The Norman Transcript. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 15, 1912 Page: 3 of 12
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THrtT UP/SC
A tOUJN
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,
"One day after school John Lewis,
In the performance of his janltorla
duties, mounted a step-ladder In the
hall outside the superintendent's office
the better to dust the transom.. Obvi-
ously he had to look In. He says he
saw Superintendent Barnes in the act
of kissing, or being kissed, by Inez
Armstrong. n
'HIS Is the simple story of
the kiss that upset a town
so consarned hard, as Cap-
tain Dunbar Bays, that half
'nIvS' the folks don't know
(£% whether they're 'foot or a-
horseback, which, coming from an
officer of the law, carries weight. The
town Is the snappy little village of
Freeport, L. I.
Since the primary Incident, and as
an Indirect result thereof, the author-
ities at Albany have been oppealed to
twice, the police have been called
upon to perform emergency duty, four
men have lost their official Jobs there
has been a strike, parades through
the town, a placarding of fencer and
barns with statements and warnings,
mass meetings of citizens, men and
women alike, and a general condition
of such persistent turmoil that no one
would so much as think of predicting
what's going to happen next, accord-
ing to a correspondent of the New
York World.
By starting with the kissing Inci-
dent, it is easier to set matters down
In something like order.
Arthur E. Rarnes, a Union college
man, tall, angular, red-headed and
given to wearing stiff starched white
lawn tleB bow-knotted at. his Adam's
apple, as superintendent of the Free-
port schools had offices in the high
school. One day after school John
Lewis, in the performance of Six lani-
torlal duties, mounted a step-ladder In
the hall outside the superintendent's
office the better to dust the transom.
Obviously he had to look in. He says
he saw Superintendent Barnes in the
act of kissing, or being kissed by Inez
Armstrong, a demure and willowy lit-
tle teacher. Now, this Incident, which
is no part of the high school curricu-
lum and nowhere mentioned by the
regents, was communicated to the
school board. But the midsummer
vacation was approaching and the
school authorities, having In mind the
gossip which naturally follows on the
very heels of a story of an Indiscre-
tion. did not take prompt action.
In the Role of Jrseph.
Barnes himself admitted the kiss
lng, saying that he was the recipient
thereof Instead of being the kiBser.
He furthermore credited 11 to a hys-
terical outburst on the part of the
young teacher riue to her delight at
having been successful in an eiamina-
tion for promotion in which he had
aided her.
But it hadn't looked that way to Jan
ltor Lewis or to his assistant, Eddie
Smith.
When the schools closed the youRg
teacher went away from Freeport,
.nd during the long summer drone
the Bchool board turned the matter
over In Its official collective head and
Anally decided that Superintendent
Barnes' admitted qualifications for
school direction, coupled with his sev-
eral years of service, should not be
disregarded. So be was re-engaged
for another year.
And Barnes came back with his
white lawn tie to the scene of the
"incident" at the beginning of rtie fall
term. But the young woman didn't.
Then some of the townspeople
sought out Janitor Lewis ami his as
slstant, end even an upper grade
7011th or two for a more detailed ac
ftount of what had taken place ivithln
the superlnt ndent's room. They got
!t Smith confirmed Lewis. Tlie boys
confirmed Smith.
Trouble for Superintendent.
The next move t as the circulating
of an appeal to the state superinten-
dent of education to compel the Free-
port board of education to rescind Its
contract with Barnes.
Some of the townsfolk announced
that they would withdraw their daugh-
ters from the school until such time
as Barnes had been given his walk
lng papers. Barnes stood pat when
the term began. Having been exoner-
ated by the school board and his con-
tract renewed, he went about his du-
ties quite as if nothing had happened
Not so Industrious John Lewis or Ed-
die T. Smith. Their respective brooms
and dusters were placed li> other
hands, which some of the warmest
supporters of the school board now
believe to have been a tactical mis-
take. Neither man was guilty of any-
thing except seeing the kissing, un-
less guilt attached to talking about It.
So, at the beginning of the school
term, Barnes was very much present
and Inez Armstrong and the janitors
very much absent.
Formal charges were made soon
thereafter to Dr. J. S. Cooley, school
commissioner for Nassau county, by
a committee of Freeport citizens that
Barnes was morally unfit to continue
In village school work. The testi-
mony of the Janitors was made a part
of the formal bill. It was both gen-
eral and circumstantial. It was not
confined to recounting one incident,
but carried Barnes through a year,
during which period, as set down, he
had been a party to other acts not a
recognized detail of school superin-
tendency.
