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About Oregon City courier. (Oregon City, Or.) 1896-1898 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1896)
' V , OREG SCHOOL CLOSES (THE EVENT OF THE YEAR IN COUNTRY DISTRICTS. erylimly I nnke Korwurd to It with Keenly Joyful K pcctiitloim-lvven the Stern Teacher KIvchU lliin.elf of U1h Mien or Aimtcrity. The I.unt Diiy. No diiy was no groat as the last day f school Three months of study seem led eternally long. Looked forward to from tin' beginning of Hid term 11 seem ed a simply Impos sible (Hutu iii-c No pUpll'S COIlOOptloll could li'itp across these Interminable d it y a i w im! k 8 1 tnontliH and ages and distinguish the end of tli term. Children grew skeptic, nnd fi'lt sure there w a u nothing but tin' present ever liad BAli.on hoy's l''. '"! eouhl ot niiKAM. bo. Last days of Behool were dri'iiniH and fictions, or like the morals hi tin; rending lessons. And a the ilayn or embittering work went by how linn a hatred of the teuch r grew up in each child's heart. It was a certain thing he Hhowed partiality, die couldn't work all the examples In the arl 111 luetic, for John Ithlnehart "slatted him" on one In pnrtlal pay ucnl. lie made a mistake In gram mar, nnd said Hartford was on the Kennebec Hlver. He made Jenny llirake sit with the boys, when her mother forbade his ever doing such n filing, and he flogged Jimmy Thompson unmercifully, lint just wait until Jim my's big brother pomes home. There are good days and bad mostly (the latter. Lessons are broken off In rwniethliig like rations, and each day's !"stlnt" lias to be done, for the class has ntarted to get through the book, and jthore Is no time to halt by the wayside, jl'uplls who cannot keep up must pre Iteud they are keeping up. The class cannot lie held back for them. The gait pt the fastest Is the gait of the school. .There was no grading ns there Is now, and there was no semblance of an ex amination. The teacher achieved a post of tolora I tlon. Of course he was wrong, and to be spoken 111 of at all times. That be ing fixed, pupils might safely treat him with cordiality now and then, and yet not Imperil their standing In the school. U might even lie admitted of him. In deed, that lie was, In some respects, not much worse than the last winter's In cumbent. One thing In his favor was his iihlllty as a ball player. Never was a teacher In the schoolhouse could throw it ball as si might as this man, and none could catch as well, cither, come to think. And he did write a good hand, to Ik' sure, and could explain some tilings. Hi-sides, he did not act decent nlMiut the treats at Christmas. Kor It has taken somewhat more than half the term to work this grudging transformation. There is no retreating, understand, from the settled position that tills teacher is simply bearable no more. He Is yet much the worst from nil point of view tli.it ever hung up his hat In the schoolhouse. He is yet t lie common enemy. And just here comes talk of the last day of school. The girls begin It, with their plans for "an exhibition." The talk grows. It consumes part of the time of study and a good many hours nt home. The nearer approaches the tid of the term the more fully Is study fwi.'ritleed to preparation for the last day of school. Clearly It cannot lie sul ordlnated to anything. Much as he Is disliked, the teacher Is solicited to aid, and fitting as refusal would have been to his pstabllshcd character, his aequl mcence Is received with applause. The weather gets warmer as "the last day" approaches. Indeed, one or two of the larger boys have had to quit m-liool and go to work on the farm. It Is almost time to begin spring plowing. The blj glrU come to school l;b some- 1 tL 111 1 1 j thing comely relieving the monotony of their winter frocks. The llttlo boys, wlio know no authority that cuuuot see and lay hands upon them, go barefoot at recess and have tin audacity to live. Some little girl linds a wood violet and brings It to the teacher, and he ac cepts It gratefully, but calmly. It recurs tc the opinion-makers that since the hist day of school Is so near there Is no need con ting the little girl for her error. And then comes the last week, iiml It melts away it day at a time and "to morrow Is the last day of school." To morrow comes, fair and full of a vernal heat. The