The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1899-09-28
CITY VERSUS COUNTRY.
County superintendent Griffith Extols
the Rural School Boy.


Most country teachers long and sigh
for the time when they shall be chosen
20 teach in some village or city school.
When that happy time comes there
will be for them no more sweeping of
dusty school houses, running dress and
complexion alike, no more building of
fires, no more wading through s1ush
and snow; no more hurrying to get
through with the crowded program.
To them the city school is sweet
land of rest: and they sigh for it as
does a saint for the new Jerusalem.
True it is that the city teacher has
conveniences which the country teach
er lacks. But the country teacher has
the woods, the fields, the blue sky, the
running stream; all leaves in Natures
wonderful book. And if she knows
how to teach the children to read that
ever open vo1ume she has given them
a power of priceless value.
Does she need material for geog-
raphy? Here are the soils, the streams,
the winds, the clouds, the rocks, all
willing and ready 'to sing a more
beautiful song or tell more wonder
full tale" Nature is, and will ever be,
the great teacher. She has inspired
the best in all our literature The
country teacher has the best of all at
first hand. Then, too, she has the
rough, awkward country boy. He
wears the biggest boots that will stay
on his feet. His voice is neither low
nor sweet; his hair is straight and
shiny, and has started to grow in all
directions. He has freck1ed nose and
big blue eyes. His frame is rough and
rugged, his veins are filled with the
best Of blood. He can ride the widest
colt or milk the big boss cow. He
knows where to find the best apples,
the juiciest grapes and the ripest of
watermelons, With good jack-knife
he can white out a steam engine. He
goes to bed at 8 o'clock and gets up at
S. He is laying in a stock of vigor
which will come of use to him by and
by. He knows he must do his task or
be punished, He often goes to town
and knows whole lot more about the
city than his city cousin knows about
the country. He is gaining the best
thing of youth; that is habits of order
and sense of duty. He is no SISSY
boy" but manly and reso1ute. Indeed
he will often fg1t. In his games he
believes in playing fair. His little
sister is very much like him. By and
| by they sEs to the city schools. Their
pronunciation may not be classical and
the boy may not part his hair and
name in the middle, but somehow Or
another he seems to have knack of
doing things. Ia1 the base ball nine it
is he who can pitch the lightning
curve and make the most home runs.
He is the class orator; his sister the
va1edictorian.
By and by this brother and sister go
up to the great city and infuse new life
into it's feeble and WORKOUT energies.
Were it not for such fresh blood as is
sent in to the great centers by the
small towns and the country, these
places would die of dry rot, So then it
seems that the country teacher has the
choicest raw material. She cannot
give as much time to each pupil. Then
he must depend more on himself. La a
graded school all are of the same
Equality; no boy daas his hero. In a
country school each little boy has his
hero; each little ghr1 her queen. The
younger children dearn by hearing the
recitations of the Older ones. Ia the
country district the teacher is a person
of some Importance. An extra pie is
baked and the latest chicken is fried
when the ''sc9aoo1 ma 'am'' comes to see
Our folks. Ia the city school the
teacher is a cog in the wheel: in the
country school she's the whole wheel.
Every teacher in the country can GEM
fort himself with the fact that if he
plans work for all and keeps all at
work. he may compare results with the
best graded schools.
The country teacher is shaping the
forces which will direct the nation7s
Life. WILLIAM GRIFFITH.
M Ts3..