Reminiscences of a. Wayfarer
The Evolution of Schools.
Those best Informed on the sub
j> <t,or who think they are,tell us that
iti' U and women, that is, human kind,
are what heredity and environment
happen to make them. This, in a
measure is doubtless true, but not
< ntirely so. The inexorable law of
heredity operates with invariable un
■lormity in all the multitudinous ram
ifications of sentient life where
• .er found in the cosmos, and is just
a uniform in the lower orders, and
hi the vegetable kingdom.
Evolution, in the opinion of many
may change the order of nature, in
tact they claim it has done so, in
Die slow procession of the ages, in
Hie case of man and some others of
Me animal species; tint the claim, it
.s*'eins to me, is based upon proofs of
no substantial value whatever. I.a
viarrk and Darwin contend that man
descended from some arborial animal,
some animal whose habitat was in
the woods,—monkey it is said, but as
there are still about as many mon
keys iti the world as there ever were,
e doubt obtrudes itself upon the
mind that those animals ever parted
with any of their nature to make a
superior breed and still retained the
integrity of their original nature, dur
ing the flight of iinmeasureable time.
Descent from any other animal of the
lower orders, would do as well—
much jiearer the truth maybe, if we
sny from some one not remotely re
lated to the hog.
But il is not for the purpose of dis
issing tlial question thitt I mention
it, but rather to say that the laws of
heredity are as fixed and changeless
as the stars in the heavens.
What we call heredity is merely a
continuation of anticodent life, the
same kind of life we came into, mak
ag every one of God’s children on
earth, more links in an everlasting
chain, reaching backward in time to
the beginning, whenever that was,
and to continue till the original pur
pose of man’s creation shall be ac
complished. it is not an inhheril
ance in any proper sense, but it is
one of the determining forces in hu
enn characti r and human destiny.
Environment is what is meant by
the surroundings of the individual,
the conditions among which and un
der which, he is born, brought up or
jerked up. to the life he lives while
in the world; the good or had—most
ly bad—influences that attend him
on his journey, and which make for
bis success or failure in a moral and
material way. With wlmt nature has
g.ven him.and his surroundings have
left him uncorrupted, lie must make
his way as best he may; but without
another aid, which is not generally
taken into account,—education,
the chances are an hundred to one
Chases
Dirt
Avoid Caustic and Acid
Use
Old Dutch
Cleanser
This handy, all-'round Cleans
er is entirely free from caustic,
acid and alkali; it is hygienic,
cleans mechanically,not chem
ically. It is not only the safest,
but also the easiest and quickest
! cleanser ever discovered for
Cleaning, Scrubbing,
Scouring, Polishing
It is the only cleanser to use on milk
pails, pans, separators and on all cooking
utensils. Use it for all cleaning through
out the house.
How To Clean Windows The
Best Way—Sprinkle Old Dutch Cleans
er on a cloth or sponge, just dampened
sufficiently to hold the powder, without
dusting, and apply to the glass, rubbing
briskly. Then polish
with a dry cloth and
a very little Old Dutch
Cleanser. If the
above directions are
followed excellent re
sults will be secured
with less work than
by ordinary methods,
or with other articles.
10
against ultimate success. What I
mean by "success" 1 will try to ex
plain later on. My notion in that
respect is probably somewhat differ
ent from many others.
1 therefore add a third element to
the rule of the wise ones—education.
And that I may not be misunderstood.
1 remark that 1 do not use that
word in its popular sense, namely,
the education that people get from
what is written in hooks and taught
in the schools. That is the smallest
part of the real human educaatlon
that is received by the individual, from
the moment of birth to the moment
of death. It may be urged with some
real plausability, that this element
includes much of the other two, and
I am disposed to think it does, but
there is still a distinctive difference.
Books are merely the record of the
experiences and thoughts of others
in times precedent, but as men were
before books, the education 1 refer
to, made them possible. Language
and thought, preceded all others which,
coupled with the art of writing by
which they might be made intelli
gible to others, the education of the
schools came into vogue. Environ
ment forms the character, not the
schools, and the best education man
ever received is not from the text
books of the schools and the great
institutions of learning so called, but
from the vast and inexhaustable cur
riculum of nature of which man Is a
part, and with which he is constant
ly in contact as he passes through
life. What he gets from books are
valuable aids in properly understand
ing the things he meets with, be
cause others have traveled the same
road and met the same things and
studied them, and their recorded
conclusions serve as milestones on
the broad and never ending highway
of existence. But unless the way
farer thinks for himself, the edu
cation lie gets from books is a mere
| parrot accomplishment--a dull re
peating of what somebody else has
said or written.