schoolhouse was never so clean. Illg boys scrubbed It last night and big girls hung evergreen and dog wood bloom ami red bud all about the windows. And the teacher's desk Is a bower of beauty. Every pupil Is there very early on the last day of school, dressed In his best and bringing the lit tle childrenthose too young to pay the regular price for the Joys of a "last day." Several guests come from other "TUB PEFKN8E OF CATAI.INF.." schools, escorted by pupils of this. The house Is very full all the morning. The teacher Is dressed very much the same. Of course. What more could be expect ed? Sometimes they would have a teacher If So-and-so had got the school, Instead of this teacher or If such a teacher ns this guest tells nlwnit had been employed here. Hut there Isn't much study or recita tion In the forenoon. And at "recess" A ONE-ACT Pit A MA IS l'l.AYKlt. the big boys who had left for the spring work drop around and conclude to stay. The noon Intermission is uncommonly long. It begins rather before the usual time and I Is unaccountably extended. A DlT.r, "Oil! COMK.COMK AWAV." Kvery one dbe have such an excellent time playing, and the day Is so delight fully warm! Then come the exercises "the exhi bition." The Mg girls have a curtain stretched across the end of the room nnd behind It Is Impenetrable mystery. There are a few lessons on drillej top ics, so that parents may be proud of 5'i US children who answer wonderful things correctly. Aud when thut Is done tlio curtain rises and "Miss Clarissa Pip plnger" recites "Stay, Jailer, Stay," re celvlug h very formidable applause when she Ihav aud signals the curtain to go down. Benny Collins recite "The Salloi Hoy's I tren in," Kate Calloway and No rah I lattery sing "Oh, Come. Come Away," as a duet, and long John Smith thunders through the defense of Cn In line. Sandwiched In between the big pin ple are exercises from all the little youngsters, whose mothers whose fat lid's, too, possibly are present, and a one-act drama Is presented to the en tire satisfaction of the audience and Duse ciin do no more than that. And, then, somehow or other, when the hist "song of the school" has been sung, when the curtain has been lifted and lowered for the last time, when there Is a sense of grounding this side of port that unspeakable teacher Is up and talking, For the llrst time the sense of pupils takes in this larger fact. "Last day of school" means a severance of ties, a farewell to some things that were pleasant, a loss of this man and It Is a loss. It must be, for looking back from this height not a thing can lie re called wherein he did wrong. On what basis sat the framework of his bail character no one can see, for not a memory there retains a charge against him. He Is crying a little himself. The women are all crying because their children are crying to see him cry. And the men are altogether serious. The big boys blow their noses to hide the rise r tears, and tin; big girls dry their eyes very daringly. There Is a luncheon spread all over the desks and benches later, and from wagons hitched along the road outside come baskets full of country dainties. There Is an abundance of honest cheer. The windows and doors are open, for tlie afternoon Is so warm. Aud then come farewells, when the teacher shakes hands witli boys who have hated him bitterly all winter boys who cordially honor hiin now; when he Just misses being tender in his good-by to the girls; when he finally rounds out the work with mingled grief nnd pleasure, lix'ks the door, gives the key to the director, watches the bun dles of books and bundles of pupils tread slowly away, hearts big with the greatness of "the last day of school," nnd then turns from the whole picture forever. Modern schools have added many fea tures the old system needed. No doubt there are better results from graded work, since the books say so. Hut there is no last day of school so stupendous in its Interest, so sweet to erase antipa thies, so strung to weld friendships, ns the last day of school which has drifted one-third of a century Into the past. course examinations nre good tilings, since all the teachers have them, but they do not lend a gracious blessing to the last day of school. They spill a drop of nittertiess Into the pupil's cup of bliss on this final day of a long com panionship, and they make promotion very dearly purchased. Of course they arc good, (if course they are right. That Is conceded by every teacher's In stitute In forty commonwealths. Rut that, or the city style, or stage effects, or a decorous absence on the part of parents or a promised departure on the part of the teacher has deprived crea tion of 1U "last day of school." His ltrother Was Deaf. A millionaire railway king has a brother who is hard of hearing, while he himself is remarkable as having a very prominent iio.