The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1869-06-24
GRowL NO. 3,

II seems from your comments upon
my last srOWl that you misunderstood it,
and l ON Satisfied that il you had given
i! a second snd camer perusal you
would not have bsen so harsh; bu. then
you have Os COOL right 10 growI as |
have, and I am oOIy sorry that you DO
not growl both loud and deep whenever
you see tho lesst occasion, Indeed, it ia
your duty, as a public journalist and
guardian of morality, to do SO.
1t has become custom from long
habit | suppose, for tue youog men of
the town, and some lew Of tie elders TOO,
10 collect in crowds al certain places on
the sid walk, in the evening of aImos!
every day. but more particularly on the
Sabbath. Al the first blush this may
seem harmless enough, bu! the fac! is
that it is one Of the most dangerous
tbings 10 the morals Of the youth OF any
community that can be prOcticrd. |! is
we'll known that nothing but necessity
or amusement will keep crowd of men
together for any length of time. Now,
what necessity is there fora crowd OF
men stondiug, sometimes for hours, in
front of the Post Office when there ia no
mail and none expected VIII 1t neces.
sity is there for crowd, perched upon
the railing, like parcel Of chickens
al roosr, in front of the Register Office.
Sabbath after Sabbath almost as regu.
larly as tho day comes! There is none,
There can be none. Consequently it
must be Amusement 1t may be said
that there is no harm in amusement, but
sir that depends altogether upon the
kind Of amusement. Now let Us see in
what kind Of amusement they are ioduI,
ging Here is crowd Of ten or fifteen
men occupying the whole pavement in
front OF the Post Office and a half do.
zen or more boys are standing around,
eagerly listening TO every word that is
spoken. Some one is telling story,
no. On instructive, Innocent, entertain,
ing story fit for the ears of men or youth,
but some vile, filthy, vulgar, disgusting
story, which even those who take most
delight in telling in such crowds as
those for the sake OF raising loud laugh
and gufsw, would blush to be obliged to
relate at their own fresides. And boys
standing around with goPping mouths
eagerly listen to and learn all these i'm
modest stories which they in turn re
peat to their companions. and not unfrs
quontly they aSlonish their mothers o,
sisters by repeating some story which
they have learned at these "social gath,
erings," 1t is but natural that The boys
should think that whatever The men do
or say is not only right and eminently
proper, but manly. "As the old cock
crows the young ones learn" Every
thing 10 learned by imitation, even the
child learns 10 speak its mothers lang
uags by hearing it spoken l, has been
demonstrated beyond doubt by actu
al experiments that human being sep
araIed from mankind before it learus to
talk, and kept so separated until it
grows 10 manhood, will neither be able
TO speak word itself nor understand
anything that is said to it. Is it any
wonder then, that We have a few bad
boys 10 the town, nay, is it not won
der that there are not more? This is not
the only bad feature there is about this
practice. If lady happens 10 pass,
some Que is almost sure 10 mako what he
considers witty remark abouther, and
although she may not hear what is said,
she does hear the laugh tina; follows,
and always knows that by tho laugh it,
self that something has been said about
her and that she is being laughed ot.-
1t is unpleasant and embarrassing to be
laughed at by our friends when we know
the cau,e of it, aud infinitely more so
when we do not. and the laughing is
done by crowd OF whom more than
Que half may be strangers. There are
other evils attending this practice which
may grOwl at in tho future.
ASH.