School Newspapers - The Owl, Dec 17, 1900, Wray, Yuma County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/yuma/schools/newspapers/owl_v1n02.txt Transcribed by Lee Zion Donated Jun 11, 2001 See the USGenWeb notice at the end of the file. This copy of "The Owl" was collected by Lulu B. Coston Davis, Yuma County High School class of 1917, and was among the many historical papers passed on in her estate. It is now owned by LuJean Davis Zion. "The Owl" was a single sheet, four page 8 x 11 newspaper with mixed school notes and world events published by the Wray Rattler newspaper office. The creative spelling of many words is from the original newspaper. ============================= THE OWL VOL. I NO. 2 WRAY, COLORADO, DECEMBER 17, 1900 DIRECTORY. HELEN. L. GRENFELL State Sup't. Public Instruction. MINNIE CUNNINGHAM County Sup't. Public Instruction. SCHOOL BOARD MRS. L. M. BUTTS President. J. N. COUNTER Secretary. G. B. VAUGHN Treasurer. The Faculty. SIMON S. DOW Principal. MRS. F. HENDRIE Grammar. MISS B SISSON Intermediate. MRS. M. DERR Primary. SCHOOL NOTES. The time for examination is here. Miss Jennie Adams visited the high school room Friday, December 7. On account of the teachers' examination there will be no school Friday. Most of the time is now spent in reviewing for the mid-winter examination. The eighth grade had examination in literature and arithmetic the last of the week. Belle Slick has been unable to attend school for some time on account of sickness As opening exercises the professor read "Enoch Arden" to the pupils in his room last week. The fourth grade of the intermediate department has made produce maps of North America illustrating the different products and minerals. Beatrice Mitten was awarded first prize in the ninth grade for having the best original story written on the subject of the early emigrants to the West. The prize was a book entitled "Side lights on American history." A number of the pupils in the principal's room will take the teachers' examination Friday and Saturday. Miss Bertha Sisson will leave Thursday night for Fort Collins to spend the Christmas vacation with her parents. Don't forget Chancellor Buchtel's lecture Friday evening. It promises to be an intellectual treat. Admittance free. Preparations are being made for the graduating class banquet which will take place sometime during the coming vacation. Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Reed have the thanks of the Library Association for a number of volumes of standard works of literature. The primary room gave an interesting program Friday afternoon. A number of the patrons of the school attended the exercises. A question box in which questions are to be deposited and answered by the pupils, has been placed in the grammar department. Miss Gertie Beckwith will leave the first of the year for Wheatland Wyoming, where she will teach a school during the remainder of the winter and the coming spring. Earl Hedrick, operator Smith and Mr. Alden were welcome visitors in the principal's room Friday of last week. They were in time to hear the proceedings of the C.L.A. Arthur Newell has returned home from Fort Collins where he is attending school. On account of typhoid fever which is prevalent at that place, he will remain here until the sickness is abated The pupils of the A class of the primary room have written letters to Santa Claus asking him to bring them toys. If Old Santa brings them all they ask for there won't be many things left for the other boys and girls Miss Nora Conway took pictures of the different grades in the principal's room one day last week. Several of the schools in the country, which were to give their last day exercises on Friday night of this week, will postpone their entertainments until the following evening for the benefit of those who wish to attend the lecture. Miss Jennie Adams of Curtis, Nebr., is visiting here with her sister, Mrs. John Doling. Miss Jennie was formerly a pupil in the Wray school, and her many friends welcome her here again. She will visit until some time next spring. At the regular election of officers in the Library Association Friday December 14, the following officers were elected; Rena Chapin, president; Minnie Courtney, secretary; Essie Sechrist, librarian; Winnie Dorman, assistant librarian; and Clara Counter, treasurer. A letter written at Star Harbor, Sky Kingdom, and signed "Santa Claus," has been received in the intermediate department. The letter was addressed to the teacher, and says that although the pup Is of that room are going to have their Christmas exercises a few days before the regular time, yet he will be with them with as many gifts as he can carry on this special trip. Busy Work Supplies such as Folding Paper, Sewing Cards, Chain Paper, Weaving Slats at Rattler Office. THE OWL. PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY. J. C. COUNTER AND J. 0. SIMPSON Editors and Publishers. SUBSCRIPTION From now until June 1901, 50c. SCHOOL NOTES. Shumaker sells school supples. A special Christmas program has been arranged by the inter- mediate department which will be given on Thursday, December 20. All are invited to attend. The "have-beens" of the Wray school met at the home of Prof. Dow Friday evening for the purpose of organizing an alumni. They appointed a special committee to arranged a constitution, and will hold a more definite meeting in the near future. Those present were Coral Willis, Brown Sisson, Minnie Mason, Gertie Beckwith, Rolla Cunningham, Flora Finn and Grace Chapin. An effort will be made to have those of the classes of 99 and '00 who are away from here, attend the graduating exercises of the class of 1901 in the spring. The Cireronian literary society, which was organized not long ago in the principal's room, held its first regular meeting