None of us needs a guide to teaeli
us ignorance, as at the outset of life
nature furnishes us with a tolerable
supply of the kind without ulterior
aids, in the shape of teachers, though
I have frequently thought that some
of our university students have
been to a school where they do that
kind of educational stunt, for they
have returned more jolter-headed, if
that were possible, than they went.
The new-rich and the old-rich, as
well as the no-rich, are equally anxi
ous that their offspring shall have
the best their means will procure, if
for no other consideration, than the
name of having gone through some
educational mill. The unimportant
fact, that in the process they have
received no real practical education
to speak of, cuts no figure so they
come out with a diploma. That
takes the place of everything else,
and fills to repletion, the measure
of their ambition. It. is prima facie
evidence of a university education
and that is enough. It is another
evidence of the controlling force of
fashion. For all that, it must be
set down to their credit that they are
proud their children have been in the
classic shades of some imposing in
stitution of learning and have its
authority for saying they graduated
from it, though the very diploma
that certifies to the fact, is couched
in a language the student in many
cases knows no more about, than he
does of the Choctaw.
Hut I like those simple people, if
for no other reason, than that their
chief desire was, to give their ehild
j ren advantages they never had tliem
j selves.
Something over forty years ago, it
folk to my lot to assist in founding
one of the many state universities
that abound in our groat, republic,
and though I have been in the city
where it stapds hundreds of times,
( I have never been inside of it, nor
am I conscious of the fact that 1
ever wanted to be. It was a mat
ter of pride with till of us that a
generous general government had
given us out of its great, bounty, man
broad acres of the public domain as
a fund out o/ which to build it. II
was our tribute to a growing educa
tional fad that lias become general.
At tlie same time, and located in the
same city, we provided for two other
institutions as necessary as the
j other, and in a way educational too
|—black flowers of our advanced and
(advancing civilization—a penitentiary
and a hospital for the insane. They
are all there now. and then some,
in other cities.—full to the brim and
I running over,—their inmates, stu
dents if you please, are all drawn
from the same population, and more
coming. The impelling cause that
fills these finishing institutions -for
none of them are primary in any
(sense—inheres in the social fabric
and have their loots and sources in
| the republics of the homes of the
: people.
A little less for costly churches.
costly high schools, costly universi
ties, and a little more for the amel
ioration of the condition of the un
numbered proletariat whom law and
custom as old as the race itself
have made poor, ignorant and degrad
ed, tile less use the community
will have for its jails, prisons and
penitentiaries—for the animal man
must be fed, clothed and housed, and
he will acquire the means to those
ends honestly if he can by force or
otherwise if lie must.
Whoever lias read, or will read,
tho history of the French Revolution
may know all that is necessary on
these propositions, and what lias
once happened in human affairs, uu
der like conditions will happen again.
Society cannot be Judged by its
highest types, but by its lowest. A
cable is no stronger than at its
weakest point. It must be taken in
its entirety, and as a whole It is no
stronger than its weakest place;
and the same thing is true of hu
man society, it is no better Ilian its
worst and most vicious elements. A
house cannot be raised by beginning
at the top. It must be raised from
its mud-sills, and then the whole
house will go up. A little more of
the spirit that was breathed upon
the world in au older day in those
words that will never fade from the
memories of men while the world
stands, “Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me,’’
and a little less of the loud praying
Pharisee, will do something towards
destroying the distinction of caste
and insure a more equitable distrib
ution of God’s bounties among men
to the manifest advantage of all
The real education -reformation per
haps—of the world will never he
complete until every man in it, at
all times, and under all circumstan
ces lias an equal chance in the bat
tle of life with every other man. As
things now stand—however much men
deny the fact- the laws govern the
poor, while the rich and the power-1
fill, made so by customs that have
grown into usurpations, govern the
laws. However, this is not. exactly
germane to my present purpose, but
[ may resume the subject at another
time.
Il is characteristic of our Anieri
<an people never to do anything
without overdoing it. This will hold
good in every social and business re
lation, and it. is just as true in our
moral and educational relations.
From no system of schools at the
beginning of the Nineteenth century,
we have little else than schools
and systems of schools at the be
ginning of the Twentieth century.
