The San Francisco call., 1913-09-15
= Little =
Bobb;e e 5
= Pa =
iSIz1 III sl7 XII 1isz III Si7SS SSNS
BY WILLIAM F. KIRK

I THINK Bobbie ought not to take
UP Latin next fall. sed Ma, it is too
hard for him. doant see any sense
In him lerning ded langwidge.
You doant understand, sed Pa. The
teechers at the skool knows best what
Bobbie shud take up. They have dee
voted thare whole life to reerlng the
minds of the yung. Let him talk Latin
II the teecher thinks he shud.
But the teecher doesn't say he must
take Latin, sed Ma The class has the
rite to choose wether they want to
talk Latin or German. / think 1t wud
be nicer for him to lern sum nice,
homelike langwidge like German, SO
it win be useful to him in his every
day life There is lots of Germans in
this town. sed Ma, & II he shud hap
pen to git job clerlSing in bank or
a stoar. his German wud help him
moar than a ded langwidge like Latin.
doant know anything about the
Latin. sed Ma. doant think there is
any of them alive.
1t always amuses me to hear a
woman talk & talk G. not say any
thing. sed Pa You doant understand.
Latin is crate langwidge for any
boy to lern. 1t gives him a insite into
the English langwidge, wich is biIt up
largely on Latin. That is why / have
such fine flow of langwidge. Pa sed;
a flow of iangwidge that I guess you
often wish you had wen / cum hoam
lait. he sed to Ma.
How much Latin did you study?
asked Ma.
! am a master at it, sed Pa. | stud
died 1t all the four years / was in
the high skool. / studded Cicero's
invashun of Gaul & how julius
Caesar deefied Catiline in the senate
of Rome. How well l remember
them ringing words of his. Pa sed.
wen he shouted at Catiline: Pax
vobiscum. ct cum spiritu tue. nux
vomica.' & then you ask me about
Latin, Pa sed. Why, ne sed to Ma,
/ cud set here all day & talk Latin
to you If you wud understand any
of 1t. but wen / am In one of my
deep moods you doant eeven under
stand my fine English.
You are a perfeck wonder. aren't
you? sed Ma. Now let me tell you
sumthing, & / am going to correck
you rite in front of little Bobbie.
beekaus I think 1t wud teech YOU q
lesson. You are all mixed up in yure
Latin. 1t was Julius Caesar which
invaded Gaul, & it was Cicero which
denounced Catiline in the Roman
senate. Am / rite, Bobbie?
You are rite, toald Ma. l wasent
thare, but l herd the teecher say so.
The teecher dident say so. or IL the
teecher did say so the teecher is
fool sed Pa. Why. 1 surely ought to
know what I am talking about. / can
see the lines in the textbooks now,
ware Cicero tells about his first trip
to Gaul. He sed "Omnia Gaul is
trespassing parties such as E Pluribus
Unum g. ora pro nobisky.' Doant
tell me that l am rusty on my Latin,
sed Pa; I know it as well as | know
my own SON. I remember how one
of the Gauls dident like Cicero & he
sed Cicero" says he, Cicero, why do
you cum here & lay waste our lands
and deestroy our hoams,' & Cicero
sed to Gaul, '.Gaulia, de mortuis nil
nisi bonum," which means In English,
We'll. Gaul. like yure gall"
Doant anser yure father. Bobbie.
sed Ma. This has been vary hot day
down town, & / am afrade the heet
has went to his deer he'd. Go g. git
sum cracked ice. Bobbie. & Will
bring him around all rite.
Then we put cracked ice on Pas
he'd and he went to sleep. I guess 1
will talk German instead OF Latin
~