Semi-weekly Independent, Volume 2, Number 24, Plymouth, Marshall County, 1 February 1896 — Page 3

KOTES OX EDUCATION.

MATTERS OF INTEREST TO PUPIL AND TEACHER. Many Disadvantages with Which the Toucher in the Country litis to Contend -What to Do with the School Jlooks l'ducut ionul Noten. The Country Teacher. "What is being done for that teacher out in tho country V Not enough. Perhaps by enumerating some of the dis;id vantages with which she must contend we can better surest somo plans whio, might make her lot more pleasunt and her work more efficient. The country teacher is obliged to scatter her forces. No specializing hero. She must needs understand the human nature of pupils from ö to -0 yarn of ago. tIio teaelics all the common branches and to all grades from the beginning, primary to the advanced grammar grade. The recitation lerioil must he short, that all classes may be heard. She is limited in time, so tint supervision of work at tho s-ats is practically impossible. And what an important part of one education is the aid on.1 receives while preparing a lesson! I low much more could our pupils do if they could only have more nss.'stanee in how to study! If some of the pupils are not supplied with pencils, slabs, or necessary books, the teacher must change her plans for :i few days until the parents go to town. Jolui and Mary tell pa the teacher said so ami so is needed. Pa says lie is going o town in a few days and he will t'et those thing's, Put when la docs go :o town he is so much more interested in the price of hogs or potatoes, or what not. than he is in the progress f the school, that he forgets all about the supplies the children need, and the teacher must needs wait another fortnight for John and Mary to get their books. Some hold that the teacher should furnish pencils and paper for the children of indifferent parents, but sie- can't afford it until she is paid n:.: ; it isn't her business to furnish these things, anyway. 'cM weather draws on apace; the stovepipe needs cleaning, a window light is broken, and there is no wood in the "yard." What is to be done? Send -t xi. te to the director? He is busy with Iiis farm work. The wind whistles through the broken window, the stove wo-;ltl sntcke if a lire were built; and so the pup.ls and teacher shiver until the director sets time to lix things. YVi.at's his hurry? He lets nothing lor lis services the law forbids it. What a law! Tie teacher wants to attend a tea eher.meeting. She has no way to go. The people with whom she boards think time too valuable to spend in tak:n.ir her. It is too far to walk; and tlie poor girl is disappointed in her desire to be progressive. What about the country teacher's boarding place? I'sually not more than one family in the district will take b-n id Ts. It is often a place very undesirable in many respects. The teacher ntur study by the family table in toe room where "games" and "racket" jin l poor light and talks on "household economy" and barnyardology are common. The teacher cannot retire to her iv. .. ;n and study; there is no stove there. The price she can afford to pay for W.rd will not supply such luxuries. She tries to prepare her lessons for the next day; wishes she might study in otlier lines do some Heading Circle v. ork- but alas! her environment is against her. She counts up her net earnings at the -Io-e of the term, and finds that more schooling and more books an out of tie- question the wages are so low that she has not enough money remaining to pay for these things. She struggles Ii for two or three terms, and concludes ihat teaching school is not just the thin she thought it Avas. Another takes her place, and so the changes are "rung out," and "Thus the multitudes go like the flower and the weed. And wit her away to let others succeed; Thus the multitudes come, even those ve behold. To repeat every tale that has ever been told." Tho.e who have never attended a country school may be inclined to doubt some of these statements; but those of us who make it a business to in-sp-ct these country schools see conditions as they really exist, and whereof we speak we know. One matter I shall jiever forget. In one school I took down the stovepipe and cleaned it, and built a. lire for the pupils. There is rarely a case similar to this, for directors do much more than the patrons Hi vp them credit for, sis a rule. They need .more glory, less blame, and some pay for what they do. These conditions exist. What is being done to better them? Not much, except what the count j' superintendents do by way of arousing interest during their visits to schools and iu educational meetings they hold. What can Im done to remove the difliulties? Perhaps the following would lieli some: Tay teachers for time spent in educational meetings. Have free text-books for all public schools. Kais' the standard for certificates so that 1oards will be justified In paying teachers wages sullicient to enable them to purchase needed books, journals, attend a term of school now and them, and pay enough for board and room to secure needed facilities for comfort and advancement while teaching. KediK-e the supply, reduce the supply, reduce the supply! It means better teachers and better wages. It is the

