This story is about 30 to 40 years before electricity became available.
The Mac Donald family is now well settled , they had bought their farm at Four Corners 6 years ago in 1883. The nearest town River Bend is about 5 miles away.. The town is growing fast because the railway came through, and the train stops once a day in each direction. There is a hotel, 2 general stores, a feed mill drugstore and doctors office , and some other small stores. The town is growing fast.
Angus and hi wife Margaret have now 5 children Irene is the oldest, then Bruce , John , Anne and Margaret. After the noon meal Angus usually reads some verses from the bible. Lately he noticed, that he had more trouble reading , the letters were not very clear. A peddler arrived one day with his wagon load of merchandise. Mrs. Mac Donald made some purchases of cloth, thread and buttons and since it was lunchtime invited the peddler to eat with them. When Angus started to read form the bible , the peddler noticed his problem and told him he could help him He went to his wagon , and came back with a box full of spectacles. Angus tried a few of them, and found a pair that made the letters nice and clear , reading was now much easier The peddler told Angus the price for the glasses was 35 cents, but since he had such a nice lunch would sell the for 25 cents. That was the day that Angus became the first of the Mac Donald s to wear eye glasses.
Since the area was well settled now, and there were a number of children in the area . plans were made to build a school house at Four Corners. In the spring of 1894, Angus was elected head of the local school board The new school building should be ready for classes to start in the fall after the harvest was in. Angus was asked to advertise for a teacher for the school., which he did. The ad read; Teacher required for rural school. to teach about 25 children. Salary $ 28.00 per month, boarding if needed available.
Angus received two replies, on from an experienced teacher who wanted more money, The second one was from Miss Ann James, she had just graduated from teachers college. At the next school board meeting it was decided to hire Miss James. Angus send her a letter telling her she was hired , and informed her she could board at the home of widow Smith. She would be picked up at the Rive Bend Hotel the morning of September 2. Since the train does not arrive in River Bend till 4 o clock in the afternoon , a room will be reserved for you at the hotel for September 1.
On September first Miss James arrived in River Bend. After getting of the train , she arranged to have her trunk delivered to the hotel. When she arrived at the hotel , she was shown to her room., where she unpacked some necessities . She then combed her mice blond hair , and cleaned her glasses. As it was to early for supper , she decided to look around town. When she was in the drugstore looking around, the owner asked her if she was new in town. She told him sh was going to teach at the new school at Four Corners. The druggist, Mr Jones told her it was a very nice area and a friendly community. He then told Ann that his son was a doctor,. and was busy setting up his practice beside the drugstore He would be the second doctor in town, He also specializes in eyes and will be doing eye exams. Mr Jones invited Ann to hav supper with him and his wife at the hotel at 7 o clock, which she accepted.
When Ann entered the dining room , Mr K Jones came over and escorted her to his table where Ann met his wife, and surprisingly his son, Jim the doctor.a tell very handsome glasses wearing man. The meal was very good,and she enjoyed being with the friendly people and their pleasant conversation. When the meal was finished Jim asked Ann if she would be agreeable , if he picked her up i a couple of weeks to spend a weekend in town. She could stay at his parents house . She accepted and Jim arranged when he would pick her up.
The next morning Angus was there with his buggy.he introduced himself, and then loaded Ann s trunk and off they went to Four Corners. They stopped at the school house where he showed Ann around. Ann was surprised how nice everything looked, lots of windows brightened the room. There was a big black board , a world map, a nice desk and chair for her and the desks for the students. Ther was a big pot belly stove to keep the school warm on cold days. At the back of the building was a big wood shed with a good supply of fire wood, and there were 2 outhouses. After Ann had seen everything , Angus took her to the house of Mrs. Smith where Ann would board.
When school started Ann was well prepared ,and it did not take her long to know all the students. There were 14 girls and 12 boys ranging in age from 6 to 14 years old. Ann noticed a couple of the children having trouble reading, and that Irene Mac Donald seemed to have trouble reading what was on the black board, Ann expected Irene was most likely myopic , she planned to discus it with Jim next weekend.