Seventy years ago there was no gen
eral common school system west of
the Wabash and east <>t the Mississ
ippi. There were schools of a sort,
hut they were purely private enter
prises. A tramp teacher, self-styled
of enurse. would visit a given neigh
borhood or settlement, as the phrase
was thmi, and organize a school in thi
way: 11 <• would go from house to
house in a radius of a couple of
miles or so, from the school house—
there was nearly always one in each
neighborhood, and ascertain how
many scholars each family would
subscribe, at the rate of $1! or $:>>.->0, j
to be paid for each, for a term of
three months,generally in the winter.!
If he could get from twenty to twen
ty-five or more with his hoard thrown!
in lie would stay a while at one
house and then at another till he
made the rounds of all his scholars’
homes, and so continued to do till
th<» end of the term—it was a go, |
and the school became a fact. Two
or three of the oldest and generally
most ignorant men in the community
were selected, hut not in pursuance
of any law, as school directors, and
ihey were the supreme authority in
everything pertaining to the school.!
from judging of the qualifications of I
the teacher, down to the minutest and
most trivial detail of the business.
The teacher was required to be suf
ficiently learned to teach reading,
writing and arithmetic, and if he
happened to be able to leach
a little grammar it did not detract,
from his qualifications to conduct the
school, anti this was the curricu
lum of the people’s colleges, the
common school, and it remains un
altered to this day,'even in Ne
braska.
For the masses no other education
al advantages are possible, and in
very truth no other in needed, or is
used in the every day practical af
fairs of life. If the student wants
something more the means of its ac
quisition are always at hand. There
is room for the scholar everywhere,
but the disposition and ability to he
one must exist in the student him
self, and for those ho is dependent
on heredity and environment - amd
brains. But everybody cannot
tie scholars, nor Jo they want to he,
but all should have a fair knowledge
of the four fundamental branches of
an ordinary English education to fit
them for the duties of business, and
for the enjoyment of literature, ag
reeably to taste and capacity. The
Greek scholar is no more effeeient
as a bank clerk than one who got
his entire education in an old fash
lolled country school, nnd I now say
what I know to be true, that an or
dinary bright and healthy hoy could
with reasonable industry in three or
four winter terms in the old country
school, master those fundamentals
mentioned, which, under the pres
ent system takes twelve or fifteen
years of his life to acquire and then
not at all satisfactory, in the major
ity of eases. It is true much has
been added to the modern system of
teaching, such as chemistry, botany,
philosophy, hug and snake-ology, and
kindred useless matters thill the
young would be better without; but
they help to round out the system,
give employment to the teachers, and
load the minds of the students with
useless ami burdensome tasks, and
their patents and guardians with
mountainous tax charges to pay at
their leisure.
In the early days in Nebraska, the
school facilities- differed very little
from those in the pioneer days of
the other states. The first school
in Fails City was organized much in
the way 1 have described, by an old
fellow named Ilradshaw. There was
nobody to pass on ills qualifications
in any particular and the school lie
opened, sometime In the fall of
lXti2, was unique in character and
decidedly grotesque In its operation,
lie marshaled quite a respectable
number of the youth hereabouts, and
for some time seemed to progress
swimingly, till one day the old man
took it into his head to get drunk
and tin'll the very old Nick was to
pay. After getting outside of a
goodly quantity of bad whiskey lie
concluded to take a nap on one of
(lie benches, and proceeded todo so;
while the children taking in I lie sit
uation with tolerable accuracy, pro
ceed to decorate his face, which was
large and quite fat, with some soot
from the stove. Of course, the riot
that followed attracted the attention
of tlio people on the street and
prompt investigation followed.
Bradshaw was found with a long
black streak down his nose, one over
each of his eyebrows, and one or two
under each eye and similar ornament
ations about his mouth and upper
lip, oil which the artist painted an
elaborate mustache after the I'Tencli
style. The situation can better be
imagined than described. Bucle
John, as he was usually called, was
quite dignified in appearance in bis
sober moments, which generally be
came Intensified as the process ot
elevation by the use of whiskey pro
gressed. lie concluded, on being
awakened by ilie riot created by the
children and the entrance of the in
vestigators from the street, that
somebody had been taking unwar
ranted liberties witli his school, and
talked in a language that I don't
care to repeat here. H put an end
to the school, however, and it stay
ed ended.
I saw some of the fan towards the
last of the performance, and al
though many years have elapsed
since,in which i have witnessed many
other ridiculous exhibitions, a strict
adherence to truth compels me to
say that this one, as first-class com
edy, stands preeminently first in the
list.
Everything in time has to have
a beginning, and that is how >ur
schools commenced in Kails City.
