176
CARL SMITH
Dr. Legge never taken him away from the herd of buffaloes he was tending at Malacca.
STUDENTS CATCH GOLD FEVER
Gold fever hit the Canton delta in the 1850s. It had an unsettling effect on students. Books were much less attractive than nuggets of gold in California or Australia.
The reports of the schools reflect the pull of the gold-fields on the pupils.
Shortly before the first class of the Presbyterian Boarding School at Canton was to be graduated in 1852, the whole class was swept by the gold fever. Their principal, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Happer, explains the reasons. "The villages from which the older pupils have come are those from which a great number had gone to California. Their brothers, uncles and cousins had gone, some had sent home some gold dust and statements about the ease with which gold could be obtained. This caused a feverish excitement among these boys."
The school had a hold on them from which it was not easy to get free. When they were enrolled their parents signed a bond that the boys would remain in the school for the full course, usually six to eight years. In return they received free board, clothing and education. If they left before this period, the cost of their board figured at $20 a month had to be refunded or the bond was forfeited.
While others of their own age were off to adventure and fortune, they had to sit in the classroom deprived of their freedom. They became restless, unruly and hard to manage, not the docile, diligent, obedient students the missionary teachers had become used to.
It took a great amount of diplomatic skill and patience for Dr. Happer to prevent a full-scale walkout. He believed that most of the unrest was caused by one student, whom he had to dismiss. Afterwards Dr. Happer reflects: “I am now inclined to think that wanting employment he took the course he did with a wish to be
176
CARL SMITH
Dr. Legge never taken him away from the herd of buffaloes he was tending at Malacca.
STUDENTS CATCH GOLD FEVER
Gold fever hit the Canton delta in the 1850s. It had an unset- tling effect on students. Books were much less attractive than nug- gets of gold in California or Australia.
The reports of the schools reflect the pull of the gold-fields on the pupils.
Shortly before the first class of the Presbyterian Boarding School at Canton was to be graduated in 1852, the whole class was swept by the gold fever. Their principal, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Happer, explains the reasons. "The villages from which the older pupils have come are those from which a great number had gone to California. Their brothers, uncles and cousins had gone, some had sent home some gold dust and statements about the ease with which gold could be obtained. This caused a feverish excitment among these boys."
The school had a hold on them from which it was not easy to get free. When they were enrolled their parents signed a bond that the boys would remain in the school for the full course, usually six to eight years. In return they received free board, clothing and educa- tion. If they left before this period, the cost of their board figured at $20 a month had to be refunded or the bond was forfeited.
While others of their own age were off to adventure and for- tune, they had to sit in the classroom deprived of their freedom. They became restless, unruly and hard to manage, not the docile, diligent, obedient students the missionary teachers had become used to.
It took a great amount of diplomatic skill and patience for Dr. Happer to prevent a full-scale walkout. He believed that most of the unrest was caused by one student, whom he had to dismiss. Afterwards Dr. Happer reflects: “I am now inclined to think that wanting employment he took the course he did with a wish to be
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