The Newtown bee., 1897-08-13

Prepared only by G. l. Hood & Co., Lowell, Mass
Hoods Pills with Hoods DDS s 5
the parsons omission. In 1890, ] asked
for an increase of 800 salary, and
special committee of the district appear
ed before the board for school estimates
and asked for $3.50 increase in the ap-
portionment for the district, 500 of this
was to be added to the principals salary,
and $50 divided between the two teachers
of the other departments. S. P. Glover
was a member of the board of ap- |
portionment for that year and voted |
for the grant Of 800, finally |
made to the district The school |
committee, Messrs T. j. Bradley, Edward |
Troy and S. Fl. Croffutt unanimously de-
cided to add the 500 to my salary, | to
act as iqnitor as before. There was a
small net saving that year for incidental
fund, part of which went to the assistant
teachers by my request as a sort of con-
ISOLATION prize for our failure to get the
$3.50 asked for by the board. | did not
charge that year for janitor's service,
though | performed it. The next year
the board of estimate gave US an increase
of $3.50 and by vote my salary was fixed
at the figure it remained until the pres
ent and the other teachers received
substantial increase each. And now
comes our great sin. With the advent Of
prosperity came desire for ease, and l
declined to act longer as janitOr. Then
came the browning act of nfamy the good
parson has unearthed in the doings Of the
district: We hired janitor. While I'M
willing to preform the mental duties of
ianitor myself, yet | was chivalrous
enough to believe that no lady teacher
should be compelled to haunt cinder-
|
sitter on a windy day, so l requested the
committee to allow me to engage some
large, trustworthy boy in my room to
perform the work for US, while agreed
to draw aud turn over to him whatever
was saved in this way from the incidental
fund, or give him an equivalent from my
| pocket. This was accordingly done, and
the arrangement has continued till date
The amounts saved thus for janitor's
wages ranged all the way from SASS to
1874 annually during the four years of its
continuance. But the service was worth
more. And this is the enormity for
which we are pilored in the public press
and the public led to believe that we are
band of robbers. However, the care
full reader will observe through all the
iugglery with the figures in the record,
that the principal drew only his salary,
plus the savings already explained which
was paid to the ianitor as salary for his
services. And this was his contract
with the district. But a word in ex-
PLANTATION of this kind of contracts 1t is
called contingent contract. If the
cost of incidentals in the school year ex-
coed 800, lost. II by good manage
ments the fuel, ETC., fell below that
figure, the difference was the janitor's
salary. 1t was heads you win, tails 1
lose with me, all the time. Once upon a
time the good parson made a contract of
this kind. When he took the printing
contract for the Fourth of July celebra-
ton committee few years ago ne made
a contingent contract. He will re-
member that he guaranteed that the
printing for that occasion should cost
the committe nothing, If be were allowed
to make advertising contracts with local
merchants and others for space in the
official program Of the day. He was to
make up any deficiency of the revenue
from advertisers was insufficient to pay
printing bill, but II there was a ''surplus''
it would be the parsons. He expected to
go on a vacation right after the celebra-
ton he said, and the Surplus" if any,
would come in handy. He has never
told publicly what this speculation was
worth to him. But he never handed
over any of the surplus" nor offered to,
notwithstanding that the celebration cost
more than the public subscriptions to de-
fray expenses totaled, and the deficiency
had to be made good by member of the
executive committee ON celebration. In
this case, at least, the good parson
mastered the intricacies OF contingent
contract, even if he failed in compre-
bending the ethics of the situation.
It may be contenSed that the
ianitor is . luxury. / admit that,
and so must all the teachers.
L