The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1918-05-10
Nearly
Starved
PERUNA
Made Me Well

could be held responsible for any con
fusion at his desk. After being seat
ed / looked around for a moment at
the other pupils to get my bearings,
but my attention was promptly d.
rected to the book in front of me,
ard from that time to the end of the
term l understood there was no in
lattention or idleness tolerated in tina:
room.
The discipline was remarkable.
Each boy in the school studied; some
moe willingly than others, and some
with more success than others, BUT
ALL STUDIED. ,.. 1865.
| When he called a class the boys
took their places with the order and
precision of military discipline
though his was not a military school.
The recitations would have been a
revelation even to many teachers of
long experience. There was no
stammering or hesitating, or tire.
some or painful waiting-no wasting
of time-not the loss II a moment.
There were no "Willies" or "Tom-
mics" in his school. But "Willie
Jones" and Tommie Smith" were
"Jones" and Smith," pronounced
without the slightest sentimental lin
gering of sound.
His questions came with an abrupt
and alarming quickness and distinct
ness, and an answer was required
with the same promptness and clear
ness. Failure to answer, or any hest
tation, for a part of a second-no,
! we will not seem to eXaggerate, let
US call it a second, and then-"Nextw
was sounded with suddenness which
made the boy next in line realize the
responsibility of answering Instantly
There was no repeating the question.
The next boy was required to know
that he must answer at once, if the
first one did not, and so on down the
line without repeating the question
, until it passed to some boy who could
answer it.
He had a chalk line near the wall.
When boy missed about two ques-
lions he was signalled to this chalk
line and required to stand as long as
his offending appeared to justify. The
falling of pencil or other noise at
the desk, was also followed by the de-
| lnquent standing on the line. This
was not the only punishment for the
boys who missed too often or would
not study. Those who were not
brought to sense of duty by this
milder punishment, soon found a
good, round shaking accompanied
with the flying of collar-buttons, a
more awakening reminder of the duty
the teacher owed the parent who had
sent the pupil there to study. But it
was rare that boy failed to mend
his ways after having to stand on the
line and study in that position, some
times with his face and book toward
the wall. This will be enough to
show that, when it came to instruct
ing boys, he was no namby-pamby
practitioner of rose-water theories of
moral suasion." This latter method
may be best as applied to girls or
mixed schools, but certainly not, as
applied to schools for boys only.
His method resulted i'm getting
more work out of the least willing
pupil than the moral suasion method
of teaching produces from-we will
BEST students, but the AVERAGE
students of the school. While his
method seemed harsh to unwilling
spect akin to reverence, and as thew
arrived at more thoughtful age, an
abiding affection took the place of
any boyish dislike.
A volume could be written about
his methods and results. AS we are
limited for space we will take one
subject only, the teaching of Latin.
For the first year or two his Latin
pupils were not allowed to translate
single sentence, but they were drill
ed in declension and conjugation un-
til they were thoroughly conversant
with grammar and construction.
Every young teacher should know
how thoroughly he trained his pupils
in declension and conjugation. He
would skip about from singular to
plural and from one case to another
with lightning rapidity, and each boy
was expected to answer instantly any
lquestion. "Accusative singular?'i
"Genitive plural?" "Dative singu.
lar?" ETC., and, mind you, there was
not to be any hesitation even for q
fraction of a second in answering
these questions.
So with conjugation. Naming some
verb for practice, he would fire in
rapid succession a fusilade of ques
jtions-HPresent Indicative, third per
son singular?" "Plu-perfect, second
person, plural?" etc., skipping from
one mood to another and from one
tense to another and from one per
SON to another and from singular *
plural with a surprising rapidity.
J But he drilled his pupils into do
ing this with great precision and as
tonishing quickness. After year Of
two Of this drilling his pupils wer,
permitted to translate simple sen
fences, but the main work still wa
conjugation, declension and -parsing
The opposite method from this j
to teach beginners to translate few
weeks or few months from the tim
they begin Latin and before the.
know much Of construction. Pupil