Testimony Contradictory.
At the hearing before Commission-
er Cooley one witness testified that
he had placed himself in as near as
possible the position occupied by the
Janitor on the occasion when he had
seen the superintendent and the wom-
an teacher together, and he gave It as
his opinion that Smith could not have
seen the kissing or noted the man!
festations of hysteria. This might
have carried some weight were it not
that the superintendent had admitted
the kissing.
Another witness told of Barnes' ex-
cellence in higher algebra, which like-
wise did not seem to have any fixed
bearing on the Incident. There's no
algebra for kissing.
The overwhelming weight ftf the
evidence against Barnes was accepted
by Dr. Cooley, who two days before
Christmas declared officially that
Barnes was unfit to teach.
Having been exonerated by the lo-
cal school board and engaged for the
new school year, Barnes promptly ap-
pealed to the state superintendent to
have the county commissioner's de-
cision set aside.
The office of superintendent being
now vacant, the Freeport school board
appointed Principal Roy Leon Smith
of the high school to act as superin-
tendent pending the determination of
Barnes' appeal, and In the event of It
being decided adversely to-hlm to con-
tinue until such time as a permanent
successor to that official could be se
cured.
Smith, who had remained silent
during the period when Barnes was In
the limelight, and having a rather pro-
nounced opinion of the way the kiss
lng incident was handled by the
school board, made public a letter ad-
dressed to that body In which he de-
clined the temporary appointment to
the vacant Barnes post, saying he did
not care to serve under the board.
This brought the row to its second
and more spectacular but happily
cleaner stage, which began on Jan 5
The school board, of whlc'i Samuel R.
Smith—the third of the name of
Smith In the controversy—Is presi-
dent dismissed Principal Smith, hold-
ing that his conduct In making public
his letter was discourteous and- -in-
subordinate.
The board did not want to lose the
principal, but It did want to pre-
serve Its own dignity. It urged him to
withdraw the letter and make such
an apology as the circumstances, as
the board saw them, seemed to de-
mand. But the principal couldn't see
It.
On the morning of January 8, when
Smith appeared opposite one of the
two Spanish-American war cannon
that stand on the high school lawn,
his namesake of the school board ap-
peared on the firing line and told the
principal he must not enter the school.
Some of the big boys and more spirit-
ed girls, having heard this, decided
that they, too, would absent them-
selves and thus protest against the
removal of the principal. Certain of
the louder Instruments of the high
school band were secured from the
basement and the scholars started on
a combined frolic and strike.
Enter Village Police Force.
Her® Captain Dunbar of the village
police force of fourteen brave and
earnest men la introduced- He as-
sumed the task of keeping the under-
graduate body within bounds, which
he did largely by moral suasion.
The parade swung round the corner
by the house where former Assistant
Janitor Eddie Smith, who, oddly
enough, considering the happenings of
the past year, Is suffering with an eye |
trouble, sat fiddling at the window,
and thence to the offices of the sev- I
eral board members.
Before nightfall they had bought all
the tin horns In town and bad se-
cured banners upon which their ulti-
matum—"Prof. Smith or No School"
—was painted.
The next day the teachers found
more empty desks than before. The
strike had grown. Some of the par-
ents were sympathizers with It.
On Jan. 10 Sigmond Opera House
on Main street was the scene of a
mass meeting which took the double
form of a protest against the removal
of Principal Smith and a demand that
the school board resign. There was
ginger In the speeches. Almost as
many women were present as men.
That very night a dispatch came
down from the state capital announc-
ing the dismissal of Superintendent
Barnes' appeal. It contained the offi-
cial comment, "The rule of moral
conduct on the part of teachers must
be held to with absolute rigidity,'
which every one accepted as quite in
line with the town's policy.
Petitions for Principal Smith's re-
instatement were displayed for sig-
natures In four parts of town and gen-
erously signed. They were presented
at still another meeting.
Whole Thing Summed Up.
In all of the doings growing out of
the removal of the principal the op-
portunity has not been permitted to
pass without a dig at BarneB and
cauBtic comments on the way he tried
to explain his indiscretion by saying a
hysterical little school teacher up and
kissed him.
