Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-02-21

n1nQS, which some OF Ine WaTmesl
supporters OF the school board now
believe to have been a tactical mis-.
take. Neither man was guilty OF any.
thing except seeing the kissing. un'
less guilt attached to talking about It.
So. at the beginning Of the school
term, Barnes was very much present
and Inez Armstrong and the janitora
very much absent. ri. ri III sE$ \
Formal charges 4; were made sooD
thereafter to ID. ]. s. Cooley. school
Commissioners for Nassau county, by
q committee Of Freepprt citizens that
Barnes was morally unit to continue
in village school work. The testi.
mony OF the janitors was made part
Of the formal bill. It was both gen.
eral and circumstantial. It was not
confined to recounting one incident,
but carried Barnes through year
during which period. as set down, he
had been a party to other acts not q
recognized detail Of school superin'
tendency. &.
,SS testimony Contradictory.
At the hearing before Commission
5er Cooley one witness testified that
he had placed himself In as near as
possible the position occupied by the
janitor on the occasion when he had
seen the superintendent and the WON.
an teacher together, and he gave it as
his opinion that Smith could not have
seen the kissing or noted the mani;
tfestations OF hysteria. This might
have carried some weight were 1t not
that the superintendent had admitted
the kissing. u.
Another witness told Of Barnes ex-
cellence In higher algebra, which like
wise did not seem to have any fixed
bearing on the incident. There's no
algebra for kissing. IL
The overwhelming weight Of the
evidence against Barnes was accepted
~. DR., Cooley, who two days before
Christmas declared oncially that
Barnes was unfit to teach.
Having. been generated by the To-
cal school board and engaged for the
new school year. Barnes promptly APP
pealed to the state superintendent to
have the county commissions de-
cision set aside
The ONCE of superintendent being
now vacant, the Freeport school board
appointed Principal Roy Leon Smith
of the high school to act as superin.
tendent. pending the determination OF
Barnes appeal, and in the event Of It
being decided adversely to him to con-
tinue until such time as permanent
successor to that omcial could be Sc
cured. tx 4 4, = I
Smith, who had remained silent
during the period when Barnes was in
the limelight, and having a rather pro-
nounced opinion of the way the kiss.
ing incident was handled by the
school board, made public letter adj
dressed to that body in which he de-
clined the temporary appointment to
the vacant Barnes post, saying he did
not care to serve under the board.
This brought the row to its second
and more spectacular but happily
cleaner stage, which began on Jan. S.
The school board, Of which Samuel r.
Smith--the third of the name Of
Smith, in the controversies presi-
dent, dismissed Principal Smith, hold
ing that his conduct in making public
his letter was discourteous and-in-
subordinate.
The board did not want to lose the
principal, but it did want to pre-
serve its own dignity. It urged him to
withdraw the letter and make such
an apology as the circumstances, as
the, board saw them. seemed to de-
mand. But the principal couldn't see
1t.
On the morning Of January s, when
Smith appeared opposite one Of the.
two jSpanish-American war cannon
that stand on the high school lawn.
his namesake Of the school board APP
peared on the firing line and told the
principal he must not enter the school.
Some of the big boys and more spirit
ed girls, having heard this. decided
that they, too, would absent them
selves and thus protest against the
removal Of the principal. Certain Of
the louder instruments Of the high
school band were secured from the