Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-10-09
SCHOOL STRIKE IS
OFF,; PUPILS BACK
Parents Not in Sympathy and
Teacher Recommends Rod
as "Persuader."

Unable to interest their parents in
teacher in the Morton Street Public
School, most of the striking members
of the 7-B class were forced to return
to their studies today.
All the members of the committee
of eight which waited upon Superin-
tendent Poland and demanded the
removal of Hess were back at their
desks. and s~heepishly admitted that
they were back to stay. The defiant
attitude with which they strutted
back n forth in front of the school
yesterday was missing.
Mr.. Hess, in a statement, attrib-
uted h trouble among his pupils to
the law which prohibited corporal
punishment. He declares that many
OF h present evils of the school
rooms, such as insolence, talkative-
ness, cheating. disorder and kindred
offenses would be reduced to a very
small minimum If tine teacher hau
authority to infict punishment when
occasion required 1t.
From the very first day he as
sumed charge, he said, his class has
oeen an unruly one The present
trouble, however. he attributes to a
few OF the pupils, whom he names,
ana who he says never know their
lessons because they would rather
be entertained than study.
When school was opened this morn
ing the strikers" said not a word to
anyone, but took their accustomed
nIAGlG in linz op1 n few r,a;-xt1- -
. o'clock found them at their desks
In the classroom. Out of the entire
class there were but three absentees
that were not accounted for. These
were Samuel Jackson. Anna Harr and
Robert Roy. 1t is said. however. that
they did not belong to the striking
contingent.
me absolute discipline OF the school
was clearly demonstrated by a fl
drill called by Principal Otto Schultz
tho a seconds warning. In three
minutes after the gong was sounded
the entire school of 1900 pupils was
out of the building and on the street,
IL was a wonderful sight and showed
the wonderful training of the chill
dren. Principal Schultz. as we'll as all
the teachers, came in for much praise
on the showing made, especially in
View of the fact that there was not
the slightest warning given that a
drill was to be called.
Assistant Superintendent ]. Wilmer
Kennedy was at the school early to-
day TO investigate the trouble. but
aside from giving the class III uues-
ton a heart to heart talk, in which
he showed them the error of their
ways, he had nothing to say. He
advised this class. as well as all the
others in the school. that if in the
future they should have any griev-
ance to take it up with their prin-
cipal who. he said. would see that
they were treated fairly.
1t was explained by several of the
strikers at the noon recess, how
ever, that the only reason tina they
had nos gone to Principal Schultz
With their troubles was because they
did not want to bother him, other
wise. they said, they would have reg
istered their complaint with him in
stead CT going TO Or. Poland.
Parents of several of the strikers
W Nv W 81 lSiAtAl lO1tAA tCkldiGb Atjal
they knew nothing about the trouble
IN the school until they READ of it in
the papers. I'M lot m instance did
they sympathize with their children.
Mr.. Hess's statement of the trou-
BILE, which is in answer to several
charges made by the pupils to DR..
Poland, follows:
Teacher Tells of Strike.
10 the Editor of the i:tea ms Star.
Please give this letter the pub
licity which has been given to the
strike among my pupils of the Nor
ton Street School. There were thir-
teen of those pupils absent in the
morning. Of that number three were
sick and had nothing to do with the
strike, and one, a negro boy, an
truant, who was also absent
the day before, may or may not have
been a striker-I' do not know.
In the afternoon twenty-nine were
absent, some, il not all of whom, were
away although they had at
tended school in the morning., be-
cause they were threatened and called
names.
Oilt xiii Mtttot Pi1thh "a PeD
nshed was brought back to school TO
me by her mother before l o'clock.
Three girls, who were absent only IN
the afternoon, came to me AMI tear
fully apologized and begged my for
giveness after ) o'clock.
/ feel sure that were corporal oun-
ishment permitted and compelled To
be practised in the schools - our
State whenever occasion calls for 1t
q strike among pupils would be UNI
hear of, because pupils would not
dare dc such an act on ccoun OF the
respect that they would have for law
and order. Also insolence, talkative-
ness, cheating, disorder and kindred
schoolroom evils would be reduced to
a very small minimum.
Calls II a Lawiess Class,
NV class has been "a very unruly
one. From the very first hour of my
among my pupils on Sep
tember 3. before | was even az
auainted with them. their disorder.
their license and lawlessness have
been a source of great annoyance to
me.
ONLY once have | struck a pupil,
and he was the very ~disorderly Fisch-
bein boy, who spoke falsely when he
said that | slapped his face. | slapped
him several times across the shoul-
ders, but not until he had struck me
in the chest two or three ime He
had deied me, and OF course was
ppose to accept his defiance and
receive his blows.
The three girls, Carrie knoller, Lot
Ila ICInie.l M u.