St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-05-25
RANDOM NOTES.


Verger, La, May 20, 1895.
Editor St. Tammanv FARMER:
Alter paying his homage to tie
Trinity, "Obeerver" rises from the
humble position Of sycophaut, scars
to more lofty heights aud turns Out
. full nedged critic, for does he moi
tell rs: 1.-The examination wa
conducted in . very able aud sys.
tematic manner, that the examiners
gave complete satisfaction and ex.
hibited good judgment and good
taste."
For the information of "Obser.
yer" I wish to state that no special
attention would have been paid to
his communicate mad he not posed
Is . paragon Of erudit'on. Any
one possessing the acumen necessary
to criticise and pass judgment upon
the proceedings Of an Examining
Board must certainly be under the
impression that HE qualifications
and attainments are superior to and
Of . higher order than those Of the
Examining Board itself. l regre,
that the Trinity in selecting lob
server" - their defender made
such An unfortunate choice. I hope
that they may be more successful
in the future.
I herewith, without argument.
submit s'Observer's" opening SEN
tence for impartial analysts lit
demonstrates most forcibly the
value of criticism emanating from
euch = source. Saturday, April Is,
was quite An interesting day for the
applicants for teachers for public
schools ut the Courthouse.
Moral-Let the shoemaker stick
to his last.
No amount Of whitewash can pos.
slbly redeem our School Board.
The facts are go we'll established,
school affairs are 90 we'll managed
that, ESQ / have been reliably in.
formed,) the Police Jury will take
steps to cut down the appropriation
for public schools, on the grounds
that public funds are wasted and
squ.njered. A queer practice of the
Trinity is to assign applicants for
schools to positions before any ex-
animation has ever taken place.
Assignments were made on April 6
aud examinations took place on
April Is. Does the Civil service
or any other service appoint appi,-
cants u poe,tions before examina-
ton? On April 6 the Board being
in session, five persons were rs.
signed to public schools without
ever having been examined. in d.
rect violation Of Act 80 School
Laws Of La, which distinctly states
that . certificate as teacher is .
requisite for employment. At the
same time patrons Of several schools
presented petitions in favor Of dif'
ferent applicants. The Trinity,
entirely ignorant Of the respective
qualifications of the competitors,
granted the berths to suit individual
views wherein education played tie
minor key. Act "A, in such cases
paves the way and reads Is follows :
''Whenever one or more teachers
apply for the same school, the one
holding the highest grade certificate
takes charge OF the school Il they
hold certificates Of the same grade,
there shall be . competitive examina
ton. Such an examination was in.
sisted upon, but the Trinity has
laws Of its own, like India rubber
they can be contracted and expand.
ed at will. The NEST conclusive
argument that can be offered
against these so-called examinations
is that no applicant has ever been
rejected. After . tour Of inspec-
ton by the State Examiners then,
and not until then. will skeptics be
convinced that St. Tammany needs
better schools and better teachers.
A member Of the School Beard was
overheard trying to induce one of
his colleagues 70 muzzle the press
in reference to school matters. Why
did he shrink from doing it himself?
Why did he think it necessary to
have . shield to screen himself?
Messrs. Jones & Pickett have
that industry and
energy applied in the proper direc-
ton will surmount many obstacles
Hailing from the Atlantic sea hoard
they started on limited scale in
the turpentine business, in this
parish. six years ago. Their basi-
ness has been steadily increasing
and to-day 4 good many families
are dependent upon Messrs. Jones
& Pickett for subsistence. Their
Drchald consists Of 225, 600 boxes
Ok nearly ~ crops, 1O,5OO boxes
TO crop. Each crop on an aver
age produces IS barrels Of spirits
II turpentiue, and 100 barrels OF
resin. The gentlmen comprising
this firm also deals in timber,
having purchased 5000 logs last
year. On the LIST of May they
made preparation to erect . new
.aw mill, store aad dwelling on the
Holmesville road, ten miles from
Covington.
It has been claimed that ex.
tracting turpentine from timber in
lures it. Scientists, after "a tests,
have come to the conclusion that
The timber does not deteriorate ia |
ralue or quality - . marketable |
product.
Another industry that will prove
II material interest to the c0anmu.
1itY 10 the new cav miDl at Hard |
Tunes Of Mr.. John Barker. Com
,etent judges declare that the |
'utpus OF bis mill, in quality com.
,ares favorable, with any mill in |
hs parish. In connection with his |
nil NJ Rarkap hao ela~ . v~s-N