-c. Once the rail way kim; dined at a friend's house, when he sat between two ladies, who tallied to him very loudly, rather to his annoyance, but he said nothing. Finally one of them shouted a com monplace remark, and then said in an ordinary tone to the other: "Did you ever see such a nose in your life?" Tardon me, ladies." said the million aire. "It's my brother who Is deaf." lmaglue the horror of tlie lady. After a girl gets married she queers the unmarried girls by looking tough when slie comes down town. WHEN IN THE COUNTRY. Live Clone to Nature, Svrk Kppoee mid Cultivate Berciiity of Munner, In an editorial In the Ladles' Home Journal Edward V. Hok discusses "When We Are lu the Country," a text he employs to show how fur we are departing from tin purpose residents of Pities used to have In going to the coun try during the summer time, Former iy going Into the country meant an es cape from city conventionalities; a liv ing close to Nature. In the pure and : bright sunlight; a change of scenes, of Interests, and of pastimes; absolute freedom from the tyranny of fashion. Mr. Hok contends that this has been entirely changed, and the hctietits of the summer outings have been largely lost. Conventionalities have robbed the country of its greatest charm; and the diversions, pastimes, the nervous rush nnd hurry of the city have been trans planted to the country, and Mr. Hok well says; "We cannot nITord to con ventionalize the country. There is no truer saying than that 'God made the country and man made the town,' and ; we ought to carry out the spirit of : those words. When we go to the conn : try let us get out of it what we go for: rest, outdoor life and early hours early, I mean, at night, as well as in ' the morning. Let us live truly In the country, nnd do ns the country people ; do. Let us dismiss, during the only ! restful time of the year ns the sum i mer Is to so many of us thoughts of dross, of Indoor amusements, of mat ters of any kind thnt are apt to keep ' the mind at work nnd the body Indoors. Let us seek repose something which j so many of us need. Our life during i the winter makes us carry about with i us an nlr of distraction nnd nervous worry. In summer let us cultivate ' serenity of mnnner. There Is a rest ful ness about the restless sea thnt Is pe ' cullarly soothing and wondrously help ful to city people. There Is a quietness ; In a leafly bower not to be had any where else on God's footstool. Nature 1 speaks to us unerringly amid such sur ! roundlngs. It Is the absolute calm ' and quiet of leisurely enjoyment which so mnny natures crave, ami which i should be given them. Ami It is possl j ble to attain this in the country If we J will only seek for It and make up our minds to have It. Let us then use the j country In this way, forgetting for the time being that there are such things ns dresses, ns cards, dances, bazaars nnd dollies, throwing our whole natures Into the spirit of our surroundings. Then will we extract from Nature what she Is always willing to give us, what God Intended us all to have: the calm nnd quiet of peaceful repose." Safely Home. In the early days of America, window-glass, being expensive, was often carried a long distance with great care. The story Is told In "Old Times on the Saco" of a settler who built a log-house, land after moving his family In, went j to Gorhnmtown to purchase twelve lights of seven-by-nlne gl..: s for t lie two small windows. Tills was well tied in a large handkerchief, and hj started oil his return. He selected even places for his feet nt every step, nnd avoided all possible I obstacles; thus he moved slowly home ward. All went well until he reached his own dooryard. As he approached the house, he saw his wife standing lu the doorway, and shouted: "Well, Sally, I've got my glass home:" Alas! his attention bad