[Sidenote: Bicycles Won]
Superintendent Rittenhouse had the problem of gambling in the eighth
grade to deal with, because the county fair had been so conducted as to
permit much semi-public gambling, in consequence of which there was talk
about town sufficient to charge the atmosphere with interest in
gambling. It turned out that Saturday afternoon, nine grammar room boys
conducted several bicycle and foot-races, with a crude attempt at
gambling attached to the whole affair. The story came out because Jay
Belding had to turn over his bicycle to August Bachman, and the Belding
family lodged a protest with the superintendent.
The next morning he entered the eighth grade room, called out the boys
involved and put them through a series of questions. “Who planned this
thing? Who got permission to use the race track? Who raced? Who put up
bets? Who paid bets? How much money was involved in the bets?” and so on
to the end of the chapter. The boys told the truth. When the grilling
was over, he said, “You boys go home, tell your fathers all the facts
and bring me at note tomorrow saying that the fathers will guarantee
that you never will do this again. Each boy’s father must sign a note.
When you hand me the note you may come to your room and not until then.”