School has started back and I wanted to share an old teacher’s contract for a Wisconsin School District that was used 100 years ago.

“Miss Doe agrees:

1. Not to get married. This contract becomes null and void immediately if the teacher marries.

2. Not to have company with men.

3. To be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., unless in attendance at a school function.

4. Not to loiter downtown in ice-cream stores. 5. Not to leave town at any time without the

5. Not to leave town at any time without the permission of the chairman of the Trustees.

6. Not to smoke cigarettes. This contract becomes null and void immediately if the teacher is found smoking.

7. Not to drink beer, wine or whiskey. This contract becomes null and void immediately if the teacher is found drinking beer, wine or whiskey.

8. Not to ride in a carriage or automobile with any man except her brother or father.

9. Not to dress in bright colors.

10. Not to dye her hair. 11. To wear at least two petticoats.

11. To wear at least two petticoats.

12. Not to wear dresses more than 2 inches above the ankles.

13. To keep the schoolroom clean:

a. To sweep the classroom floor at least once daily.

b. To scrub the classroom floor at least once weekly with soap and hot water.

c. To clean the blackboard at least once daily.

d. To start the fire at 7 a.m., so that the room will be warm at 8 a.m. when the children arrive.

14. Not to wear face powder, mascara or to paint the lips.”

And, by the way, the pay was all of $75 per month!

I suspicion there would be a severe shortage of teachers if that contract was required now.

—CC—

Dayna and I still enjoy watching the old Sherlock Holmes movies. Recently I read the following and found it very interesting.

Sherlock Holmes is among the best-known characters in literature. The first story to feature the adventures of “the world’s first consulting detective” was A Study In Scarlet, appearing in Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887. (It was “recorded” by his companion Dr. Watson and brought to the world through the graces of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.) From this beginning sprang the far-flung empire of “Sherlockiana” that persists to this day.

Doyle’s original Sherlock Holmes stories are now called The Canon and include 56 short stories and four novels. Embodied therein is wisdom aplenty for readers and leaders. One of the quotes most often associated with Holmes appears in several forms in several stories but is most succinctly states as “Eliminate all other factors and the one which remains must be the truth.”

He also said, “Here is my lens. You know my methods.” Here’s a collection of additional wisdom from Sherlock Holmes.

• We can but try (the motto of the firm).

• It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.

• Work is the best antidote to sorrow.

• The work is its own reward.

• It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you.

• Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind of man could invent.

• Everything comes in circles . . . The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It’s all been done before and will be again.

WELL SAID, SHERLOCK!

—CC—

And last of all my favorite story of the week….

Mr. H.L. Graham was the chairman of the United Way. One day it came to his attention that the fund had never received a donation from the most successful lawyer in town. He called on the attorney. “Our research shows that you made a profit of over six hundred thousand dollars last year, and yet you have not given a dime to the community charities. What do you have to say for yourself?”

The lawyer replied, “Did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income? Did your research uncover anything about my brother, the disabled veteran, who is blind and in a wheelchair? Do you know about my sister, whose husband died in a traffic accident, leaving her penniless with three children?”

Sheepishly, the charity solicitor admitted that he had no knowledge of any of this.

“Well, since I don’t give any money to them, why should I give any to you?”