New Britain herald., 1929-10-05
Picture of School Days in Old New Britain Drawn by Special Writer for Herald.
BY ARDS WHITMAN RJMSEY

VI E,N
 The scratch, scratch of newly sharpened pens: the slroning of the SIX times table: the thud of a good birch switch falling on homespun- clad shoulders; the singsong of a bee pumping the window pane: the iu- b1lant chorus of birds winging over the rlpened fields of harvest time 10 such an accompaniment. the chil- dren of the Society of New Britain" learned their A B C's one hundred years ago.
 For long before New Britain was incorporated as city or even as a town, long before the era of factor ,les and theatcrs and traffic conges- tlon crude little school houses stood in grassy fields by lanes that have snce become busy streets, and chill dren hurried to school in the morn Ing at the clang of the masters bell.
 The school house of that long-ago day was not built 10 tempt laggartl youngsters. Its acquaintance with pant was brief and passing. The 1ootoall field and the baseball dia- smond alike were missing and weeds grew in an ugly tangle over the yard Beyond the dusty vestibule, the school room waited for them. grimy ot wall and smoke of ceiling Bare. hard benches circled the walls. The stub of broom leaned against the wall, behind the door. In another corner, the community Nipper hung beside pail of water. In the center of the room, stood the big stove. 'reddened in the winter with it's roaring fire of cordWood. Freuuent- ly, clouds of smoke poured from it's cracks and crevices for much of the > wood was donated by citizens in lieu of taxes and. if the truth must be told, it was often green,
 At the front of the room was it's throne-the masters chair and desk. The desk was usually made attract i've by a neat pile of switcht, limb CT and new. There, too. were the quill pens which the master. him. self made of maple and oak, bark steep@d in indigo and alum. These pens had to be sharpened frequently and that. too, was the masters task
 Behind his desk and his pens and his switches reigned the lord of this little domain. In the summer when the big boys were at work on the farm. the schoolmistress had her day. But in the fall, when sturdy young men of twenty and twenty five years of age, came back to the little school with the avowed inten- ton of putting the teacher out. mighty man of valor took her place. Indeed, the masters were chosen as much for might as for learning Graduation from the village school was usually considered sufficient Few, indeed, had completed the equivalent of q high school training. No certificate or other ranking was necessary. To qualify for the posi- ton of teacher, the candidate ap- peared before the school board at an teEamination entirely open to the public including his future pupils. And a joyous affair it must have been with the school board trying to stump the lucklcss candidate in spelling or in sums from the arith- i metic book! History records that the spoilers of the day sent many a man down to defeat to the amuse- ment and delight of the audience.
 But if their learning was not great, ! the thoroughness of their teaching partially made up for it. The curri- . culum was limited to reading. writ 1 Ing arithmetic and. sometimes, a lit | tile geography but these subjects l. were thoroughly mastered The chil- | fdren "stood up for their lessons and spelled each other down from |