Now and Then Remembering the old coal heaters at school

PEA RIDGE — A few days ago I was talking with John and June Easley, and remembering some of our 1940s winters and the efforts to heat our schoolhouse. Although people tend to think of those old days as “same old, same old,” they were really days of momentous change, in the nation, in our town and in Pea Ridge Schools.

In 1945 and 1946 we were readjusting to life after World War II. Construction projects would soon be enlarging the schoolhouse, and we were changing over from some of the old ways of doing things.

John and June reminded me that before 1947 our school rooms were heated by coal stoves. The stoves were large units with guards around them to keep kids from getting burned. In those days there were only two rooms on the school’s west side. Each of those rooms had a coal stove, with stovepipes exhausting through a flue in the dividing wall. Now and then during the school day the janitor would come in, bringing a bucket of coal to stoke the fire. John remembers starting school in 1938,when the school janitor was Henry Price. The 1950s generation will remember Al Koenke, our Pea Ridge town constable. Mrs.

Koenke, Nelma, was Henry Price’s daughter. John remembers that you always knew in advance when Mr.

Price was coming down the hall with a bucket of coal, because his shoes did a “squeek, squeek, squeek” at every step. Those old coal stoves did a pretty good job of keeping us warm, but obviously stoking all the stoves would have been a big job for the janitor.

Over on the high school side, a really large coal stove was located at the northeast corner of the old study hall. It was supposed to heat the whole east end of the building, the auditorium and two east classrooms. Although it was a big stove, I’d be surprised if things didn’t get a little cool for the high schoolers and upper elementary kids in the east rooms. The coal pile was located at the back of the building, under a kind of shed or lean-to, and I think there was a coal room under the building.

Often the coal was trucked in by Dutch Wilkerson, father of Bea, Troy, Betty Jo and Avis Wilkerson. The coal pile often overflowed the bin and shed. There was nothing to keep the kids out of the coal, so the boys would sit on the pile to eat lunch and to play. I expect they regularly returned to class with black smudges over clothes, hands and faces.

When I started to school in 1946, Mr. Price had retired, and the new school janitor was Claude Lindsey. Today, in 2010, our school is six or seven times larger, and the several buildings require several janitors.

But back then, Claude was “THE” janitor, and all 12 grades were housed in the one building. Claude was a quiet man who rarely spoke unless he was spoken to, but he was friendly and punctual, and usually kept things going well around the school. Claude stokedthe fires, cleaned the rooms and halls, and regularly rang the school bell. The school bell, which sounded like a strong church bell, was located in the attic over the back of the auditorium, and was rung by pulling a rope hanging near the heating stove. The bell called school into session each morning, dismissed us for lunch, called us back to class after lunch, and pealed the always welcomed “School’s Out” at day’s end.

As I recall, Claude and his pocket watch always kept the school day stepping on time.

The year 1947 brought major school changes. New wings were added on the north corners of the building, with two new classrooms, indoor restrooms, and a new principal’s officeat the north end of the east hallway. Mr. Joe Roulhac had retired, and Mr. Glen Duffy came in as principal.

(Mr. Duffy, who later had a long career in Gravette Schools, passed away just a week ago.)

As part of the 1947 school modernization project, a new coal-fired central heating system was installed.

We thought at first that the new technology would be great. But, when the weather got really cold, we did, too! I remember being in Mabel Hardy’s room then, and we were shivering and shaking. Of course, Miss Hardy occasionally tanned our hides, which warmed things up a bit (or made us forget the cold).

At that time, the paddle for spankings was kept in Mr.

Duffy’s office. Miss Hardywould send one of us to the office to get the paddle when someone was going to get it. One day she sent my friend Wayne Hileman. Wayne bounced in with the paddle, only to find that he was the object of its application. Miss Hardy had her ways! After some chilly, chilly school days, the furnace company, H.G.

Barr of Ft. Smith, reworked the return air ducts, we all thawed out, and things were good.