The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
TOM REEDS WAY AS A SCHOOL TEACHER Turning Point In Life of Great
 Speaker HAD TO FIGHT PUPILS His Service in the District School at Westbrook Recalled by Death
 of Grover Merrill of
 Kansas.
HAD TO FIGHT PUPILS

tue OLldud be6.
 Topeka. Kas.-lThe recent death of for mer Gov. E. N. Merrill at his home at Hiawatha recalls some interesting in cidents in his life One of them is that when a member of @ district school board in Maine he confirmed the employment of the late Speaker Thomas B. Reed as teacher, and later stood by him and saved him when other directors and pat rons of the school sought to displace him.
 It was 50 years ago, when Reed, then about r, appeared at the little village of Westbrook, ten miles west of Portland, Me, and applied for the job of teaching the district school. Westbrook, now a town of 5000 people, was then a ham let.
 E. N. Morriel, who later came to Kansas and served this state as congressman and governor, lived on farm near the West brook district school. He had been elected member of the school board and among the other duties devolving upon that body was that of employing a teacher for the eight weeks school term during midwin- ter. Reed was a student at Bowdoln col lege and was doing chores mornings and evenings to pay his way. He had eight weeks vacation during winter and decided to put in the time teaching a country school at $25 a month. He selected West brook because of Its nearness to Port land.
 Story of Tom Reed. Dr. H. c. Linn, Kansan who had spent many years in Washington anu >,e.s -.- sonal friend of Speaker need and Gov ernor Morrill,. in a reminiscent talk about the early friendship between these men in the little village of Westbrook said:
 T wish I could tell the story as I heard Tom Reed tell 1t in Washington when he and Governor Morrill, were in Congress. Nobody on earth could put it in black and white as it was told in his inimitable drawl, with the twinkle in his kindly eyes, the jolly laugh or slowly coming smile that changed so marvellously the whole expression of his faa
 From Reeds description of this his first business venture in the world, the district was no happy valley by any means. There was a neighborhood broll always on the coals at Westbrook and one was stewing away when he put in his application for the district school. It was there that his path crossed that of Governor Morrill, who, though only five years his senior. was chairman of the district school board. Thomas B. Reed passed the exampination and was engaged to teach the school for eight weeks, Governor Merrill signing the certificate.
 Reed didn't get along very well, even at the first. because as he said, he un- dertook to introduce city methods Into a country school. He was very strict. He insisted that lessons should be learned and proper decorum observed during school hours.
 "When pupils made poor recitations he sent them back to their seats and kept tn em after school hours laboring with them long and earnestly. Misde- menaors were visited with severe con demnation also. I remember of hear ing Governor Morrill, ask Reed if he wasn't sonyething of czar when boy.
 "'Oh, hang it. Reed replied, what's the use of doing thing unless you do 1t properly? I was there to teach school. I was paid for it, and I in- tended to earn my money if I had to fight every day
 One Sample Fight.
 ''In describing one particular encounter which led to Reeds arraignmept before the school'board, he said his attire was sadly rent and disordered and he looked to have been the under dog in fight.
 But the former speaker added with a twinkle In his eyes, the other fellow didn't look very pretty either.'
 1.-The neibhgorhood row that was going on finally involved the district school, and charges of czarism against the teacher or something akin to it were preferred against him, and he was accordingly ar raigned before the school board The bat tie waged all one day. Chairman Merrill of the school board standing by the sturdy youth to the very end.
 Might came on and Tom Reed walked out of the board meeting a conqueror. With Morrill's help he had been abe to count a majority in his favor. He taught the school to the end of the term and so well did he succeed that he was en- gagged for second and third winter, and he might have gone on indefinitely had he not graduated with honors and gone beyond the narrow horizon that en- vironed Westbrook."
 More than 20 years later Tom Reed and MT. Morrill, were in Congress to- gether, and the boyhood friendship was re-estabished. Naturally, when MT. Reeds ambition to become speaker of the Frifty-first Congress became known, one of his ardent supporters was Governor Morrill, of Kansas, together with the bal ance of the states delegation.
 Morrill, on Reed.
 During his lifetime Governor Merrill ire quet0fy talked of the intimate friendship which existed between him and Mr Reed. This was fproved when Reed was chosen Speaker. He had it in his power to re- ward Morrill, for his kindness to a strug- gling school teacher in the early days at Westbrook. He made his boyhood friend chairman of the committee on pensions, and the Morrill, pension law which has distributed millions of dollars among for mer soldiers, their widows and their or phans, Is the result.
 Governor Morrill, frequently referred to the employment of MT. Reed as the teach CT of the Westbrook district school and in his "reminiscences and speeches in eulo- gizing the man from Maine expressed the belief that he himself in a measure was responsible for the career of the Speaker If Merrill had failed to hold that school board to its contract Reeds opportunity would have been lost and his prospects injured Governor Merrill believed that Reeds turning point in young manhood hinged on his success in handling the Westbrook school, and that his stanch friendship and loyalty to the young teach CT in a critical hour was the inspiration which shaped his useful life.
 After Major Morrill, was elected gov ernor of Kansas in 1894 a great ratifica- ton was held in his home town, Hia- watha. Cyrus Leland, who had settled in a neighboring county in 1858 and who for twelve years was national republican com mitteeman was that year chairman of the republican state committee Joseph l.. Brstow, now United States Senator, was secretary of the committee.
 Only Two Jobs Pledged.
 They both went to Hiawatha for the jollfcaton and the two with Morrill, marched at the head of the procession around town. That night Leland and Bristow were guests at Morrill's home.s After dinner they talked over the matters that would come before the new gov