The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-12-15
JOURNAL COURIER SATURDAY DECEMBER
REBEL BOY AT SCHOOL
REMINISCENCE OF c GEORGIA LAD
 BEDDING INSTITUTE,

Ex-Governor Thomas of Colorado Tells
 About Experience Relating to Forth
 coming History of Bedding by Charles
 Burr Todd-PersecutiOns of Southern
 Believer-How He Made His Way in
 Hearts of the School Boys.
 To the chapter on the old Reading Institute in Charles Burr Todd's forth coming History of Bedding, ex-Gover- nor Thomas of Colorado contributes the following recollection of his ex- periences there as a rebel school boy in 1865.
 Though my parents were natives of Connecticut I was born and reared in Georgia. I was there through the war and as lad was obliged to as- sume as well as I could the supervision of my mothers plantation, as all the men were at the front. Hence I had little time for school had it been avail able SD when the war ended my mother took me at the age of sfteen, to her old home in Bridgeport. and in August following sent me to the San ford icho-l. l was a lank, freckle- faced country boy, fresh from the dis tant South. and painfully conscious of my awkward and uncouth appearances The war had left us but little, so that my schooling was heavy burden t) my mother and I was clad in a suit of clothes constructed from a couple of | secondhand rebel uniforms, reinforced by a Yankee hat and pair of sh5e2 The stage ride from Bridgeport to Bedding Ridge was one of the ordeals of my life. I was then a rebel to the core and fully alive to the fact that I was in the enemys country I had bidden mother god bye and was go- ing I knew not whither. Homeslck- ness is a mild term to apply to my condition l shrank from the end of the journey, l wanted to die, knowing well that I would nlt. So I sat by the driver, steeling mYlelf to approaching fate and wishing l were far away in Dixie knew that boys were no hy- pocrities and that my presence at school would subject me to persecu- tions, due as well to my appearance as to my origin.
 Ut was dark when the stage halted before the Sanford mansion As | alighted, Mir. Sanford met me at the gate, took me to his wife, and asked her to make me comfortable. She tried her best, poor lady, to do so, but was past all comforting. She gave me supper at her own table then took me at once to my room, and thus post pJned the Hateful hour when I should | encounter the boys. The ordeal came with the morning and it lasted for a 1 fortnight with many variations. was called Johnny because l was a rebel, and shorty because 1 was tall, and dandy because of my clothes All the victories of Grant and Sherman were thrown at me- At the same time I was held responsible for the horrors of Andersonville Treason and dis loyalty were my conspicuous crimes It was broadly asserted that l was privy to the assassination 0f Lincoln, and one particularly devilish young ster asserted a close resemblance be- tween my own and the features of Jeff Davis. So Jeff was added to my list of names.
 T endured what I could not avoid till patience was exhausted. I couldn't run away, for I had no place to run to. I begged my mother to take me away. Finally, had a fight and that helped little. Then, a boy named Ridemour gave me a little consider ation and with a grateful heart I strove to make myself companiJnable l by relating some of my war ex- periences. Unconsciously I thus fur nished a welcome remedy for my ills. He repeated some of my stories, So that curiosity usurped the place of malice, and was patronized that might tell others So on Saturdays my room was filled with boys listening to anecdotes of the war from boy who spoke from personal experiences. Before I knew it I was popular My wickedness was discarded and my clothes were historic. They warmed | to me in regular boy fashion, and of course I responded, and ohl the Ietories I told From fact I rapidly de- soended to fancy. My romances were as extravagant as an immature imag- | ination could make them; but as long as they met the demand, I was happy. Don't you think they will | be overlooked, under the clrcum- stances, by the recording angel?
 Messrs. Sanford and Shaw were ex- cellent teachers and thoroughly un- denstood boy nature Teaching in those days was old-fashioned and thorough. Messrs. Shaw and Sanford vigorously insisted on the learning of | lessons and the observance of rules. When a boy became derelict, MIr. san ford did the licking, so he was the one the boys looked out for. MT. Shaw never struck a scholar. But MT. Sanford S punishments, though fre- quent, seemed mild to me. The first | time I ever saw him punish a scholar 1 my amusement was audible for he struck him a solitary blow. Where I came from the teacher wJuld drag the l delinquent from his seat by the col- lar and troUnce him with a hickory switch for three or four minutes until he cried with pain and promised to be good
 My life has been an active one, and l if 1 have been in a measure success full, it is in large measure due to the good principles and strict discipline T 41-