Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1903-05-21
Druid MOSES
THE POEM OF LIFE
IN THE FOOTPRINTS
OF PROVIDENCE.
BY TOM BENTON.
CHAP. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
ALL RIeHTs REsERvED.

may termed h0nOr' IN Cne SCHOOL
of forty years ago.
The bows of those days would
not tolerate lie. He who called
one liar was considered to have
struck the first blow, and was
very apt to be struck as reply
to the charge. COwardice leads to
sin, no boy had any seanding who
would not fight for his rights. A
tell-tale was despised by nearly
all. Though the boys did many
and mischevous things they were
not afraid of the teacher knowing
it. One youth ventured to tell
some of the pranks to the larger
boys. They nick-named him Tel
egraph," then succeeded in having
him follow them to a large wood
pasture, about half mile from
the school house, caught him,
when Will Bedford, the Goliah of
the school, held hun down, while
Beriah McGoffin put Indian tur-
nip in his mouth. The boy cried,
for the turnip was like coal of
fire, and promised never to tell the
teacher another thing, and thru
fear kept his promise.
Bethel boys during a term of
,schoolin the fall of 1859-when
David's father was teacher, he
having met with heavy losses thru
the failure of a bank lin Keokuk,
Iowa, where he had deposited his
money for the sale of his Iowa
farm, sold his farm and stock
and turned his attention to teach
ing-had a society without any
formal organization. This chum
club was composed Of the following
lads whose ages ran from twelve
to twenty: William Il. Bedford,
Richard F. Bedford, John Nc
Coffin, Beriah McGoffin, Allen E.
Burnam, Porter Rivers, Isaac
Nichols, Bob Harris, Sanford Mo
ses, Joe Willis, David Moses, and
Bob Willis. Will Bedford could
spit tobacco on little boys bare
feet eight or ten feet away and
then say, 1t alwas makes a mig
ger mad to spit on his foot"
Dick was the champion hunter,
both of foxes and wild game. He
killed four wild geese and a rabbit
at once by shooting both barrels Of
his shotgun.
Bob Harris rode young mules,
and when one kicked him he ran
up and catching the mules leg
dared him to do it again. All the
boys were great lovers of fun, some
times crossing the danger line to
find it.
The most dangerous play was
called More sack" One boy
would grasp another and throw
him down, and call out More
sack" then another boy would
come and lie down on him. This
would continue until five or six
and sometimes more would be
piled up on each other. The boy
underneath would often cry in
pain and be hurt. A boy about
twelve or fourteen years of age
was crushed to death at the State
University in this way. He was
the son of Caleb s. Stone, a prom
inent citizen of Columbia, and
such was the shock to the town
aud community that this play was
prohibited. AS young Stone was
a playmate Of Allen Burnam, one
Of tina Bethel Chums, this game
was discarded, The boys went
into the woods east of the school
house and cut down a tall hickory
sapling about FIVE feet from the
ground. They then made a cut
around this stump, leaving a
three inch pin projecting upward
from the top. Trimming the pole
and having it about twenty fee
long, split the center and placing
this over the high stump they had