The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-02-03
n F5,o,n tle proyidenoe Or. - Journal.

ings.
From the Providence (P. ~ Joupnal
How seldom is ttereI a. day when
nearly all of, our. good, citiZenSIdo not
express surprise as wen as regret thai
so many of our SYounglmemare spend
Ing their evenings or nights mid drink
ling and gambling saloons or other
! haunts of vice! Thousands who, appa-
rently, had no specially y vicious inclipa-
| tions as they were approachtng1 tnn n
| hood are travelling by, the way OF those
fwfetched resorts straight to ruin. Have
YOU ever taken pains, good reader, to
ascertain what are the circumstances
| of those youth, whose --wnnderings you
50 de5lore, and have you though bow
probable it is that, If situated as they
are, YOU would be marching down the
| same path with. theth.e i'll =.
Look at the manner in which the
greater part of our youngFmepb who are
at work at day wages for their ilveil, l,
hood, are compelled to live They, ,spe99d
their dayiat their Labor. I3ht " hen the
| long cold winter evening comes, what
shall they dor They have no pleasant
room with cheerful fire, to which they
can, n,withdraw-i IL they, wished to doso.
They have nc. .plensantrsoeiaI- circIeLln
! which TO spend the hours in refining
eniovuent.f They Are in u cheap board
| ing house, where four sleep in a asmall,
cold chamber They want, ,conpapion-
shin and comfort. They stroll down the
street. They have not far to go, before
the brilliantly lighted, window OF the
drinking house seems to invite them TO
the warmth, jollity and society within.
Is it strange that they prefer all this to
the cheefIess and lonely attic Mt their
boarding place? Is it strange that
clerks in similar circumstances do the
same thing, and then thatsome of them
are led to pilfer from the money draw
ers of their employers to meet the eXo
penses they incnrin thesehalis of ruin?
when do the police NAL ke "a descent
upbn anycot these houses of badlrepHte
without finding. in them young men,
whose Legitimate income is quite inade-
ouate TO 'theiF style of ofidissipation2
The inquiry has often occurred 70 us
whether something. .could-not=bed done
to save the class OF young men !oiii
we have been speaking; by furnishing
one or more pleasant rooms, where they
could pass an eVening-in comfort, read
ind neyspnpers magazines sor chat
ting with their friends, or playing
checkers, chess, or backgammon, haN-
ing an opportunity also to purchase not
coffee and to smoke, if they chose. We
NAV. be told that at the rooms of the
Christian Association and elsewhere
they can now read in -comfortf very
true And we hnve no doubt that those
cheerful rooms do invite in many, who
might else have swelled the thEong oil
unfortunate youths, whose sau iate we
have been deploring, But-we, want to
reach the case of those who have not
that decided taste for reading which
vyiIl lead them TO a library for an even
invis endowment. They want to talk,
or perhaps to smoke. And If they can
have an opportunity for these simple
for vicious enjoyments, possibly they
can be brought within the reach of ele-
vAtinr influences. We think some
thing of this sort has been tried in Eng
land. we are sure that the Young
Mems Christian Association in Cincin-
natl lately opened room for, the
nnrnoses we have named. We have
bot hoard what success they have
met with. 1t seems, as though the
wisdom and ingenuity OF our citl-
zens might devise some means
for meeting the manifest and most M
tural want Of a large class OF our pop
u:ation, which is now gratihed NANNY
We are confident that in some cases
employers could .doimuch more than
they do to save the youths they employ.
Zoo many think that their responsibiItE
ty for these youths end, when they pay
them their wages. Formerly, When the
apprentice lived in the fiamhy OF tne "a
mechanic and the clerk in the family
offtheTmerchant, asswas oflen the case,
TIA T5echanic riecessarily and naturally.
cared somewhat for the moral training
of the apprentice and the merchant for
that of the clerk. The distance be,
tween the employer and the employed
is now often very great. The merchant
TOO seldom knows pr.EearesF how the
clerk is spending his leisure, until
some day he finds that the young man
has been running ,R5 career Or vice az
his expense, and then probably curses
the youth, without oensuring himself,
as heougbt for his neglect 20 guide,
raonired. But we cannot help thinking
that it is worth while to consider whe-
ther some concerted action, such as we
nave suggested, above, should not be
taken. Very likely the plan we have
mentfonePis not the best. But should
n nql something be itfied R5 f69