The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-02-22

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lie schools OF wheeling. At the time
Of his entrance to this school, Prof!
W. II. Anderson was principal, but Is
win be remembered BY many he sue
peoded TO the position n city supsrin-
taRdeHt IN the gpmHaF q 1856. John
being thus thrown lHt9 the bands Of the
writer in September, 1885 he was
placed In what WAS then and now
known as mo 1alf 9F the seventh year
Of the public school cpuFse. under the
charge Of Miss Geprgia Pender. In
September, 1885, be began the four
years course n the grammar depart7
ment. which was almost the equivalent
OF the present high school course, the
teachers In PhRFgs of this department
of school work being Miss Jane An
derson and Miss Lucinda Sims. After
teaching about half tho year the for
mer resigned and became Mrs. Brown,
her position as grammar teacher being
taken by her sister, Miss Emma. These
four, in addition to the principal Of the
building, were the only instructors lR
Union school who had anything to DO
with his education.
"over" Their Lessons.
In the ordinary school room dozens
OF incidents occur daily that are Of the
most ludlcrous character. and the fire.
quency OF their occurrence depends on
number Of things, such as the uaa'of
u wrong word in answers to questions,
the peculiar grouping or arrangement
Of words, or the combination Of words
that have no meaning at all to say
nothing OF eccentriclties in carriage,
gesture or department that appeal to
the risIbilltIes Of the observing pupil.
John was the kind OF school boy who
readily saw the humorous side Of al1
most everything, ana while he seldom
made any noise over these amusing dis
coveries, his teacher could see from the
twinkle in his eye that little Of the kind
escaped him. While, without any un-
due stretch OF varacIty he might have
been called model boy, he was not o
saint in the school room by any means,
although do not recollect that he was
ever reprimanded by any Of us: One
little incident VIII be ample illustration
Of my meaning, although may add
that 1t did not come to my ears until
some time after he had left the school;
in any event It will show that he had
little spice of the "old Nick" In him
just the same as thousands Of other
young Americans, During his junior
year his work was somewhat Irregular
ly done, some Of his recltatlons being
made with the members Of the class
of 1888. Since 1t was the duty Of the
principal to attend to the dismIssion OF
the pupils and to direct a supervision
over them while at recess, 1t was fire.
quently necessary to leave the seniors
alone in the office; and ! presume It
had become somewhat Of habit with
me to say on my return, "Well, pupils,
have you been over your lessonsT' and
doubtless the answer was invariably
in the affirmative, In after days was
told that these same pupils and John
among them, were very fond Of laying
their books on the floor, stepping over
them. and then resumipg their seats
very sedately-of course. they could
then say that they had been over"
their lessons, This species OF Joking
was Of the harmless variety, however.
because It seemed to afford them some
amusement and did their teacher no
harm.
While the following story does not
come In chronological order. 1T will
serve in this place to emphasize the
fact that young DoddrIdge was always
alive to what was going on about him
and ready to participate In the fun II
necessary It occurred when he was
placed for the first time on a training
ship. Some Of the oll5r boys who had
already seen service on the vessel
thought 1t only right, as college boys
often do, that the "greenles" should be
initiated, and with that end in view
they undld the fasteningE of the ham
mocks so that when the innocent ones
should retire for the night their beds
would give way under them. But. as
1t happened, our young friend, who
suspected that some trick would he
tried on him, observed them slyly slip
ping around attending to this very mat
ter: and when he got the chance with.
out being noticed, he examined his
hammock and found out what had been
done He at once secured It properly,
and when the time came for the stu
dents to retire, he jumped into his bed
and staId there, while from every side
came cries of dlsmay and shouts of
laughter as the occupants of the other
hammocks came tumblIng to the floor.
The instlgators of the caper could not
understand why Doddrldge did not
share the same fate.
Base Ball his FaHorite Sport.
One of his Intimate friends speaks
thus of him: 81 first became acqualnt-
cd with Johh in the autumn of 1854.
He was then twelve years old. He was
very quiet in his manner. but full of
fun. He was fond OF all outdoor games,
base ball being his favorite sport. He
enjoyed bowling and took great inter-
est In making a good score. He was
fond OF reading, and enjoyed books con-
sIdered much too old for him. Not
only did he understand them, but he
| freuuOntIy H,rprIsed hIq fFInndg hy.