The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1912-06-20
WHEN THE
SUN MOVED
By NJ QUAD
Copyright. 1912. by Associated Lit
craTv Press

Moses uoke, farmer, has six chill
dren, and so when the question Of
building a SchOolhOuse in his neighbOr-
hood came up he agreed that 1t was W
to him to do the fair thing. lie did II
by donating the site. and the county
went ahead and erected Il neat frame
schoolhouse There Ind never been
d regular school in that district before,
and parents and pupils were proud Of
it. A teacher was hired and for six
weeks after school opened all went
well. Then a shadow came.
One day as Farmer Johnson, who
had three children attending the school,
was driving by Farmer Hoke went
out to the gate to stop him and say:
''Look here, Jim; about our school"
"It's fine" was the reply.
al dunno about that; dunno"
"Why. Moses, what can be wrong?
That gal teacher fills the bill mighty
well, and my children are learning
something every day"
"Yes; but what are they learningF"
"Why, what we've all had to learn.
Nothing has happened to make you
dissatisfied, l hope"
"Say, George" said Moses as he came
step nearer and lowered his voice a
bit. what about the north pole and
the south pole? The teacher is telling
that this earth is like pumpkin sus-
pended between two posts with stick
through the middle of It,"
"Well, | reckon that's right"
"But has that got anything TO do
with blowing and planting? Is 1t go
ing to raise more corn to the acre? Is
1t going to stop a kicking cow from
kicking? Is it going to cure a sore
backed horse"
"N-o-o-o, l reckon not. But it's jest
as well to know these things, hain't
itT'
Jest time thown away, as look at
It. And the teacher is a-telling that
this earth is rOJnd"
That's what everybody is a-saying
nowadays, Moses"
Look at that meadow out there,
George. Is 1t round, like an orange,
or fiat, like pancakeP
''It's fiat, of course
-'And all the rest Of the world is
round, is 1t? Something mighty queer
about that. If the world is round
why don't we fall off? Man cart
walk around on a side hill and keep
his balance"
81 was saying so to Smith when |
was in town buying a shovel the other
day, and he says it's gravity that
keeps US standing upright"
81 don't believe any such gol durn-
ed nonsenseP' exclaimed Moses. IF
that's what they are going to teach
my children then I'm agin 1t. My
Sam come home the other day and
said it was 100000 miles to the
sun. The teacher had told him twice
over-93, 100000 miles, Georger'
''Yes, I've heard it was about that"
'And you hain't done anything
about itY'
''Noap. Didn't see what could do.
I can't measure the distance"
Farmer Hoke thought the thing over
for a week. and there might have
been no more trouble had not his SOD
Sam come home one day and asked
of him:
Pop, where is the sun at o'clock
In the morningT
"In the east, you doughhead."
"And at noon?"
"In the south"
"And at sunsetT
"In the west"
"How does it get therep
"How do / get from the house to
the barn and back? i move, don't II
What has that gal teacher been put
ting into your head nowT
|. Pop, the sun don't move a hairs
breadth all dayr announced the lad,
with chuckle.
by the jumping. Jehosaphat, but
that's going too fur-too furp growled
the father. Move? Move? Look at
that sun up there and tell me If you
dare that she hain't movingr'
But it's the earth, pop"
Then why hain't we moving along
either toward the house or barnT
"GravitatiOn Is a-holding u.s."
by thunder, but well see about it!
I won't lick you this time. but don't
you talk any more nonsense. I'll make
certain fOlkses' eyes bung out tomor-
rerr'
Moses Hoke had said he would give
the land for the schoolhouse site. but
the deed to the county hadn't been
drawn yet. He was, therefore. free to
go to the trustees and say:
81 want you to move your old school
house Off my landp'
why, Moses. what's the matter?"
was asked.
"Our children are being made fools
of. That gal teacher is a-telling them
that the sun don't move q blamed inch
all day long"
And 1t doesn't. Moses. It's the earth
that moves"
III give you a week to move the
schoOlhOuser'
"But you donated the land"
where's your deed
Moses had them dead to rights The
trustees and the teacher and the more
intelligent farmers consulted together
and the best they could do was to send