'Boss' Pinkley's Ruminations

Dodge, Natt

Superintendent Pinkley was born on a farm about four miles from the town of Chillicothe, Missour, in May 1881. His father being an invalid, he got the start of his education at home and did not have to walk to the district school, a couple of miles away, until he was mature age of seven. That year or so in the country school left little impression other than warm, sunny, pleasant days and ~~lks down long dusty roads. Also there are some Friday afternoon spelling bees and the closing exercises with its room full of patrons, strange in their best clothes and dimly seen in the pearly lighted school room where the evening exercises were held. In 1889 the family moved to the town of Chillicothe, where our hero finished the grade and high school, then held in t.he old Central Building which has long since been torn dOl'll. He finished high schaal in 1898 and recalls vividly the excitement of the war with Spain and his everlasting disgrace of being too young to be allowed to go. He remembers his o,m graduation oration as being on ~lar and :that of his chum on "Cuba, the Pearl of the Antilles." Lack of funds preventing attendance at the university, our h~ro began working in a store on the east side of the square at a nominal salary of a dollar or two a ,reek and still feels apologetic about taking it for, looking back on that episode, he doesn't think he would have made a good jeweler and optician in 49 years of apprenticeship. In the sUffiIDer and fall of 1900 some minor ailment demanded the services of a doctor and an examination then developed the probability of tuberculosis and an order to go to Arizona for six months or so for recuperation.