quickest vny to secure bcttrr teachers and the surest way to better wahres. Provide each county with an assistant superintendent, thus enabling the

county superintendent to devote nearly his whole time to school inspection and educational meetings. l'rovide the township system of school districts and no other except for towns and cities, and pay school ofiieors for time necessarily spent iu the Performance of school work. Something must be done for "That teacher out in the country." Educational papers can aid her by devoting more space to matter she can use in her school. The State Teachers' Association can assist her by devoting more time to the consideration of the environment of the country school and country school teacher, and less time to High school courses and State normal schools. That Normal idea is made too prominent. There is creeping iu too much machinery, with too little adjustable gearing to suit the circumstances of every school. The Normal Institute can help her by having f,v instructors those who have come in actual contact with the country school. All hail the day when the country teacher can make as rapid progress with her school and iu self-inprovoineiit as can her c ity sister! That ttachor out in the country needs the earnest co-operation of educational leaders-practical leaders; we have too many theorists. Who will lend a hand? Supt. F. II. Hloodgood. What to Do with School Hooka. Keep all your school books if you possibly can. Never sell them or dispose of thorn in any way unless it is very plainly your duty to somebody else to do so. For instance, in a family an older sister may let the younger children have her books when she is done with them. This may save her parents the expense of buying new ones and having the same books duplicated In the household collection. Or there may be in your acquaintance a girl too poor to buy books, who will bo very glad and thankful to have yours as a gift. In this case it will be your pleasure. I am sure, to make this friend happy and to relieve her of anxiety, and help her in procuring her education. Hut as a rule I would advise you to keep your books for yourself. Even when you have linished studying in a particular lmok you may want to refer to it, and after your school days are over your books will be reminders of the delightful times you had when you used them. School hooks are valuable became they are written in a clear, plain, straightforward style which it is quite easy to comprehend. They do not wander away from the point, and they give a great deal of information packed up in a small compass. A good school book on any subject is a real treasure. All books should be treated with respect. No nice person leaves books lying around heedlessly, with the bindings opened widely so that they become loosened, and the pages curling up at the corners. If a girl is neat about her room and her dress, she will surely be so in the care of her books. Never let books gather dust. They are as ornamental as pictures or flowers or vases, and a house in which there are a number of books is already half furnished. If by any chance books have been used by a patient in illness, hucIi as scarlet fever or any other contagious disease, they must immediately be burned up. This is the only safe way. A child recovering from such an attack may ask for his or her books to play with. Let the books be given, if the mother is willing, but they must be destroyed afterwards. Even if they have remained on shelves in the room ami the patient has not so much as touched them, they must 1k burned, for books have a way of preserving germs of disease, and must be used only by people who are not ill with anything infectious or who are perfectly well. Do 1 think books should be covered? To save the bindings, you mean? It depends on how very clean and dainty are the hands which hold them. Smooth, white paper makes a good covering, and is easily renewed, and most publishers in these days provide attractive cov ers for the beautiful books they sell.Harper's Hound Table. Hotter than Loa fin sr. The Nebraska City Press, speakln about the schools of that city, says: I ii all rooms you will find tables and window sills holding minerals, specimens of soils, plants of all sorts, as molds, fungi, mosses, etc. In nearly all you may see zoology specimens. In the lower grades, it may be a L?n in a ige with little people watching her structure and habits and making reading or language lessons from these olsorvations. In another room you may lind them studying the habits and structure of minnows swimming round in a fruit Jar, or a frog in a similar cage, or perhaps it may be a crawfish. In one of the higher rooms, you may lind a list of questions and directions on the board which are to guide pupils in the study of some plant for the week. These are to be made at odd times and outside of school. In each of the large ward schools will be found a compound inleroseoe standing in use all day long. Under this glass will be found some interesting and instructive 'mount.' Outside of school, pupils will bo found hunting for specimens of plant, animal, or mineral life. They are seeing the world and it affords them amusement, occupation and information. It is better than loa ling on the streets." May Yoke's husband, liord Hope, has beeu discharged frcm bankruptcy on the payment of 10 shillings on the pound, his debts reaching the very neat

figure of over 3,000,000.

