The Madisonville Meteor - And Commonwealth - (Madisonville, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 8, 1928 Page: 2 of 8
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THE MADISONVILLE METEOR
PAGE TWO
THE OLD LOG SCHOOL HOUSE
By Joe Sappington.
#-♦—f.
Tri
Most all great men were educated
in a log school house — Benjamin
Franklin, Daniel Webester, Abraham
Lincoln, Carrie Nation and I were
educated in a log school house. I
never burned the proverbial pine knot
like some other great men of whem
you have read, but I have walked
several thousand miles to and from
a certain log structure measuring
fourteen feet in the clear, that reared
its proud head six and a half miles
in a southwest direction from my
father's mansion. The old time
school was strictly a business insti-
tution and was not given to frivolity
and social dissipation. The schools
that attended lasted from sunrise to
sunset, and it was nothing uncommon
for me to arrive home from school of
evenings and find my father's family
retired from the night and deep in
slumber. It may astonish an admir-
ing public to learn that all I know of
the dead languages was learned in a
log school house, situated on the
headwaters of a ravine. The ravine
is still there and is frequently pointed
out to strangers as being the identical
gulley that I was graduated on. The
old time school teacher was a busy
man "from early morn to dewy eve,"
both mentally and physically, and
never shrinked a duty, from teaching
the smallest child its a, b, c's up to
whipping some grown up man weigh-
ing 195 pounds in his overalls, for
some offense such as whispering dur-
ing "books." During my school days
I never knew a boy to be expelled
from school for misbehaving, no mat-
ter what his offense might have been.
He sometimes retired from school for
a season, but it was usually for the
purpose of recovering from a fractur-
ed jaw or a broken nose, recieved at
an idle moment while resisting a
whipping from a teacher. The trustees
in those days were called upon, like
Cincinatue of old, to leave their plow
handles and repair to the school house
for the purpose of devising ways and
means of promoting harmony and a
state of subordination among refrac-
tory pupils—the teacher alone did all
the Cincinatusing, subordinating and
harmonizing that was necessary with
a 7-foot dogwood switch or perchance
with his good right fist.
One of the most serious drawbacks
encountered by the old fashioned
teacher was the wild, unclassified con-
dition of his school, he had to teach
every kind of books brought to him,
regardless of its antiquity and I
have seen in a school of 45 pupils 27
distinct and separate brands of arith-
metic, 19 grammars, that bore no fa-
mily resemblance to each other and
about 13 geographies, some of them
dating back to the inquisition, while
others were silent on the existence of
the Western Hemisphere. Th teacher
was required to teach all the ancient
lore contained in this sundry collec-
tion of text books on pain ofdeath.
When it came to reading and spell-
ing we were better classified, as the
most of us were the proud possessors
of McGuffey's readers and Webster's
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OVER-WORKED
Cardui Helpful to Sooth
Carolina Lady Whose
Health Gave Way.
Mrs. Letha Cabanlss, of
Chesnee, S. C., "did too
much," and her "health
gave way." She writes:
"I took boarders and, at
the same time, worked In
the mill. Aa a result, I
had to stay in bed from
overwork for eighteen
days. I had bad pains .. .
I got clear down and was
very much depressed.
"I had read of where
Cardui had helped other
women suffering with trou-
bles like my own, so I
made up my mind to take
Cardui, myself.
1 sent and got a bottle,
and it did me so much
good I took It on until I
got entirely welL"
Cardui should also prate
helpful in your case. Try
It Ask your druggist.
CARDUI
A Vegetable Teaic
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Blue Back Spelling books. When it
came to spelling the entire school
usually resolved itself into a whole
and lined their toes up to a certain
crack on the puncheon floor and pro-
ceeded to spell and pronounce every
syllable of every word that was given
by the teacher. I have known these
classes to be composed of the lisping
child, the blusing maid and the sturdy
son of toil, wearing whiskers and a
frock-tailed coat, and it was nothing
uncommon to see some boy wearing a
calico slip "turning down" a bunch
of these sturdy yeoman and bear off
with triumph the "head-mark."
