The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-12-27
AN OLD TINE SCHOOL.
TIE LESSONS AND METHODS or
LONG AGO DAYS.

When the Rod Was Not Spared ana
. Rebellious Big Boy. Sometimes
clicked the Teacher"-The SPELL
ing Bee and "speakins Pieces"
Chance and change may have brought
Into your life things Of which you dream
ed not when you were q child. Destiny
may have sent you drifting hither and
thither far from the land Of your birth,
you may have forgotten many Of the events
and the companions Of your childhood,
but you have not forgotten, nor will you
ever forget, the little old sohoolhouse to
which you trudged for your first days
'schooling."
You were told to be sure and say that
you were ~ a-goin on to g." or perhaps
you were IS a-goin on to g." and 1t was
solemnly impressed upon you that you
must not whisper nor make the least noise
in school. Your blood was chilled by the
information that the teaoher would "whip
you If you did not behave" The rod was
not spared In those days, and II sometimes
happened that. the boy who ives whipped
at school "got another one" when his dis
grace became known at home. The rod
WAS held In such virtue by some parents
that it was believed that boy "never got
lick amiss. There was 90 much injuno-
ton in this theory that 1t was not to be
wondered at that large boys sometimes
rose up in furious rebellion and clicked
the teacher" The perceptions of children
are acute, and they knew very we'll when
teacher was unjust and rejoioed exceed
ingly when petty tyrant was vanquished
by some plucky and muscular boy verging
on toward manhood.
The rural schoolhouse of long ago had
none of the appointments of the school
room Of today. There were no patent
desks" and the teacher might be grateful
II he had a chair or desk Of any kind for
his own use. The pupils sat on rough
wooden forms, and II they had desks they
were of tho rudest description. When
they practiced writing, they stood before
long shelf against the wall and tried with
painstaking efforts to follow the copy set
by the teacher It often happened that
the teacher was but an indifferent writer,
but 1t was his duty to ''set the COPY" no
matter how poor his own writing might
be. A favorite copy was, "Many men Of
many minds, many birds Of many kinds"
tho frequent repetition Of tho letter I'm"
making this an easy copy to follow. "This
is o specimen of handwriting, was anoth-
or favorite copy. Frequently o moral
truth was set forth in the copy, and the
pupil would be hidden to write, "Be vir.
tuous and you will be happy" or Hon
esty Is the best policy"
Sometimes professional writing mas
ter would appear and organize an evening
class in writing in the schoolhouse. These
writing masters could draw most wonder
full birds, and their writing was character
lied by the most bewildering hourishes
and the broadcast shading Of which the
pen was capable.
: But to return to the regular routine of
the school. As the pupils varied in age
from to 20 years and there was but one
toacher no attempt was made to grade
them. The little boys and girls who were
In the IA B g" class reoited first. They
would stand In limo or gather around
the teacher, who would point to "A" and
the children would drawl out ga" Then
they said "B" and 20, and so on through
the alphabet. Then they were sent to
their seats to sit and dangle their legs un-
til noon. A child who "learned his let
ters'' in six months of this sort of teach
ing was regarded as fright smart" and
he was advanced to the primer class to
wrestle with such sentences as SIS it q
dog?" and st is a dog"
The First Reader followed the primer
class, and then came the reading classes In
regular order up to tho Sixth Reader, which
was tho topmost pinnacle Of advancement
In reading. D.,
Then there were classes In arithmetic
and geography and history and spelling.
This completed the curriculum of the or
binary rural school Of long ago. Great
stress was usually laid on the value Of
good spelling, and there would be spelling
bees at which rival schools would meet
and sec which could "spell down" the
other. The spelling school took tho form
of social diversion and would be attend
ed by young and old until tho little old
schoolhouse would be filled to OVERLOOKING.
At its close the young fellows would elus-
ter at the door, waiting to "beau tho girls /
home" There would be great hilarity
when some of the boys ''got the mitten."
A part Of every Friday afternoon was
given up to literary exercises" when the
pupils "spoke pieces" and recited dia-
logues. Some Of the larger pupils wrote
essays, but few Of them were willing to
undertake this. "Nary Had Little
Lamb" was the most popular 'piece."
Sometimes 1t would be spoken four or five
times in ono afternoon. "Twinkle, Twin I
kle Little Star" and II Love to See Lit
tie Dog" were next In favor. The larger
pupils often spoke "Bingen on tho Rhine"
and 1.-THE Scminole's Reply" Sometimes
the larger boys would recite "Spartacus to
the Gludiators" aud "Rienzl to the Ro-
mans'' with terrific force and wild gsstic-
ulation. have seen members Of the "A
B G" class turn pale and fall to trembling
when some Of those lusty young orators
would roar out, To-day killed man In
the arena!'
There were dialogues In which the speak.
ers desired to be flowers and bees and but
tertlies. but in tho end they would pro-
claim in chorus that
It is better far
To DO what we are.
Having come to this wise conclusion, |
they would return to their seats giggling
and tittering, or some Of them would be- |
come so overwhelmed with embarrassment |
that they would hide their faces In their |
aprons or in their books. 1t not infre-
quently happened that u big boy would
stalk boldly and briskly forward when his
name was called and begin his piece In
a manner almost brazen in Its boldness,
but ending In flood Of tears, entirely un-
able to complete the recitation. Visitors
came In to hear their literary
This put the pupils on
their mettle, and they Showed off" to the
best of their ability. TWAS all very crude,
md the system of teaching was very i'm
perfect, but the fact remains that many Of
the men who have made their mark in the
world have had no education but that &C.
luired in the country schoolhouso of long
lgo.-J. L. Harbour in Detroit Free Press.
Historical.