Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-15
END OF PAPER WAp.
II IS No Disgrace Now to Be Good In
School.

School.
Remember the be-whittled school
desks that acted as work benches in
the knowledge shop where you were
initiated into the mysteries Of the
English language and long division?
Starting at the inkwell deep cash di-
vided the surface into two equal
parts for you and your cellmate.
Branching out from this was an in
tricate system Of irrigation bitches
that was flushed with brunette writ
ing fluid whenever a new canal was
added, so as to give to the recently
engraved feeder the appearance Of an
antiquity.
The edge Of the desk was like sil-
houette Of the Andes mountains. And
interfering with the irrigation system
was the monogram Of every prisoner
Of learning who had got there before
you. Following the same impulse
which prompts life convicts to trace
hieroglyphics on their cell walls, you
added your. initials to the roster. Then
you rubbed lead pencil powder In the
fresh cuts and bathed 1t with tears
from your sponge so that when the
fiinty-faced lady tyrant, whom an
iron-hearted school board had given
dominion over you, came around the
initials looked as If the manufacturer
had carved them there.
But alas for the good old days."
Even as the day has passed when men
accepted the old oaken bucket with
out chemical analysis Of its con-
tents, so no more Is the school desk
looked upon as specimen to be dis
sected by the students Barlow. At
least that is the case In the Kansas
City schools.
How do you work it?"
This admiring query was made to a
school principal by the lord and mas
ter of a household whose heir, when
out Of school, was the scourge Of the
neighborhood. Yet this same heir
brought home good reports from his
teachers. Mr.. Lord and Master noted
wonderingly that no paper wads clung
to the ceiling Of the schoolroom and
that the piano finish of the desks was
not scratched.
"And look there!" he continued ex-
citedly. "The girl in front Of my kid
lets her queue lie on his desk! And
he sits with his hands folded In an
attitude Of deep piety without making
a move to pull her hair.
why, we used to consider 1t a dis
grace to be good In school. was q
hero on the strength Of my ability to
grunt like flock Of pigs without the
teacher being able to tell who was
making the porky noise. Our highest
aim in study hours was to keep every
body else from studying, favorite
methods being hatpins, beanshooters,
and mushy paper wads. Every af-
ternoon the schoolroom floor looked
like a sawmill and the janitor carried
out about one-fourth of the furniture
in the shape of shavings on his dust
pan.
1.-The worse a thing was, the more
honor to you-if you got away with
1t. II we got caught there was the
supreme distinction Of getting slapped
by the common enemy before the
admiring eyes Of the kids.
"And you've got the same kind Of
kids! How do you work it,"
The principal, who was a woman,
smiled.
YES" she assented, they're the
same kind of kids-counterparts Of
little Abel Adam. We wouldn't faint
either IL one of the boys were to be-
gin making kindling out Of his desk
we'd simply make him pay for 1t. And
there's no honor In being called into
executive session with the principal
and having to pay out the enormous
sum Of 81.
1.-The difference is that with the old
method all the medicine came out Of
the same bottle. No matter what a
boy did he was whipped or made to
stay after school. We put every boy
under the microscope, see what makes
him tick and punish him with what
ever he hates to do most.
Now, that boy Of yours is a great
personal friend Of mine. He Is very
sensitive One day he and another
boy had a fight over some complica-
tions growing out Of a marble game.
1 talked to him for five minutes and
he hasn't given me any trouble since.
Its the parents we have trouble
with. Usually the father sees things
the teachers way, but sometimes the
mother gets the idea that 1t Is all a
plot against her boy by the horrid old
teacher, board of education, mayor
and board Of aldermen, with the Sc
cret consent Of Uncle Joe Cannon