The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-02

lop-sided or anything.
 Teacher said most peoples ears didn't match. There was a difference in the way they were set on.
 Personal Inspection
 We felt of our own ears They seemed like twins, but you never could tell.
 We would keep our eye on the man until he turned around.
 And look at that piece of hair standing straight up, Ah, there was fly trying to attach himself to 1t, That was the fatal sight. We cupped our mouths in our hands and gig gled But we didn't waste much time. There was more to see!
 And believe us, we were great readers of human nature as well. We could pick out the sheep from the goats. We almost knew every maa's business to that school. It wasn't like it is ;n these days, when a caller applies at the principals office and attends to matters in that sanctum.
 Every individual who came to the old schools waited somewhere Tn the back or the front of the house until teacher should dispose of his duties and get to him.
 In the meantlme-teacher being busy-we mentally bagged our meat.
 Sizing 'Em Up
 Was he a real stranger--one we had never clapped gaze on before7-
 And did he fold his arms, clear his throat, stare straight ahead, and now and then fix his eyes toward Mars?-
 Then he was some one who had arrived to make an address to usl They always did that way to keep the points of their talk in mind.
 O, goody, then we should miss arithmetic, and wouldn't have to study 1t for the following day.
 We hoped the stranger would talk till he dropped from exhaustion.
 But did a visitor whom we knew come?-
 And did he squirm nervously and act like he wasn't any too comforta- ble, and bow up his back and sort of shoot out mental sparks from his eyes, we stuck trifle closer to our copy plates and gave him side-swip- ing glances.
 An, we knew!
 He had come to have 1t "out with teacher" and we were voting with teacher. And we knew the mans son -if that was what he had come for, and We were positive 1t was-ought not to have been allowed to stand in a corner and draw a picture of "a clown at school' with himself il mind as the leading character.
 This she-father type was very rare, but we knew he was going to com plain his boy had been humiliated before the scholars"
 The young scoundrel should have hRa0 Co shtnn
 That was what grandpa said. And we who had been present at the youths deviltry and had to stand for 1t hourly shared the same idea.
 Furnishing boy like that by let ting him draw picture was like pinching an alligator for eating the baby.
 A sort of criss-cross picture in red stripes should be painted on his back with stout hickory stick, other par ents stated.
 Nothing Like That Now.
 But you don't hear conversation like that nowadays, with reference to the schools. At present the average teacher. who is long sufferir an- -gel.s and who ought to get thou sand dollars minute for going through the wear and tear of rying to make something out of men and women's obstreperous young an. mals, practically shivers for her skin if she is compelled to give Jim, Albert or Sally hard look.
 She knows that if she dare paddle boys trousers to warm him to- ward his lessons or to punish him for actual misdemeanors, Superin- tendent Glenn, Associate Superin- tendent Brown, the board of educa- tion, and the whole city of Birming- ham would be informed of 1t through letters of complaint and even the newspapers would get the story, and the police department would be called out to corral the teacher into Jail.
 An actual trial, forsooth!
 There isn't anybody in the world who loves love more than this for mer school desk occupier, or who more fimly believes it's the best way to manage most folks if possible. But I am absolutely convinced that more teachers over the country are being made into nervous wrecks be- cause of their patience and long -suf- fering with their pupils whom they are afraid to correct. even for their own good, than used to be turned out of the old-time sweat shops and fac-f tories.
 They are no longer captains Of their ships.
 No wonder many of them look hag- gard and wan after few years. They have to use every ounce of nerve strain and ingenuity to get along. There never can be anything more positive than sending a child from the room to the principal, who in turn also, modern methods de- mand, must be soft-yoiced and often mealy mouthed.
 There always has been, and prob- ably always will be. pupils who need punishment, and need ft suoueniy anu quickly, and while nosnrng could be more contemptible than a fractious instructor who simply vents his tenn. per right and left because he Is ner- vous or vexed, it is mistake for teachers to be robbed of the old-time thrashing power which many men now living can testify made a man out of some chaps they knew. And often 1t was themselves. Personally, I know a man who was slapped into his later office of a su- preme judge. A teachers punish ment at the critical moment walked the boy up.
 A teacher should be selected care fully and following this. she should be trusted and given carte blanche by parents to do her duty as 1t should I ha HAn> unntb paaAo xxvb;1