Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1925-07-23

LuTm. one came 10 KNOW tnAt rOdu
In all its moods-ice-locked. drifted
with snow. wallowing in mud. School
began at half-past eight After her
6rst week Selma had the mathematics
Of her early morning reduced to the
least common denOminat0r. Up at
six. plunge into the frigid gar
ments: breakfast of bread, cheese,
sometimes bacon. always rye coffee
without cream or sugar. on with the
cloak, mufiler. hood, mittens, galOshes.
The lunch box In bad weather. Up
the road to the scho0lhOuse. battling
the. prairie wind that. whipped Tia
tears into the eyes, blowing the drifts,
slipping or the hard ruts and Icy
ridges In dry weather. Excellent at
nineteen. As she few down the road
in sun or rain, in wind or snow. her
minds eye was fixed on the stove.
The schoolhOuse reached, her Rumbed
fingers wrestled with the rusty lock.
The door opened. there smOte her the
schOOlroOm smell-a mingiing Of dead
asheS kerosene. unwashed bodies,
dust, mice, chalk, stove-wOod, lunch
crumbs, mold, slate that has been
washed with saliva. Into this Selma
rushed, untying her naiflst as she en-
tered. In the little vestlbule there
was box piled with chunks Of stove
wood and another heaped with dried
corn-cobs. Alongside this q can Of
kerosene. The cObs served as kin.
ding. A dozen or more Of these you
soaked with kerosene and stuhed
into the nav Of the rusty iron pot
beliie6 stove. match. Up Jared
the corn-cObs Now was the moment
for a small stick of wood: another to
keep it company. Shut the door.
Draughts. Dampers. Smoke. Sus-
pense. A blaze, then crackle. The
wood has caught. In with a chunk
now. A wait. Another chunk. Slam
the door. The schOolhOuSe fire is
started for the day. AS the room
thawed gradually Selma removed lay
ers Of outer garments. BY the time
the children arrived the room was
livable.
Selma had seen herself, dignified,
yet gentle. instructing a roOmful OF
Dutch cherubs in the simpler ele-
ments of learning. But 1t is difficult
to be dignified and gracious when you
are suffering from chilblains. Selma
fell victim to this sordid discomfort,
as did every child in the room. She
sat at the battered pine desk or
moved about, little ice-wool shawl
around her shoulders when the wind
was wrong and the stove balky. Her
white little face seemed whittier In
contrast with the black folds Of this
somber garment. Her slim hands
were rough and chapped. The Oldest
child in the room was thirteen, the
youngest four and a half.
Early in the winter Selma had had
the unfortunate idea Of opening the
ice-locked windows at intervals and
giving the children ave minutes Of
exercise while the fresh cold air
cleared brains and room at once.
Arms waved wildly, heads wObbled.
short legs worked vigorously. At the
end Of the week twenty High Prairie
parents sent protests by note or word
of mouth. Jan and Cornelius. Katrina
and Aggie went to school to learn
reading and writing and numbers, not
to stand with open windows In the
winter.
On the Pool farm the winter work
had set In. Klaas drove into Chicago
with winter vegetables only once a
week now. He and JakOb and ROelf
were storing potatoes and cabbages
underground; repairing fences; pre-
pairing frames for the early spring
planting; sorting seedlings. 1t had
been Roelf VIII had taught Selma to
build the sch0olhouse fire. He had
gone with her on that first morning,
had started the fire, filed the water
pail initiated her in the rites Of corn
cobs, kerosene, and hampers. A shy,
dark, silent boy. She set out DELHI
erately to woo him to friendship.
"Roelf, have a book called IVAN
hoe Would you like to read It"
"Weil, I don't get much time"
"You wouldn't have to hurry. Right
there in the house. And there's another
called The Three Musketeers.'
He was trying not to appear pleased;
to appear stolid and Dutch. like the
people from whom he had sprung.
Some Dutch sailor ancestor. Selma
thought, or fisherman. must have
touched at an Italian port or Spanish
and brought back a wife whose eyes
and skin and feeling for beauty had
skipped layer ON layer Of placid Meth
erlands to crop out now In this wistful
sensitive boy.
Selma had spoken to Pool about a
shelf for her books and her photo
graphs. He had put up rough bit OF
board, very crude and ugly, but 1t had
served. She had come home one snowy
afternoon to find this shelf gone and In
its place smooth and polished one,
with brackets intricately carved. ROelf
had cut, planed, polished. and carved
1t in many hours of work In the cold
little shed off the kitchen. He had
there a workshop Of sorts, fitted with
such tools and implements as he could
devise. He did mans work on the
farm, yet often at night Selma could
family hear the rasp Of his handsaw
after she had gone to bed. This sort
Of thing was looked upon by KlaaS
Pool as f0olishness. Roelf's real work
in the shed was the making and mend
ing of coldframes and hOtbeds for the
early spring plants. Whenever possible
Roelf neglected this dull work for some
fancy Of his own. To this Klaas Pool
objected as being dumb"
"Roelf, stop that foolishnesS. get
YOUR ma once some wood. Carving on