The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-09-29
and the, tales of discord in SON

committee makes one marvel that d
school can exist in such place.
The petitions and the appeals which
come before the various school
boards are enough to make one turn
pessimist. The worst of it all is,
that most of these contentious and
chickering's are. childish and ground
less, and that they are usually be-
gun and kept alive by men who have
at heart but little interest in any
school. In settling most of these
disputes, Solomon's judgment be-
tween the two women claiming the
child would be wholesome.
It is to these jealousies and quar-
rels that we owe two, three, and
even four, little starving school
where but one ought to be. To
them we owe the little district un-
able to support a school, Every in
fiuential local celebrity wished to
have school house at his front door
or in his backyard. To these jeal-
.ousies we owe most of the defeated
local tax executions. Nearly all the
local disputes. over the teacher have
their origin in neighborhood jeal-
ousies, and the baneful habit of con-
stant change of teachers has its
roots embedded here.
A certain district school is sup
ported by ten families. All is we'll.
hut the school house stands on the
south side of a little creek which
about once year reaches depth
of four feet. A and b suddenly
conclude that this innocent stream
is a menace to the lives Of their
children, and petition for new dis
trict. The next session finds a lit
tie 20x20 foot hull of school house
on the north side of that creek. and
a little lifelesS school on each side
of it. Or, C's bad boy is punished
by the teacher; straightway G raises
the flag of secession, and proceeds
to have his own little d-e-e-strlct
cut off. Or, one of the local econo-
mists gets tired of paying teacher
$40 a month, since his daughter
would teach for $50; the trustees
will not yield to the economist; then
the economist canvasses the district
in the interest Of new set OF
trustees, with the economist as
chairman. Or, d and E are rival
local physicians already at odds; D
saws that Smiths boy has a con-
tagious disease aRnd must be stopped
from the school; E declares that the
disease is only infectious, and that
if would be silly to stop Smith
boy; the quarrel RACES, the partlsans
array themselves, and down goes
the local school fax proposed by the
only really Interested patron OF the
school. Or, X begins to discuss
new school house; L says that the
old one is good enough, and that y
is trying to lead the district; no new
house is built, and the old one grad
uallv rots down. Or, Miss Brown,
the teacher, boards with the Smlths'
the Joneses feel neglected. and begin
to whisper it about that the teacher
can not solve Sallie Jones problems
or phrase Sallie's sentences; the
Smiths retaliate by asserting that
the teacher is able to teach the whole
Jones family; result-the anti
Smith factions children are taught
next session by Miss Sallie Jones
herself. Once more, Mr.. Brown,
with much religious devotion to his
church creed, demands that the ne"
teacher shall be an X-ist; Perkins
Y-ism at once begins to fermenI'
while Stubbs declares that Z-ianlsr
has been outraged, since there has
not been a Z-ian teacher IN the
school in five years. When the new
teacher comes, is he to teach H-lst
doctrine, Y-ist doctrine. Z-ian doc
trine. or should he be a simple GOD
fearing man whose daily life Will be
rebuke to these clamorous Pharl-
sees?
All this may sound like satire, but
it is mask rehearsal of play where
the curtain never falls. Can not
some neighborhoods see themselves
in the play?
WILLIAM E. HAND.
University of South Carolina.