The old man was a native of New
York, and was one of a very res
pectable family, often contending in
his periods of elevation that he des
cended from one of the ancient Dutch
families that settled in New York
in tlie seventeenth century. I think
our late president puts up some such
claim on his own part. He frequent
ly made it known that his children
had asked him to make himself scarce
as lie was not particularly ornamen
tal in the circles in which they
moved. I know of my own knowledge
that he was tolerably correct in that
particular, as on a visit to New
York in 1864, at his request I call
ed on his son, whose place of busi
ness was somewhere on King street,
as I now remember it, and lie told
me how the old man had conic to go
west. J found him to be quite a
gentlemanly appearing man. quite
intelligent and gave evidence of be
ing a man of affairs In the city,
lie inquired about his father, and
showed some interest in tin old gen
tleman's w< ifarc. Sohie years after
wards I received a letter or two
from him. making similar inquiries
touching the fortunes of his
father. One I call to mind just now,
addressed to mo about the time of
old man’s death, which occurred
in the fall of 187b. The son forward
ed money hero to pay the funeral
expenses and otherwise manifested
the usual interest of a son in a fatti
er. The latter is at rest in the old
cemetery to the west. 1 am not cer
tain I could point out the grav< . but
inclined to think it doubtful. How
ever this may bo, he sleeps as peace
fully among the forgotten dead in
that neglected spot, as he would if
entombed among his ancestors oti
the banks of the historic Hudson. He
is entitled to a monument for/ he
was Kails City's first school master.
—Eat Sowle’s Candy.
tvER httVE LIBRARY FRIGHT?
i Awful Feeling That Sometimes At
tacks People Asking for Books
in a Strange Place.
“Library fright Is an awful feeling,"
said the librarian. "It attacks people
who go Into a strange library to look
around or rest for a few minutes and
are told that In order to enjoy the
hospitality of the reading room they
will have to ask for a book and make
at least a pretense of reading.
"1 have had library fright twice my
self. My first attack was In tho Con
gressional library in Washington. I
wanted to read there for a few min
utes, just to be able to say afterward
that I had read there. Used as I was
to handling books, 1 couldn't think of
even the dictionary when It came to
making a choice. After a few minutes
of hopeless floundering ‘Table's His
tory of Kngllsh Literature1 came Into
my mind I had no desire on earth to
look at Table's Kngllsh literature then
;or at any other time, but 1 give you
my ward 1 couldn't think of any other
book to save my life.
"Another time In a library right
here In town I was stricken with a
islmllnr panic and after stumbling
through the catalogue In a dazed sort
of way I asked for ‘David Copperfleld’
•- Copperlleld, mind you, that I had
[read forty eleven times and kuew by
heart A person who has never ex
perienced library fright cannot tniag
,tne how foolish and helpless the suf
ferer feels."- Exchange.
FLOWER CARPETS IN SPAIN
Religious Festival That Callfe Forth
Most Remarkable Floral
Displays.
Once a year rleli Spaniards have a
real "flower-strewn way” prepared for
them That Is when the Corpus
Chrlsti festival Is held and beautiful
flower carpets are laid In the streets
of Villa Orlava. Tenerlffe.
All the richest produce of the fertile
gardens of the island is brought into
use in weaving the most wonderful
Moor coverings in tlie world.
Often the patterns are elaborate, es
pecially those designed for old Span
ish families, who place (hem in tho
street before their houses, and thus
gain local estimation according to the
value of their floral display.
Not only are the ordinary blooms
known to gardeners used to make tho
design of carpets, hut also some rare
flowers and grasses growing only In
the Canary islands. The slopes of the
peak of Tenerlffe, hearing layers of
lava from tin* now dormant volcano,
are rich In these unusual forms of
floral beauty
Killed by Curiosity.
There Is an African Insect, (ho
larvae of which prey upon ants. Tho
larvae puts Its head into a small hole
in the ground and quivers its tall
quickly. The ants come near to ex
amine the novel object, and, goaded
by curiosity, go loo closely, when sud
denly they nre seized by Ihe forceps
or graspers with which tho tail Is fur
nished, and Hius nre killed. Not only
do insects and I lie lower animals un
derstand Hiai the curiosity of their
victims may lie employed as a snare
for them, lint humnii being understand
and act upon Hie same principle.
Many young men and young women
have been ruined by adopting the ap
parently harmless course of "going to
seo what it was like.”
Inertia of the Nerves.
