The Washington herald., 1919-09-17

CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY.
There is a man in Iaclede, however.
who knows all about that lively row"
He is Clinton T. Clint"
Stutsman, LaClede folks always call
him. He runs a little restaurant near
the LaClede railroad station. and il is
well worth ones while to stop and
have bite in Cl!nt's place Stand
ing behind the lunch counter. and one
engaging him in conversation. bring
ing the general into il. Clint will tell
of the row and OF the Prairie Mound
school days when John PershinS was
the teacher
May seem strange, too" he said
to me, as he asked whether ] would
have sugar in my coffee-government
regulations are enforced in Laclede,
even If it is an out -the-way place
that I was a pupil of Johns, cause
I'm a year older than he is But pupil
was. and l recall every incident OF
the days when he was teacher at
Prairie Mound.
He was a good teacher-strict, but
not OverbearinE. I remember the first
day he came into the school. He made
a little speech-told us the value OF
education, what it would mean to US
in after life. 1t was a speech brimful
of encouragement He told US we
We're IN school to fit ourselves for our
life work. and that we applied our
selves to our studies SO we would be
able to apply ourselves to the work
that life held for US when our school
days were ended. At the same time
John made it clear that discipline
would prevail while he was teacher.
and that he was going to run the
school, not the pupils. He issued an
order forbidding pipe smoking at re-
cess.
Il liked him from that moment So
did most of the rest
He was such a nice looking boy.
smooth faced. wonderfully healthy ap-
pearinE, with light. wavy hair and
blue eyes that were good to look upon.
ThrnshinS n Bad Boy.
There were about thirty or forty
pupils in the school, boys and girls.
ranging all the way from or years
of age to IS or 10. l think 7 was the
oldest boy in the school. I was l9
John was Is, as l recall but there
were several boys as old or a little
older.
During all that winter-it was nv
last term-there was just one row. a
boy, one of the largest and oldest
boys in the SCHOOL, can't remember
his name-started a rough house one
day He made some sauCy answer to
a question John put TO him and he
would not sit down when John ordered
him to. John didn't waste any words.
He walked up to the boy-he was a
bigger boy than John, tOo-picked him
off the floor like a sack of meal and
hurled him into his scat
The boy was so taken aback he
didn't say a word - just sot where
John had hurled him. But later that
day
The row-the real row-came In
the afternoon. The boy John had dis
ciplined returned to school in the aft
ernoon with his father. a great, big,
red-faced farmer.
Il was standing near John when
they appeared.
You manhandled my boy this
morning." the man thundered at John.
John explained; he said that the
boy had been unruly and had been
punished, as all boys who were Un-
ruly would be.
Whipping the Bad Boys Father.
THE man beloved and stormed
like a bull gone mad. Then he made
grab at John. John pushed him
back. He didn't want to fight. But
the man wasn't amenable to reason.
He was mad as a halter
" All right John said, and he was
as cool and calm as a cucumber; all
right he said, If you want to fight,
I'll fight. But first take that gun
out of your pocket and fight like
man
THE farmer backed away shame
facedly John caught him, pulled the
gun from his pocket-a big revolver
and tossed it one side. Then they
went to it. John knocked the man
down several times-finany knocked
him out. That ended it. When the
man came round he apologized.
Maybe that fight didn't get John