LET US ALL LAUGH.

JOKES FROM THE PENS VARIOUS HUMORISTS. OF Pleasant Incidents Occurring the World Over Suyiiis that Are Cheerful to the Old or Young-Funny Selections thut You Will l'ujoy. Art and I'thic. Artist -Your house is lovely, sir. Ev erything is in keeping. Skinflint Yes; that's the secret of my success, first in getting, then in keep ing. -New York World. I'thcl's bonl a Disappointment. Mazie So Ethel has married her lord. eh? Daisie Yes. but he married her under false pretenses. Mazie How so? Dasie-llo imitated the consumptive cough right up to the marriage cere mony, and then dropped it, the brute! New York World. Didn't Need It. 'Help, help!" cried the man who was being robbed. -Calm yourself." said the highway man. "1 don t need any assistance. Town Topics. To 1 1 er Sorrov. Mrs. Day Have you had any experi ence iu l'n ing china ? Mrs. Kay No; but our cook has when she gets angry. New York World. At Until Hcncli. Marie That actress says that she always puts her diamonds on when she takes a bath. Do you suppose she Is afraid thev will be stolen? Hills-No; it's force of habit with her. She's so used to putting them in s ak. you know. Toledo lilade. Not the frame. Teacher Well. John, what is the principal product of the Island of Cuba imported to the I'nited States? Hoy I don't know, ma'am. Teacher What ! Don't you know where the sugar comes from? Hoy Yes. ma'am, we Imjitow it from the woman next. door. A Complete I'a i lure. Isaacs Cohen is a comblete failure In pcezness. Jacobs How vas dot? Isaacs Yy, the fool never fails.: Truth. 1'nfnrtuiiatc. She If you had never met mo would you have loved me just the same? lie (convincingly) More Harlem I Life. All for the Other Man. Illuffkiiis wrote a very bad hand. He had left a letter lying for half an hour, and on going to address the envelope scarcely a word could he decipher, but, calmly inclosing it, he said to himself: "After all, what does it matter? It's Hawkins has to read it, not I." ltoston Ihidget. Unqualified. Hillson Shall you send your son to College? Millson What's the use? He could not achieve any honors. Hillson Hasn't he brains enough? Millson Itrains. brains? Nonsense. He has enough for two; but lie's fast losing his hair and no football team would have him. Now York World. A W iff Heat er. "lie beats me!" sobbed the brokenhearted wife. The court gently pressed her to tell more. "He empties his pockets before lie goes to bod!'' she exclaimed, her voice rising almost to a shriek. And the brute who stood at the bar accused made no denial. lie merely glowered defiantly Detroit Tribune. She Had Keen There, Too. "I never eat pork," remarked Mr. Squills, "without thinking of the parasites." "Dear Paris," replied Miss Lakeside, "hut are they really large consumers of our pork, though?' Cleveland Leader. He The ring doesn't seem to lit very well. Hadn't I better take It back and have it made smaller? She No. An engagement ring is an engagement ring, even If I have to wear It round my neck. Tick-Me-Up.

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A King' a King.

Luslncs. P.cll Hoy finest down by the shore a got the jim-jams! j Summer Hotel Prcprietor-For heaven's sake. e;ill a notary and get an affidavit before he recovers. Detroit Jours no 1.

