The Glenwood post., 1923-10-25
SYNOPSIS

CHAPTER Jennie Woodruff con-
temptuously refuses to marry Jim Ir-
win young farm hand, because of his
financial condition and poor prospects.
He is intellectually above his station,
and has advanced ideas concerning the
possibilities of expert school teaching.
Tor which he is ridiculed by many
CHAPTER u.-Mere as a joke than
otherwise Jim is selected as teacher OF
the Woodruff district school
CHAPTER III.-JIm. in his new posi-
tion, sets out to make stanch friends
of his pupils, especially two boys, New
latter the son of shiftless farmer.
Colonel Woodruff, Jennie's father. has
little faith in Jims ideas of improving
rural educational methods. He nick
names him the Brown Mouse" in IL
lustration oi an anecdote.
CHAPTER Iv.-Jims conduct of the
school, where he endeavors to teach
the children the wonders of nature
and some of the scientific methods of
farming, as well as book learning"
is condemned.
CHAPTER v.-Jennie Woodruff is
nominted for the position of county
board grows bitter in it's opposition
to Jim and his innovations.
CHAPTER vI.-At a public meeting
Jim roundly condemns the methods of
teaching in the rural schools. and
makes no friends thereby.
CHAPTER VIA delegation of
prominent women condemn Jims $ meth
DDS of teaching, but he is stoutly de-
Tended by his pupils, especially Newton
Bronson.
The bountiful meal piled mountain
I'll q, /,
lily melted away in a manner to de,
light the hearts of Mrs. Woodrum AND
Jennie. The colonel, in stiff starch d
shirt, black tie and frock coat, carved
with much empressement, and Jim felt
almost for the first time serse of
the value of manner.
81 had bigger turkeys" said Mrs
Woodruff to Mrs. Irwin, but l thought
1t would be better to cook two turkey
hens instead of one great big gobbler
with meat as tough as tripe and
stuffed full of fat"
zone of the hens would "a been
plenty" replied Mrs. Irwin. How
much did they weigh?'
about fifteen pounds apiece" was
the answer. "The gobbler would "a
weighed thirty, 1 guess. He's pure
Mammoth Bronze"
81 wish" said Jim, that we could
get few breeding birds of the wild
bronze turkeys from Mexico
''Whyi" asked the colonel.
They're the original blood Of the
domestic bronze turkeys" said jim
land they're bigger and handsomer
than the pure bred bro4zes even
They're a better stock than the North
ern wild turkeys from which our com
mon birds originated"
"Where do you learn all these
things, JimT asked Mrs. Woodruff.
81 declare, l often tell Woodruff that
it's as good as a lecture to have Jim
Irwin at table. My intelligence has
fallen since you quit working here,
jim"
There came into Jims eyes the
CLEAN of the man devoted to a Cause
and the dinner tended to develop
into lecture. Jennie saw little
more plainly wherein his queeness
lay.
There's an education in any meal,
If we would just use the things on the
table as materials for study, and fol-
low their trails back to their starting
points. This turkey takes US back to
the chaparral of Mexico
whats chaparral?' asked Jennie,
as a diversion. It's one of the words
| have seen so often and know per
fectly to speak 1t and read it-but
after all It's just word, and nothing
more"
"Aln't that the trouble with our edu-
cation, Jimf" querled the colonel, clev-
erly steering Jim back into the track
of his discourse.
"They are not even living words"
answered Jim, unless we have clothed
them in flesh and blood through some
sort OF concrete notion. 'Chaparrar
to Jennie is just the ghost Of a word.
Our civilization is full OF lnefilclency
because we are satisfied to give our
children these ghosts and shucks and
husks Of words, Instead of the things
themselves, that can be seen and
hefted and handled and tested and
heard"
CHAPTER TX