been divert ed; he caught his foot in a small bush I by the path, and fell headlong. Quick ns thought, he raised his hand high to shield the glass, but It came down with full swing upon a flat stone, and was broken Into fragments. Then and there he registered a vow that he would never look through glass in thai house, and he kept his word. "If I'd fell half-way to (iorliamtnwii." ' he said, "1 wouldn't ha' keered; but it deemed to evorlnstiu' bad to go down : and smash "t right off agin my own ! door.'" ! Walled In. About twelve mouths since there was ! n good deal of talk about the walled- lu people of Montmartre. Now a case ! of the same kind has happened on the Avenue de Salnt-Ouen, near the forti i tlcatlons. The landlord, being unable j to obtain any rent from three women J who lived together, gave them notice i to quit. They refused to obey the in ; Junction, so he had a wall built around i the door leading to the miserable room where the needy tenants resided. Ac cordingly the women were forced to I climb out of a window, at the risk of ' breaking their limbs; but some of 'their neighbors remonstrated with the landlord, who agreed to demolish the ' wall, on the condition that the unprof itable trio should leave his premises on Thursday next. From Paris Let ter. He Was Certainly Candid. ! An English paper tells a story of the late earl of l'ortarlington, who was 1 always forgetting the names of peo ple whom he bad met. Once, on re ceiving a gracious nod from Queen Victoria at a Marlborough house gar den party, accompanied by a few words of kindly Inquiry after his health, he replied: "You arc very kind, madam: your face seems strange ly familiar to me. Im; for the life of me I cannot remember your name." Stick to H'ctail 1 ra.lf. Young Father (anxiously i Is it a boy or a girl, nurse? Xurse It's three of 'mi. sir! Three lovely boys! Young Father Good cra. ious! This comes of marrying a girl whose father was in the wholesale line of business. Woonsocket I'eporter. Noon Ilonr. "Fapa. what is a noon hour?" "Well. sn. at our hank it is from 12 until half past for t!;p clerks, but tlie officers generally get from half-pas: IX to 3." Louisville Courier-Journal COUNT AND COUNTESS DE CASTELLANE. 17 One of the moat notable weddings in this country of recent years wus that of Count de CuHtellnne, the descendant of a noted French family, to Miss Anna Uould, youngest daughter of the late Jay DESIGNS IN SWISS STYLE. Adupted to Rural SurrouncHnea nnd a Mountainous Landscape. There are some styles that are par ticularly fitted to the American climate aud social conditions. There are COOP. BUL DM$fZAHAX& ARCHrtXTZA.y. A SWISS COTTAOK. others that enn seldom be used with good effect, but innsinuch ns there nre occnslonal calls for the construction of houses In these styles, it Is fitting that they should be considered. The design Illustrated herewith Is thnt of a Swiss cottage. Swiss archi tecture is the outgrowth of the needs nnd conditions of the Inhabitants of ! Switzerland, nnd, like nil national iu ! stltutlons, Is most appropriate to its I natural surroundings. The life of the Swiss peasant Is divided by his occu patlons Into two seasons, the summer, ! when he Is watching aud tending his cattle on the high Alps, and the winter, I when he Is forced to find shelter from I the rigorous climate, with Its fierce j storms, in the low-lying, secluded val I leys. ! Swiss architecture, as built In this country, has been shall we say? First Floor somewhat Americanized, and the ac companying sketch shows 'a structure that would be effective and pleasing if erected In a suitable location. The lat ter point is one upon which all archi tect, versed as well In the technical points of landscape, should be consult ed, as ninny a man spending his money freely but not discreetly in the erec tion of a house has found too late that he has made a serious mistake in trust lug too confidently to his own taste. It may be found necessary for him to sell a house that has cost him thou sands of dollars, nnd localise of Its ex pressing too strongly his own Individu ality, finds he will not be able to realize a third of his investment. It is the CCCOfNd Floor proper duty of the architect not only tn draw tilans but to advise with t'.s 1-ont tinon the central stvle. aevota- jlph-T -kr" fini ww iii il TVJikJ 