The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1907-06-13
Random Thoughts
Of a
Busy Outsider

~ - edlu that the oCSiCl VI ANutcA7
cons great victories lay in hts ability
to- surprise his enemies. he was all
ways doing the unexpected and there
in was mis- success. In general terms
it may be said that he fights best who
thinks best, who thinks quicker than
mis- enemy In the classic language Of
David Harum, "Who does to the other
feiler what he'd do to you and does 1t
fust."
This talent of taking other people
by surprise is only another mamie Tor
originality and it is a potent factor in
peace as well as n war. Every man
who governs, and governs well, pos
sesses and uses 1t, whether he rules a
home, a sehoolroom or nation.
Who is 1t rules tine home? Now
the Outsider has no personal meaning
in that question. Neither have we a
desire to refer to the old jokes of hen
pecked, petticoat-ridden, etc. It is al
simple question, who most often rules
the home? He who has the big
voice, the preponderance of strength,
the greater brain II you will-or she
whose originality make 1t impossible
to forecast her view Of any question
The answer Is clear enough. In civ
ilized communities tue nausfrau is US
ually the house queen.
o.
Many school would be more ably
governed If the teacher understood
the art OF surprise. No pupil can bel
expected to nave great admiration for
that teacher whose every action can
be foreseen. School is too monoton-
Gus for the young American who can
forcsee even the very joke to which
an occasion gives rise. On! the joke,
the jokei If man must be flr7nyI
why Will he practice on those VINO
have no recourse, but to laugh with
counterfeited glee.' The Outsider
once knew a boy who declined to do
the eounterfeited glee" and thereby
earned the everlasting i'll will Of the
pedagogue. If we were teacher and
going to start out to be nu1norist,
we would make an absolute study OF
the business just as otner clow1s do,
and we'd try to bear in mind that Of
all stale things a stale joke is the
most improbable.
On the other hand, the ability to do
the unexpected once in while is a
great help to teachers authority.
The Outsider remembers a case IN
point. A big overgrown nigh school
boy once had the notion of absenting
himself from school and then bring-I
ing in an excuse as vague as his own
ideas of discipline. 1t was a 'Please
excuse George" affair. At one partic-
ular time George had absentej him
self in the afternoon and the high
school principal reported the fact to
the superintendent At roll call tnel
next morning George was there AID
the principal called him to the desk
to report Where is your excuse for
yesterdays absence Have you any?'1
George began fumbling in his pockets
with the air Of seeking something
lost. The principal waited. We'll"
he said, Il guess I've lost 1t, Miss A.
III bring 1t at noon" The superin-
tendent had been sitting quietly at
the desk, apparently absorbed in pa
pers. 'T'Il bring it at noon" said
George, AID the delay had focused
every eye on him. "Oh, no, Miss
A." said the superintendent just
waking up and speaking so every one
heard. George will not bring al ex.
cuse at noon. saw his father this
morning. and George can't get an ex-
cuse under any circumstances" The
lesson was salutary. George did not
fake any more excuses.
The teacher who is Just little
more alive than anv Of her pupils is
the one who governs best. That Is
the reason scholarship test is not
always a fair test Of teacher One
may use so much gray matter on the
solutioa Of problems or declension of
nouns tnat there is not enough left
to apply to the practical art of gov
erning school room.
-o
The ruler OF a nation governs best
II he has mastered the art OF surpris-
ing people. The Outsider Is well
aware that every reader of that last
sentence is thinking of our own strea-l
nous executive. Every one OF you is
thinking Of Roosevelt You could not
help 1t. No man ever more complete
~ has understood the art of doing
the unexpected. 1t not only n
craftsmanship, in politics, IN ezecu-
tive matters that he is likely to break
out most any time; but there is no OBJ
ject, great or small. in which he II
not likely to have his little say. More
correctly speaking one should call it
his "big say"
However much his critics may carp
about the Roosevelt habit Of speaking
up at all times. II has endeared him
70 the people, whether because they
agree with him. OF more properly be-
cause they are all interested n
watching what he will 30 next
flstIsr Iasf 1901 81, rttf<a.x, v,ax,srsx L