting them across
the face with the lash as he leaped
and turned so as to keep them always
in front of him. They soon fell back
under his rain Of singing blows, and
then dropping the tOwhlde, he knocked
them all down in succ .s::ol with his
fists. He kept them lying on the floor
as they had fallen until the MONDAY re-
cess, then dismissed them with a bries
lecture. After THAI episode he had a
school of very dOcile pupils, who, by
one of the laws of human nature, soon
came to idOlize their fighting teacher.
1T is a part of the story as it is
usually told in Maine that Chris Page.
out Of school hours, became the leader
Of this same gang of tough boys. He
organized them into a following. and
under his lead they used to go to dances
held in neighboring towns. At some
hour Of the night they would, at a
concerted signal, start row, clean out
the towns boys, and break up the
dance.
"One school that Chris Page engaged
to teach had for years been dominated
by ring-leader in mischief, a big,
two-fsted fellow will detied oil rules.
and sooner or later each winter had
thrashed the teacher. When Chris
Page arrived on the scene the school
committee, seeing tall, thin loosely
built man, who affected cough and
an appearance of general debility, had
grave doubts as to whether he could
manage the school. The father of the
bad young man came to Chris and Of
fered to keep his son away from school
for fear he might hurt the fragile look
ing teacher.
Let the boy come said Chris
mildly. Perhaps l can do him some
good by precept and Christian ex-
ample
so the big young fellow appeared
at the opening of the school. and. for
the first week things went on smoothly
The next Monday morning after school
had opened the master sent him out
to fetch an armful of wood for the
great open fireplace that warmed the
school-room. The young man, eager
to show his strength and independ-
ence, came back carrying heavy log
on his shoulder, stamped noisily down
the aisle, and flung the log down upon
the bed of glowing Goals in the fire.
place, roaring out as he did so:
lie there, four and sixpence, d-n
you!'
las he Strengthened back the fist of
the master caught him in the back of
the neck, knocking him into the fire
place across the log.
Lie there, four and sixpence. d-n
you! said Chris Page, who had fol-
lowed him silently down the aisle"
FROM THE NEIGHBoRs' CANS.