The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-05
THEY LIVE LIKE CONNECTS
Daily Routine in French Schools
Worse Than a Prison.
ALL WORK AND LITTLE PLAY
Max O'ReII describes the Inner Workings of TIE
Great French Lycees Makes schol-
ars and Blockheads.


their boys that there are no days 50
happy in life as school days, and little
French boys swallow the statement I'M
til they go Ito school. Then they re-
fleet. After 1 had tasted what school
Life really was l can we'll remember that
| formsd very poor idea of what
awaited me beyond the school gates
Now that 1 have seen the English ait
school, it makes me shudder to remem-
Der what l had ITO go through as a
French schoolboy.
Things may have changed since was
boy, but we in France are so routln-
iers that | dynt suspectwthat they have
changed to great extent. My opin-5n
is that when French parents have de-
cldad on sending q boy 10 years old to
scheoi-tsll he IS 20, they have sentenced
MIN to something very near in severity,
TO ten years hard labor or penal servi-
tude.
This IS how a French boy spends a
happy day, or how he did ,dh r'ty-five
years ago:
In the summer the French sch,oolbov
rises at in the morning; in the winter
az Dor, rather, he is supposed to do SO
Inc first bell rings at 8 O'Clock. to tell
iilm that he ds to get up; a second one
lHss at 90 to inform him that in five
minutes me must be down; and a. third
pen at $50 enjoins him ITO leave thu
uorHltory ard so to the-class-rocm. OF
course, ne rises at 5:25, puts on his
c!Othes with prodigious rap.dlty. gives
iiil 1 a dry polish, a Ia Squeers, with
tower, or more often with his knuck-
les, and is quite ready at 5 80 to go down
10 the study room. A PINT of water goss
q long way in dormitory of SIXTY
French boys
In the study room, under the super
vision of an usher, called p:on. he pre-
pares his lessons for the masters rim
100, al the time his poor little stomach
growing and shouting to him, 81 saw
boy, when will that breakfast be ready?''
bneaktast is ready at 8. Considering
ina. enad ane menu consists of soup and
bread, have always wondered how it
could take the cock SO long ITO get it
ready. During the five minutes tn II
preeede breakfast time, few boys go
and have wash. They go by the name
of aristos-swells, or dudes" If YOU
llke-and excite great scorn in the
breasts of the majority of the school fell
lows.
Most boys keep chocolate or jam. or
buy some of the doorkeeper, to eat with
their bread. AT $3.50 they have to be In
their respective classrooms with thar
masters. The class lasts two hours af-
Ter which they return to the room to
prepare, until IL, for the afternoon class
From II to they dine and play. Both
these words would convey to an Ameri-
unfortunately, they do not convey eth
-er to the mind or to the somach of a
French schoolboy.
The dinner consists generally of one
help Of boiled beef and vegetables. Oh,
how we Loved Fridays, when the fare
consisted of haricot beans or lendl, and
we were allowed to TASK for moTei' Net
that the dish was dainty. 1t was sauce
mainly, with some har.cots or lentils
swimming about, rari nantes in gurg.te
arfs ht1t Il,
we wanted, and the capacity of boys of
IA is "unfillable."
Bread, in French lycees is ad l,bitum.
When boy has finished his piece he
holds up his hand as sign that he is
ready for another. A man, holding a
basketful of cut loaves. is stationed IN
such position as will allow him to fiji
all these pairs Of empty hands as fast
as they are put up. He fings, the boys
catch. Ii is quite a dexterious game. If
the boy misses THE piece that wass inn
tended for him his neighbor frequently
catches and pockets it, partly as pre-
caution against possible pangs of hur-
ger before the next meal, partly for the
love of disobeying the rules one of
which enacts that no food shall be pock-
eted. THE drink is humorously called
abundance, and is made up of a good
tablespoonful of wine in decalter of
water
The way in which French schoolboys
Q4IVe Is IhOC SO SlrdfBe DIS uHe Way III
which they play. Recreation has ITO
take place in a more or less large yard,
surrounded by high walls very much
like a prison walk. Not a tree, not a
blade of grass to be seen-a mere gray
eled yard, bare and uninviting. There
the boys walk, two by two, or in larger
groups, the big ones talking politics, the
clever and Industrious ones discussing
scientific problems or questions of Mtera-
ture and philosophy, the little ones in
dulging in a game of top or marbles in
ore of the corners of the ground.
BY and by the bell rings. AT O'clock
they all have to be in their places in the
study room until 2, when it is time 10 go
to the afternoon class which lasts until
4 o'clock. The timetable is regulated by
the minister of public instruction. There
is no deviating from It,
On leaving the professors to be imme-
diately handed over to the ushers, they
each receive a piece of bread, which
they are allowed to eat in the play yard
with whatever relish they may possess
or buy of the doorkeeper. They play
till 5, when they return to the study |
room to prepare their lessons for the |
following day
At s o'clock supper is ready. To this,
as to all the other meals, they go two
by two, after having previously all form
ed into ranks in the playground. The
supper consists of stew, or more boiled
beef, or two sorts of vegetables. Some
times an apple OF d. rev CfiefIIeS, dC-
cording to the season, brighten the not |
very festive board. In my time cherries |
were the most popular dessert; after re |
freshing the inner boy, they provided |
him with missiles. which were turned to |
good account on the spot, whenever the |
usher had his back turned. For drink, |
/ should add, we had the same mixture |
as before.
After this frugal repast the boys re-
pair again, and always two by two, TO |
their respective dormitories. These who |
care to indulge in little washing may
do so before going 10 bed, so as to be |
clean the following day. say chose |
who care" for never will an usher make |
a remark to French boy over 12-when |
he is no longer under the supervision OF |
a matron-hecause he is dirty. not even |
in the refectory. Provided he has a |
cravat on, nobody will scold him for |
having a dirty neck. If cleanliness rs
next to goodness, the French schoolboy |
Is most ungodly.
The French schoolboy gets holiday |
on Thrlrsday-that is to say, no class |
ne. t,ald. h,t he has to be in the study |