The Republican journal., 1901-08-22

Hoods JMsap0rill0


This great medicine has wrought the most
wonderful cures OF all diseases depending
on scrofula or the scrofulous habit.
HOOPS PILLS are the best cathartic
period. It embraced every United States,
State, county and city law, rule and regula-
ton, besides large volumes Of codified rules
made expressly for the school by Mr.. Hobbie
himself. There never was a scholar attend
ing the school who knew tenth part of
them. One thing he was sure of, whatever
he did he was tranSgreSSing some rule. For
self protection the scholars made just one
rule for themselves. which was that they
would not convict themselves. If they
punishment; if they were not caught, they
never considered that they had transgress-
ed. During those years | became so well
grounded in plain and ornamental lying,
that time, nor climate, nor height nor depth
nor any other creature has been able to
obllterate that useful accomplishment.
There was no graduating as now. l think
you could 60 four years, and then you were
supposed to have learned all there was to
learn, and could take your books (yOu
owned them them and march out into the
world, and try to get three dollar week
job somewhere. We did have at the end of
the year an Examination" day, when our
parents and friends would come in and per-
spire and fan themselves with scent fan,
and the school committee would make tire
some speeches, and the show scholars
would declaim and recite prepared lessons,
and read compositions that had been written
and rewritten, and revised and corrected
and refined and distilled, until the writer's
didn't know they ever wrote them; but we
did not hire hall, nor have $25 white
dresses, nor class rings nor cOlOrS, nor
notices, nor SalutatOry, nor valedlctory adj
dresses, nor brass bands, nor three clergy
men, nor hot house boquets, nor photo
graphs, nor diplomas. No, we didn't have
any of these, but we sat in our seats, wait
ing for the thing to end, so we could GO
home and get on our old clothes and go out
and have some fun. L remember those try
ing days so wildly that, even now, ! will
not go by the schoolhouse the last day of
school. pity the scholars so. The studies.
as | recall them, were reading, writing
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry
composition, defamation, rhetoric, parsine
from Thompson's Seasons, physical geogra-
ply, philosophy, astronomy, Latin and
French. The schools had no janitor, and
the city made no appropriation to pay one
so we were assessed 10 cents occasionally,
and some one was hired, usually one of the
scholars, to sweep, dust the seats, and
knock the books off onto the floor. That
part of his duty he never neglected. We
had those old copper cents then, as big as a
checkerberry lOZenger and some boy who
had ideas concocted the plan for all of us
to take our money in those coppers and dis
tribute them among our various pockets.
and then count them out one by one. The
scheme worked well up to about IS, when
MIR. Hobbie adjourned the meeting just long
enough to amend the bylaws and announce
that the next boy, and all the rest, would
place his coins on the table at one time, and
from one pocket, or there would be trouble.
The next boy did not have curiosity enough
to want to see what that particular trouble
looked like, and the rest of the ten cents
were laid on the table, as per new rule. Mr..
Hobbie kept a book in which was COM
plete record of each pupils career, whether
absent, tardy, or present; his department,
good or bad; and his rank, with record of
each lesson. always felt that at the Day
of Judgment, | should see iust such book,
only larger, and possibly with asbestos
leaves in it. if there is such thing as
humiliation, ! hope those books have suffer
ed it. l should hate to have my children
get look at them, for l fear they would
handicap me somewhat when | try to urge
them to be good and study. Such, my
friends, was the High School Of my day
as | recall it, Part | have said, | know is
true, and l hope it all is, but as the time
allotted me and your patience have both
come to an end, will thank you for your
kind attention, and close.
W. r. Howard, principal of the Belfast
High school, spoke as follows on
1.-THE HIGH SCHOOL OF TODAY"
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen
My acquaintance with the High School
began some years ago, when i'll the fall of
1873 became pupil there. Without STOP
ping to give the matter much thought, it
seems as though that were only day before
yesterday, but cold, calculating arithmetic
declares it to be more than quarter of a
century ago. Those who attended the
school at that time were fortunate in having
for teacher Mr.. William A. Huston. How
Mr.. Huston contrived to have, at once, the
respect, the fear, and the hearty good will
of all his pupils is a secret he alone pos
sesSes. Genial, scholarly, gentlemanly, he
made our school life both pleasant and pro-
titable, and | have yet to meet one of his
pupils who does not fondly treasure the
memory of the days when he went to school
to "Billy Gus" | am sure it would give
me much more pleasure now to indulge in
reminicenSeS of those days than it does to
stick to my subject.
Perhaps it is with respect to organization
and methods of teaching that the school of
to-day differs most widely from the school
of the past. Then the pupil could decide
for himself what studies he would pursue,
and in most cases the order in which they
should be taken. The teachers gave advice,
of course, and it was a requirement that
each pupil should at no time have less than
three Studies-reading and writing not in
cluded. There were no regular courses of
study laid out, and graduation was thing
unknown. When we had attended school
as long as our parents thought it necessary,
or until we had taken all the subjects
taught, we simply stopped going, and so
ended our school days. There were no
essays, no bouquets, no diplomas.
Well defined courses of study, with grad
uation consequent upon their completion,
were introduced during the principalship
of Mr.. A. H. Kelley, who succeeded Mr..
Huston in 1S75-the latter having given up
teaching to engage in business. As teach
er Mr.. Kelley was and is great success
Without any seeming effort he made us all
feel that he was master Of the situation; he
inspired his pupils with desire to learn,
and his incumbency marked the transition
from the old to the modern type of High
school. The closing exercises of the spring
term of 1874 were held in the Congregation
al church and consisted of the reading of
original essays, but no diplomas were
awarded, as none had completed the re-
Quired course of study. Seven of those
who participated in those exercises remain
ed in school another year and constituted
the class of 1878, which was the first to be
regularly graduated. Since then the courses
have been maintained, classes have been
graduated each year, and the total number
of graduates is now two hundred and forty
five. At the present time the school offers
two courses Of study-the English and the
Classical The principal difference hatwaan