Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-02-14
DEESTRICK SKULE
A BIG SUCCESS
Home Talent Greeted by an Immense Au-
dienCe.

The ''Deestrick Sku.e," which was pre-.
sented in he opera house Tuesday un-
der the auspices Of the Ladies' Auxiliary
of the y. VI. {. A., was attended by one
of the largest audiences that ever greet
ed home-talent performance. 1t is
safe to say that there were at least a
thousand persons present, who filled the
entire lower part of the house anG
good portion of the gallery.
School Master Phineas Ruggles and
his large school passed through the or.
deal surprisingly well. No one expect
ed anything serious, but was present
merely to laugh and laugh he did dur
ing the entire evening.
1t was $50 o'clock when Will Curtis as
the old time school master of fifty years
ago opened his school and called the
roll. The response to each name was
peculiarly amusing and won applause at
the very beginning. The arrival of
Susan Honeysuckle (EiIa Lyon with
her baby brother, Ezekial, was the next
feature, John b. Mccoy az the baby"
especially, making big hit.
The classes were called up in their
order, the a b and primer classes of
the C untry school being followed with
the realing, spell'n 'ng and grammar class
es of more advanced scholars. Each pu-
pill had some part to perform supposed
to be charac teristc of the old-fashioned
mixed school. The girl who read too
fast and the boy who could scarcely read
at all were in evidence, as well as TIE
girl who gigglcd and the girl who cried
The "lunCh hour" was frisky in the
extreme, and was quite reflection on
the good order and decorum of the noon
hour in the old time school,
The school during the afternoon ses-
sion was visited by the district "Skule
Borde," composed of Hans Brinker,
President, (WilI J. Rogers; Silas Dew
berry (E. F. Williams) and Dick Bustle
John l.. Evans). Recitations and COM
positions, all of which contained some
thing to laugh at, were heard and APP
proved by the learned "borde." The
imposition on the horse by John Wes.
ley Williams (Leonard Foulk) made a
big hit with the audience. The remarks
about the baby by Nathan Hale Frank
Newbaker) ran in the same funny vein.
| Tho nj fat NV Gis DafEin do
Goldsmith was very effective piece of
work, in excellent imitation of Sis
Hopkins.
The remarks and questions" by the
president of the "Skule Borde" which
were put in Mr.. Rogers happiest way,
was a part in which the audience took
especial delight.
Not the least entertaining feature of
| the school were the costumes, which
and pattern. Nothing was too odd or
| grotesque to be conceived of, which will
be readily appreciated when it is stated
that John B. Mccoy as the "baby BROTH
er," appeared in a frock.
Space unfortunately does not admit
| of individual mention. Suffice it to say
| that there was not one in the excellent
cast who failed to measure up to the
peculiar requirements or was response
BILE for a moments dulness.
| The entertainment was gotten up un-
der the direction of William Curtis and
no little credit is due him for the sue
| cessful manner in which it was carried
through. Many of the compositions as
well as the recitations were written by
him and they showed in every line or
iginality and sense of genuine humor.
Jesse Shannon, as Mike O'Flynn, J. B.
| Mccoy and w. j. Rogers, each made his
part stand out in bold relief and cOntri-
buted immensely to the full measure OF
success achieved.
The music was furnished by the ORCH
estra of the Penn Social Club, a new or
ganization under the direction of Her
bert Wyle. Its playing was very favor
ably criticised during the evening and
added not . little to the pleasure of the
entertain nent.
good sum of money was realized.