The Washington times., 1902-06-22
CURIOUS IDEAS OF
SCHOOL CHILDREN

| George Washington he was goot
boy his mother said he was good boy
and he never used to fight he fight the
war that made the United free and he
whipped general Corn Walls and wher
| he fight was over he went back to Mount
! Vernon and lived and was made the
| president of the United until he died
| George Washington his mother give
| him a pony when he was a little boy
and he rode the pony to dead and went
right home and said mother l cannot
| tell one lie killed my pony he is dead
George Washington he was a great
man and he was very big the biggest
man in his country. He lest more fights
| than he won, but he won all the big
! fights and he was called the farther OF
he country
! A pupil who had just begun the study
of insects. when told to write a compo-
| sition ON Bees" confined his efforts to
this brief summary:
| The drone are the lazy bees and he
! lay all the eggs the drone IS sos and
! carries O bag in the body and he suck
! the JUICE"
But the most unpardonabie errors, and
many of the most amusing ones, too.
are the worl, of students in the high
! schools, boys and girls who know bet
ter. but who through carelessness or, as
is sometimes the case, the desire to do
! ludicrous work, turn out absolutely
ridiculous products Of their pens and
brains.
| In prominent local high school where
business letter-wrlting Is made spc-
| cial feature OF the curriculum. boy,
famous among his comrades for his recit-
! less daring. one day wrote letter which
| fairly made the sedate pedagogue's hair
stand on end. The letter was one of
| series purporting to be written be-
tween a real estate agent and the ten
ant OF horse. The tenant complained
that the house needed repairs. and re-
quested the agent TO bring the matter
to the attention of the owner OF the
property. The owner. however, refused
to make the necessary repairs at first.
and considerable writing was INDUCED
| in between the parties, the tenant
threatening TO leave.
This particular boy student, in the
person of the tenant. decided that the
customary letters upon the timeworn
subject were too commonplace. and con-
seuuently adopted d new style OF his
own. His missive was as follows:
Dear Sir: l have Just received your
favor of the Sd instant. and beg to say
that hope you can effect a recoasidera-
tion of this matter en- the part of the
owner of the house in which | am nov
living AS l stated in my last letter. the
roof IS leaking horribly, the chimney
has tumbled off above the roof and has
fallen down inside the house. punching
a large hole In the floor Just outside
the fireplace; the water pipes have
burst. overfiowing the whole place and
running down the walls; crowd of
small boys have repeatedly stoned the
house until every window has been
smashed; the dining room floor is weak
and threatens to break through: the
plaster is falling all over the house.
the doorbell will not ring the mantel
piece in the Darlor has fallen down, the
rain spout has been stolen by the neigh
bors' children to sell to the junk dealer.
the sewer has become completely stopped
up. causing a bad odor about the prem
ises. the cornice is beginning to crum-
Bile away. the window shades are out OF
order. the basement is damp and dreary.
and-in fact. the whole blessed residence
is going into decline.
And to think that for the bare privi-
lege of living amid such surroundings
am taxed a monthly rental OF $3.50. And
the owner will not repair the premises!
This is too much. too much, What in
the name of common sense will become
of us?
''lf you do not. my dear sir. have this
house repaired at once by this most un-
feeling owner we will vacate. 1t is
no fault of ours that we have net been
able to put up with the existing condi-
tions. During the hard rain night before
last we were unable to sleep a wink
Our bedroom is on the top floor and
when the downpour began the water
simply poured into the room. In vain
We moved the bed about from corner TO
corner to escape the food, but II con-
stantly grew worse. At length we
craw1ed On the floor under the bed
thinking thus to place the mattress be-
tween ourselves and the leaky roof But,
alas, this. too, in the course OF a few
minutes, began to leak like a wet
sponge.
Then We moved the bed to the floor
below. thinking to be safe from the !
driving rain there, at least But even |
there we were presently routed out by |
the water making it's way through the |
ceiling Realizing the fact that we were
not to be permitted to sleep, we ad- |;
tourned to the yard and perched upon !
the back fence and sat out In the down |
pour until morning.
Now. sir, is it right that these things |
should be? What am | paying my rent |
for? Would / not be justified in moving |
out? Is this what / give up $50 every |
month for?
Kindly request the owner again to !
send up and have this building repaired !
You're truly"
girl pupil in one OF the other high .
schools of the city happened to run
across newspaper, in some of her delv-
ings into literature. which contained an
account of how monkeys are being en-
ployed in the South to pick cotton IN
place Of the gangs of negroes who, ac-
cording to the paper. had formerly held
that. job.
This bit of intelligence made a pro-
found mark upon the young lady. and 1t
was only natural that when. few weeks
later, she was required to write an es-
say on cotton picking in the South, she
should describe the operation as being
performed By animals in place of men.
And only the most diligent exertions on
the part Of her teachers would convince
her that the monkey business was quito
erroneous. The composition. or rather
that portion of 1t bearing upon this sub
ject. follows:
'One of the most important develop
ments in the South during the past four
or five years was the Introduction of
monkey labor in the cotton fields. Some
American foresaw the great
advantages TO be derived from placing
monkeys in the cotton planta-
tions to pick the cotton from the pods
Monkeys. as is we'll known, have been
accustomed 20 climb trees in tropical
climates and pull off the cocoanuts for