The National tribune., 1903-09-17

found on Record in the Hall of the His
torical Society of Arizona Pioneers.
Governor Stafford and myself remained
friends until the changes in our lives
brought about a separation. The election
succeeding his term elected Democratic
Delegate to Congress from Arizona; n
Democratic Governor was appointed. and
Governor Stafford went to Florida. where
he established a banking business and be-
came very wealthy. l met him n few
times in after years, but never felt in
clined to mention to him either Miners
expedition, or the cross-cut saw. or placer
"diggnss-much less diamonds.
I RESIGN AS TEACHER.
After the Governor, who was ex-officiO
Superintendent of the Public Schools of
the Territory. had returned from his dia-
mond expedition, went to interview him
for the purpose of laying before him the
fact that the mental strain sustained by
one man teaching so large number of
boys of all ages and all degrees of both
knowledge and ignorance. and this in one
and the same room, was too great to bear.
and proposed one of these two alterna-
tives: Either the Board OF Trustees should
rent smaller room for the youngest chill
dren and hire an assistant teacher to at
tend to their tuition, or to raise my salary
from S125 to $50 per month, in which
case | would employ an assistant at my
0In expense.
The Governor thought that either of
these propositions was reasonable. and ad
vlsed me to communicate them in writing
to the Board of Trustees, stating that he
would mdorse said communication lost
no time in attending to the matter, and
soon received a request to be present at
the next meeting of the board. The trus-
tees expressed themselves in very compli-
mentary terms with regard to my work,
but said that the school funds did not per-
nit any additional expense. That the Amer
lean population was steadily increasing,
and that they had been requested by many
parents to employ female teachers
c'SehOol ma'ms," they called them regu-
larry trained for the purpose. and that
they could procure the services of two
ladies as described for the amount of
my salary TherenpOn / rendered my
resignation and when the school reopened
in September the two female teachers
were on hand. and hard task they
found awaiting them. They soon perceiv-
ell that about the first requisite toward n
successful teaching of these Mexican boys
was 4 knowledge of their pupils langua :e.
and they started to take lessons from me
at cnce.
INTERPRETER AND TRANSLATOR.
In the meantime l had been offered by
the District Judge and District Attorney
the position of Interpreter and translator
of the Il. s. Court and District Court
Cater on called County Court of the First
Judicial District of Arizona. and had ac-
cepted the position. and when court opened
III September | was in my place.
1nasmuch as about seyen-eighths of the
population consisted of Spanish-speaking
people who knew nothing of the English
language, there was n great deal of inter-
preting to be done in court, and many doc
Gments to be translated, and during court
time ! was kept very much occupied
From many ludicrous incidents which oc-
Cured principally in the questions and
answers passed between the lawyers and
the more or less ignorant Mexican wit
nesses / shall relate a few only. The
reader must bear in mind that the unso-
phisticated Mexican witnesses of the low
| er classes were for the most part over
awed by the majesty of the court upon
their very entrance, and that they were
easily inundated and befogged by any
lawyer who attempted to browbeat them.
And such lawyers there were and are to
| this day in plenty. and not only in Ari-
| IONA. Add to this that the class of Meyi-
cans | speak of had very little idea of ex-
act time and measured distances and my
| readers will readily understand that inter
rogations like the following were of fire.
quent occurrence:
| District Attorney: "You say you saw
| the shot fired?'
Witness: Il did,"
ID. A: How far were you away from
| the man who was shOt?'
Wit: .Quien sabe?" (who knowsy.
(This expression is in universal use
in Mexico. Ore will hardly eyer hear
the expression 'No 81" Il do not know,
which it really means TO imply.l
ID. A.: Were you two yards distant,
or three. or four?"
Wit: THAT was about it, think"
ID. A.: Or were You 20 yards away p
Wit: THAT also may be; think it
was"
Or the following:
ID. A.: "What time of the day was Il
when the shooting took placer.