May 27, 1863, Montgomery Weekly Advertiser
In the “Home Department” of the New Orleans True Delta, of a recent date, we find the following account of the efforts now being made to prevent the schoolmistresses of New Orleans from teaching the young ideas rebelward. If anything can be more ridiculous and contemptible than the course of the officers of the “best Government in the world,” towards female teachers, because some of their pupils draw rebel pictures on their slates and copybooks, we have yet to see it.
The police, it appears, made a descent on and search in several schools for young ladies, and brought quite a number of badly drawn Confederate flags and secession emblems into court to give evidence of a successful exploit. At the same time the principals of the establishments were arraigned in the provost court and their cases adjudged. The first party was a Miss Hall, principal of a school on Carondelet street, evidently a respectable spinster, who pointed to British protection, and expressed her indignant surprise at the inquisitive visitation and search from a police officer. She gave it as her opinion that some of her pupils in the lower classes could have, by way of amusement, drawn the political emblems complained of, but called on the police officer to sustain her in the assertion that in the room of the graduates and other high classes of the school, an unsurpassed lady like deportment had been evident, and that nothing political was found there.
The judge remarked that the authorities felt it their duty to endeavor that the mind of the rising generation should be trained with proper loyal feelings, and that it was necessary to sustain this object by inflicting a fine of $100 in the present case. A short time after Mrs. Loquet, principal of a school on Camp street, was arranged on the same charge of permitting seditious emblems to be drawn and cherished by the female pupils. The policeman stated that the accused had expressed the subject was none of her concern, for her to interfere about.
Judge Hughes then explained that he felt convinced that, in the former case, he had been led into an error of judgment, and that severe punishments appear necessary, the adjudged Mrs. Loquet to pay a fine of $250, which sum was, within a few moments, handed over to the receiving clerk by a gentleman who thereafter led the lady out of the court room.
Miss Picot, said to be the principal of a school for young ladies on Julia street, was then arraigned, accompanied by her mother. The officer who searched the establishment and found a number of the infantile efforts at flag manufacturing, in the books and on sheets of paper belonging to the pupils, stated that the lady had stated that she had endeavored to enforce the rule that no political demonstrations, obnoxious to the Government, should be indulged in. The lady herself, as well as her mother, expressed regret at the fact that the secret artistic efforts of the pupils should have been offensive to the authorities. The judge evidently appreciated the plea, but felt it necessary to give proper examples as to the punishment of delinquent ladies who have taken on themselves the duty to teach the young minds how to shoot in the right direction.
The New Orleans Era of the 10th inst., has the following in relation to the “arrest of a bitter secesh woman,” for the crime of turning up her nose at the Yankee flag, and for looking “square” in the face of a Yankee sentinel and saying “you stink.” Of course such crimes could not be allowed to go unpunished, and she was arrested and taken to the lockup:
A woman named Mrs. Bell, who has heretofore given the authorities some trouble, was arrested yesterday in the street by officer Ford, for treating the soldiers and flag of the United States in a contemptuous manner. It appears that in passing by the sentinel at the square, she came to a full stop, looked at him square in the face and said, “You stink!” turning up her pug nose at the same time, till her face became twice as homely as it was before. After making some other sneering remarks, she passed up the street and turned to go down past Dr. Palmer’s church, where flags are thrown across the banquette on both sides of the street; she looked up at the flags, made some remarks, which she did not intend to be very complimentary–but coming from her a greater honor could not have been done the bunting–and then walked out into the middle of the street, and passed by, still muttering curses against the hated emblem under which we are sorry to say she was born. Officer Ford had watched her actions closely, and following her up arrested her near the house she makes miserable on St. Charles street. She abused the officer in the vilest terms on their way to the lock-up, using language that we will not disgrace our columns by reproducing. This woman claims to belong to the upper ten, and moves in the highest and most fashionable circles, but the officer says he thinks she was slightly drunk on the occasion.