Social Distinction. "Oh. look. Oeorge. our name is mentioned before the Wilkinses. What fun!" "Why. of course it is. It's in alphabetical order." "Oli. but they'll be just as savage all the same.-' Ally Sloper. Not Suitable. Superintendent Your services are no longer required. Krooklyn Motorman What have I done? Superintendent You've only killed one man this year, and your work doesn't give the line enough free advertising. You'll have to get out. Quite Customary. "You seem excited, dear; what has happened V" "Poor Jack Murray, I have just rejected him." "Oil. don't mind a little Uiing like that. Why. I reject him every six months!" Halifax Herald. The Matrimonial Itarjrain-Counter. In her impotent rage her grace could only scotr? at the duke, her husband. "This," she bitterly exclaimed, "is what a woman gets for buying what she doesn't want just because it's cheap." Detroit Tribune. JiiHt What He Wanted. IVighweakly I don't see how you can make love to the landlady. I should think you'd get bored by it. Fnrback-I do get board by it. New York World. Lightened (Irief. "She has been thrice married? And all three husbands dead? She has had a terrible experience." "Yes, but then she has a brother who is an undertaker, and he alwavs gives her a good deal oft"." Hosten Transcript. Turn About Fair Play. "As you have good references l'il offer lo you the post of cashier in our house, providing you can deposit 1,'J'JO marks as security." "And what security can you ;Jvo me that my l.'Juo marks will be secure?"Fliegende I.laetter Wanted to Get At It. j" i :yc rim civ.vy v7v 'JIM. 2T i'i. .--JJ.. Hardware Dealer -What do you want with such a heavy saw? Itilkens My wife has made a fruit ca ke. Feminine Argument. "I am not of a jealous disposition, but I really object to your kissing your cousin Tom." "I did nothing of the kind." "Itut I saw you." "Then that shows that you do not love me any more when you prefer to believe what you see to Im lieving what I tell you." Judy. Fatigued Him. "These hastily snatched kisses." exclaimed the bacillus, irritably, as he struggled to extricate himself from a delicately arched eyebrow, "makes me weary." Detroit Tribune. Not Afraid of Work. Mother 1 wonder if my little boy is so afraid of work that he does not study his lessons? Little Hoy Me afraid of work? Not much. Why, mamma, I can fall asleep alongside of lt. Harper's liotiud Table. Married a Widower. "How is Miss Strongmind coining on? I don't hear of her advocating woman's rights any more." "She has quit woman's rights business and taken up with woman's lefts. She has married a widower." Texas Siftings. Nothing to Wear but Diamonds. "I see it is estimated that the Katlira steal $1,'J.jO,(HX worth of diamonds a year." "Yes, I suppose the poor creatures have to wear something." Washington. Capital. A Question of Quality. Mrs. Twickenham Don't you think that is better pie than your mother makes, Hobble? llohhic (dryly) It ought to be. Mrs. T wickenha m Why ? Hobble 'Cause there's a good deal less of lt. Brooklyn Life.

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THEY NEVER FIRED A SHOT.