Not only have the methods of teach-
ing undergone a complete change
since my school days, but the entire
system of school games and sports
have been supplanted as well. Where
today can you find a boy who knows
anything, about town-ball, bull-pen,
stink-base or anty-over? I once knew
a big sandy-haired boy, weighing
about 200 pounds, not counting his un-
derwear, for he wore none. He was
an expert in playing town-ball, and I
have known him to knock a 15-cent
rubber ball 600 yards agaist a strong
wind and make seven or eights I's be-
fore the ball could be returned.
A schoolmate of mine (whose left
foot was webbed) and I once formed a
joint stock company in order to have
a little fun out of our teacher's saddle
mule. The mule's name was Jackson
and our teacher always tied Jackson
to a tree that grew by the side of the
school house and in a few feet of a
dirt and stick chimney. We could rub
the mule's back from our seats in the
school house by just reaching out be
tween the logs. The web-footed boy
and I decided to turpentine Jackson
in a quiet way, and when no one was
looking, and it was agreed that he
should furnish the medicine and I
should make the application. The
next day, true to his word, the web-
footed boy succeeded in stealing a
half pint bottle of turpentine from his
ipother, and delivered it to me. It was
about 3 o'clock in the afternoon vlwn
I decided to act; everything seemed
auspicious, and I reached my hand
out between the logs and gently pour-
ed ttie contents of the bottle down
Jackson's spine. If Jackson was as-
leep when the turpentine was applied
he was not very long in waking. The
first thing he did was to kick a big
piece of mortar through the house, he
then stood on his hind legs and pawed
the boards off the eaves of the house
and again he would turn on the dirt
and stick chimney and kick it with
his hind feet. The entire school, with
one impulse, rushed out of the house.
When we came in view of Jackson he
was in a sitting posture and was paw
ing the chimney with his front feet
and braying at the top of his voice
The teacher called the mule by name
and told him as fast as he could talk
to "whoa," but Jackson would not
whoa, but proceeded to paw the chim-
ney, kick the limbs off the trees and
the mortar from between the logs of
the house.
Continued on page 7)
NEW RINGS GIVE NEW POWER
When your car balks on hills, and oil is
found around your spark plugs, you need
a set of McQuay-Norris leak proof rings.
We install them at a fraction of their worth
to you. Bring the car around.
For Ijhose old model, hard to start lizzies,
that do not have batteries, let us install a
Columbia Hot Shot Battery. It will make
the old bus hit er off the first time.
A generator is a small thing, but if it is not
looked after properly it costs a lot. We can
put it to working right reasonably.
Have a good closed car for sale at bargain
price; first man with the cash gets it.
OWL FILLING STATION
ROY FANNIN, Proprietor
Z//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////S/////////////////////////////////////////////SS'
3 Big Specials
for Saturday....
Ladies Hats, Value $2.98, for
98c
Ladies House Dresses, Value $1.49
98c
Boy's Play Suits, Value $1.49
98c
— For Saturday Only
Butler-Grimes Chain Store
At Squyres-Thompson Old Stand
The Cream
of the
Tobacco
Crop
William T. Tilden 2nd
to protect his throat
smokes Luckies
"During the course of some of my stage appearances, 1
am called upon at intervals to smoke a cigarette and
naturally I have to he careful about my choice. I smoke
Lucky Strikes and have yet to feel the slightest effect
**
It's toasted"
No Throat Irritation-No Cough.
©1928, The American Tobacco Co., Inc.
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Confidence - -
Doesn't Just Happen —
It MUST BE EARNED!
The faith the trade has in us is not acci-
dental. It is merited by three years of
business dealing of which is continually
on the increase.
Building materials of quality and right
prices.
Glidden Paints that are the best and
spread over more territory, and are gua-
ranteed.
Sheetrock, the fire-proof wall board, the
board that does not warp, shrink or buck-
le on the walls, and passed by the fire un-
derwriters.
Brick, Lime, Cement, Sash, Doors and a
complete line of builders Hardware.
Let us help you with your estimates, or to
plan your home, always at your service.
Your business is appreciated.
WOODSON LUMBER COMPANY
— PHONE 182 —
Madisonville, Texas
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Knight, J. A. The Madisonville Meteor - And Commonwealth - (Madisonville, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 8, 1928, newspaper, March 8, 1928; Madisonville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth192250/m1/2/: accessed June 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .