Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-16
HARD LINES At HIGH SCHOOL
Dearest Privilege, Of Students Cat OFF By
Executive Orders
RIGHT TO PERMANENT RECORDS DENIED
Floors, walls and Desks 90 Ne Kept
Sacred from Custom that Has
Prevailed Since Earliest
Days Of schools.

Though the new High school building has
been in use less than a month, 1t Is said
that enough ink already has been spilled
upon the desks and floors to write an Had
rs good as Homer's. The benches, too,
show the pin scratch, and here and there
the holder work Of the penknife.
1t is with grave misgivings that Principal
Waterhouse has taken cognizsnce Of these
things, as he associates them with a future
visit OF the property and buildings
committee OF the Board Of Educa-
ton. and, with prophetic eye, sees
their frown of disapproval. So he
has issued a ukase against the use Of
ink. Pocketknives Of whatever description
are also out Of favor, though not yet
actually contraband. The list of prescribed
articles and commodities, now includes
writing fluid, explosives, chewing gum, in
toxicating liquors, flrecrackers, slingshots,
tobacco and bent pins.
Some IrOncIad Instruction..
He has also issued instructions to all Of
his teachers carefully to guard against per-
hitting the pupils to disfgure the build
ing or its furnishings in any way. He has
called attention to the fact that the floors
are Of hard maple. presenting a polished
surface Of light cream color, and that blots
OF ink loom up on them like moons. The
desks, too, he has pointed out, are of a
light shade with a particularly delicate
grain OF the natural wood and are easily
defaced. He has made these orders en-
phatic and has limited at dre penalties as
the result Of their infraction. Woe to the
boy who cuts his finger on a piece Of broken
glass in the laboratory and lets 1t bleed
on the foorl Woe to the girl who rubs
the paint OF the wainscoting with her petit
GOAT! Woe to the sacriligious fly that dares
to speck those c~eilingsl
Their Inherent Right.
To preserve the purity Of those chaste
walls and floors, however, will involve
hardships insurmountable that goes with
out saying. School children regard It as
their inherent right to mark walls, carve
desks and spill ink on the floor, and in this
contention history bears them out. Jack
knives are more plentiful now than in the
past, cat-o-nine-tails scarcer and human
nature the same. Now. in the face Of this,
could pupils be expected to refrain from
exercising their ancient prerogative7
Whittier refers to the practice In his
poem, "In School Days.
Still sits the schoolhouse by tho road.
Adk6Gu Oc6BdI bunIlnBB
Around 1t still the sumachs grow
And blackberry vines are running.
Within the masters desk is seen,
Deep-scarred by raps official,
Ih Tbe wais sppE h rHSr: t 6sr1 6stte ,D,d,s seats
The charcoal frescoes on its wall,
Its doors worn sill. ~betraytng
TIL feet that, creeping slow TO school,
Went storming out to playing.
In Great John d Day.
But this Is modern compared with the
period r. D. Blackmore wrote about IN his
lorna Doone." In this work he tells
about "~winkeys," a mischievous but cheer
ful device, which entails a wonderfully in
genious Disagreement Of school desks. 1t
d an Ubiquitous practice. happily long since
obsolete, but that the Omaha High school
pupil may be familiar with 1t, and there
fore fortified against 1t. It is herein set
forth in Blackmore's words:
What does he do but SCOOP a ,h hole where here
allied, and the circumference dug more
deeply. Then let him MI Il with salt
boss (and 1t win be better If a splinter OF
his ' ean die OF tsiieSwa, &c or sra rats taii,% as
we called IT. kindIed and burning. smoothly.
firing his nc eyes TesG now and them it may be.
the fire of the candle lays hold of the
ing. Then should the pupil seize his pen,
and, regardless of the nib, stir bravely, and
t hs w'a ana sSs a a rich flO smoke * "a and sparks goins
merrily; nor will II cease, II he stirs wisely,
and there be good store or peter until the
OF a well shaftl
II any ambitious pupil should think to
introduce the "winkey" in the new Omaha
High school, let him have a swift horse at
the campus gate and an accomplish on the
bridge to pay his toll as he dashes for the
Iowa side.
Secret Of n Granite slab.
About two years ago an archaeologist OF
San Francisco named Joseph T. Goodman,
while poklng about In the caverns OF the
cave jewellers a short distance from Vezere,
discovered a granite tablet about 2x4 feet
by 2 inches thick. Upon one side was en-
graved something which at first glance
looked like a Japanese war map; there wal
. veritable maze Of interviewer figures,
characters and pictures. and Mr.. Goodman
thought he had stumbled upon a part OF q
BAreOphagus Of q Troglodyts king. He tried
to read II. He applied the rules used in
disappearing the Egyptian hieroglyphics, but
IN vain. The granite guarded It's secret
we'll Finally he took It back to San
FEhhtlbCO Win nlm- ~ party OF tflenQi
called at his apartments one day and one
of them remarked that an edge Of the block
was beveled on exactly as the top board Of
q modern school desk is. to make a acl
for holding pens and pencils. This solved
the mystery. Instead OF being an epitRpl
Of a tomb. the characters were those Of
Toung scapegraee Of a cave dweller. mad
while the teachers back was turned.
Message of that Desk.
OF course It was impossible to deciphel
any OF the characters. and II 1t had beer
possible the message would doubtless hav,
been triyial-nothing more important than
Mary had a little ichthyosaurus,
Its scales We're laid on double;
1t followed her to school one day,
And got her into trouble.
In the face OF this It seems futile to tr!
60 work a revolution in the Omaha Higl
school with one fell swoOp. Ink was mad,