Friday afternoon when classes were finished for the weekend ,Ann walked out of the school house and there was Jim waiting for her in his buggy. He helped Ann take her seat and off they went to River Bend There was lots to talk about and the trip did not take very long. After Jim put his horse in the stable , they walked to the house. Mr and Mrs Jones welcomed her like a daughter, which made Ann feel right at home.
The next day Jim showed Ann his office. There was a small reception area with chairs, an examination room, and Jim s pride and joy . a special room to do eye exams. He explained to Ann , that he had purchased all the latest optical equipment. A Snellen chart, an opthalmolscope with a concave mirror, a trial frame and a large box of lenses. There was a small display of different eyeglass frames , metal frames with round or rectangular lenses, frame less glasses and the newest a tortoiseshell frame with round lenses. Then he asked Ann . if she would like an eye exam. Ann thought that was a great idea. So Jim looked into her eyes and then with Ann wearing the trial frame he inserted different lenses until Ann told him she could read all the letters perfectly. Checking the lenses, Jim told Ann she was -1.75 in the right and - 1.50 in the left eye. He then asked her which frame she liked best. Ann tried them all, and could not decide which she liked best, the frame less rectangular , or the tortoiseshell with the round lenses. Jim told her not to worry , he would order her a pair she liked. On Sunday, after church and a nice dinner , Jim took Ann back to Four Corners. On the way they stopped to do some necking and kissing. They sure liked each other , and mad arrangements to meet again.
A few weeks later when Ann arrived at Jim s place, he presented her with 2 new pair of glasses. Sinc she had trouble deciding which she liked best he had got her both pair, When she tried the glasses , noticed an improvement in her vision, and looking in the mirror loved her new look. She gave Jim a big kiss and thanked him. Jim s parents complimented Ann on her new look, she smiled and told them she loved her new glasses. They had a great time , and Ann hated to go back to Four Corners after another great weekend.
Back at school wearing her new glasses , she said to Irene Mac Donald , I noticed you have trouble reading what is on the blackboard I wonder if you would like to try wearing my old glasses , they might help you. Irene said yes I would like to try them. When she put the glasses on and looked around said I cannot believe it, everything looks so nice and clear, I never knew glasses were that great. Ann told her she could borrow the glasses till she got her own, she should ask her parents to take her for an eye exam which was now available in River Bend. When Irene came to school the next day , she told Ann the glasses were fantastic , when walking back and forth to school she had noticed things she had never seen before. Her parents were going to to have her eyes examined.
Ann was very busy getting the students ready for the school Christmas concert, It was a big job to get all the students ready and make sure they all had a part in the show. When the day of the Concert came all the parents were present, and the Concert went as planned . all the students performed well. After the show while everybody enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies , the parents came over and congratulated Ann on the great show. Ann approached Mrs Cook and mentioned hat her daughter Kelley had trouble reading, and might have a vision problem Mrs Mac Donald thanked Ann for loaning Irene her old glasses , and told her she had made arrangements for all of the to have an eye exam. The biggest surprise was when Jim came , with a big smile and congratulated her on a big show,
Ann went home for Christmas, but was back in River Bend shortly after. When she met up with Jim, he told her the Mac Donald family had been in for eye exams/. Irene was myopic and needed - 1.25 lenses . Ann was also myopic and needed -.0.75 lenses. Mrs. Mac Donald needed glasses for close work and reading. Mrs Cook had her daughter Kelley in , she was farsighted and needed + 1.25 lenses.
When the Christmas break was finished , Ann had now 3 students wearing glasses . She explained to the other students why some people needed to wear glasses,
If you think you can not see to well , or have a lot of headaches, talk to your parents, you might need to go for an eye exam.
It was a cold winter, and because Mr Cook came to the school early to light the fire , the schoolroom was nice and cozy. When the weekend came there was quite a bit of snow When Jim came after school to pick Ann up, he had brought the cutter with lots of blankets, so they would be comfortable on the trip to River Bend. After they arrived , Jim suggested they have dinner at the hotel. After a delicious dinner , Jim asked Ann to marry him. , and presented her with a beautiful engagement ring. Ann told Jim she loved to marry him, and looked forward to settle with him in River Bend , and raise a family , and to help him with his medical and optical practice. .
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