My Boyhood and Youth 



eight o'clock, without my having to be present 

 until time to open the school at nine. He said, 

 "Oh! young man, you have some curious 

 things in the school-room, but I don't think you 

 can do that." I sa^d, "Oh, yes! It's easy," 

 and in hardly more than an hour the simple job 

 was completed. I had only to place a teaspoon- 

 ful of powdered chlorate of potash and sugar 

 on the stove-hearth near a few shavings and 

 kindling, and at the required time make the 

 clock, through a simple arrangement, touch 

 the inflammable mixture with a drop of sul- 

 phuric acid. Every evening after school was 

 dismissed, I shoveled out what was left of the 

 fire into the snow, put in a little kindling, filled 

 up the big box stove with heavy oak wood, 

 placed the lighting arrangement on the hearth, 

 and set the clock to drop the acid at the hour of 

 eight ; all this requiring only a few minutes. 



The first morning after I had made this sim- 

 ple arrangement I invited the doubting farmer 

 to watch the old squat schoolhouse from a 

 window that overlooked it, to see if a good 

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