7f'- , - ' j j f rl modatlon and arrangement of the j "Yes. even her hair snarls!" Cleve bouse to be chosen, as well as, aaJ per- land ria'mdtaler. Gould. The report thnt a serious dis agreement over money matters has al ready taken place between the young couple will surprise the countess' friends hi tliis country, who were led to believe thnt it was a pure love match. haps above all, to see that it harmon izes with Its surroundings and suits tlie artistic demands of the neighbor hood. The design illustrating this article would be much out of place by tlie sea shore, but for n country residence or the suburbs of a city, where the land is not flat, but rather mountainous op hilly, its tasteful and striking appear ance would be most appropriate. A brief description is given ns follows: General dimensions: Width (over nil), 1(0 feet; depth, including veranda, 48 feet 2 inches. Heights of stories: Cellar, 7 feet; first story, 10 feet; second story, 0 feet. Exterior materials: Foundation, brick; first story, chipboards; second story, gables and roofs, shingles. Out side, blinds. Interior finish: Hard white plaster, plaster cornices In hall, parlor, dining room nnd three chambers; soft wood flooring nnd trim; nsli stairway; panels under windows in parlor, hall and dining-room; bath-room and kitchen w.iin seotted; interior woodwork finished In hard oil. The principal rooms nnd their sizes, closets, etc., nre shown by the tloor plans. Cellar under kitchen nnd pantry. Fireplaces with hardwood mantels In hall, parlor, dining-room, nnd one bed room and kitchen range Included In estimate. The cost of this design ns described Is $3.51(i, not Including beat er, the estimate being based on New York prices for materials nnd labor, but In many sections of the country the cost should be less. Copyright, 1S1KJ. Curiosity Gratified. When an innkeeper sets up a conun drum as a sign-board he must expect to have to answer a good many ques tions; but even the most enigmatic sign does not excuse such rudeness as u cer tain American traveler in Europe is said to have once perpetrated. The story, quoted In the Washington l'ost, is tints told by a Minnesota politician: I was traveling through England und Ireland on foot with a knapsack on my back, and in company with a facetious friend of mine named Morrison, and in our wanderings we came to an inn. It was late at night, but by the bright moonlight we were aide to see thnt the sign bore a counterfeit presentment of two asses' heads, with this not unfa miliar legend over the picture: When shall we three meet again? We stood for a moment gazing at it. Then Morrison went to the inner door and began thumping upon it with his cane, while the echoes rang through the house. I was just going to expos tulate with him over his unseemly conduct when an upper window was thrown open, and the innkeeper thrust nut liis head, nnd In an indignant tone demanded what in the name of all the demons we wanted. "That's all right, old man. Don't get excited." called up my friend in the most affable voice. "There arc only two asses' heads on the sign, and I just wanted to see the ot her one." Aud with that we started up the road. A Curious Little Plant. A young man who works at a desk in a Broadway ollice came from h's home in Kali way. N. J.. with a curi ous looking plant Imbedded in some moist moss and earth. Wh -n his as sociates asked him what it was he said: "Just watch it." They did. It was placed on his desk near a window. In less than two hours every petal was filled with a dead tly. Then he explained to the clerk that this plant was a fly-eater. It killed and absorbed the flies. "My sister be longed to a botany class." he said, "and she dug this from a swamp near Perth Aniboy. She loaned it to me to aston ish you fellows. It is very rare." A fellow clerk from Savannah toil; a look at It and said: "When I cune kick from luncheon I will show you something. He brought in a small bottle of spirits of camphor and put one drop on each of the petals. In stantly the fiies were released and the petals closed tight as a clam. "Now." ! he aid. "that plant wil' have a fit of I indigestion for about three days and 't!mn !t will cllrvtro for nl.ont mon,- weeks. They are common enough in the South." New York World. "That Mrs. Naglet has the worst a!I- ' roucl bad temper I ever knew."