EARLY DAY STORIES. 235 



and the most important ones learned by heart. I have won- 

 dered if the practice of memorizing so extensively practiced 

 was not really one of the best things required in the schools 

 of that day. The spelling lessons were required to be stud- 

 ied thoroughly, and every two weeks, on Saturday afternoon 

 (as there was school every other Saturday) there was a 

 spelling match, and every two weeks through the winter 

 there was an evening spelling school, in which the pupils 

 of other districts took part. These spelling matches were 

 the life of the schools every winter. The school children of 

 those days were better in spelling than those of the present 

 day — the only thing in which they excelled — in all other 

 respects our modern schools are away in advance of those 

 of the olden time. 



The schools were supported by a very small public 

 school fund furnished by the state and by an assessment 

 made upon the patrons of the school in proportion to the 

 number of days their children attended. This method was 

 an extremely bad one, as many poor people with large fam- 

 ilies kept their children at home because they were not able 

 to pay the "rate bill," and men of property who had no chil- 

 dren were exempt from school tax. Finally when a law 

 was enacted allowing each school district at the annual 

 meeting to vote a tax on all the property of the district to 

 support a free school, the thing was fought at every annual 

 metting by many of the voters of the district, and especially 

 by those having large property interests with small families 

 or no family at all. Such men are not all dead yet — we 

 have plenty of people who cannot with an unbiased mind 

 look into any question that affects the public good, because 

 in some way it involves their own pocketbook. 



As stated the houses were all warmed by the open fire 

 place, and in these fire places all the cooking was done. An 

 iron crane was fastened in one side of the fire place, from 



