The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1911-05-18
LOCAL HISTORY.
Wells Township Schools, Houses, and
Teachers Of Sixty to One Hun
dred Years Ago.
FOR THE NEWS BY NJ. NJ. HORTON.
Continued from last week.

sums. Ii DOy encOunJereu y
sum which he could not work, he
was SAID to be stalled. In such
case, he took the troublesome
sum and his slate and penJil to
the teacher who was expected to
drop all other work and proceed
to work it. After working it he
handed the slate containing his
work to the pupil without any
explanation-many teachers S
could not explain their work
and If the latter could see the
figures of the "answer" as they
appeared, IN his book, after the
sum, he went to his desk, copied
the teachers work, with the re-
suit that the figures of the an
swer, as they were IN the book
did not appear or if he proposed
to work the sum after school
when he was not so busy, woe be
unto hlm. His proposition to do
the work after school was accept.
ed as conclusive evidence that
he had a "Key" which he intend.
ed to use in working the sum.
lie must work the sum when II
was brought to him and get the
right answer. Failing to do this,
the report, that John Smith or
Joe Brown had stalled the teach.
er in arithmetic, went INTO every
home IN that district that same
evening, with the result that
many of the parents and all the
pupils lost all confidence IN the
teacher as such. Only vicious
conduct of the worst character,
on part of a teacher, could so eff
fectually destroy his usefulness
as to get stalled IN arithmetic.
Once so stalled, or said TO be, his
work, as teacher, in that district,
ended with the term during
which he failed to get the answer.
One of the most essential quail
ticatlons which the old time
teacher must possess, was that
OF being able to make a goose
quill pen and to keep 1t IN repair
after 1t was made. The teacher
made new pens and repaired old |
ones after or before school hours. |
The closing hour of each school |
day saw the teachers desk cover.
ed with goose quills and dllapid-
ated pens. No steel pens were
used in school. | saw the first |
steel pen, | ever saw, in 1853. |
1t was a clumsy affair made to
tasten on one end of q smoothly |
Whitfield stick which served as
holder. Boys and girls, in those
old time schools, studied their
reading and spelling lessons
aloud, each one trying to make
more noise than any other was
making. This usually took place,
at Its worst, while the teacher
was working a sum.
Happily, much of the old time
way of doing the work, in Wells
Valley schools, was thing of the
past when | became a pupil at
Glbson's. At that time some
progress had been made in the
euort to secure uniformity in
text books. Cobb's spoilers, old
and new, and his readers, were
III use and no others. There was
out one arithmetic, Smiths and
pupils recited IN classes IN spell.
ing, reading and arithmetic at
regular periods. The days of
working sums were nearly gone.
IL was not so with gramma
hlrkham's, Hart's and Smiths
s'ammars were in all the schools.
NO geography was taught.
Every boy and girl learning to
write had "copy" book made of
ioolscap paper. In those books
.ie teacher "set" the copies to be
,l''ated by the learner. That's,
'ne teacher wrote, in his best
TTie' line at top of each page.
ane pupil copied on every liuefo
'ue bottom. These copies were
Se1 after or before school hours
VI uurlng the noon recess which
was The only recess allowed dur
'continued on page four)