The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-07-24

| SpCiiihS poOh was uocu. III tiilS Was
page devoted entirely to difficult and lit.
tie used words. Among themwas the
word "catarrh" now in general use, as
the general coughing and sneezing i'm
every audience only too amply attests.
Griffith pronounced this word sea
tarshu and syntax with him was
"swine-tax." Tradition says that at a
spelling-bee one of the citizens asked
the teacher to define charity"
Griffith told him il meant the same as
marriage" ''Rethmetic" was the
masters" hobby. BY threats and rod
he pushed some of the older pupils as
far as the rule of "TaTe and Tret.'
Griffith felt very much elated over his
success. Up to this time he was, per-
haps not aware that he possessed poeti-
cal genius, but now the stumbering
muse awoke, and he burst forth in this
strain, perhaps the first ever heard in
that wilderness:
..He who works at Tare and Trei,
VIII see that he must swear and sweat
Low I've il spoken, there is perhaps
more truth than poetry in the couplet
at least the epic stamp is not on it,
During the Griffith regime the custom,
long afterwards "A bugbear to the teach
er, of penning out the master at the
holidays and making him stand treat,
was instituted. As the holidays APP
preached the pupils hatehed their con-
spiracy. One sunny day at high noon
Griffith took stroll into the woods.
When he returned half an hour after
wards he found the door locked and
every window barricaded. He threat
ened Ia flog every one of them if they
did not open the door instantly. \
voice from the ramparts said as soon rs
he complied with the terms Of the be-
seiged the portals would be thrown
open otherwise not. BY this time the
assaulting party was beginning to feel
that it was cold day and accepted the
terms without further parley. He treat
ed the school to two bushels of apples
and two gallons of apple whisky. The
Juveniles and girls ate theapples, while
the young men and master disposed of
the whisky. Ii was not long before
they were
.Fou and unco happy
and the jollilication ended in free
fight Perhaps, in honor of the ocea-
sion, but more likely rs high appre-
citation of the teachers bibulous quail
ties, afterwards apple whisky had the
soubriquet of apple Jack" which it
| still retains.
During the next decade cross-eyed
Hibernian, who Wore spectacles and
shoes pointed and turned upat the toes
like Turkish slipper, put in his ap-
| pearance. Ills name was Burning.
With him he constantly carried a
Latin volume which he took care to
/ display To every one he met, asking
whether they had ever seen u Latin
book. How strange, yet true, that il
literate people have always looked upon
| any one who had something To do with
| the Latin language a an erudite.
| Though the citizens did not know
whether Burning could read and trans
late word of Latin, they concluded
| that he was one of the smart ones of
this earth, if not the brightest, and
many of them wondered How one
small head could contain all he knew"
4 There il no proof that this teacher was
an epicure, but il is well attested fact
that he had soft spot in his palate for
savory meat and that he had great tact
| in gratifying it, At that time rabbits
were almost a. numerous in Somerset
county as they are in Australia now.
| In fact the woods were full of them.
Every evening burning would appoint
a committee of four or five of the largest
boys to entrap rabbits the next fore
noon. 1t goes without saying that the
committee usually reported progress.
! Half dozen of the bunnies was not an
unusual take" In the schOol-rOom
was large fire place where the teacher
had his rabbits spitted' and roasting
/ while the school was in session. The
cardinal principles of etiquette were
| first taught in the schools OF the cOun-
/ ty by this teacher. Whenevera visitor
/ entered the school-rOOm, AT given sig
nal from the teacher, the whole school
would rise and courtesy with bow
and a scrape OF the foot. Then and for
many years afterwards sach thing ~
sweeping a school-roOm was not thought
Of The dust and filth accumulated on
che floor and even on the walls, until
the place became quite rs filthy as the
old court rooms of London, the diff
erence being they never ''burned the
| juniper in the school-room.
When visitor appeared and the
school had ''salaamed," the visitor, of
course, was seated, but some the chill
dren took advantage of the teachers
impaired vision, and remained stand
ing and scraping until the room was so
fllI of dust that for a whole hour the
school kept sneezing and coughing.
All problems were solved on states
They knew nothing of blackboards.
Goose quills furnished the pens. To
make pen of these quilts was some
thing difficult burning was an ex-
pert at the quills and wrote hand as
bold and as beautiful as John Han
cock. Some of his copies seen by the
author thirty years ago were still legi-
ble. The copies were then more than
sixty years old. Tradition says that
this teacher met, near the close of his
administration, an "Ebrew" jew ped
dler who digged a pit for him into
which he straightway walked. No
sooner had this son of Shylock entered
the district than he heard of the learn
ed master and the Latin book Now
it came to pass that the aforesaid ped
dler had in his earlier days studied the
language and he said within himself:
1--WE shall soon see if this pedagogue is
an impostor." Not many days thence
he came to the house where the "Sav-
anti was boarding and he tarried there.
As soon rs burning saw the peddler he
saw another opportunity of displaying
his learning and he was not long in
seizing it. After supper, as was theiI
custom, the family and their guests