River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-06-24
a REMINDER OF MY SCHOOL
TEACHER DAYS
River Falls A Very Nice Inland College Town
sy Hon. S. N. Hawkins, o New Richmond,
Wis. Formerly student at
THE OLD ACADEMY
Continued from last week.


I taught school there from 1867 to
1870. and that with the exception
IF very few Of the old places.
which are now about the same as
fhev were then, many new houses
and fine barns have been erected.
The old crooked roads have been
straightened out new section lines.
concrete and iron bridges
cnlyerts, and the farms enlarged
and improved, so that, in several
places 1 lost my bearings, ana we
bod to inquire of several farmers
along t h q road s to where we
were, and also the proper dlrec-
ton to 60.
erea, changes and some great Improvements
IN 4 short time, after our M r.
Williams had finished his stock IN
enection among those farmers, we
reached the city Of River Falls.
When | held forth down that
vav. it was only hamlet, pu
now several Of the farms, the Dun
can McGregor farm, t h Ju q g e
Roster farm. and some others, have
bonn plated and where | saw corn
fields and waving grain in t n os
aarlv school teacher days, you may
eoe lots and blocks, duly plated,
with fine residents and beautl1ul
lawns. and elegant shubbery with
smiling flowers on every hand.
gazed upon the large HI g .
school building with it's several
wings, which has replaced the Ola
frame structure, known, in my day
ae "The Old Academy"
"a please me, and give me an
opportunity of viewing the ola
snot Mr.. Williams kindly drov
around the place, where we saw
merry groups Of students playing
IN the school grounds, just about
the same as it was Of yore. The
.bovs were having a sort OF anna
tanr game of base ball, and n
Girls were there as spectators TO
cheer them on with their sports.
And then | thought of that poem
which our Martyred Lincoln loVeo
% we'll, stanza Of which reads
as follows =
.sFor We are the same that our
Fathers have been,
eve see the same sights that our
Fathers have seen,
Owe drink the same stream, n q
view the same sun,
"And run the same course that
our Fathers have run"
W. drove thru Main street,
viewing the business blocks on
every side, called to see e W
old time acquaintance, then drove
thru some Of the avenues and
viewed some of the churches and
also the grounds of the Normal
school building, including also the
new building which was in course
Of construction, nearly, if not full
" completed, excepting the grad
ing and identifying Of the grounds
and we came to the conclusion
that River Falls, is not only a n
educational center, but it is a
very pretty inland College Town.
would have been very m h
pleased to have called and renew
ed the acquaintance Of some of
nv old school mates and my COM
panion teachers of years ago, quite
4 number Of W h o m still reside
there, but as our time was some
what limited, and we intended to
come back by way of Hudson. we
had to take our departure.
Perhaps it is but proper h at
should add that when We were 60
ing towards River Falls, W met
groups of people. dozens and scores
Of them, all going towards Hud-
son to witness that game of base
ball, as it appears that quite a
strife has been going on between
Hudson and New Richmond for
several years, not only upon base
ball, but also about all other sub
iects, debates, and other kind of
contests. Also it appears that
New Richmond has been getting
the better of them, so today was
regarded as spirited contest,
We reached Hudson about t h e
time that the ball game had closed.
with New Richmond a winner by
big odds. And although the Hud-
son people were somewhat crest
fallen, yet they ali treated S
very nicely, and freely admitted
that our boys had won the laurels
in an honorable manner.
Our friend. Mr.. Williams, had oc-
casion to call at the stables o
the mill yard, and so had an OPP
portunity of visiting and viewing
the old mill site where I worked