The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 4, 1906, Page 9

e g TS A (Copy All rights reserved.) ight, 1905, by Seymour Eaton. HE district school was a mile away: The bears were free and thought that they Would go to school-for at least They had learned to farm and To sow the grain and cut t OF to catch & bull or, drive an ox. Or to get chopped uy in & cutting box They would go to school to work .nd play, To read and write and cipher, too, d get good marks as schoolboys do; nd talk out loud and laugh and see f the teacher would whip or let them be. mow of hay : 5 at break of They'd r clothes and shin And smoked a pipe and read the news, And were ready now for a day of fun Which would beat the farm or the broncho run. They long gads, a good d bunch; ‘s wife packed a basket lunch books and slates and pads rem off like country lads. mer stood at the garden gate, nd said, “Good-by; if you lads are late The teacher will keep you in at night nd words to write.” " their shoes, dangerous thin get it all, and n we'll fling It here and there as East we go To let folks see how much we know.” le learning is the month of June; the day was fine; ren gathered prompt at nine. 3 sat down on the teacher’s chalr, T off his hat and brushed his hair, And banged the desk and said that he Would run that school that day and see That d figures flew, And that boys were good and their lessons knew. He'd make things hard and play-hours few, 2 keep those in who dared to do reir legsons wrong or writing bad; 1 scold them well and use the gad. heard it sald in countries wild t to spare the rod was to spoil the child, ddy G stood just inside the door k the lates and Keep the score: While the teacher sat on a corner stool And Jet the two bears run the school, The first class called were little tots, With picture cards, and squares and dots To count and add: and color blocks To vile in heaps: and little clocks To mark the time; but Teddy B SAT DOWN ON THE TEACHER S CHAIR.” * -/ ‘ HE TRICHS THEY PLAYED THAT DAY WERE. GREAZ; THE BLACK BEAR-TEACHER: AND 7HE GRAY BEAR /7/472'-,’,'1 i BEARS AT THE DISTRI 2y Poul Pipe Nlostraled by Lloyd Canm phe Said the book Iteach is A B C. And he asked them each in turn to say The alphabet from Z to Ay And little words like o-X, 0X; = And z2-n, an: and f-o-x. fox. - - ‘When these they knew, he let them go e To the fields outside for an h'nur or so. The next class called was number two, : They stood In line their work to do,; - ~ * And started in on problems new. , 7 o It half of six is'an eighth of three How much will a third of a quarter be? If 2 man and a boy can lift a ton How big is the man and how old, the son? g It a camel can go without water a week { How long could he go if he owned a creek? If a woman can sew a seam a day How many needles in a stack of hay?’ If your mother's uncle and your: father’s niece - Buy apples and cakes at a centiapiece 5 And eat the apples and sell the‘cake ¥ At two cents each, how much do they make? If you add a hundred and subtract a score From a thousand dozen and ffty more, { And divide what's left by half of three, | How much will remain for you and mie?" { If a boy can lift ten pounds alone - How many pounds in three loads.of stone, A barrel of potatoes and a ton of brick? These few problems were Tun off quick,' + And every boy found a place to'stick, . ‘When Teddy B saw the class was-b. ., & He howled and pranced and stamped his feet; The slates he smashed and chalk didl eat, , * And asked each boy to take his seat, . 25 And sald that the teaching was very bad," * If it didn’t improve he would use the gad. He gave them each to do that night ¥ | A hundred million words to write. The class in history was called up front And asked to open their books and hunt i For King Alfred’'s cakes and Caesar’s ghos And Cromwell's hat and the cloth of gold, | And the place where Penn the Indians sold, _ And Boston tea and Faneull Hall, £ And a lot of things not there at all, The teacher said to Teddy B: 3 “They’re not yet through the book, you see, 1f you'll give them battles and dates to do, Like Marathon and Waterloo. ! And fourteen hundred and ninety-two, They'll get good marks, a hundred plus; Don’t be so hard: don’t make a fuss,” . But Teddy B said, “Never mind: “We'll.examine the classes, and if we find . The teacning bad, we'll cut your pay . . { And the place where battlées were fought the most, CT SCHOOL To thirtv-seven®cents a day.” The history class was told to stay For an hour that night to read and spell And learn to say their lessons well. A’ class in, geography was next brought forth: They were asked the distance from south to morth, And told to bound the moon and sky, ‘And name the capital of by-and-by, And tell the distance from sun to star. ‘And measure the poles and tell how far From West to'East In'a Pullman car: And to draw the bottom of Great Salt Lake, And tell how-long a boat would take To sail in waters of every sort And stop at every ocean vort. They were asked to name Chicago streets, And railroad lines and ocean fleets; And to name a farm in every State, And to open the latch of the Golden Gate: And to make a list of the hills of Rome, And name the peoples who lived at home; And show on the map the weather line ‘When the nights are wet and the days are fine; And tell at once the other name For the land of nod and the peaks of fate, And if capes are worn now just the same. The Missour] boys said, “I want to know,” But they couldn’t make the questions go. They were ordered quickly off the floor And were told to read their books once more. Teddy B sald he supposed it true That the children answered all they knew: He knew these things when but a child: He guessed he'd make the whippings mild, It work was bad and they failed to pass It was the teacher's fault. and not the class. The tricks tiey played that day were great, The black teacher and gray bear mate; '}‘Wlm‘hbe from hand to hand And a and made him stand On top of. their heads while they marched around And thumped their slates to music sound. They climbed the rope that rang the bell, And opentd d store and tried to sell The children’s lunch and books and caps _And pens and ink and chalk and maps. Théy made boys laugh and the teacher frown, And turn the schoelroom upside down. Thé bears were glad the day was o'er, They told the boys to work no more. Thé world was made, they said, for play, And boys and girls were just as gay, wim schools were closed and teachers' pay Was used for candy every day. - They asked the children not.to cry. As they doffed their hats and said good-by. . " (Continued next Sunday.)