Evening star., 1901-09-25
SCHOOLS OF LONG AGO.
Few Facilities Enjoyed by Pupils In
Colonial Days.
From, no Kansas Star

Few Facilities Enjoyed by> Pupils In
Colonial Days.
From the Kansas City Star.
The 100000 pupils who are beginning
school this month have far easier time
Of 1t than their ancestors had in colonial
days. The Puritans brought with them
from England the idea of the public school.
Only six years after the settlement Of Bos-
ton the general court Of Massachusetts
gave more than half the annual income
of the entire colony to establish the school
which two years later became Harvard
College. But the equipment everywhere
was rude.
The buildings were of logs Some had
puncheon floors; in others there was bare
EARTH and unruly pupils would frequently
kick up clouds of dust to disturb their fel-
lows and the master. In the country school
houses in New York and Pennsylvania $50
years ago the teacher sat in the middle of
the room. Pegs were thrust between the
logs around the walls three feet from the
ground. Boards were laid across them,
and on these benches the older scholars sat
Logs blocks of wood were seats for the
younger pupils. Frequently creased paper
took the place of window glass. The room
was heated by an open fireplace. There
were no blackboards and no maps, although
sometimes globes were found Lead pen
ellis were not in common use until this CEN
tury. Lead plummetS took their place.
The lead was cast In wooden molds, usually
In the shape of tomahawk and whitfield
to sharp edge. Paper was scarce. and
even ministers wrote a small hand for econ
omys sake Birch bark formed the usual
school substitute. 1t was often rolled up
in the fashion of the parchment rolls of
the Egyptians. States did not come into
general use until the early part of this
century. They were frameless, and were
suspended from the children's necks by
strings secured through a hole punched in
them.
A chronicle of the school at Flatbush,
Long Island, in 1852, says a bell was rung
to call the children together at 8 o'clock.
The school took a recess from II to / and
closed at T. 1t began and ended with
prayer. Pupils learned their letters from
the "hornbook, a thin sheet of wood, on
which was fastened a paper containing
first lessons. Then they took up the New
England Primer which included the
Shorter Catechism" After this they were
ready for the grammar, Dilworth's "Spell-
err and arithmetic. Manuscript q sum
books" were generally used, although after
the revolution Pixies arithmetic was
adopted widely. Geography was not taught
until this century. Much time was spent
on penmanship. The schoolmaster was
paid in wheat and corn. In other places
wampum, beaver skins, peas, beans or any
garden truck" was used At Salem one
pupil was always detailed to sit at the
window to study, and to hail people who
passed to sell them the accumulated corn
and vegetables of the teachers salary. In
the early days parents in the New England
colonies who had children in school were
obliged to pay part Of the teachers salary.
1t was not until about the time of the rev.
olution that Massachusetts began to pay
for its schools out OF the general town
taxes
From these meager beginnings has deyel-
oped the great common school system of
the United States. Last year there were
245, 600 public school houses, $4,000 teach
ers and 15, 100, 600 pupils and $2O3 900. .OOO
was spent for public instruction