Friday, December 7. The society consists of two divisions which alternate each Friday in giving literary programs, and of course, some rivalry is noticeable between them. The order of business at the Last meeting was changed by common consent allowing the election of officers to come first on the program, it being required that a presiding officer elected only in regular meeting can preside at such meeting. The first division had one majority present, but after a few stirring debates the second division, through diplomacy elected all of the officers from their ranks. The officers elected were Beatrice Mitten, president; Clyde Cunningham, vice-president and Blanche Simpson secretary. The president and secretary- elect then took charge of the meeting, amid it being the torn of the first division, they proceeded to carry out their program. What they lacked in diplomacy they made up in their program. In twenty four hours notice, the constitution having only been adopted the day previous, they prepared original stories, committed recitations and perfected their musical talents. At the next meeting, Dee. 14, the second division gave a program, which according to the literary critic of the first division, was better than the preceeding one though it did not represent that, divisions greatest ability. THE PILGRAMS. Reproduction work in second grade by Thad Blust. The Pilgrams came from England in the ship, Mayflower. They did not like the king of England. They wanted a better home where they could worship God as they thought was right. Samoset and Massasoit were the first Indians that visited the Pilgrims. The Pilgrams had log houses. They were the first folks that had Thanksgiving. Pilgrams cut down trees amid built houses. When Massasoit died the Indians had war with the Pilgrams. THE PUEBLA HOUSES. (Written by Marie Mitten of the sixth grade.) The houses of the Puebla Indians are made of stone covered over with adobe mud, and have chimneys made of broken pottery vessels, placed one on top of the other and plastered together with adobe. In former times the houses consisted of three stories. The first story had three rooms, one in front of the other. The second story had two rooms, and the third story had only one room, so that when you looked at it from the out side the house looked like a set of steps. They had a ladder to get to the top of the first story, then through a hole in the top they climbed down into the rooms by means of another ladder. The second and third stories had doors. For windows they just had places cut in the walls called peep boles. Sometimes these were covered with is isinglass or gypsum, which is a mineral found in the mountains and can be split into thin sheets. The front rooms of the first and second stories are made platforms on which the children would play and the old people sit and spin, shell corn, cut and dry squashes, shape pottery vessels and watch races and dances. The houses of to-day are very much like those in olden times, except they have regular sashes and glass for the windows, and doors for the first story. The second and third stories still have ladders as a way of entrance to the rooms. A man dug up a Chinese laundry bill in Mexico and declared that the Chinese were the first discoverers of America. TEACHERS' EXAMINATION. The regular teachers' examination will be held in the school house in Yuma, Colo., December 21 and 22, 1900 For the benefit of the teachers in the eastern end of the county the examination will be held in Wray on the same dates. Teachers desiring to have their papers sent to another County must consult with the superintendent of the county to which they wish their papers sent. The academic examination for admission to the bar of Colorado, will be held in connection with the county examination. Work will begin promptly at 8 a. m. MINNIE CUNNINGHAM, Co. Sup't. IF I SHOULD DIE TO-NIGHT. If I should die to-night And you should come to my cold corps arid say, - Weeping and heart-sick o'er my lifeless clay If I should die to-night, And you should come in deepest grief and woe- And say, "Here's that ten dollars I might arise in my large. white cravat, And say, "What's that?" If I should die to-night. And you should come to my cold corpse and kneel, Clasping my bier to show the grief you feel, I say, if I should die to-night And ydu should come to me and there and then Just hint 'bout payin' me that ten I might arise the while, But I'd drop dead again. -Ben King. A Full Line and Assortment of HOLIDAY GOODS. Also a Complete Stock of SCHOOL SUPPLIES At Shumaker's Drug Store. NEW BATTLE SHIPS. The commonwealth of Colorado is to be represented in Unlce Sam's navy by two new cruisers, the Colorado and the Denver. The Colorado will be one of the six ordered by congress during its last session. Her sisters will be the California, The South Dakota, the Nebraska, the West Virginia and the Maryland. They will be the most up-to date fighting machines of their class and will be capable of attaining a speed of twenty-two knots an hour. Each cruiser will cost $4,250,000. The Denver is one of another six protected cruisers now undergoing construction in the ship yards at Philadelphia. Four of them are named after trans-Mississippi cities. They are besides the Denver, the Galveston, the Tocoma, the DesMoines, the Cleveland and the Chattanooga. These six are a type less than the Colorado and her companions, costing $1,080,000 and having a speed of seventeen knots per hour. The Denver is contracted to be completed sometime in June 1902. SUBSCRIPTIONS for Daily Newspapers and all other Periodicals will be taken at the Post office. A complete line of the finest stationery in town. A good many of the electrical experts seem to think that Sig. Marconi of wireless telegraphs fame is doing a good deal of wireless talking through