The Ordway new era., 1912-02-16

- S1b so consarned hard. as Cap
nAN tain Dunbar says. that half
~ i: ss.,.:s ;s't: t;*,;: ss:s :,s., se'. on =!
horseback. which. coming from an
officer OF the law. carries weight The
town Is the snappy little village OF
Freeport, L. !.
Since the primary incident. and "a
an Indirect result thereof. the author
files at Albany have been appealed to
twice, the police have been called
upon to perform emergency duty. four
men have lost their ofiicial jobs. there
has been a strike. parades through
the town. a placarding OF fences and
barns with statements and warnings.
mass meetings Of citizens. men and
women alike. and a general condition
OF such persistent turmoil that no one
would SO much as think Of predicting
what's going TO happen next. accord
ing to a correspondent Of the New
York World.
BY starting with the kissing Incl
dent. It 10 easier to set matters down
in something like order.
Arthur E. Barnes. a Union college
man. tall. angular. red.headed and
given to wearing stif1 starched white
lawn ties bow.knc:ted at his Adams
apple, as superintendent OF the Free
port schools had Offices In the high
school. Ono day after school John
Lewis. in the performance OF his JAM.
torial duties. mounted n step-ladder In
the hall outside the superintendent
H@ N
Obviously he had to look In. He says
he saw Superintendent Barnes in the
act OF kissing. or being kissed. by Inez
Armstrong. a demure and willowy lit.
tie teacher. Now. this incident. which
10 NO part Of the high school curricu-
lum and nowhere mentioned by the
regents. was communicated to the
school board. But the midsummer
vacation was approaching and the
school authorities. having in mind the
gossip which naturally follows on the
very heels Of a story OF an indiscre-
ton. did not take prompt action.
In tho Role Of Joseph.
Barnes himself admitted the kiss.
ing. saying that he was the recipient
thereof instead of being the kisser.
He furthermore credited It to a hys.
,terical outburst on the part OF the
young teacher due to her delight at
having been successful In an examina.
ton for promotion in which he had
aided her.
But It hadn't looked that way to Jan.
itor Lewis or to his assistant. eddie
Smith.
When the schools closed the young
teacher went away from Freeport.
and during the long summer drone
the school board turned the matter
over in its ofilcial collective head and
finally decided that Superintendent
Barnes admitted qualifications for
school direction. coupled with his sew.
eral years Of service. should not be
disregarded. So he was re.engaged
for another year.
And Barnes came back with his
white lawn tic to the scene Of tho
incident" at the beginning Of the fall
term. But the young woman didn't.
Then some Of the townspeople
sought out Janitor Lewis and his as.
youth or two for a more detailed &C.
count OI "uut uHO tAken place Wlthln
the superint ndent's room. They got
It. Smith confirmed Lewis. The boys
confirmed Smith.
Trouble for superintendent.
The next move was the circulating
Of an appeal to the state superinten.
dent OF education to compel the Free.
port board Of education to rescind its
contract with Barnes.
Some Of the townsfolk announced
that they would withdraw their daugh.
ters from the school until such time
a. Barnes had been given his walk.
ing papers. Barnes stood pat when
the term began. Having been exoner.
ated by the school board and his con.
tract renewed. he went about his du.
ties quite as II nothing had happened.
Not SO industrious John Lewis or Ed.
die T. Smith. Their respective brooms