Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-17

the boy. No matter what part you fall on,
1t Is always likely to get hurt"
History, as the study of the lives of great
men, is prolific source of schoolboy howl
ers."
Major Hale we are told, "said Sick sem
per tirannis which is Latin and means am
sorry 1 have but one life to give up for my
country. And then they hung him and every
body was sorry for him because he was such
a young man and so patriotic"
Another hero who serves as a mark for
the wild shots of the embatted schoolboy is
Ben Franklin. Benjamin Franklin" wrote
ten-year-old biographer, was born in
Philadelphia. He worked hard as a boy as
well as as man. He was the inventor of
the kite, the stove, public Libraries, lightning
and electricity"
What was it Patrick Henry said? "Give
me liberty or debt. Is life so sweet? Well
sirs then make the best of it,"
Hacking at History
The well-known story of the cherry tree is
told with variations in group of exam"
papers from which a history teacher quotes:
Abe Lincoln was the 10Th President of
the United States and freed the slaves His
father never told a lie and said to his son
Abe Abe never tell lie and Abe said all
right father will. His father had n cherry
tree Abe cut 1t down just for fun and his
rather caught him doing it and TO see If Abe
would tell the truth he said, who cut down
my CHERRY tree? And Abraham Lincoln
spoke up and said l did it father. I did n
with my hatchet but I'll never do it again"
Skepticism begins early if we may Judge
from the Following example Of precocity;
Ihey tell so many funny stories about
great men that don't believe half of them
George Washington might have been preat |
man nut even If his father RELY did have n |
cherry tree and he cut it down George wou1d
maybe have lied just the same as anvbodv
else" '''"S
IL this Is startling what about the cynicsm
OF the boy who wrote. "If President Wash.
lhBtoh was so good as to never tell a lie be
never would have been President?
How do we know that he ever chopped
down cherry tree?" inquiries another conn
mentator Just because a thing is -
book is no reason why it is right II nfsb+
be that the thing wasn't worth anvtbIna.
anyway and George Washington knew HE
rather would not thrash him anyway and
so he didn't care about telling tbe tr,,t,,
lhats II he really did chop down a eberr,,
tree" SHerFy
TO abandon all attempt at classiacat,or
here are some other gems:
Plants take in oxygen occasionally, b,.
always take in nitrogen at night" '''
Ihe lie OF the bees in the hive 10 indo.,
communal one for they oommunicata ~,
the time by buzzing or rubbing their a'
tennae together" '"eF an
me moon rose over the treetops ana
'ransnNed the night into day. "a
of
box" ''of IN an Ice
sharp piece OF literary eritieisr, :.
'elnaFk OF high school student "o
me author of a story must ,r...,.,
insert pleasant description IN ordas
'aeify the reader" TO
Getting Back at Teacher
To paeify the schoolbov ~ sh..,,
iia' nc Is not the only person who oon,s',.s
'ioNlers' Teachers or would-b he taaatl
lopnaer IN the river Of doubt 'Sleiefs
you'd seem so from excerpts from, 'slss ls I
ls ls'''i''ea pS applicants for tasoh@t, Z
'ork Tribune: "a the New
raj agriculture is ls feet.s ''''s' TOT gen
iRat the earth is round was af. 4
1ohn On the Isle of Patmas - ossFea =
"Asheyille Is wen noted an Co. 1
y a submarine fort" OF be- Z
Gibraltar Is a ledge OF rocks "a =
'ally used BY insurance eon,,s+ -ts ssn-
afations ana others Ia denosias. cor
rensth safety nes'ns their +
corpse IS noun IN the pasalvs - =
iuss i denotes passlou.a s4ss BE-