Evening star., 1938-09-18
By John Clagetf Proctor;

\aE1tE Will DC many ueAVy AuQ
sad hearts tomorrow among
. the children, when the public
4 schools open for the season,
and there will be many glad and happy
hearts as well, for children are like
their elders and do not all think and
act alike. But regardless Of whether
certain children do or do not enjoy
going to school, one thing is certain,
that in the years to come nothing will
appeal to them more than their happy
childhood days. and if they did not
take advantage Of the opportunities
then afforded of securing all the edu-
cation possible, this will be their sad
dest regret.
There are many subjects that an
adult person usually likes to reminisce
over, especially when one has reached
middle age or over, but Of subjects
one might muse over, school days."
no doubt. leads them all, even If a
person did not 60 to school at a time
when reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic
were taught to the tune Of hickory
Itick. And it makes no difference
either whether the schoolhouse was
a nere shack in the backwoods or
1ns building in some big town, for
nearly everything looks beautiful as we
look backward to our childhood days
and some of the early teachers, such
as Strong John Thomson, John E.
Thompson, Miss Mary Malone,
"Corky" Vaughan, Lizzie S. Nichols
and others whose names and-yes,
even faces-might come to mind,
nF COURSE, memory IS bound to
carry us back to the songs we
used to sing in the late '70s, espe-
cially in the first and second grades,
and sometimes it would be interesting
to compare the school books of the
period of the Civil War. and earlier
and later, and discover, If we can, the
teaching Of any isms other than Amer
icanism, or any suggestion that would
lead us to doubt that we have the
finest form Of government on Gods
green earth.
Indeed, of the periods suggested, we
will find In our school literature only
the most wholesome reading and the
finest suggestions of patriotism, and
the songs the little tots were started
of with, were examples of kindness
and sincerity, as well as real lessons
OF natural history sung into their
childish minds. such as:
Baby bye, here's fly;
We will watch him, you and I.
How he crawls up the walls
Yet he never falls!
believe with those six legs
You and could walk on eggs!
There he goes on his toes,
Tickling baby's nose.
"Spots Of red dot his head;
Rainbows on his wings are spread!
That small speck is his neck;
See him nod and beck!
can show you, if you choose,
Where to look to find his shoes;
Three small pairs made OF hairs
These he always wears"
THIS poetic story, set to music, goes
on to describe minutely the COM
mon house fly in q few words, where
an entomologist might require a vol
ume to cover the same ground, and he
probably would refer to it by its scien-
tific name-Musca domestica.
Prof. Joseph H. Daniel may not have
been the best instructor in music we
ever had, but none was more en-
thusiastic or better remembered. At
times he taught music in all grades, or
supervised those who did and no
doubt at least reviewed the little pony
song, that goes like this:
'Hop. hop. hop, go and never stop.
Where It's smooth and where It's
stony,
Trudge along, my little pony;
Go and never stop; hop, hop, hop, hop,
hop.
"Hey, hey, hey! Go along, I say,
Do not kick. and do not stumble;
Do not tire, and do not grumble.
Go along. I say, Hey, hey, hey, hey,
hey!"
And on the days when the old pro-
fessor or one Of his assistants did not
come, the teacher would take us over
some Of the pieces in the Song
Garden" perhaps including Winter,
Adieu"; "See where the rising sun, in
splendor, decks the Skies" Lightly
row! Lightly row! Ger the CLASSY
waves we co." What does little birdie
say, in her nest at peep Of day." Come
roam in the woodlands" and "Trip 1t
lightly along, singing gayly q song"
MAYBE it is because we have been
out of touch with such matters
Tor so long, and are not thoroughly