Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-14
STUDENTS PARENTS

in one OF the Capitol Hill public schools.
L don't know what should do II 1t were
not that the unreasonableness OF most OF
the parents'ccomplaints is tempered by an
Involuntary .humor that is at least divert
Ing. Perhaps dozen mothers of boys in
my class imagine that I have taken their
youngsters to raise Not few Of them
have the idea that teacher should devote
her almost exclusive attention to their
young ones. sstsss.
Willie don't seem to be learnin' moth
In one OF them mournfully complained to
me the other day. MY little Lizzie that's
twlct as well as Willie-she kin Almost do
EN- on her fingersr
Well said to her. William assuredly
mas every opportunity to learn fractions
But mis- application Is not what 1t should
be- Is, -
No. miss she retorted. the hull long
an short Of It, is this: Willie's thick. He
takes after his paw. His paws the thick
est man ever see wen It comes to fig
germ an things like them. I wisht you'd
give Willie llttlesextry teachin'. could
make MIN take his lunch to school with
him, an you could give him some extry
your 80 49,
"she looked quite put out when told her
that my health required that leave the
school during the noon hour for breath
o. Iresn air and hot luncheon.
THE mother of boy who is always
tardy-ne rarely creeps along to school I'M
hour old-came to me the other day with a
long face, after she had been repeatedly
notlned OF the boys dilatoriness.
can't git Jim out O. bed o. mornin's, >
thin with him?'
James is case in which little ply
sicai suasion might prove effectual, I told
:" Please say that ag'in, MISS she re-
pnea, and said 1t ag'in' in a little more
matter-of-fact way.
u,,, oh, no, nobody can't sway Jim,' she
sala. nurriedly. 'Jim's too headed. An
am strong enough to whale him, an his
paws fireman on tn railroad an away
most O. tn time'
Wen, said I, perhaps a trife impa-
t1ently, I am sure I don't know what T
can do in James case. It would be- n both
lnpractlcabie and inconvenient for me to
cail at your home at 1870 o'clock every
morning. morning. an, and pull James out Of bed,
she by no means repudiated this sug-
gestlon. and It actually seemed plain from
ner manner that she rather thought It
would De pretty good scheme for me to
oeVote an hour or SO each morning to the
bed. A.'''' '-''
The views Of some of the mothers as to
tne teachers duty in correcting the out-of-
school practices and tendencies Of their
young ones used to be entertaining for
their novelty. but they are not any more.
one OF the cleverest, lads in my class is an
extremely tough little reprobate whose fin
gers have been discoored with cigarette
smoke ever since had him. and whose
clothing always exhales an aroma Of stale
cigarettes. His mother came rushing to
afternoons ago.
:" My Johnny smokes cigarettes she ex-
clafmedh bfeathlessly.
know that replied He has been
Syv,n rfv,rr ID
saw him smoking them, but his fingers are
always stained with them and he always
smells of them q
But I never knowed a word Of it till
edly. wy didn't you never tell me? wy
didn't you hammer tn daylights out O.
him.?
Because said I. corporal punishment
Is forbidden In the public schools, and,
moreover. boy should be punished at
home for such a practice
amt got no time t. beat him. she
replied. I'm too busy takin' care O. tn
others. Td2like t know what schools is
fur, If theyygafn't fur t make young ones
behave themselves
And the very mothers Of boys who are
the most willing to shift to the teachers
the responsibility Of 'poundIn' tn dayIights'
out of their refractory sons are the first
ones to make terrific uproar when they
are faisely-4nformedNb by prevaricating young
ones that their children have been pun
ished at school Not long ago the mother
of one of my incorrigibles-she had fire.
Quently upbratded me severely for not
chastising the youngster at sehool-brought
the boy to me Just before the beginning
of the morning session. She was in a great
state Of excitement and wrath. The boy
had a black eye. and he was whining and
whimpering when hts mother dragged him
before me.
What dye mean by hittin' my boy in
tn eye with slater was the amazing
question that the boys mother put to me,
and her attitude was so menacing that I
was really afraid that she was going to
pull my hair and scratch my face. I was
SO overwhelmed with establishment that
couldn't speak for moment, but a boy In
one Of the rear seats near the door, who
was listening to the conversation, got up
and came over to me and asked permission
to speak. l nodded permission. and the
boy said:
terday. He swiped an apple off fruit ped
dler's cart and the dago threw an apple at
him and caught him on the eye with it,
THE mother OF the prevaricating young
ster, with the black eye, was reluctant to
believe that had not inflicted the damage
upon him with a slate as he had in
geniously told her. and she went away NUT
tering
"Some Of the fathers of pupils are funny,
too. They have queer ideas as to the most
effective methods Of increasing the sum Of
knowledge Of their sons One of my pupils
for two terms past has been a big, over
grown boy VINO IS much older than any
others of the boys in my class. He's q
well-mannered boy, but he simply ia not
bright. The boys father. who is market
man called upon me the other afternoon.
"'What tn. matter wit that mutt, any
way NUM- he inquired of me.
IT told him that I thought his son was
backward because of a rather slow develop
ment, which rendered it difficult for him to
learn rapidly. -.fs .
"weli. l. dunno what 1t U.s. said the
marketman, but sure have tried t. dis
sipline that lummox. WY, on'y las week I
kicked him all tn way downstairs, because
wen / asst him t tote up colyum o. f1g-
gers FIR me 1t TUX him bout four hours t.
do 1t. Kicked him all tn way downstairs
I did, and yet is didn't seem t do him no
good!' f~@Tt - ~. ''F@tr 7f
"Of course didn't presume to question
the expediency Of the marketman's method
of attempting to accelerate his sons acuui-
sition Of knowledge, but 1t struck me that
kicking q boy downstairs was an original
way Of tying to polish up his mentality"
The Largest Asparagus Plantation.
1.-The largest asparagus plantation in the
world is located in California" said s. A.
Mankin Of San Francisco to Star man at
the Arlington. this morning. ut is located
on the reclaimedsiands OF Bouldin Island.