The researches and experiments of
a French scientist have led him to the
conclusion that the cerebral nervous
system Is incapable of perceiving more
than an average of seperate Im
pressions per second. After each ex
citation of Hie nerves a period of in
ertia follows, lasting about one-tenth
of n second, and during this period a
new impression cannot he made. Ac
cording to the inv stigaiions of tills
scientist a person cannot make more
than ten, or at the most a dozen, sep
arate voluntary movements of any
kind in a second, alt hough the muscles,
independently of the will, are capable
of making as many as HO or 40.
Of No Use.
“When 1 was your sip'," said the
man to his little son." I was the best
behaved boy in town. My parents
would not allow me to play in the
street; they made me keep rny face
washed and my hair brushed; they
compelled me to be well mannered at
all times, and 1 was sent to bed early
every night and awakened early in the
morning. My parents trained me to
be a model, obedient, polite boy. Why
can't you be like 1 was at your age?"
"But, papa," answered the lad,
"what would lie the use? It doesn't
seem to have done any good in your
ease."
At the Reception.
"I understand, Miss Aramlnta,”
said tlie professor, “that you are in
elined toward literature.”
"Yes," said the blushing spinster.
"1 wrote for the Bugle Magazine last
month.”
"Indeed! May 1 ask what?" asked
the professor.
‘1 addressed all the envelopes for
the rejected manuscripts," said Ara
mlnta. proudly.— Harper’s Weekly.
The Boss of the Place.
"Yes,” said the determined man,
“when that waiter resented the small
ness of my tip 1 took the case to the
proprietor of the restaurant.”
"And what did the proprietor do?"
“lie gave the waiter some money
out of his own pock' and apologized
10 him to ritaving wh i customer."
COMING!
TO
FALLS CITY, NEB.
The Eminent Physician on Chronic
Diseases Will Visit Our City
Wednesday, April 20th
And Will be at The Union Hotel un
til 5 p. m.,One Day Only.
Dr. Pot (erf. president o( the staff
of (lie Hoston Electro Medical Insti
tute, is making a tour of the state.
lie will give consultation, examin
ation. and all the medicines necessary
to complete a cure FREE. All parties
taking advantage of ttiis offer aro
requested to state to their friends
tiie result of the treatment.
Cures DEAFNESS by an entirely
new process.
Treats all curable eases of catarrh,
throat and lung diseases, eye and
ear, stomach, '<ver and kidneys, grav
el, rheumatism, paralysis, neuralgia,
nervous and heart disease, epilepsy,
Itriglit's disease and disease of tho
bladder, blood and skin diseases, and
big neck and stammering cured.
Piles and ruptures cured without
detention from business.
Asthma cured in a short time.
if you are improving under your
family physician do not take up our
valuable time. The rich and the poor
are treated alike. Idlers and curios
ity seekers wilt please stay away.
Our time is valuable.
Remember, NOT A PENNY will bo
charged for the medicine required to
make a cure of all those taking treat
ment iliis trip. Office hour 9 a. iu.
Positively married ladies must bo
accompanied by their husbands. Re
member tiie date.
Wednesday, April 20th
At Union Hotel
Falls City. Neb.
C. h. MARION
auctioneer.
Sales conducted in
scientific and busi
nesslike manner
C. H. MARION
Falls City, Nebraska
HARNESS
Best Harness on earth is made at
Wachtel's. Saddles. Whips. Etc.
Everything for the horse. Repair
ing and Oiling. Phone 384.
WACHTEL
DR. C. N. ALLISON
IDEIN'FIS'F
Phone 24H Over Kichardson County
Bank.
FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA
DR. H. S. ANDREWS
General Practioneer
Calls Vnswered I>ny Or Nigfct
In Town or Country.
TELEPHONE No. 3
BARADA. - NEBRASKA
CLEAVER t* 5EBOLD
INSURANCE
REAL ESTATE AND LOANS
NOTARY IN OFFICE
EDGAR K. MATHERS
13 ENT1ST
Phones: No?. 177, 217
Sam i.. Waul Building
Office Removed to Tootle Block
6th and Francis Sts.
DR. W. S. F AST
ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Sju'cml at font inn to M I'DKTN !.. HNRFAIj
Dim* ttWriw* of WOM I.N J\n*l I’HlIiDRIN
R R. ROBERTS
IDEUSi'FiS'F
Office over Kerr’s Phurruacy
Offici Phone 200 Residence Phone 271
WHITAKER
The Auctioneer
Before arranging date write, tele
phone or telegraph, my expense
J. G. WHITAKER
Phone* 166-131-2161 Falls City, Neb.