How Fort C. F. Phi Ith Was Relieved When Hcleanred by Indians. The story told the other day of the tierce battle of Sand Crook, in which White Antelope's village of Indians, man, woman and child, were annihilated by the whitt s under the leadership of Col. !eorge L. Shoup, now I'nited States Senator from Idaho, brings an inquiry as to what participation iu that bloody episode was had by the famous Neil Howie. He took no part in that sanguinary encounter, for the simple reason that he was not there. The mention of his name, however, brings to mind a story unrecorded in American history and of which it should form a part. It requires a preface. In the pioneer days, to reach Montana from Cheyenne, in Wyoming, required a roundabout journey that involved a double crossing of the Itoeky Mountains, with a change of base at Salt I-ake 'ity. The I'nitt d States government brought about a better condi tion of travel by constructing a trail through the Callatin Yalley along the course of the (lunpowder ltiver. reaching around the base of the mountains in a curvilinear form, which avoided the heights of the Rockies. To protect this route i"nm marauding Indians lh roe forts wen- built ltetio. IMiil Kearney and C. F. Smith. Those were garrisoned by Fnited States troops. In IS'!.', the murderous Sioux front the Yellowstone Yalley pursued a sanguinary course up through th. Callatin Valley and into Montana, it was marked by rapine and plunder. They beseiged Fort lieno and killed many of its garrison, including a brother of A. K. MeClure. They environed Fori I'hil Kearney and wiped from the face of the earth every human being whose walls it failed to protect. Then they sur rounded Fort C. F. Smith, where -' Union soldiers found themselves surrounded by more than l.ooo deathseeking Indians. F.seapo seemed impossible. A courier got word of this condition of affairs to (Jen. Hancock, who was then stationed at St. Faul, and lie sent a message to the Covernor of Montana at Hozeman, calling upon him to relieve the besieged garrison. The chief executive of the Territory of Montana at that time was Croon Clay Smith, who, by the way, recently died in Washington, a Haptist clergyman. He had been a member of Congress from Kentucky, but President Liiuoln made him Territorial Covernor of Montana. He was seated on the porch of his residence in Hozeman when Hancock's message was handed to him. To a visitor front the Fast who was seated by his side, and who is the authority fur this narrative, he said: "What in the name of heaven can t do? Fort C. F. Smith is i",o mil"s away. The country between here and there is tilled with Sioux Indians. Our militia lone consists exactly of Al men. Not a man of them could reach Fort C. F. Smith alive. I am absolutely powerless. However, I will send for Col. Howie." At that time Col. Neil Howie was Fnited States Marshal for the Territory of Montana, lie was a typical frontiersman. He commanded the Montana volunteers and it has boon said of him that "(Jon. Sherman might have been at Hozeman City with ö.ttoo troops and the people of the Callatin could not have escaped the scalping knife of the savage, but Col. Howie, with less than -loo men, protected loo miles of exposed frontier but a little distance from the hostile tribe." it was to this man that Cov. Smith addressed himself, handing him Con. Hancock's dispatch, and saying: "Colonel, we can't do anything for those poor devils in Fort F. C. Smith. We haven't enough men and those we have couldn't get there. Am I right?" "No," said Col. Howie, quietly, without any exhibition of excitement and with the gentle voice of a woman. "There is no trouble about that. Coventor. We can arrange that matter and still leave the Montana frontier protected. 1 will need some picked men and a good leader for them. 1 think Cape. MeCabe is best fitted for this undertaking. I will go out and lind him." MeCabe was another gentle voiced man with blue eyes. He didn't make much noise. He acted. He said to the (Jovernor: "Oh, yes, it is easy enough. Hut I'll need forty of the best men I can select. You can keep the rest of your volunteer force here." (luv. Smith looked at him in amazement. So did the visitor from the Fast. They both thought that he was either insane or a braggart. Cov. Smith said to him: "How iu the name of heaven do you expect to raise the siege of Fort C. F. Smith with forty men when you know that it is surrounded by more than 1,(M0 bloodthirsty Indians and that the country between here and there is covered with thousands more murderous Sioux?" Said MeCabe quietly: "Why. Coveruor, it is easy enough. The Indians know us and know that we know them better than they know themselves. You folks from the East have an idea that what you call Indian atrocities are simply unmeaning exhibitions of brutality; that scalping, for instance, is simply a form of torture. In that you are mistaken. The Indian believes that no man can go to the happy hunting ground heaven we call it who lias been deprived of his hair. Their motive in scalping a victim is to carry out tiendish hatred to its utmost by preventing him from having a happy hereafter. Therefore, to deprive an Indian of his scalp is to rob him of his hope of a happy hereafter. My men never kill an Indian without scalping him and the Indians know that. The forty men I will select for this expedition are unerring In their aim with the rille. They can shoot sixteen shots in sixteen see onds and every ball means a dead Indian and every dead Indian means a scalp and every scalp means a warrior deprived eternally of a chance of ever reaching the happy hunting ground.

