1214 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



done by a monitor. Now, gentlemen, with 

 your age and experience have you not learn- 

 ed that it requires a man of much greater 

 ability to set other people at work than it 

 does to do the work himself?" 



If I am correct, the directors apologized, 

 and undertook to hire him for another term; 

 but he had other plans in view. He came to 

 Medina and started a normal class to prepare 

 teachers, not only for "teaching, but for their 

 lifework. Most of his pupils were from the 

 country. They were, like myself, farmers' 

 boys, and, like myself, many of them were 

 bashful, awkward, and needed a wise leader 

 in more ways than one. Some of the spry, 

 well-dressed young clerks in the Medina 

 stores rather poked fun at the farmer stu- 

 dents. I think they nicknamed us "Bar- 

 nai'd's elephants;" but, oh dear me! where 

 are those young "counter-jumpers '' now? 

 If still alive, how do they compare with the 

 sturdy farmer boys, strong luen of integrity 

 who till important public offices throughout 

 this land of ours? 



Shortly after the term opened, our teacher 

 gave us a talk in regard to our signatures. 

 He said it was time for us to decide just how 

 we were going to write our names. He em- 

 phasized the importance of making a signa- 

 ture always in the same way. He said it 

 should be arranged as brief as possible. 

 Then we should take great pains, not only 

 to write it quickly but to write it so plainly 

 that even an entire stranger would have no 

 difficulty in reading it correctly at sight. 

 He took our names, one after another, and 

 put them on the black board. I do not 

 know that anybody ever heard of A. I. Root 

 before that day. It had always been Amos 

 Root. He sugge3*;ed that I drop the " Amos" 

 and just put it "A. I. Root." He told me 

 1 could write it without taking my pen off 

 the paper if 1 chose; and as it was a short 

 name I could make it very plain. He took 

 the names of the rest in a similar way, and 

 then added something like this : 



"Now, boys, do not be content with learn- 

 ing how to write your names plainly and 

 well. Do not stop to put on any ornamental 

 flourishes. Just have it plain and neat-look- 

 ing, and then make it the business of your 

 life to defend that name. Have it mean 

 something whenever you append it to any 

 piece of paper. Not only have the hand- 

 writing clean and plain, but make the man 

 it represents clean and plain in every act of 

 his life. Defend it and stand by it until there 

 shall never be any need for you to be asham- 

 ed to write it or to tell the whole wide world 

 who you are and where you live." 



If my dear old friend were yet alive and 

 could read the above words I think he would 

 laughingly remind me that, although fifty 

 years have passed, I am still the same chap 

 who could never recite his geometry lesson 

 in the language of the book; and that, al- 

 though my version of his talk to his boys 

 that morning was substantially the same 

 thing in substance, the words were not ex- 

 actly the same as he used. Every boy and 

 girl (for there were girls there too) loved S. 



G. Barnard. They loved him while he lived, 

 and I am sure I voice the sentiment of the 

 whole school of about a hundred pupils when 

 I say they love his memory since he has gone 

 to his last reward. He died while I was in 

 Florida last winter; and whenl saw a notice 

 of his death I felt regret that I had not re- 

 membered to tell him before he died that I, 

 at least, appreciated the efforts he made years 

 ago to start us all in wisdom's ways. 



Some years ago, when traction-engines 

 first became common, a young man at the 

 county fair jumped off his machine while it 

 was running, and let it describe a circle all 

 by itself; and as it came back to where he 

 stood he called and motioned where he 

 wanted it to run, and it seemed like some 

 great animal that heard and answered his 

 bidding. I have sometimes thought that 

 Judge Barnard's teachings were a good deal 

 on this plan. He would call on proficient 

 pupils, and have them hear a class recite 

 while he attended to other duties, and every 

 thing went on like clockwork. He had one 

 advantage, I admit, over the teachers of our 

 common free schools. Each pupil paid his 

 tuition. Many of the parents worked hai'd 

 to save up money to pay the tuition and 

 other expenses of letting their boys go to 

 that normal school. In fact, that was the 

 case in our own home. I walked two miles 

 and a half every night and morning, and 

 chopped all the wood to keep up our winter 

 tires in our humble home; but I never made 

 such progress before nor since as I did in 

 that one winter's time. It was the last of 

 my schooling, when I was seventeen years 

 old. Well, each pupil, knowing how all in 

 the old home had raked and scraped to send 

 him to this school, felt the obligation I'esting 

 on him to improve the time. I said every 

 thing went like clockwork; but you must 

 not imagine from this that that miscellane- 

 ous collection of farmers' boys were above 

 the average in manners or intelligence. At 

 recess our teacher usually took a walk in the 

 open air. During one of these recesses a 

 couple of the "elephants" got to scuffling 

 near the master's table. The table was split 

 and one leg was broken off. The boys 

 propped it up, and the teacher seemed to 

 pay but little attention to it. When school 

 opened up in the afternoon he said very 

 quietly, "I have consulted a cabinet-maker, 

 and he tells me it will cost 75 cents to have 

 this table put in repair. Will the young 

 men who caused the accident come forward 

 and furnish the needed amount?" 



Almost instantly two stalwart young farm- 

 ers arose from their seats, pulled out their 

 pocket-books, and laid the amount on the 

 table. This being done, every thing went 

 on as usual. I think there was no more 

 wrestling in that schoolhouse during that 

 winter. There were some very bright girls 

 in that old school, and I think they are now 

 tilling noble places as mothers of families or 

 elsewhere, every one of them. When we 

 were on this matter of signatures the teach- 

 er gave us the names of the different young 

 ladies for copy. Perhaps I shoiild say right 



