Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1922-03-29

Mr.. and Mrs. George Blouin of
Barton spent the weekend with her
father, Joseph Young.
Mr.. and Mrs. E. A. Gallup and Mr..
and Mrs. Charles Gallup attended the
funeral Of George Woodland at Evans
vile on Tuesday of last week.
| Adopting School Teacher.
Continued from page one)
Well, after that, it come out that
| she haunt a mortal thing to give the
children to play with, rainy days,
when they had to stay in. So made
,em some bean bags, and got Hiram
| Willing to saw holes in board to
J make the board. Those young ones
have actually played one set of bags
ond set this minute And that made
me think about games, and I tel
| ephoned around and got hold of a
checkerboard and a backgammon
board that folks weren't using. And
l cut some big letters out of the mag
azines and pasted them on pieces of
cardboard and made them set for
that spelling game, Logomachy, they
call it. And / spliced some old rope
| into rings, and made 'em set of
| ring-toss. Oh, lots of things that
came into my mind when I remem-
bered back when / was little girl.
It's been fun" "And what else?
Oh yes" Aunt Mari began to laugh,
81 found out that nobody paid any
more attention to the truant law
than as if it didn't exist. You know
what the law is, that every child's
got to go to school as long as he's
school age. Well, knowing that was
the law, I'd never thought a thing
about it. Supposed of course they
did. Well not a bit of it! Once be-
! gan to take notice of what went on
about the schools, found that there
were families of children in this
town, them that live far back up in
the hollers, that hadn't been to school
stranger in town, thought all she
could do was to go to the truant
! officer about it. But who is the tru-
ant officer in town? Well, who but
Jim Rathbone, by cousin Jim, and
what does he care whether the Bur-
rit children go to school or not? Less
than nothing. Nor ANYBODY else. till
Miss Rice told me about it. Why,
that big Ahlrritt boy, that's eleven
now, is Snice bright boy as ever was
| and he couldn't hardly read the name
of the town he lived in, last fall.
Well, Miss Rice couldn't think of any
thing to do about getting the Burrits
! to school except to go to the proper
officer about it. And he being Cous-
in Jim, that's all the good it did.
But I could think of something
else, you'd better believe. I went to
Jim's wife and his daughter and ]
called up the family every morning
at breakfast time to ask 'em if the
| Burrit children were going to school
that day. And / got all the neigh
bors round here stirred up too, and
1 they'd telephone once or twice every
| day; and the men-folks when they
went to town to see Jim, they'd hol-
Ter out, When are the Burnt children
! comm to SCHOOL," We kind of made
a game of it. But 'twan't no game
| for Jim. He-was as mad as hor-
net. You'd think to hear him go on
that we were all picking on him with
out cause, and that it want nothing
to him whether the Burrits got any
schooling or not. Honestly I don't
believe he'd ever thought in his life
before what it meant to be truant
officer Rachel, his wife, told me
that he got so he'd swear like a
trooper every time the telephone
! rang.
/ But land 'twan't long before the
Burrits were in school all four OF
them, and nice young ones too
though they do look as wild as little
hawks, with never seeing anybody be-
1 fore. Miss Rice and I, we take spe-
cial notice of them and she sends
them over here to get washed and
combed when they come to school
very bad. you know their mother
amt more than half-witted, for al
she's so good natured. Miss Rice
has made an arrangement with their
folks to keep them down here nights
when it's too stormy to get back up
there in the hollow, and we're learn
ing them all sorts of decent ways, be-
tween us.
! "Well. for mercy sakes!" exclaim-
| ed, "Will you please tell me where
j you put four children, as well as g
school-teacher over night?"
Aunt Mari explained, "Miss Rice
and / sleep together, and we put two
of them in the other bed, and the
other two we send over to the Per
kinses. =. they've got an extra bed
and I told Jen Perkins I'd like tt
know what better use she could make
of her spare room than to help civil
ize some children in her own town
that never would get it any Other
way"
Oh yes. knew how Aunt Mari
would say that, with her old jaw set
and her sharp eyes piercing. under
stand how Jen Perkins would no
have dared say no. Yes, I quite un
derstand what it has meant for thu
school-teacher to have valiant oil
; Aunt Mari adopt her. and will
her the school and education of thu
children in her district. And al
though I was shouting a "hurrah TO.
Aunt Mari'!" in my heart, was als'
laughing inwardly at the picture o
the marshalling of public opinion il
the matter of the truant officer, witt
Aunt Mari marching at the head!
She was laughing too, and now sh
said. "Well, you ought to hear jim
Rathbone swear he'll never be tru
ant officer again. rather think wei
get somebody elected next Marcl
meeting, that will expect to do some
thing"
Jl A. +I,;r x,oo~.or+ Tho oor cano hac)