But with Barnes somewhere in the
west and the little school teacher re-
ported as happily married, and Lewis
satisfied that be did his full duty in
reporting the cutting up, and Eddie
T. Smith getting another job, without
as much as losing a day, but tempor-
arily confined to the house with irri-
tated eyes and a tuneful fiddle—with
these characters in the controversy
eliminated the troubles will be
straightened out by and by.
"Freeport people have got enoagh
sense to handle the Bchool question,"
observed Captain Dunbar, "but I'm
not on the job of predlctin' when
they'll do it. I'm a police officer. Po-
lice officers are paid for police duty,
not for predlctin'."
WHO WILL MAKE THE FLIGHT?
I
A\A,Kl
flUY-V*
B
—t rom the Minneapolis Journal.
FIND MANY RELICS
Amherst Men Make Many Dis-
coveries in Patagonia.
MENACE TO INDUSTRY democrats vs.tariff board
EVIL IN DEMOCRATIC JUGGLING
WITH THE TARIFF.
fascination of the snake
Traveler Tells of His Own Unpleasant
Experience With a Monster
of the Species.
One of the most wonderful of the
serpent's feats is the power of con-
tinuing motionless, with the lifted head
projecting forward for an indefinite
time. This ability Is of the highest
importance to the reptile, both when
fascinating its victim and when mim-
icking some Inanimate object, espe-
cially the stem and body of an
aquatic plant When the serpent Is in
this attitude, with its round, unwink-
ing eye fixed on the beholder's face,
the effect is most uncanny.
Perhaps no better illustration of the
serpent's bewitching power could be
given than that related by Ernest
Ulanvllle, a South African traveler,
who describes his own experience.
When a boy he frequently went out
into the bush in search of game, and
on one of these solitary excursions he
sat down to rest in the shade of a
willow on the bank of a stream.
Sitting there, with his cheek resting
on his hand, he fell into a boyish
reverie. After some time he became
aware in a vague way that on the
white, sandy bottom of the stream
there was stretched a long, black line,
which had not been there at first.
For some time he continued regard-
ing it, without knowing what It was,
until all at once, with an Inward
shock, he became fully conscious that
it was a large snake.
"Presently," says Mr. 'llanvllle,
"without apparent motion, so softly
and silently it was done, the snake
reared its head above the surface, and
held It there, with the gleaming eyes
fixed on me, as If asking what I was.
"It flashed upon me then that it
would be a good opportunity to test
the power of the human eye on a
snake, and I set myself the task of
looking It down. It was a foolish ef-
fort. The bronze head and sinewy
neck, about which the water flowed
without a ripple, were as if carved in
stone, and the cruel, unwinking eyes,
with the light coming and going in
them, appeared to grow brighter tho
longer I looked.
"Gradually there came over me a
sensation of sickening fear, which, If
I had yielded to it, would have left ne
powerless to move. But, with a cry, I
leaped up and, seizing a fallen willow
braneh, attacked the reptile with a
species of fury, ana it quickly disap-
peared."
A Soft Answer.
A story 1b told of a landlord on the
north shore. A guest, seldom satis-
fled, came to him and said: "Mr.
Smith"—that was not the landlord's
name—"Mr. Smith, your coffee Is rot-
ten." The landlord shook him by the
hand. "Thank you, sir; thank you.
I haven't had my breakfast yet and
I'll skip the coffee this time. Much
obliged."
Party Is at Its Old Tricks, Subordinat-
ing the interests of the Country to
Its Own Welfare—Obliga-
tions Disregarded.
If the Democratic leaders In the
house of representatives were able to
get their program for tariff tinkering
| taken more seriously they might In-
fluence profoundly the whole course
I of trade and industry in the United
States. If It were believed that they
could carry their plans through the
senate and the white house their ac-
tion might have a great effect upon
the business and prospects of every
section of the country.
In that case the public could not
fall to note with dismay that the par-
ty dominant In the house of repre-
sentatives deliberately turns away
from light and seeks to work Its will
in darkness. It refuses Information
and acts on less knowledge than It
has within reach. It spurns the aid
of the tariff commission and chooses
for lmmediatae revision schedules
which the tariff board has not yet re-
ported upon instead of those which It
( has Investigated at great length and
| with extremely enlightening results.
This method, this attitude, 1b so il-
logical, so careless of the obligation
all lawmakers ought to recognize to
j get at the truth and act with the full-
este possible knowledge, that If It
could be made effective in the work
| of amending the tariff grave business
disturbances would inevitably follow.