his lint. The most important stand ever made for humanity was the ink stand. A design for a statue of the late vice-president Hobart has Been made. The statue will be of bronze and cost $15,000. During the present century 400 human lives, $125,000,000 in money and 200 ships have been lost in fruitless attempts to find the north pole. The army reorganization bill which has been the center of many debates the house of representatives since their convening, has passed by a vote of 166 to 133 after several amendments had been added to it. One of the amendments was the abolishing the army canteen. Adna Adams Treat, a centenarian of Denver, died last week at the age of 103 years. He claimed to have shaken hands with both presidents Monroe and John Q. Adams, and was one of the committee to welcome Lafayette when he made his second visit to America. Wednesday, December 12, was the centennial anniversary of the removing of the national capital from Philadelphia to the present site at Washington. On that day congress by a special resolution, made it a general holiday in the District of Columbia. All business was closed and the day was given over to celebrating the capital's natal day. In all the ceremonies the president and his cabinet, the diplomatic corps of the different nations, the governors of nearly every state in the union, the members of both legislative bodies, the justices of the supreme court and the national military corps, took prominent parts. The speakers of the day were the most eloquent of America's orators; Senator Hoar and Senator Daniels delivered addresses on the occasion which will be read in the years to come. England's war expenses alone for the last year amount to $461,545,763. A church bell has an empty head and a long tongue, but it is discreet enough not to speek until tolled. The British parliment assembled on December 7. Many warm debates are taking place over the Boer war, in which debates Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial secretary is the target for the liberals. The English language is being paid special attention to as a study in the schools and universities of Germany. Oom Paul Kruger is now a "man without a country," but will probably make Holland his future home. Perhaps it was from the fact that the venerable Oom imagined he could hear the breakers heating against the rocks of St. Helena that caused him to forsake his African abode. The last school census, taken eighteen months ago, shows an advancement of 17,000,000 pupils in our public schools and of this number about 15,000,000 or one-fifth of the total population, attend the common schools. It cannot be wondered that American scholarship is enlightening all the world when a comparison is made between the enrollment of our schools and that of other countries. The enrollment in some of the leading European countries is as follows. Germany, 7,825,000; Russia, 3,779,818; France. 5,535,125; Great Britain, 5,668,640; Austria, 3,423,683; Italy, 2,589,000; Hungary, 1,858,216. Lord Rosebery, a member of the house of lords in the English parliment is distinguishing himself in the literary field as an author of a hook entitled, "The last days of Napoleon at St. Helena." Rosebery now holds the honor of lord rector, a position to which the students of the Scotch universities elect a prominent man every three years. The position is only a ceremonial one, although the person holding it is expected to make inaugural and farewell address. It was from this chair that Rosebery gave his address on the "Might have-beens in the British empire." Other prominent persona who have held the office of rector-have been Gl9dstone and Thomas Carlyle. LECTURES. Chancellor Buchtel of the Denver university will lecture at the Methodist church Friday even in under the auspices of the Wray high school. His subject will be "A new definition of success." The chancellor has a record through out the west as one of the ablest workers in the interest of education, arid those who a attend the lecture will hear an interesting speaker with an interesting subject. Through Prof. Dow the school has secured President Aylesworth of the state agricultural college to lecture in this city on January 11. His subject will be "The man and woman of Colorado." Admittance free. The czar of Russia wears the heaviest crown of any ruler in The world. Under the constant strain and pressure of his duties the young Nicholas has been seriously ill for the past month, but is now rapidly improving. Lord Roberts, the English general who has been carrying on operations against the Boers in South Africa has retired from active service leaving Lord Kitchenger in command. In an engagement near Magaliesberg on December 13, the Boor general DeWett captured 573 British prisoners and escaped with them. A few days ago Oscar Booz, a former cadet at West Point, died from the effects of a penalty inflicted upon him by his fellow students. Young Booze refused to accept a challenge offered him by another student for a fist fight. Upon his refusing the other cadets forced Booz to drink a mixture of cayenne pepper, worcestershire sauce and tomato ketchup, which destroyed the lining of his throat. From this time on the cadet could eat nothing, only drink a little water, which afterwards was so painful that it had to he given up. Investigations are now being made to see what can be done with those who were instrumental in causing the cadets death. Supt. Mills of the West Point academy says there will be no action taken by the authorities, although he is anxious to have a thorough examination made of the affair. Men go to the academy, he says, to he trained for the army and should act brave and soldierly, and not cowardly when called upon to fight out a personal grievence. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.