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TTie Country School By IILY S. THOMAS At the beginning of this week the children went back to school. They went back to their modern buildings with air-conditioned schoolrooms equipped with indi- vidual desks, blackboards and cupboards. No school is built to- day without the best of cafeterias, washrooms and central heating. Many and varied courses are of- fered for all grades. Gymnasiums and libraries are provided. There are many of the older people in Altona who delight to tell of the days when they attended the Schoolhouse, which still stands though now it is used as a res- taurant and laundrymato The school had more than one class- room and more than one teacher but still lacked many of the fa- cilities which schools provide to- day. Nobusses brought the child- ren to school three miles or more was not an uncommon distance for the boys and girls to walk to school. One resident said, \I repeatedly returned home minus buttons on my shirt. The result of having been yanked by the collar by an exasperated teacher. We never told at home of our punishments for if father found out we had been punished in school we would get another licking when we re- turned home. \ The education-offered was good and-the foundation of knowledge well established. Many who at- tended the old Altona school went on to gain distinction, among whom are Frank Connors, teacher and Benjamin Feinberg, lawyer and assemblyman, What of the school in Great- Grandfather's day? The school was a small one-story building. Behind the woods came close up; before it was a little open yard which merged into the highway. Opposite the schoolhouse was a pasture and the children wore a rough path through the grasses by the roadside On their way to and from the brook. The room was plain and bare - no pictures, no maps, not even a blackboard. The walls were sheathed up with wooden panels but the ceiling was plastered. A single continuous line of desks ran round three sides of the room, where the big scholars sat. On the front of the desk was a bench for the smaller children. They could use the desk for a back but they had no desk for themselves. The fire place was on the fourth side of the room. In the space in front was the teacher's table on which were one or two books, an ink bottle and quills, a lot of copy books, and a ruler. The teacher who had studied a year or two at an academy had a small salary. He \boarded out\ with the families in the neighborhood. Schools were supposed to start at nine o'clock but few of the teachers had watches. Some had hour- glasses but the only time keeper a school was sure to have was a noon mark on a southern window sill. Even this was useless on a clouded day and a good deal of guess work had to be done. The first exercise in the mom- ingwas reading in the Testament. Each scholar who was able read two verses. The youngest schol- ars had no books at all. When they recited they came up to the teacher who pointed out the let- ters in the Speller with his quill. This book was the famous Web- ster's Spelling Book, a blue cov- ered homely little volume con- taining beside the alphabet, the figures, Roman and Arabic, days of the week, months of the year, abbreviations and names of the states. Another of the school books of the time was a Primer containing many little stories, proverbs, Banish your budget blues with low-cost Champlain Laundry & Cleaners Phone AX 8-W21 or Plattsburgh TO 1-1850 Senior Girl Scouts to Attend Conf. Senior Scouts Moira Beall, Di- anne Kirk, Berna Lavoie, Bar- bara Marleau, Sharon Moore, rhymes and was quite religious in tone. They read: Noah did view, The Old World and the New, Zaccheus, he Did climb a tree, His Lord to see. Young Obadias, David and Josias All are pious. The teacher wrote a sentence a- cross the top line of the children's copy books. The children made these copy books at home from large sheets of blank, unlined pa per which they folded and sew- ed into a cover of brown paper or one made of old newspaper. In school each child had a'ruler and a plummet and with these made lines to draw on. They had no pencils but the plummet ans- wered instead. Plummets were made at home by melting waste lead and running it in shallow grooves, two or three inches long cut in a stick of wood. Some- times the cracks in the kitchen floor were found convenient places to run the lead in. When the metal cooled a little it was whittled and smoothed down and pointed, perhaps as a final touch a hold bored through the end, that the owner might hang his plummet round his neck. Each pupil had a bottle of ink and a quill pen. When the pen became worn or broken the teacher was asked to mend it. The mending was simply whit- tling it down and making a new point. Of history, grammar and geog- raphy scholars learned very lit- tle. Children were taught to count on their fingers and when in summer they came barefoot, their toes too were made to do duty. Toward eleven o'clockthe girls had recess trut it was short. At the end of 'a few minutes the teacher would come to the door and rapped with his ruler, which was a signal for them to come in. Then the boys had their re- cess. School kept every day in the week except Sunday, and there was no pause at Christmas, New Years or Washington's birthday. The summer term began the first Monday in May. This time the teacher was a woman. Her pay was from a dollar to a dol- lar and seventy-five cents a week. Shetoowas \boarded out\. As the term drew to a close the scholars began to learn \pieces\ to speak on the last day. Fathers and Mothers attended that day. The two most important persons who