It needs nothing more than such
1 legislative trifling with the basic bus-
iness conditions cf the country to tip
the balance toward failure for many
a venture which mcight succeed with
a little better opportunity. It Is easy
for self-seeking politicians to blight
the hopes and darken the Uvea of
thousands of men, drive scores to buI-
cide and wreck hundreds of homes
forever, by subordinating common
sense, logic and business principles
to the desire for power.
In this case, fortunately, there is no
reason to fear that in the near future
any reckless and Ignorant tariff legis-
lation can become a part of the law
of the nation. The barriers between
the leaders of the majority In the
house of representatives and the suc-
cess of their partisan scheming and
business blindness are too high to per-
mit their plans to be carried into
effect.
Currency Reform.
The question of currency reform Is
of Immense Importance, but Mr. Taft's
recommendations concerning that
problem seem In a measure to lack
definiteness and will serve only as a
check upon possible extreme and ill-
judged action. Of that, however,
there 1b little chance, because of the
general fear of hostile popular senti-
ment which influences even those rep-
resentatives and senators who are
most thoroughly convinced of the
] need of far-reaching and radical
changes In the monetary system of
the country. In respect to currency
reform there is much more reason to
expect inaction than there is to fear
I grave mistakes in the line of con-
1 structlve legislation.
Party Will Not Have tho Approval of
the Nation In Its Action on
Important Matters.
The Democratic house of represen-
tatives will not gain In popular es-
teem by killing the tariff board. The
threat to discontinue appropriations
for the work of the experts seems to
be inspired by political motives and a
desire to embarrass Mr. Taft.
Gathering, collocating and properly
presenting vital data Is the work that
the board Is called upon to perform.
Such work cannot be done hastily.
Careful Investigation Is necessary, and
the board Itself knows when it Is
ready to report. It Is not to be be-
lieved that the board Is willfully de-
laying Its report on the Iron and steel
tariff or on any of the other work It
has undertaken.
Because the report Is not Imme-
diately forthcoming the house Demo-
crats profess to suspect there Is Bome
kind of collusion between the board
and the president. They seem to fear
that there Is a plot to prevent tariff
revision during the present session.
The proposed abolition of the board
can be considered merely as a threat
of punishment.
Congress is, of course, in no sense
bound to follow data presented by the
board. The reports are not even In
the form of recommendations. All that
President Taft demands Is that the
reports of the board be given con-
sideration, Inasmuch as they repre-
sent the best thought on exceedingly
difficult problems.
Talk of doing away with the board
is small politics. The wisest legisla-
tors should welcome the assistance of
men who are by specialized training
better qualified to handle the Intrica-
cies of the situation.
Two alternatives are possible. It Is
to be hoped that the board, without
undue haste, may be able to present
a report, or at least some preliminary
data, during the present session of
congress. The second alternative
would be for congress to enact some
kind of revision prior to the board's
report and In spite of President
Taft's threatened veto. More thor-
ough revision might come later.
The best course for the house ma-
jority Is to urge that the report be
made as speedily as possible and to
abandon thought of punishment If the
request Is not complied with. Even
from a purely political standpoint
their position would be unassailable
If they confined themselves to this
method of procedure.
Biological Expedition Now on Its Way
Homo With Many Scientific Treas-
ures and After Finding a Col-
ony of Prosperous Boer«.
New York.—After having passed six
months devoted to scientific explora-
tion In the wilds of interior Patagonia,
the members of the Amherst college
biological expedition are homeward
bound from Buenos Ayres to New
York by way of London, bringing with
them many Important contributions to
science and a fund of interesting ex-
periences.
Tho expedition, which left for Pata-
gonia on July 3 last, is in charge of
Prof. F. B. Loomis of the chair of
biology in Amherst college. His asso-
ciates are Waldo Shumway, Amherst,
1911; Layton Turner, Amherst, 1912,
and William Stein.
Letters recently received from Pro-
fessor Loomis by his associates in
Amherst and from Mr. Turner by his
mother report that the expedition has
discovered some entirely new biolog-
ical specimens and gathered much val-
uable geological data. It has shipped
to the college four more or less com-
plete prehistoric skeletons, 15 skulls
and a largo number of jaws, which in-
clude fine specimens of the Eocene—
horse, elephant, rodent, primate,
notostylopus and a large variety or
other specimens taken from the hone
beds discovered by the party.
