The fact that the "Slab City" parents object to clay-modeling in the
schools is illustrated in the following note sent to a teacher in one
of the Tenth Ward schools:
_Miss ----_: John kem home yesterday wid his clothes covered wid
mud. He said you put him to work mixing clay when he ought to be
learning to read an' write. Me man carries th' hod, an' God knows I
hev enuf trouble wid his clothes in th' wash widout scraping John's
coat. If he comes home like this agin I'll send him back ter yez to
wash his clothes.
MRS. O'R----
Here is one from a Brownsville mother who objects to physical culture:
_Miss Brown_: You must stop teach my Lizzie fisical torture she
needs yet readin' an' figors mit sums more as that, if I want her
to do jumpin' I kin make her jump.
MRS. CANAVOWSKY.
The number of parents who object to the temperance plank in the
educational platform is greater than the number of objectors to any
other class of study in Williamsburg. Here is a copy of a note sent to
a teacher in the Stagg Street school:
_Miss ----_: My boy tells me that when I trink beer der overcoat
vrom my stummack gets to thick. Please be so kind and don't
intervere in my family afairs.
MR. CHRIS ----
Here is a sample on the same subject sent to a teacher in the Maujer
Street school:
_Dear Teacher_: You should mine your own bizniss an' not tell Jake
he should not trink bier, so long he lif he trinks the bier an' he
trinks it yen wen bill rains is ded, if you interfer some more I go
on the bored of edcation.
W. S.
In this school the teachers are often compelled to listen to long
arguments on the excise question, and the parents who call around to
argue become greatly excited when told that the children are taught not
to taste alcoholic liquors. One little boy told his teacher that his
mother had given him orders to get up and leave the classroom during
the hour for discussing the alcohol question. The teacher told the boy
to ask his mother to call around at the schoolhouse. She wrote this
note instead:
_Teacher_: John says you want to see me. I have a bier saloon and
nine children. Bizness is good in morning an' aft'noon. How can I
come?
The Pickleville parents as a rule never omit the "obliging" end of a
note, as will be seen in the following, sent to a teacher of the Wall
Street school:
_Dear Teacher_: Pleas excus Fritz for staying home he had der
meesells to oblige his father.
J. B.
And here is another of the obliging kind:
_Teacher_: Please excuse Henny for not comeing in school as he died
from the car run-over on Tuesday. By doing so you will greatly
oblige his loving mother.
Here is one sent to the Brownsville school:
_Dear Miss Baker_: Please excuse Rachael for being away those two
days her grandmother died to oblige her mother.
MRS. RENSKI.
The child mentioned in the following note was neither German nor Irish.
But he is back in school after a battle with the doctors:
_Miss ----_: Frank could not come these three weeks because he had
the amonia and information of the vowels.
MRS. SMITH.
The notes sent are sometimes written on scented paper, and as a rule
these are misspelled. Here is a scented-paper sample:
_Teacher_: You must excuse my girl for not coming to school, she
was sick and lade in a common dose state for tree days.
MRS. W.
In this same school a teacher received the following:
_Miss ----_: Please let Willie home at 2 o'clock. I take him out for
a little pleasure to see his grandfather's grave.
MRS. R.
Still another mother wrote the following:
_Miss ----_: Please be so kind an' knock hell out of Sol when he
gives too much lip to oblige his mother.