The Madison journal., 1913-10-18


~NE republics, as expressed in
~ a direct primary In Stevens
County, Iowa. ] am on my
way to the great new West, where
/ shall seek to serve newer COM
munities where perfidy may not
be SO ingrained in the nature
OF the body polite. And | shall
shun relations other than professional
ones, with persons of youth, beauty,
charm. and feminine gender. For by
these | am a sufferer. | have with me
my notes, and to you is given the first
hearing of my side of case which
may become historic.
THE contest is unequal" says
Epictetus, between a charming young
girl and a beginner In philosophy"
blamed for the havoc wrought upon
my political educational career In
Stevens County, Iowa, by Miss Ro-
berta Lee Frayn of Tennessee. Not
that | am a beginner In philosophy.
The man who, at my age, has been
elected county superintendent Of
schools is no mere tyro in the field
wherein Epictetus so distinguished
himself But neither does the word
charming" adequately describe Miss
Frayn, unless one trace back the word
charm" to its more diabolically sig
nificant root / expect to write this.
my apologize, and leave the verdict to
posterity.
No citizen of Stevens County Is like
ly to be ignorant of the mani. In
which Miss Frayn was deposite> N
my mothers farmyard by the wrsuo, =,
ing Of a railway train, or how her
grandfather, Colonel Kenton Yell
Frayn, died there in her arms and
left the young girl penniless. Judge
Worthington, hereafter to be men
toned, was on the train and doubtless
assisted In extricating Miss Frayn
and her grandfather from the wreck
age. but feel that my own efforts
were more effective than was reported.
We left the young woman in the care
of my mother, and l took the judge
with me in my buggy.
He was much distraught as we rode
along. tried to say something in
the way OF furthering my candidacy
for the office | now hold; but he re-
pulsed me.
For Gods sake, Oscar" remember
him to have said, don't try to elec-
tioneer me until can get out Of my
mind the image Of that poor young
girl and her dying grandfather"
do not care to criticize the judici.
airy, but will say that Judge Worthing
tons early promotion to the bench and
his undeniable comeliness Of person
have in a measure induced In him a
certain arrogance.
was triumphantly elected. l went
to Boston and won recognition so far
as to be placed on the subcommittee
for the investigation Of Tone-Deafness
in the rural schools, in the superin-
tendent's section of the National
Teachers Association.
Feeling the growing breadth and
fulness of life I returned and as
sumed my office. Then 1t was that the
Frayn episode may be said to have
begun, in a letter from my brother
Chester, which / have here, and which
runs, using an undignif1ed diminutive:
Dear oc:
I'VE would like to see you. Mother and
all are well. and glad you pulled through.
even II you did run behind the ticket so.
Am feeding three loads of steers, and
they are making a fine gain. Middle
kauff's look rough. and all the feeders
four A cents M Is for for them. This is about all
the news. Can't you appoint me your
deputy down here to examine Miss Frayn
whose grandfather got killed In that
wreck? She wants to teach. She Is Q
southerner. but an awful nice lady. and
tust as smart as one Of US. She breads to
go TO Pacific City to be examined, as she
won't let ma get her hardly any clothes
She Is very sensitive about money mat
ter.. and I had to lie to her about the
funds to bury her grandfather with. and
tried to slip In $3.50 more. but she caught
me at Il and cried. I will be strict and
make her write out the examination
properly; so send along the questions
and the appointment
yours truly, Chet.
"P. s.-Judge worthington's office Is sc
near yours you might leave the appoint
ment and the questions In three. The
Judge will bring them down. He comes
down quite often now, because he says
that the Boggses and the Worthingtoni
moved into Iowa In the same wagor
train In an early day. and he thinks Il
strange that that accident that killed
Colonel Fayn should have brought the
families together again. He thinks thai
Miss Frayn will make a frst-rate teacher
so you need not be backward about the
appointment and the questions"
Not abating one jot or title Of my
official strictness, / informed Chester
that Miss Frayn must appear and bt
examined as did others in the same sit
uation. Chester is an Ames man, and
a fine judger and feeder of cattle, but
not fitted for responsibility in bellies
letters.
Professor Dustin, an elderly an6
myopic educator and the author of 8
monograph on the CRUDE method. haC
charge of the examination when Miss
Frayn appeared. found Chester
smoking a vile pipe In my lodgings
when l came home.
Say, Oc." said he, this four-eyeC
old trilobite won't do You've got tc
get In here and do business yourself.
Conjecturing that he meant Profes
sor Dustin, inferred that Miss Frayn'.
papers had been rejected. A glance
justified the professor. She had giver
Richmond as the capital Of the United
States. A question In physiology call
ed for a description of the iris, ant