Some of the most valuable additions
to geological knowledge are the rich
marine deposits which the Amherst
men discovered, in some instances at
levels a thousand feet above the sea.
Amongs theBe are specimens of petri-
fied trees, some six feet in diameter,
which are supposed to have been
driven in by Atlantic storms of the
prehistoric ages. In one spot thoy
found what appeared like an entire
raft of these huge trees. Members
of the party also collected the fossil
remains of marine life, such as
sharks' teeth, alligators and turtles,
from beds hundreds of feet above the
present sea level. Shells of bivalves
similar to the oyster, but a foot or
more in diameter, were found In the
same locality.
The present expedition is the third
of a series which has been financed
| by the Amherst class of 1896.
Striking inland from Rawson, a
small town on the Chubut coast, the
little party, with its tents, a specially
Unassailed Facts.
The manufacturers of the suits and
overcoats and women's wear goods
want the reduced tariff In many ln-
1 stances because it means a reduced
price for cloth, but the reduction In
[ the price of cloth to the manufactur-
| lng clothier does not mean lower
prices for equal quality suits by any
means. It means greater profit to the
makers of the suits and the retailers.
The facts regarding the cost of wool
and the cost and profit to the manu-
facturer of the cloth are unassail-
able. The public is not held up by
either of the above factors. It must
Judge for Itself rather than accept
the statement of politicians, whether
or not It is getting a square deal, when
it pays $48 for a suit that the growers
of the wool and the manufd 'turer of
the cloth divide $8 on. Fiber &ntf Fab-
ric.
Where Labor Benefits.
Labor's share in tariff benefits Is to
, be found In wages from two to twen-
I ty times higher than in other parts of
the world; also In the certainty of em-
ployment. Labor's share is represent-
ed In the higher standard of living
and in the nearly $5,000,000,000 of
deposits in American savings banks,
and as much more In building and
loan associations, life insurance, etc.
The real test of Democratic sinceri-
ty will come when the time arrives to
open the congressional pork barrel.
Taxpayers Are Interested.
President Taft Is trying to make
the taxpayer's dollar go a good deal
further than It has gone heretofore.
The Democratic party will invite an
Inquest if It attempts to Interfere with
that admirable purpose.—New York
Tribune.
No Place for Spouters.
A Nebraska girl who is attending
Colorado university loses her voice
evei^ time she goes home. This Is a
warning to Champ Clark and others to
stay away from Colorado university.
Expedition Camp in Patagonia. ,
built mountain wagon and its com-
plete scientific equipment, penetrated
to the valleys of the Chubut and the
Rio Chico and traversed the almost
barren tableland that stretches be-
tween. Living trees are so rare in
this country of the pampas that
throughout the settled portions of the
territory the inhabitants build their
dwellings of corrugated Iron Imported
from abroad. Practically the only veg-
etation which is common is a stunted
growth resembling the sagebrush of
the American desert.
While the college men often found
water a scarce luxury, they have had
an abundance of buzzards' and os-
trich eggs. One of the latter makes a
huge omelet and the shells are worth
$5 apiece In the United States. Under
date of October 3 last Professor Loom-
j is writes:
j "I have not yet so many fossils as I
would like, but can already see that
we will be able to revise pretty thor-
oughly the geology. I have for mount-
ing the skin of a guanaco, which
Shumway shot and which we are eat-
ing. It is a three hundred pound buck
and we got one hundred pounds of
good meat from it. Then later I ran
info an ostrich nest, with fifteen good
eggs. Each night I blow two and we
have a big scrambled egg dish for
breakfast."
J In the Chico valley the American
scientists came across an lnterestiug
colony of Boer ranchers. With the
same spirit that led their forebears
to trek back into the hinterland from
Cape Colony, when the British occu-
pied it almost a century ago, some of
them have emigrated to this new
country rather than live under Eng-
lish domination in the Transvaal. In
Patagonia they have found a country
not unlike that of their old South
African homes. They are all sheep
growers, for the shrubbery, sparse
though it is, seems to Bupply sufficient
sustenance to make that industry
profitable. In some localities, Mr.
Turner writes, the Boers form so
large a proportion of the population
that Boer phrases and words are be-
coming a part of the colloquial lan-
guage.
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Burke, J. J. The Norman Transcript. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 15, 1912, newspaper, February 15, 1912; Norman, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc139054/m1/3/: accessed April 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.