attended were the School Committee man and the Min- ister. It was the custom of the woman teacher at the close of her term to give the scholars some little present. After which each schol- ar with his treasure gathered up his belongings and trudged home. The little country school house is a far cry from the seats of learning amongst us today. Culture comes from the love of learning. As their forefathers in bygone days with little ad- vantage became citizens of re- pute, so childrentoday can learn and study to fit themselves to become good citizens of this ex- acting century. In the words of a definition givenby a chijd in Great Grand- father's day,, Vftucly is to learn\ >ki^ Susan PoUo^j Maureen Sweeney, Nancy Tetreauit, and Susan Van- derbeek will attend the fourth annual North Country Girl Scout Council Senior Scout Conference in Lake Placid this weekend. Adults accompanying the Senior Scouts will be Mrs. Desmond Beall, Troop Advisor; Mrs. Don- ald Biche, Troop Program Con- sultant; and Mrs. Robert Marra, Neighborhood Chairman. Senior Girl Scouts and Scouters from 32 councils in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will attend, as well as representatives of the Sea Ranger Ship Ontario and the Ranger Ship Jonquieres. 430 persons have registered for the annual Senior weekend, which will be held at the Hotel Marcy. Special Conference guests in- clude Dr. Vilma Almacen from Manila, PMllippines, who is presently studying at Guggen- heim Center in N. Y. C.; Miss Cynthia Hibberd, a member of the National Girl Scout Program Staff assigned^o Region II; and Mrs. Charles Yedlowski from Woodside. Mrs. Yedlowski will deliver the main address on Sat- urday evening speaking to the conference theme: International Cooperation Through The Prom- ise in Action. The conference program will officially open on Friday, April 22, with a reception and an eve- ning program of 'talent shows', conversation pieces brought to conference by Seniors of other councils, and a 'Camp Fun For Everyone' program presented by Miss Kris Hansen and Miss Carole Hass, camping supervisors for the North Country Council. The eve- ning program will be rounded out with swimming and informal sing-a-longs. Saturday will find Seniors and adults participating in workshops concerned with (1) Troop Man- agement and Senior Aide Bars (2) International Friendship Activities (3) Songs (4) Wider Opportunities in Senior Scout- ing and Leadership-Training Pro- grams. The afternoon program will include free time for shop- ping, hiking and swimming and discussion groups on (1) The Peace Corps, led by Miss Ann Wilson of Winooski, Vt.; (2) The Role of the Senior Planning Board, led by Miss Ann Halstead; and (3) Career Explorations, led by Mrs. RussellBarnard, Principal Local Heart Fund Drive Realizes $450 Mrs. Eunice Hislop, chairman of the Heart Fund Drive for Rou- ses Point, announces that the drive has been completed and $450. realized. The money was collected in a house-to-house canvass, from business firms and in memorials. Solicitors who helped Mrs. His- lop make this year's drive a suc- cess are :Mrs. Herman Jubert, Mrs. Walter Martin, Mrs. Terrance Phillips, Mrs. Fred Roberts, Mrs. Fred Dupras, Mrs. Robert Leahy, Mrs. Alan Ryan, Mrs. Robert MacCallum, Mrs. Desmond Beall, Mrs. Robert Halstead and Mrs. John Costello. Also Mrs. Daniel Young, Mrs. Carl Monty, Mrs. Harold Phalon, Mrs. Robert Goodwin, Mrs. Ray- mond Seguin, Mrs. Frank Hoag, Mrs. Warren Hauer, Mrs. Lewis Finkley, Mrs. Walter Manning, Mrs. Willard Aubrey and Mrs. Albert Anctil, Jr. Also Mrs. Joseph Favro, Mrs. John Carney, Mrs. Merrill Ives, Mrs. Harold Mero, Mrs. Frank Reynolds, Mrs. Andrew Garrant, Mrs. Earl Carlton, Mrs. Richard Christie, Mrs. Lyal Catlin, Mrs. Richard Duffy, Mrs. Conrad Pen- field, Miss Mary Jane LaCroix, Mrs. Kenneth Forward and Mrs. David Bellm. PAFB School; Miss Evelyn Bray- ton, SUCE, Plattsburgh; Mrs. E- lizabethDurick, Champlain Col- lege; and Miss Cynthia Hibberd, Program Advisor G S U S A. Followingthe Saturday evening banquet aHootenanny will be di- rected by Mrs. Edward Welles, Northwood School, Lake Placid. Camping program, swimming, and a movie of the 1965 Senior Scout Round-up in Idaho will round out the evening. Sunday morning will be taken up with Church services, movi evaluations, and Closing Cei • emonies with the conference of- ficially closed at 1:30. Conference Chairman is Miss Ann Halstead, Field Vice-Pres- ident and Senior Program Advisor for the North Country G S Coun- cil. W\*j» *•-*\ AUCTION Saturday, April 23rd-1:00 P.M. At the residence of Grace and John Hogan, located on the O'NeU Road, 2 miles southwest of West Chaty, N. Y. 128 ACRE FARM — 50 acres tillable, 2 springs, drilled well, gravel pit, 6 room house. Terms. 10% down day of sale, balance on delivery of deed. I952-8N For dtractor (like new), Deerborn hydraulic 12\ plows, 6' mower (both excellent), tractor discs, manure spreader, dump rake, farm trailer, tractor dhains, belts, grass seed, 2 sets Stewart Clipmasters, platform scales, 2 battery fence controllers, drags, 15\ Lombard chain saw, wheelbarrow, 3 can milk cooler, cedar lumber, 80 gal. water troughs, 1/4\ •lectrie drill (excellent), hand tools, forks, shovels, 7\ Skit saw (good condition), sled, hay tedder, many other items. HOUSEHOLD GOODS: Antique oil lamp, commode, picture frames, harness bench, books, chest of drawers, dresser, trunk, quantity of stove wood, lawn chairs, rotary lawn mower (like new), 12 gauge shotgun, 303 British deer rifle (both excellent) and many other items. TERMS: CASH Servk* sslE Auction*** — Appr«is«r — Licensed Real Estate Broker W«t Ch«y, R Y.. , T*l. ©Y 3-4711