My forty men will walk from here tl I 'ort C. V. Smith without th ing a idiot. "Incredible," said Cov. Smith. i "True," said ("apt. MeCabe. ( What was the result ? ! Forty men walked ÜÖÜ miies from Hozeman to Fort C. F. Smith. Indian watched them on every side. Hy day their progress w.-is signaled by circling columns of smoke ami at night by lin from mountain tops. Hut mt a shot was 15 red. When they got within sight of Fort C. F. Smith the l.mu whooping Sioux who held the garrison in siege tied, and the forty front'ersnien from. Hozeman marched in and escorted tho jm Fnion soldiers back to the Territorial capital without the loss of a life. Not a shot had been tired. Not a scalp had been lifted. This is unwritten history. - Philadelphia Times. i (iiuo in Shop Windows. It is not generally known that lhrni is :i small band of men and women wli mak" a certain, if somewhat small, living by merely gazing in shop windows. Such, however, is the case, as a representative of Tit-Hits found out the other day. Hy a lucky accident tie met the manager of this shop-window-gazing agency, from whom he obtained one or two interesting and curious fa ts. "Oh. yes." said the manager, "our agency has been in existence for some little time, and the men and women we employ have had ph niy to do. especially during the past season. If you won't give our business away. I will brieily explain our modus operandi. We have about twenty employes, whom we pay from lo shillings to 120 shillings a week. I am always on the lookout for new shops in and around the west end. and. as soon as one ap

pears. I call upon the shopkeeper and suggest that he might improve his trade very notch if he engaged one or two of our shop gazers. The older shopkeeper may ridicule the idea, but smart and enterprising men see that there is something in it. "More than one shopkeeper has availed himself of our services by having one or two of our people men and women, who are dressed in the height id fashion continually stopping to look at the contents of the windows. If the ordinary Lon.'lon passer-by sees a person gazing intently in a shop window, he or she immediately follows suit, and is followed by quite a crowd of other folk. If the shopkeeper has a good and attractive window, the crowd notes the same, and the shopkeeper has secured a good advertisement." London 'fitHits. Saved by His Hair. A local athlete on entering a Turkish bath the other night found a stranger struggling in the swimming pool. The man was evidently unable to swim, and had jumped in without ascertaining whether tho water would be above his head. There was no attendant about to warn him or rescue him. The athlete swam to the assistance of the struggling man. ('rasping him by the hair he towed him to the side of the tank and assisted him to hang on until he recovered his breath. What were the first words uttered by the rescued one? Did ho stammer out thanks to heaven or his human preserver? No. No, human mind is a curious affair. As the half-drowned man struggled back to consciousness, memories of an old jest seemed to tit through his brain, for he said: "Ceo whiz! It was a lucky thing for me 1 wasn't bald-headed!" HulTalo Express. An I 'ye-Witness. The desire to tell a good story has been known to tempt an ordinarily truthful narrator to enlarge upon tho facts. Mrs. Hetison enjoyed startling her hearers, and had acquired the reputation of "clinching" hoi point effectively. When she returned from the intirni"ary. where sin had undergone a ditiicult optical operation, she had many things of interest to relate, and in the course of her description she said: "Why, it was wonderful! They took both my eyeballs out'"' "O, Mrs. Henson! They couldn't have done that!" came in a chorus of remonstrance. "Hut they did." she averred, "they took them out and put them on the table. I saw them!" Youth's Companion. High-Triced Heel. The most valuable thoroughbred cow of her day was slaughtered at Hamilton, Out., and her quarters hung as a Christmas beef exhibit in the Central market stalls. Iter name was "I.ady Isabella," No. ölöd in tho herd book. "Iady Isabella" cost, delivered in Canada. $7.oo. She was bred by .1. Outhwaite, Chatteriek, Yorkshire, Fngland, and was an unbeaten prize-winner in Croat Hritain, Canada, and the Fnited States, taking first only. When slaughtered she dressed an even l.lioo pounds. Taking into consideration her imported ost. each pound of her beef now represents ö..'t'?. A Kare lHsease. Diphtheria of the skin, a very rare disease, has leon cured by the list of antitoxin In a little HC year old Herlin girl recently. She had been badly scalded with boiling water and. as the skin was healing, was kissed by her mother on the wounded spot. The mother had diphtheria and tints communicated it to the baby's skin; the throat was not affected. An Ancient ltridjfe. The triangular bridge at Crowland, in Linoonshlro, widt h was probably intended as an emblem of the trinity, is the most ancient Cotliie structure nmaining entire in the kingdom. It wa erected about the year of our Lord StlO. Young Husiness Man When do jou think is the best time to advertise? OM Husiness Man All the time, jouui; man. Somervllle Journal.